S03.E09: If You're Happy And You Know It

[Tara Ariano]

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Phil hopes to cheer Carol up by treating her to a honeymoon vacation; Lewis' aviation pursuits prove to be a success.

[Big Mother]

Gail not being mentioned here is ominous. Hope nothing happened to her. Then again, Melissa and Todd aren't mentioned either.

[ottoDbusdriver]

5 minutes ago, Big Mother said:

Gail not being mentioned here is ominous. Hope nothing happened to her. Then again, Melissa and Todd aren't mentioned either.

No mention of Erica.  No mention of the calf either.

[AnnieBeez]

4 hours ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

No mention of Erica.  No mention of the calf either.

They aren't a recent storyline either...

[Galileo908]

Erica pretty much is just standing around and helping Glenn, isn't she?

So Melissa and Todd are going nuts, Gail is still in the elevator (perhaps for good? That was tough to watch), and fish are still alive. Well, a fish. But still!

Tandy & Carol's idea of sex will never not be funny for me.

[Dots And Stripes]

I was thinking the Melissa storyline was too dark and they had painting themselves into a corner. Then that ending with Gail. Way too far. I think I might be done.

I used to love Scrubs in the early seasons when they would give an unhappy ending from time to time. It felt unexpected, and when done right, it struck an emotional chord. The Gail thing was definitely unexpected, but with all of the chapters feeling lost and miserable, it's just too bleak. I don't feel sad mostly because I feel disbelief that Gail would have survived an ephidemic that killed most of humanity, tried so hard to get out of the elevator, then give up. Did Mary want out of her contract?

[ottoDbusdriver]

I know Tandy is stupid, but not knowing how a fish works and trying to give it CPR was just beyond stupid and not very funny.  
As was the mink coat and the Rembrandt on a fish hook -- what that supposed to be funny ?

So, did the virus supposedly kill off every living thing on the planet -- including fish ?  We know that it killed off the whales since they kept talking about that when they were in Malibu.

Where did the RV come from ?  That can't be Tandy's original RV -- that should still be in Tucson.  Or how about the fuel for the RV (since it has all gone chunky style) ?

So, no solar panels on the roof of the main building in the complex -- so where is all the power coming from ?

I don't seem to recall, but is that really how Tandy and Carol met ?  Tandy sniffing her bra on a clothesline near a campsite beside a lake doesn't ring a bell at all.  I thought she followed the signs to Tucson.

I guess Lewis wants to learn to fly to go to Tokyo and see if he can find his SO, but does he know that you can't fly across the Pacific in a single-engine plane ?  Even if he knows that he would have to follow the coast up to Alaska and back down through Russia, where does he plan to get all the fuel from ?

Erica is just there -- aren't Erica and Carol both supposed to be pregnant ?  Or has that whole pregnancy storyline kind of drifted to the wayside.

I hope that they replaced all the booze in that kiddie pool with actual water, otherwise Gail the fish ain't going to last long.

Gail shooting herself because of a ricochet just goes to show that despite her creativity to trap the Roomba, she's just as dumb as the rest of these guys.  
And if the power has been off in that building all this time, how is the Roomba still running ?  It has no way to recharge.

[Dots And Stripes]

1 hour ago, ottoDbusdriver said:

So, did the virus supposedly kill off every living thing on the planet -- including fish ?  We know that it killed off the whales since they kept talking about that when they were in Malibu.

Erica is just there -- aren't Erica and Carol both supposed to be pregnant ?  Or has that whole pregnancy storyline kind of drifted to the wayside.
 

Yes the virus killed everything. That's why finding the one cow is a big deal too as was the cow dropping dead. 

I've noticed Erica just hanging around too. I don't know the exact breakdown for this show, but I'm assuming that like most network shows the writers room is heavily male. It feels like they don't necessarily grasp the magnitude of pregnancy or childbirth without modern medicine.

[ally862]

That was dark.  I can't imagine they'd have her kill herself though   I'm assuming they'll show her thinking about it and then shooting out of the elevator to try to get attention again.

[rhys]

Sigh. Carol was holding her fishing rod wrong. And to add to the above person's observation about the catfish, that had better be water from its lake in that kiddie pool.

[Traveller519]

I'm wondering if we're being set up for Tandy and Carol to be alone together again. Lewis is setting himself up to leave, and Erica looks primed to head with him. Gail could be gone, and who knows what Melissa and Todd will try to do, maybe live our their last days in Zihuatanejo.

