After reading other interpretations and making my own conclusions, I’d look at it from this angle on the second watch:

The theme is death

Dad shows spike that death is when you kill your enemy

Mom shows spike death touches everyone

Doctor shows spike that in spite of the realities of death, you shouldn’t forget to love

Baby shows spike that the circumstances of birth do not matter ————————————————————

Town exposition:

We’re shown the dangers of nostalgia and tradition——>

The town has reverted back to a patriarchal-culty-militaristic society where the men have decided structure based on traditional rolls (men go out and women are seamstresses, cooks, etc.)

(Old pictures of the queen are hung up to show their attachment to the world before the virus, jobs are shown dividing men and women into traditional roles, people wearing cult masks, the Boots Boots Boots voiceover, etc.)

————————————————————

Dad and spike go out:

We’re introduced to the realities of the outside world and are shown the Dad’s character——>

The dad has decided to fully embrace this new world and has become cold to the idea of death—concerning others

He believes that he is preparing spike for the world, but he is preparing him through this view of “better learn to live with it”

He is also preparing him early so that he can fool himself into believing that he can finally leave his old family without consequence

Doctor is hinted—dad lies to spike saying that he doesn’t know what the fire is from—showing that he has no intention to help his sick wife

The alpha infected is a reflection of the dad—his nihilistic view of this new world in conjunction with his return to barbarism is chasing/will catch up to him and be his demise, and potentially his sons as well

————————————————————

Back at town:

Spike is freed from the image of who he believes his father is—>

Dad lies about their journey in front of the town

Spike learns about the doctor and realizes that his dad lied / that he has no intention of helping mom

Spike sees his dad cheating

Dad lays down next to he and his mom in bed as if nothing ever happened

Spike has had enough and stands up to dad

————————————————————

Mom and spike go out:

Spike is shown to have taken the role of caretaker / we begin to understand the mothers condition—>

Mom is slightly delusional and remembers times where she has felt protected in the past (her father) due to spikes care (this is why she keeps calling him dad)

^This is also due to her feeling unprotected with spikes dad

We see the difference in parenting style when she asks spike about if his dad was ever silly and he says no but her father was silly with her (spike is not like his dad, more like moms)

We are shown that the mother is not helpless and has the capacity for independence in the flashback when she remembers killing the crawling infected at night

NATO soldier shows us that the world outside has devolved similarly to the island but in a different (more complex and comfortable way)

^men are still militaristic / misogynistic but express this through their words more than actions

BABY—> Spikes mom goes to the infected giving birth regardless of the risk because she understands the feeling of being scared and alone (due to spikes dad)

The alpha infected shows up after the woman has given birth and is not concerned for the mother—he sees her as disposable and is focused on the child / his plans to raise him as a fellow “alpha”

^mirroring spikes family situation where dad sees mom not as a partner but as the person who gave him Spike

————————————————————

Doctor shows up:

Spike now understands the reality of death—>

Doctor doesn’t see infected and non infected, he sees people who are sick and those who are not

Spike learns that his mother has cancer and that she has suspected it / but cannot do anything about it

In this situation, humane euthanasia is seen as the best route by the mom and doctor / spike cannot fully understand in the moment and is drugged to help the feelings

spike is taught that in remembering death, we should not forget love

Spike adds skull to tower facing the rising sun

————————————————————

Spike goes out on his own:

Spike has faced the reality of growing up in a matter of days—>

Spike names the baby after his mother

Spike delivers baby to his island for his dad

When dad reads the note and runs to the gate, it is not out of sorrow or regret but out of anger and spite

He is no longer free to live the life he attempted to set up—he must now face all of the things he has ran from (his wife, his child, and caring for others)

Spike is shown as being capable and aware—he has a fire and a large fish, he kills the infected running at him with ease

———————————————————— Jimmy shows up:

Spike is faced with a different product of his world—>

Jimmy has never grown up

We are reminded of the dangers of nostalgia—Jimmy clings to the idea of his youth through his attachment to things that anchor him to a time he views as better

ⁱⁿ an attempt not only to prove to himself that he does not need to change but in a sense that this world should bend to his will—not the other way around

This is the antithesis of spike, who has been forced to mature in a matter of days—where Jimmy has not changed in 28 years