The series follows Ye Wenjie, an astrophysicist who sees her father beaten to death during a struggle session in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, who is conscripted by the military.
In Inner Mongolia, Ye Wenjie meets a young Mike Evans (Ben Schnetzer), a radical environmentalist, and later confronts her father's killer, who is unrepentant.
With the countdown nearing to just a few minutes, Auggie (Eiza González) goes to her laboratory and sees a successful demonstration of her nanofiber technology.
Jin (Jess Hong) continues using the VR headset, where her choices can have effects on potential new eras for the virtual world.
[1] Regarding Ye Wenjie's decision to send the message, D. B. Weiss explained, "[We've seen] her disdain [for] authority because she saw where it leads; it led to her father being beaten to death in front of 50,000 people by schoolgirls with their belts.
Ben Rosenstock of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "The problem isn't individual sadists; it's something core to all of us: some willingness to choose selfishness and tell lies as readily as we believe them.
"[5] Johnny Loftus of Decider wrote, "Benioff, Weiss, and Woo have built a compelling core cast out of the motivations that previously drove one single character.
"[9] Jerrica Tisdale of Telltale TV wrote, "“Red Coast” gives us the most surprising development with Ye Wenjie's choice and potential consequences.
"[10] Greg Wheeler of Review Geek gave the episode a 4 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "there's enough to get sucked in to the plot and overlook this, and that ending with Ye Wenjie seems to hint that aliens are involved in all of this somehow.