[cpcathy]

Interesting theory! That we weren't meant to be with all of this same group for as many  years as the show lasts. I kind of dig it. New characters, new actors, different dynamic.

[peeayebee]

Yes, very dark. Gail the fish lives, Gail the person (apparently) dies. 

I don't know what it'll take for Melissa to get better. Just leaving locked in a room won't do it. 

Jesus Christ and his buddy Frankenstein. Hee.

[possibilities]

This show is continually setting up interesting events and then not following through.

Wouldn't you look around in the lake, to see if there were more surviving fish?

I find Tandy's over the top dumbassery so annoying, it almost makes the rest of the show impossible for me. But the premise is so intriguing, I keep coming back, no matter how many times they disappoint me.

I don't mind when they get gloomy, since often the humor isn't funny to me anyway.

[cpcathy]

I keep watching because I really don't know what's going to happen next. They have surprised the audience on many occasions.

And yes, I would have checked the rest of the lake!

[MercuryFive]

If Gail didn't do herself in, I wonder how can they get her out of her dire situation using the gunshot, aside from just making noise that someone might hear? Her failed idea with the ever-running Roomba was something I hadn't thought of her trying, so there must be other ways for her to get out of there besides the obvious finale implication.

I was initially thinking maybe she could have shot at the control panel to get the elevator going again, but that doesn't solve the power problem. Anyone else have any solutions to our "lady in the elevator in a remote building" dilemma?

Hey, maybe Melissa will get free somehow and, since she likes to "explore," maybe she'll save the day?

Edited December 13, 2016 by MercuryFive
Sorry, I clicked "Save" once, but it seems to have doubled my post.

[MercuryFive]

Oh! I wonder if the Gail fish is a metaphor and, even though it seems like the Gail human a goner, maybe that isn't actually the case.

[possibilities]

I used to live in an elevator building with an elevator that would frequently (often more than once a day) get stuck between floors, so I have thought a lot about how elevators are dangerous and how I wish safety were improved. Since this building is supposed to be "new technology" maybe there's some fix that hasn't been revealed yet.

I think there SHOULD be an emergency mechanism that causes elevators to "return to lobby," as a safety measure for power failures. Maybe she will discover a lever or something like that, which she could activate.

An electric stairlift (a chair that carries you up a flight of stairs on a rail system, for people who can't walk-- used if you're disabled in a 2 level house-- much easier to retrofit a house with one of those vs installing an actual elevator), has batteries that would kick in during power failures, so residents wouldn't get trapped upstairs during an outage. Maybe there's a battery back up that she can discover and activate.

I know, she's been in there for days, so she's probably examined the interior very carefully, but you never know. She's also been drunk a lot of the time.

Or, I like the idea of Melissa (or someone) wandering around, and finding her.

Maybe while Melissa is locked up, someone will hear the gunshots again and know it's not Melissa, so go investigating.

Someone could also tamper with the circuit breaker and re-activate the power to the building, by accident or for shenanigan reasons.

I also thought maybe she would shoot the cables to bits so the thing goes crashing down, but I don't know if that's how elevators work. I imagine it is not, but then again, it's TV and they can work however the show decides.

If they do have her die in there, I would guess that either no one ever finds her and they think she just moved on, or they do find her and it's the catalyst for them not wanting to stay there anymore because it's too upsetting. But it's way outside of the bounds of what a sitcom usually does, and I don't think this show has been very ambitious about breaking rules or pushing boundaries.

They did kill Phil 2, though. And Gordon. And probably Mike. So I suppose it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

Re the lack of visible solar panels or windmills or other explanations for how the system works, I am telling myself that the source is off site and connected remotely. It's also possible they are not running on solar or wind but actually geothermal or some other system that is less visible. Or they're using something like "solar collector paint" (I've read about it-- the idea is you paint it onto surfaces and thus entire building becomes a generator, without needing the bulky panels). Any new technology is possible in an imaginary world. It's no less plausible than any of the other BS they've shown.

[tankgirl73]

I don't mind when this show goes dark. The fundamental premise is that 7 billion people and far more animals all died cataclysmically. And as has been pointed out, characters have been killed off before. Phil 2 being one of the more gut-wrenching (literally) examples. I don't think Gail is even necessarily 'giving up' -- she is now injured and bleeding. So it's believable that she'd decide to not have a long, lingering, suffering drawn-out death from blood loss if the injury is preventing her from pursuing escape anymore.

