By Rafael Abreu
On the Tube
Lately, I’ve noticed people either give concern or flak in regards to “The Last Man on Earth” not being good anymore.
According to some of these folk, the show has gone downhill ever since the beginning with the introduction of other characters and the run around of the same plot, like Phil not getting over Melissa. Also, according to these people, the show is no longer funny. That last one I don’t understand, since for me the show has remained just as hilarious as ever, if not more so.
Episode 7, “She Drives Me Crazy” continues with Phil not getting over Melissa and everyone learning that she and Todd are having sex – all the time. This bothers Phil so much that in a hilarious scene involving a town meeting, he tries to vote to make the sex sessions less frequent. but he ends up being voted to clean up his toilet pool.
Soon, he devises a plan to strand Todd in the middle of nowhere during a long car trip, but after driving off, then reversing, then driving off, then reversing again and again, he decides against it. It shows that Phil isn’t all that bad and even Todd thinks he’s a nice guy. Then again, Todd thinks everyone’s nice.
“I could be nicer,” says Phil, as he realizes that he could use some improvement, leading us to the next scene of him seriously readying himself to clean out his pool.
Then comes episode 8, “Mooovin’ In” and for the first time in several episodes, the dynamic changes.
Phil stops being so concerned about Melissa and Todd and more concerned about his standing in the community. He starts thinking that he isn’t being respected or appreciated, and after venting to his sports ball friends at the bar, he realizes he needs to do something amazing to make them all notice him.
Enter a random cow, which Phil thought would be great to butcher, but everyone else is naturally against that. In fact, Todd used to spend time on his uncle’s ranch, so he knows how to take care of a cow! As one can imagine, Phil is less than pleased.
Will Forte is great at facial expressions, and these episodes really demonstrate that as we see him fake a smile, hide pain, or pretend to be in pain or surprise. Every emotion Phil has feels genuine or genuinely phony, and the rest of the cast is just as excellent at either being funny, serious or sweet.
Of the many moments I loved in these episodes, a very nice one comes at the end of “Mooovin’ In”. After finding the cow Phil lets loose in another attempt to win sympathy after bringing it back, Todd decides to let Phil take all the credit for finding it. Todd explains that Phil means so much to him and that letting him take credit for finding the cow seems righteous. Phil comes off as truly touched, and right as he says he doesn’t want to take the credit, the scene transitions immediately to him announcing to everyone that he found the cow.
One thing these episodes further demonstrate is that Phil has become very unlikable. While I don’t mind this and enjoy seeing him fail as well as see him succeed, I fear many people’s complaints will be something along the lines of “how can we root for such an unlikable character?”
Indeed, this is a problem if you’re rooting for Phil. I for one am merely observing Phil and his companions as they do their best to survive the post-apocalypse. As for the future of this series, however, the direction it has been taking thus far may prove a problem for many viewers.
Actually, I think the show has gotten funnier as it’s gone along! At first, I thought it was kind of juvenile and dumb. I even was ready to stop watching it – but my husband liked it, so I hung on – and I’m glad I did. Now I seem to like it more than him! This show is not realistic at all, and that bothered me at first…but now I just go with the flow