"The Red Kiss" Review

by Mike Helba

"The Red Kiss" is an entertaining standalone episode in which Jeremiah and Kurdy help a group of parents defend their children from a kidnapper. Oh yeah... and the kids think the kidnapper is a vampire.

They also think that Jeremiah is their savior because he looks like the hero on a pinball machine.

This episode has a lot of the interplay we've come to expect in the post-apocalyptic world. Some of the parents trust Jeremiah and Kurdy while others don't.

The most interesting aspect of "The Red Kiss" is that the children have developed their own religious practices. Their religion is a despondent one that centers around the dethronement of God fifteen years earlier. Writer Sam Egan obviously had a great deal of fun populating the children's liturgical speeches with modern street slang. For example, the heavenly hosts of angels have become God's posse.

This episode also brings up the recurring fear that the Big Death will return. This time, Jeremiah learns that some people believe that since children are immune to the plague, drinking the blood of children will protect adults from the plague as well.