I just keep wondering if there's not a panel in the elevator ceiling she can just open and climb out of. It would be the perfect height to just walk out onto the floor.

I'm also wondering about the gas issue. If a plot line (like anything to do with Erica) gets sidelined for awhile while we focus on other stories, that's fine, that's to be expected. But if the gas is going bad, then the gas is going bad and they really should explain it. They can't just have it bad when plot convenience demands it.

To my memory, Carol followed the signs but had a campsite outside of town when Tandy (aka Phil at the time) found her.

Can I just say, props to them for keeping the name change even after Phil 2 died so it wasn't necessary anymore? It's just that kind of weirdness that I love about this show... characters and situations change frequently, and the changes stick.

[SoothingDave]

'member when this show wasn't so dark?  'member?

Yes, there should be a way for Gail to get out of the elevator car through the top.  

[qtpye]

It is kind of sweet how much Tandy loves Carol, considering he hated her when they first met.  It is even better that they have made this change of feeling very believable.

In order to make this type of Giligan's Islands/Apocalyptic show work, you have to be in love with the chemistry of the main gang.   I really did not think the cast gelled in an entertaining way, with the exception of Tandy and Carol, and now they might try to get rid of people.  I never thought the actor that played Todd had any chemistry with Melissa or Gail.

Weirdly, this is probably more realistic.  It is the end of the world and you are stuck with people that you might not even like.  In other shows the main group automatically becomes a loving family after many trials and tribulations.  Here, you still feel these people barely tolerate each other.  Gail has been gone for a long time and no on has even noticed.

[MercuryFive]

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Maybe while Melissa is locked up, someone will hear the gunshots again and know it's not Melissa, so go investigating.

I am happy to see that there are actually a lot of possibilities for Gail to survive. I have hope now! But this one seems extra-plausible since it also connects Melissa's lock-up to the overall story-line.

[DrSpaceman73]

I don't think she killed herself.  I think the fish miraculously surviving, not once but twice, is supposed to be a parallel to Gail getting out somehow

I just keep wondering where she is going to the bathroom in the little elevator. 

[iMonrey]

Not only the thing with Gail, but the thing with Melissa is pretty dark as well. For a sitcom that's usually just wacky this one turned pretty somber at the end. I'm not convinced Gail actually killed herself so I'll be waiting to find out but that would be pretty twisted if that's where they're going with it.

[piequinn35]

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I don't seem to recall, but is that really how Tandy and Carol met ?  Tandy sniffing her bra on a clothesline near a campsite beside a lake doesn't ring a bell at all.  I thought she followed the signs to Tucson.

Yes.

Poor Gail :( why would you put the note on the side and not on top of it! and you can also shoot from the little space you got! grrr I like that roomba (bec. I want one and my hubby said no :P)

[TheRabbi]

I know it resulted in possibly a (horrifying) death, but that scene of Gail attaching the note to the robot, it falling off, and quickly getting vacuumed up, is my favorite scene of the fall television season. I am cracking up typing this. That was so perfect. Go Tron, find the others! 

The rest of the episode wasn't doing it.I'm really getting sick of the Todd and Melissa storyline, as well as Tandy's schtick

Edited December 13, 2016 by TheRabbi

[possibilities]

I didn't understand how the roomba was supposed to help them find her (leaving aside how it was still doing its job after all this time). It isn't going to leave the building and go find the others where they're staying, is it? I thought she was in a totally different building, where the others never go.

It was a decent scene, but I couldn't tell if we were supposed to think it was a good plan or another sign she's lost her marbles.

RE the toilet issue, I am imagining she has a bucket or a plastic bag or some other receptacle. Maybe Gordon's hollow head.

[Big Mother]

I'm surprised these very bored people aren't exploring the other buildings to see what else they can put to use for their needs and whatnot. Or sleep on different couches, in case theyre bored. Or maybe dust off five layers of dust...

[DrSpaceman73]

17 hours ago, possibilities said:

I didn't understand how the roomba was supposed to help them find her (leaving aside how it was still doing its job after all this time). It isn't going to leave the building and go find the others where they're staying, is it? I thought she was in a totally different building, where the others never go.

It was a decent scene, but I couldn't tell if we were supposed to think it was a good plan or another sign she's lost her marbles.

