Gunnar Larson

After the last two episodes drew out the introduction of Mike, the latest episode of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH continues a slow trend of storytelling. The entirety of the episode focuses on Carol trying to conceive, with no B-plot. Extending the show's season beyond thirteen episodes has caused the last couple weeks to feel worn thin.

Last week, Mike Miller was officially introduced to THE LAST MAN ON EARTH cast. We've seen Mike intermittently all season, but because he is Phil's brother, the show needed to establish his character and his relationship to Phil very quickly. This week's episode is essentially a part two to last week's, continuing the two plots.

Before this season began, Will Forte said that THE LAST MAN ON EARTH wouldn't rely on introducing new people as major twists like the show did in the first season, instead opting for situational plot twists. This has proven true for the season thus far, except tonight we get a new introduction—one in the works since the first season finale. Mike finally reaches the Malibu crew.

The most important thing in a post-apocalyptic society is growth, and the continuation of society. Growth, especially in the early days like on THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, means babies. Because of this, and with a population of four women and two men, women have an enhanced role in society. The growing power of the women is on full display in tonight's episode.

Last week, I talked about how the show finally acknowledging the past was a huge step forward for storytelling and thematic elements. Tonight, the main plot is Phil trying to come to terms with Phil 2's death. I think there are two major elements to Phil's actions at play in tonight's episode, one stemming from his inherent role as caretaker, and another from his relationship with his brother.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH returns tonight after a long, long break with one of its most daring outings yet. The show has proven itself to be an unpredictable, daring beast, but focusing its spring premiere on a peripheral character who's been in maybe three episodes is a new kind of audacity. And it just might be my favorite one yet.

What sets THE LAST MAN ON EARTH apart from every other show on the air is its seamless mixing of rapturously funny comedy with its bleak, post-apocalyptic setting. The show is able to make that distinction and allow comedy to seep into a dark setting through distancing its characters from the tragedy that surrounds them. Sure, they're the last people on Earth. But, as Todd says tonight, “I didn't know any of them in the Morgue! I knew [Gordon]!”

SCREAM QUEENS, since its inception, has been a satire of college Greek life, a system that breeds hateful, self-obsessed people. Every few weeks in the news there's a story of a fraternity throwing a racist party, or spitting on veterans, or leaked sorority emails. Chanel and her cronies have been representations of these people. I would say exaggerations, but they're not. SCREAM QUEENS returns to these roots in a more than satisfying two-part conclusion.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH celebrates Christmas in typical LAST MAN fashion: grandiose and exuberant. Carol, of course, is super into Christmas. She decorates the Malibu Mansion with huge candy canes, themed rooms, and a large Christmas tree. It is truly a wish-fulfillment Christmas decoration. For once, her enthusiasm and optimism spreads through to the other survivors. It may just be the holiday season, but everyone is caring, giving, and full of love. 

SCREAM QUEENS, at its core, is an absurd horror satire. It infrequently satirizes the genre in which it is indebted, and instead focuses a lot of its absurd humor on millennials and the adults who don't care about them. Up until this point, the show has remained consistent, but tonight, it loses its sense of self. The humor falls flat and there are no stakes to make any of it dramatic.

SCREAM QUEENS's forward momentum has come to a halt. After a couple weeks of forward momentum, the show slows down this week. The show is simply fanning the flame in this episode, underlining scenes we've already scene and relaying information that we already know. 

There are seven people on Earth. The rest of society died during an unknown plague. After spending months alone, they find each other and create a small community in Malibu. These people know isolation. They lived it, watching the world around them die. Even together, isolation pervades their lives. 

SCREAM QUEENS has always been a horror satire, playing off the genre's obvious tropes and pitfalls. Some episodes even have blatant references to classic horror films (the Shining, Silence of the Lambs, and Psycho the most obvious). Tonight, SCREAM QUEENS is at its sharpest, honing on three ghost stories that emphasize the show's strengths.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is, above all, a show about recovering after loss. Society as a whole is destroyed after a plague, and a few people have to come together and rebuild. This week, everybody takes baby steps in their own personal problems, as THE LAST MAN ON EARTH walks on the dramatic side. 

The ramifications of the past and their bearing on the present has always been the core of SCREAM QUEENS' logic. The show constantly concerns itself with what happened 20 years ago, flashbacks, the past, and the divide between adults and children. On a more micro level this week, karma bites everyone in the ass.

With THE LAST MAN ON EARTH returning to equilibrium with its last episode, tonight the show is finally able to make forward motion, propelling the plot in shocking ways while staying true to the show's larger themes. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, still in its 19th episode, manages to pull the rug out from under the audience with impossible-to-guess twists in ways that deepen the show in its second season.

After SCREAM QUEENS narrowed its focus two weeks ago to one plot, the show maintains a tight focus this week. There are two plots here instead of then, though. Grace and Pete go and search out Heather, a former Kappa sister, and the Chanels use a Ouija board to contact Chanel #2. These two threads both follow the main theme of the episode, and the show itself: surrounding danger drives normally innocent people to do bad things.

Tonight on THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, the survivors found another alive animal: crickets. Along with the survivors and the cow, this is the first sign of other life. The whales were beached; we haven't seen anything else. Given the short lifespan of crickets, these are likely newborns—survivors after the plague. The crickets bring nutrients to the cul-de-sac, and they also bring hope for the future. 

This week the three episode Halloween arc of SCREAM QUEENS ends. The show spends little time messing around and gets to the core of this episode immediately. The sisters vote, and it's revealed that Zayday and Chanel tied for President, meaning they co-rule Kappa. The rest of the episode is a slumber party gone awry. SCREAM QUEENS boils down its plot to its core main characters, locks them in a house, and sees what happens. It's glorious.

THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is a show that works in equilibriums. It starts in one normal, throws everything into disarray, and then returns to the old normal or reaches a new normal. The fourth episode this season is the end of the first part of the season, returning our characters to the new normal. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (THE LEGO MOVIE) and Will Forte (SNL) knew they had to go from Tandy in the stockade to Tandy being part of the group again. Going from A to B (or in this case C to T) works to the show's detriment, resulting in a treading water episode.