Goodbye Earth tells the story of a single city that devolves into chaos as the end of the world approaches. The series is streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary:
An asteroid is said to be headed to Earth with the Korean Peninsula predicted to be ground zero for the collision.
When the announcement is first made, martial law is enacted by the government as the people have 300 days before impact.
The city of Woongcheon sees riots take place and several escaped convicts kidnap children to traffic them and secure a route to a safe zone elsewhere.
The army also sees defectors rise as the country is embroiled in a civil war. The rebels are eventually quelled and the convicts disappear, leaving dead children in shipping containers.
Jin Se-Kyung was a teacher whose students were among those kidnapped and she is beside herself when they eventually find their dead bodies.
One of them, Ha-Yul, does survive, although she is deeply traumatized by her experience. Se-Kyeung’s friend, Kang In-a, was a captain in the army.
She was part of a Special Missions Unit that took on the rebels during the asteroid crisis. She defied orders to stand down but her commander took the blame.
She was transferred to Woongcheon for local duty because it was her hometown. They are also friends with Woo Seong-Jae, the assistant priest to Father Baek.
When the announcement was made, Father Baek was taken away by the army leaving Seong-Jae to lead his followers.
Se-Kyung was also engaged to Yoo Sang-eun, a researcher who was working in the US. He made his way back to Woongcheon so that he could get out with Se-Kyeung.
The government claims to have a migration plan to safety zones for all the people, but only the rich elite can pay their way onto the flights.
Ha-yul spends her days with her best friends, Jin-Seo and So-min. The trio gathers hard drives and USBs with movies and serials to sell to people.
The convicts escaped and ran illegal activities in the downtown area of the city, and they had help from disgraced soldiers and the corrupt Joint Investigations Unit (JIU).
With 200 days remaining before impact, there is a teetering balance maintained in the city as corruption is rampant.
Se-Kyueng discovers that some of the traffickers are living in the city and still kidnapping young children.
With In-a’s help, they take down a huge trafficking ring and rescue many young girls. The JIU is not happy that one of their income sources was taken down and tries to impede the investigation.
They also keep a close eye on Se-Kyeung because she is constantly foiling their plans. During the crisis, a cache of weapons meant for the SMU went missing.
A general who defected stole the cache, but then someone took the ammo and hid them away somewhere else, so the JIU was on the lookout.
In-a finds a young woman covered in bruises hiding at a rest stop and takes her to the hospital. She mentions that she was at a training facility, something Se-Kyeung heard from others too.
The woman’s name was Chae Young-ji and her parents were earlier involved in a huge pyramid scheme that stole a lot of money.
Young-ji has set up a training facility that behaves like a cult. Many people gave up all of their assets to get in under the promise of an eventual escape.
Sang-eun’s research was in the field of genetics and some of the elites approached him to join their escape because his studies would be useful for survivors.
Seong-jae has a crisis of faith after rumors persist that Father Baek stole the church extension funds and escaped with the other rich people.
Se-Kyeung uncovers a plot to escape but Young-ji’s mother and her cult with the American’s help, and the JIU are also involved.
Father Baek is also part of this plot and he asks Sang-eun to join him when they leave. Because Se-Kyeung meddles, the escape is pushed forward.
However, the In-a along with the army and locals of Wooncheon foil that plan with only a single plane getting away and not even reaching its destination as it crashes.
As the day of impact draws closer, the people settle into a comfortable routine as they accept that there might not be a chance to escape anymore.
A few bad elements remain and they ramp up their efforts to kidnap children and use them to buy their chances of escape to a safe zone.
Ending explained:
Last preparations
With 20 days left before impact, everyone starts preparing for how they want to spend their final moments.
Some people leave the city to take in the end from a nicer place, some try to end things early, and some wish to work till the last moment.
Sang-eun had decided to record everyone’s stories and send them out like a time capsule in case there are survivors after the impact.
Making peace
Seong-jae resigned from his priesthood because he completely lost his belief after Father Baek’s betrayal. He still helps the church as a layperson but isn’t a man of the cloth.
In-a leaves the army and then makes up with her mother before going on a ride anywhere so that she can think before the end.
The children are worried as the kidnappings are increasing at an alarming rate but Se-Kyeung tells them not to worry because she has a plan.
One last act of bravery
Se-Kyeung wants to go out in a last act of bravery so she arms herself. She and Sang-eun got married a few months earlier and fulfilled a long dream.
Se-Kyeung goes to the underground casinos with a gun so that she can take down the men responsible for the kidnappings.
Sang-eun, meanwhile, cooks up some chemicals together and heads toward the port where the children are being loaded out onto the ships.
Se-Kyeung thinks of all the people that helped her get through the final days here on Earth as she goes out with a bang.
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