BWW Recap: THE LAST MAN ON EARTH Returns from the 'Pitch Black'
By: Gunnar Larson Mar. 06, 2016
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.
Three months ago, we were left with one of the saddest episodes of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH, where Phil 2 died. The show picks up its tertiary plot, however, choosing to focus this latest episode on Mike Miller, Tandy's brother (can we go back to calling him Phil now that Phil 2 is dead?). At the end of the first half of season 2, Mike ejected himself from his space station, planning to return to Earth.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH choosing to focus its midseason premiere on Mike and Mike alone isn't exactly new for the show-both the pilot and the season 2 premiere had simliar, tight-focus narratives on Tandy. It allows the show to take a breathe from the fast-moving Malibu plot, as well as adding important background information.
When Mike lands, he lands on a dilapidated cruise liner, and rides a water bicycle, Phil the Worm in hand. He bikes for three days, and then is about to give up. Then he hallucinates his older brother Phil, as a child (played by Room's Jacob Tremblay). That Mike imagines Phil as a ten year old implies that that's how Mike still sees Phil-and Phil's personality is that of a ten year old anyway. Young Phil, foul-mouthed and mean, motivates Mike to keep going-and then Mike sees a sailing ship on the horizon.
Mike sails over to the boat, which he thinks is abandoned. He changes his clothes, gets comfortable, and then the boat's owner, Pat, an older man, introduces himself. Pat asks Mike if he was introduced to the virus. Not only has Mike not been introduced, but I wasn't sure if Mike knew about the virus at all-though someone at NASA must have told him. It is through Pat that the audience gets (for the first time) concrete details about the virus that killed most of the world.
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH has mostly avoided talking about the world pre-apocalypse, and for good reason. This show is much more concerned with the seeds of society, and what defines human companionship. With the introduction of Mike, and his eventually being reunited with Phil, the show must face the past its been avoiding this entire time.
Pat tells Mike that the virus killed everyone, and he is the last man on Earth. Pat sailed around to several different cities in his boat, all of which were completely dark. His assumption that nobody survived is solid. Pat even wears a hazmat suit when he goes on land, assuming nobody was immune, and if he came into contact, he too would die. In addition to this, Pat takes Mike to one of the quarantine areas the dead bodies were confined to, after Mike asks where all the bodies are. Pat even tells Mike that, once introduced to the virus, blood "pours out of every hole."
THE LAST MAN ON EARTH has always been a post-apocalyptic show. By divulging the details of the past, and finally showing the massacre that happened, it allows the show to move forward into more rich storytelling arenas. It's no coincidence that the episode that gives us information about the virus, also gives us information about Mike's relationship with Phil, and their childhoods.
With Jacob Tremblay as Young Phil, the audience learns that Phil has always acted the way he does. He also lets the audience know about the relationship between Phil and Mike. Mike is the younger brother who Phil constantly made fun of, and the audience can tell through the way Mike acts around Young Phil that he just wants to impress him. The two times Young Phil show up are when Mike is in danger, and he shows him what to do. Mike uses Phil as a mentor and a guide for how to live, first through Phil the Worm, and now through Young Phil.
While Pat and Mike are walking around Miami, Mike sees one of the Alive in Tucson signs that Phil painted way back in the pilot. Mike, who knows his family is from Tucson, knows he has to go there immediately. Pat, who doesn't want to be left alone again, hits Mike over the head with a wrench. Upon waking up (after the second Young Phil hallucination) Pat tries to convince Mike that Alive in Tucson is a trick by the government. Mike doesn't believe him, and they get into a fight, which rips Mike's hazmat suit. With Mike now introduced to the air, Pat can't let him back on the boat. So he lets him go.
Spending the entire episode on Mike's journey was a daring, but important, choice that THE LAST MAN ON EARTH made. By finally addressing the past, the show will be able to move forward in new and exciting ways. I can't wait for Mike and Phil to be reintroduced to each other, and to see how the themes of dealing with the past are handled with our Malibu Crew.
THE LAST QUOTES ON EARTH
"You beefed it so hard."
"Sight of a dead body still does it for me. Skin or no." "I'm still a skin guy."
"You done making love to the ground, son?"
Leave your comments or thoughts on tonight's episode below or tweet me @gunnar_larson! THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is set to return this spring, though FOX has yet to provide a release date.
Photo Credits: THE LAST MAN ON EARTH official Twitter
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