BWW Recap: THE LAST MAN ON EARTH Sends Phil 2 to 'Valhalla'
By: Gunnar Larson Mar. 13, 2016
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 episode opens with Phil 2's funeral, essentially where the show left us three months ago with the mid-season finale. In typical Phil fashion, he puts on the grandest Viking funeral, complete with Gail playing accordion and Todd singing Tubthumping. The ship with the casket is elaborately decorated. Erica tells Phil that it wasn't what Phil 2 wanted, to which Phil replies "No, but it was what he needed."
Phil putting on this funeral for Phil 2 is outright a way for Phil to come to terms with Phil 2's death. In Phil's head, all he has to do is give Phil 2 the best funeral ever, and Phil will stop being sad about it. He thinks a typical burial wouldn't suit Phil 2. No, he needs a grand send-off. I think this is a direct reaction to the fact that Phil lived through the plague. He watched as the entire nation around him died without being buried. Last week we were shown the areas where the dying went to die-bodies lined up in bags on asphalt. This history and these memories are at play here. Phil 2, being the first person Phil knew in the New World to die (he never met Gordon), is an opportunity for Phil to send-off everyone he knew and couldn't say goodbye to.
In the second scene, between Phil and Carol, Phil expresses his frustrations with the funeral-it wasn't good enough. Carol immediately brings up that Phil is pushing his feelings about Mike onto Phil 2. The show makes the connection clear early on that Phil 2's death is meant to be representative of all the dead. Of course, this is something only Carol-who knows Phil amazingly well-can recognize. This is also something that Phil can deny, until he gets the funeral right.
The second aspect to Phil's behavior comes from the fact that Phil is the one who brought everyone together. Way back in the pilot, Phil was the character to put up the Alive in Tucson signs. He started the first community there, and called himself the first President. To Phil, this makes him responsible for all the people who live there. To him, Phil 2's death is his fault. He imagines things would be better now that the virus is over. Unfortunately, Phil had to learn that not everyone is safe.
After these early scenes, it takes Phil the rest of the episode to fully accept Phil 2's death. He gives a eulogizing guitar performance in his memory-and can't finish. He gets angry at Phil 2, after missing him so much he went through his things and found out his middle name was Stacy. Phil even makes another ball friend, drawn to look like Phil 2, and named Stacy.
Phil, desperately trying to fix the pain inside, offers to help Erica raise her and Phil 2's baby. Erica tells him no, that that's not what Phil 2 wanted. Phil finally gets the acceptance he needs when Phil 2's casket washes up on shore, and he and Erica bury him. To establish this post-apocalyptic society, perhaps the best thing is returning to what they know is normal.
In other parts of Malibu, most of tonight's drama came from the Gail-Todd-Melissa love triangle. Gail wants Todd to out their relationship, but he worries about Melissa's reaction. Todd still cares about Melissa, and he feels bad he let her down. We see this in the scenes where Melissa cathartically breaks christmas ornaments, or picks bedazzled jewels of Carol's boots one by one. Todd, pitying Melissa, agrees to watch TV with her, and sticks to this plan even after Gail wants to have sex with him (because of her guilt over Phil 2's death, she's super horny). Todd watches TV with her, and Melissa kisses him.
Todd is now morally caught between these two women. It's hard to tell who he has feelings for, if he has real feelings for either of them. Melissa excitedly tells Carol that she and Todd kissed. Carol, who's turning out to be the neutral, moral force on the show, can't let this happen. She gives Todd a talking to that she knows what he's doing.
All of our characters are going through very tumultuous times right now. Only Carol seems to be solid at this point. With the inevitable reunion of Phil and Mike on the horizon, and a preview of Todd letting loose next episode, this uncertainty in their lives is set to continue.
Leave your comments or thoughts on tonight's episode below or tweet me @gunnar_larson! THE LAST MAN ON EARTH is set to return with a new episode in three weeks on April 3rd!
Photo Credits: THE LAST MAN ON EARTH Official Facebook
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