RE the toilet issue, I am imagining she has a bucket or a plastic bag or some other receptacle. Maybe Gordon's hollow head.

I wondered that too, how the Roomba was going to help with the note if no one is ever inside that building. 

[Shermie]

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member when this show wasn't so dark?  'member?

Yes, that cheerful pilot episode about a guy who thought he was the only person in a world of 7 billion who wasn't dead. 

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I'm surprised these very bored people aren't exploring the other buildings to see what else they can put to use for their needs and whatnot. Or sleep on different couches, in case theyre bored. Or maybe dust off five layers of dust...

I'm pretty sure they do get random stuff from other places to feather their nests, as it were. But it's a different world, where "stuff" doesn't matter. Even a Rembrandt isn't actually valuable anymore, since there are enough on the planet for every (known) person to have one or two or five.

As for the five layers of dust, without people and animals there wouldn't be much dust inside a modern building whose doors hadn't opened in two years. Dust is mostly dead skin and the result of movement. No skin, no creatures moving... no dust.

I'd actually be pissed if Gail is still alive. This dark turn is more realistic.

[MarkHB]

On 12/13/2016 at 8:53 AM, qtpye said:

Weirdly, this is probably more realistic.  It is the end of the world and you are stuck with people that you might not even like.  In other shows the main group automatically becomes a loving family after many trials and tribulations.  Here, you still feel these people barely tolerate each other.  Gail has been gone for a long time and no on has even noticed.

I've thought for a long time that the elevator pitch for this show was "what if there was an apocalypse and the only survivors were essentially the gang from Seinfeld?"

Regarding elevators, I used to work in a 5-story building and that one had a massive steel shaft that pushed the elevator up and down from underneath; I filmed the day they dropped it through the roof of the building.  For cable-hung elevators, I do know that there are tons of braking things in the shaft to prevent the Tower of Terror scenario.

[Helena Dax]

I'm sure someone has already said it, but after watching this episode I think that maybe "The last man on Earth" isn't the premise of the show, but its ending. 

[iMonrey]

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I'm surprised these very bored people aren't exploring the other buildings to see what else they can put to use for their needs and whatnot. Or sleep on different couches, in case theyre bored. Or maybe dust off five layers of dust...

They probably did explore the other buildings to begin with, but after Lewis realized they only had enough power for one building, they shut off all the other buildings so there's probably no reason to go back into them. I'm assuming they picked the best building to live in. Whatever building Gail's in must not have anything of value for them. She only went there to get away from everyone (mostly Carol).

[possibilities]

If the last man is the end of the show (great idea!), I hope it's not Tandy; he's too much of a boy vs a man. And Todd would be too sad. Maybe Lewis.

[indeed]

Or Mike!

That would be particularly impressive, since he wasn't even on Earth when the show began and would have to fight off the illness.  (Hey anything's possible until we see a body!)

 

There HAS to be a ceiling exit in the elevator, right?  It might be a moot point now (hopefully not), but they never showed the ceiling and Gail maybe had enough stuff to pile up and try to stand on.  

[Big Mother]

21 hours ago, Shermie said:

 

As for the five layers of dust, without people and animals there wouldn't be much dust inside a modern building whose doors hadn't opened in two years. Dust is mostly dead skin and the result of movement. No skin, no creatures moving... no dust.

Dust comes from the sun shining into a window with no shades on it... When I go away for 2 months in the summer and I come back home, the layers of dust in the dining and living room can be astounding.

[ItCouldBeWorse]

The sun shining through the window causes spontaneous generation of dust?

[iMonrey]

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There HAS to be a ceiling exit in the elevator, right? 

Most of the ones made today have hatches that can only be opened from the outside, and by a special key by fire fighters. They are not meant to be used by passengers trapped inside because the danger of them being outside the elevator car is too great (and a lawsuit waiting to happen, no doubt).

[indeed]

Well, that stinks if there's no one around to get to them and there's no other way out (and no way to pry open the hatch).  Still, I would've liked to have seen Gail checking the ceiling for those of us viewers who've watched too many people on shows/in movies that have escaped from above.  ;)  Thanks.

Edited December 16, 2016 by indeed
Proper grammar is good

[Big Mother]

When I saw that Gail the fish died, I took it as an analogy that Gail was going to die. But now that the fish has been revived, I think she's going to survive.