Warning: Mild spoilers follow for the
current and past seasons of The Last Man
On Earth, but you can read this without really compromising your future
enjoyment of the show.
I’ve been
doing lots of TV show write-ups lately, but since most shows are ending or have
ended in the past and next month, it serves as a good point to write about
them. However, one show that has delightfully twisted in the wind in various
surprising ways is The Last Man on Earth.
While it abandoned its premise a bit too quickly for me, the show has managed
to continually change things up on the fly in interesting ways.
The premise
of the show seems somewhat obvious from the title, although as I mention in the
opening paragraph, it’s unfortunately a mechanic that they abandon after just
one episode. At that point, lead character Phil “Tandy” Miller (Will Forte)
runs into Carol (Kristen Schaal), and some normalcy is restored, since for the
previous 22 minutes we saw Phil basically destroying priceless artifacts and
getting drunk all the time.
I think they
could have done a few episodes with Solo Phil, exploring some of the ludicrous
aspects of solo living, but I imagine it’s a concept that would have gotten
tough to plot out for too long. Also, a strength of the show is its ability to
radically change-up its elements, sometimes even from the start to the end of
the episode.
The show
starts with the weird Solo Phil adventures, but the introduction of Carol turns
it more into a pessimistic rom-com, since she and Phil predictably clash. From there,
the third survivor turns out to be January Jones, and it predictably frustrates
Phil that prior to her arrival, he married Carol.
From there,
new characters are introduced, but the show does its best to tweak your
expectations. The kind of fat dude? A complete lady’s man who immediately wins
over January Jones (and later, Mrs. Ted Danson and Attractive Aussie Newcomer).
There might be only a dozen people left after a plague wipes out the world, but
one of them also happens to be named Phil Miller… Except that he’s this guy,
who also happens to have engineering skills.
And oh yeah,
Will Ferrell shows up in one episode, for about 60 seconds, and it’s
incredible.
The vibe of Last Man on Earth isn’t always perfect,
as there is plenty of awkward “humor” mixed with actual dramatic scenes, like
when the gang has to deal with death. (And this happens frequently.) But the
show is always near the top of my weekly queue, because it does keep me
guessing. The absolutely mundane aspects of being the last people on Earth are
so wonderfully compelling.
The show
just finished up its second season, so it’s relatively easy to play catch-up if
you’re so inclined. It’s on FOX, so you can see the ole reruns on Hulu.
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