Aftermath 1×9 Review: The Barbarous King

This week’s episode of Aftermath titled ‘The Barbarous King’ introduced some old Copeland family members. It also moved the plot along, but at a snail’s pace.

I was not expecting to see Karen’s father anytime soon in Aftermath. I thought he had died or something. So it was a pleasant surprise that we got to meet him (I’m going to call him grandpa) and understand more about the relationship he shared with his daughters.

Grandpa seems to be doing well during the apocalypse. He created a whole community, providing safety, at a price. It was obvious that no matter how much he seemed to care about Karen (Anne Heche) and her family he was still not a nice person. Grandpa felt drawn to Matt (Levi Meaden) because of his potential to be useful. He wanted Matt to stay behind and help run the community with him.

I liked Matt’s decision to stay with his family but it didn’t have the impact it could have had. I would have preferred Matt declining grandpa’s offer before he learned that he tried to kill his father. That would have done a bit more for Matt’s development as a character rather than his decision being significantly affected by the reveal of grandpa’s true nature.

There are a lot of things Aftermath can do with Matt. In ‘What the Thunder Said‘ he tried to hang a woman for justice because her friend killed Martin. He’s also very protective of his two sisters. Matt has a lot of conflicting feelings inside of him and I want the show to explore more of that.

Also, Dana (Julia Sarah Stone) needs to chill. I get that she’s just a teenager but her characterization has been all over the place lately. The scene where she yelled at Brianna (Taylor Hickson) to leave her alone felt odd. Dana can’t continue to yell at people or give them a cold shoulder, and then apologize and expect everything to be fine. It’s tolerable the first few times but after that, it just becomes poor writing.

Brianna continues being the best part of Aftermath. She did make some mistakes during ‘The Barbarous King’, driving a truck on her own and all, but it led to an awesome fistfight between her and a shape shifter so I’m not complaining. She also looked out for Dana and prevented her from getting drunk. Brianna’s a very interesting character and I’m excited to see where the show takes her next.

Coming to the plot of ‘The Barbarous King’, there are a lot of strange things going on and Aftermath still hasn’t given us concrete answers. The show throws some hints occasionally but I need at least some of the questions answered already.

Along with Karen’s father, we also got to see a younger version of Josh’s dad during a drug-induced hallucination. Josh’s father talked about certain people, called Adepts, being able to sense strange waves. Other than that he really didn’t give Josh much to work with. It’s obvious that Josh’s father knows what’s happening, he might have even played a role in starting the current chain of events, but I need the show to tell me what’s happening as well.

All in all, ‘The Barbarous King’ introduced two new characters but really didn’t tell much about the overall plot. Will we see Karen’s father again? I’m not sure. Will we see Josh’s father again? That’s something I think will definitely happen as the series progress. He feels like too much of an important character to not make an appearance again.

What did you think of Aftermath this week? Did you enjoy ‘The Barbarous King’? Will Josh be okay? Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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