BWW Recap: Phil 2 Is 'a Real Live Wire' on THE LAST MAN ON EARTH

With THE LAST MAN ON EARTH returning to equilibrium in the 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.

There are two plots tonight that deal with the show's continuing themes of new power structures in a post-apocalyptic society (which I've been talking about for a couple weeks), and the future of society in general. For a comedy, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is shockingly bleak at its core. The B-plot of tonight's episode follows Carol trying to convince all the women in Malibu to have kids.

The conversation of having children comes up after Phil 2 tells the group that they need to leave Malibu and find a place that can actually sustain life, and Carol supports this assertion with the belief that a sustainable society is necessary for the children, the next generation. She (and the audience) is shocked to find out that the other women in the group (Melissa, Gail, and especially Erica) are completely against the idea of having kids. Melissa says she doesn't want to bring children into the world that exists after the plague. Erica says she doesn't want "coin-purse boobs."

Carol discusses with Tandy the idea of having kids, and as we know from Season 1, Tandy and Carol are all-in to have children and re-start society. Carol, the biggest optimist in the group, takes it upon herself to persuade the women to have children. She brings a (horrifically amazing) painting to Melissa who she's closest with, then fails to gain any ground at all with Gail or Erica.

In a post-apocalyptic story, restarting society is at the center of the narrative. If it's set after the event (like THE LAST MAN ON EARTH IS), the main focus is generally survival and reproduction. By having the females on this show reject this notion is the bleakest thing this show has done, and it's for the best. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH has never been the traditional post-apocalypse story, so by throwing out this generic tropes, the show is allowed to become its own entity.

Because without children, what is society? It's nothing. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH just offered perhaps the most depressing plot on TV this side of the Leftovers. Are we really going to watch seven strangers live it up in Malibu, knowing they will die and the human race will die with them?

Meanwhile, in the A-plot, Phil 2 decides to stop being the handyman around the house. He makes this choice after noticing his other survivors relaxing. Phil 2 realizes that he's the only person trying to fix things, and that he's the only one to do work.

With Phil 2 out of the picture, Tandy and Todd try to pick up the slack, though neither is very handy. In the B-plot, Melissa notes that there are no doctors in this new society. In this A-plot with Todd and Tandy, it becomes crucially aware that none of the survivors have any real, useful qualities. Sure, Gail is a nurse, but that's not the same thing as the intensive knowledge a doctor has. Phil 2 is good at construction-but what else is there? The group as a whole is fairly incompetent. The entire succession of a new generation rests on the shoulders of people who can't create a society and don't want children.

When Todd and Tandy find the titular live wire connected to the solar panels and can't figure out how to turn it off, Tandy goes to Phil 2 for help, knowing that he can solve the problem. Phil 2 declines because of his personal vendetta against Tandy, and when Tandy calls him out on it, Phil 2 punches Tandy.

This punch is crucial to THE LAST MAN ON EARTH: it is the first act of physical aggression on the show, and likely in the new society. This second season has already been more deadly than the first (Carol shocks Will Ferrell to death and Tandy holds the room at gunpoint) but this punch brings it to a whole new level. Phil 2 recognizes his role in the group as the most powerful, and acts out of anger, knowing that he won't be punished.

Phil 2's power has gone to his head. After waving a gun in front of Tandy, he really shows his dictatorial side by refusing to go into the stocks for his crime. The entire group confronts him, showing it is a unanimous decision to lock him up, but he refuses. All the survivors are under the impression that the new world is a democracy, but Phil 2 knows this is false.

After his power is threatened, Phil 2 decides to leave Malibu. In a last ditch effort, he confesses his love for Carol, then Erica reveals that she is pregnant. This end-of-episode reveal is incredible. It was done so deftly, blending both plots perfectly, and it was a complete and utter shock completely eclipsing the shock of Phil 2 leaving Malibu. Not only that, but this is a development that comes with depressing conclusions. Erica is about to have a baby she doesn't want, and Phil 2 is going to be stuck in Malibu with people he doesn't want to be with. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is likely about to get way more dramatic, and shows no signs of letting up its fantastic string of episodes.

The Last Quotes on Earth

Gail: "I thought he was gonna take his pants off."

Tandy: "You're not just a company, guy, you're a whole corporation."

Tandy: "We're gonna have it done by nap time"

Erica: "My sister had kids and her boobs turned into coin purses." Carol: "Who doesn't love a coin purse? Put some coins in and squeeze."

Phil 2: "And he poops in the ocean! In front of our beach! Every damn day!"

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Leave your comments or thoughts on tonight's episode below or tweet me @gunnar_larson! Tune in next week for the seventh episode of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH season 2!

Photo Credits: Anthony Hardwick | FOX; THE LAST MAN ON EARTH official twitter

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