BWW Recap: The Pranks Continue on THE LAST MAN ON EARTH
By: Gunnar Larson Apr. 17, 2016
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.
The best thing the show could've done is show the relationship between Phil and Mike the way they did. Not only is the sibling rivalry realistic, but it is out of left field given the circumstances on the show. Given that nobody has any family (there are only 8 people alive that we know of), Phil and Mike should've been grateful to have found the other. Instead, by putting them at each other's throats, the show is able to give us a quick, deep understanding of their characters while simultaneously growing Phil and fitting Mike easily into the ensemble.
The prank war continues this week, escalating into ridiculous situations that only THE LAST MAN ON EARTH could do. After Phil's haircut (Will Forte's commitment to the role is incredible), he takes the prank war to heart. It doesn't help that as Phil walks away from the group, he can hear them laughing about his haircut. Phil as a character very much relies on being liked and having friends, so being put in a situation where he's mocked definitely justifies his behavior throughout the episode. Phil Miller is a tough character to play and make sympathetic, but Will Forte manages to continually walk a tightrope in his performance, making Phil both silly and real.
Part of the prank war is Phil's own pride. After the haircut, Carol tells Phil to shave the other side of his body, and not to engage Mike. Phil complains to Carol that she is on Mike's side, to which Carol says "I'm on our side." Carol is eternally Phil's compass and rock. I'm glad the show has sort-of shied away from focusing on her own quirkiness, and instead made her the rock for both Phil and the Malibu crew.
Phil's initial prank is to put poison oak in Mike's sleeping bag. As he's doing this, he sees a present by Mike's couch that is addressed to Phil. He initially senses that it's a prank, but he can't resist. He opens it with a rake, and sees that it's money. Phil comments that money is useless now (a connection to the changing social structure), and then gets his skin turned blue. Phil puts make-up over the blue, but everybody can tell.
The prank is really, very one-sided. Phil continues to fall in everything he tries. He finds out that Mike moved to a house down the street, so his poison oak prank failed. Phil tries to sneak into his new house, but Mike put in an alarm system (empty water bottles Phil walked into). Mike catches him, and then forces Phil to rub the poison oak on his balls. Phil is very proud and stubborn here. He refuses to admit it's poison oak, and as an extension refuses to admit he's wrong.
As a counter-prank, Mike moves Phil's bed to the side of a cliff. When he wakes up, Phil rolls off the cliff and onto a large blow-up pad. Mike's pranks are very elaborate where Phil's are basic. After waking up, he sees Mike high up on the cliff, giving him the middle finger (with his fourth finger). As a retort, Phil tries to throw sand at him. Everything Phil tries to do, Mike is successful at. Phil's failure to do any prank, and Mike's continued success is a great extension of their character dynamic that was introduced last week.
Todd walks in on Phil in the kitchen and sees that he's paranoid. Todd offers to help, and shaves the side of his head too. They go to Mike, and Mike, seeing that Phil brought someone else into their war, decides to stop it. Phil doesn't believe him, and stages an elaborate letter from their mother prank. Mike, thinking the letter is really from their mother, breaks into Phil's safe and reads it. As he reads, he finds out it's a prank. It's a low blow from Phil. All the pranks before had been very lighthearted. To bring in their deceased family is too far.
Phil, recognizing he took it too far, brings Mike the real letters from their parents. The brothers, in a touching and emotional moment, reflect on the loss of their family. It's a big step forward for the series, which hardly ever refers to the past on the show. It'll be interesting to see how they further integrate these character growths and the relation to the past in future episodes.
Elsewhere in Malibu not much happens. Todd continues to balance his relationship with Melissa and Gail, elaborately telling both of them about his sex habits with the other. It seems to be working relatively well so far. After he shaves his head, Todd is ridiculed by the women. After he holds strong his opinion, he reasserts his stance that he can extend his relationship to Erica, or impregnate Carol because Phil is infertile. At the end of the episode, Carol agrees.
Leave your comments or thoughts on tonight's episode below or tweet me @gunnar_larson! Be sure to head here next week as I recap the next episode of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. There are only two more before the finale of season 2!
Photo Credits: THE LAST MAN ON EARTH official Twitter
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