Y: The Last Man - General Discussion

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, AllyB said:

Because humanity's long term survival would be much, much more likely to be achieved by replicating our existing science in humans, than by working out why Yorick and Ampersand are immune and then cloning them to save two species through inbreeding. And not only would we be able to save humanity, but eventually it's likely that most mammalian species could be restored, albeit as females only and dependent on human assisted reproduction.

I would assume that Yorick & Amp could be studied to find out why they were immune, find a cure for whatever this is, and then using the sperm and embryos in all the sperm banks around the globe to slowly rebuild the human population. All willing people with uteruses carry a Y chromosome fetus once this gets straightened out.

I didn’t assume they would clone Yorick & Amp. But I admit I don’t know anything about the logistics of all this.  I know we have y human sperm on ice all over the world but what about the rest of the mammals??? And what does that mean for the ecosystem.

 

[PinkRibbons]

5 hours ago, General Days said:

355 is the only character I like.

I think 355 is interesting in that a very real part of her doesn't actually know what she's supposed to be doing. She doesn't have her chain of command, her situation is completely unprecedented, and she hasn't figured out that she can't expect civilians to act like subordinates. I know Yorick is trying her last nerve, but he's traumatized and scared and unlike her, he has not been trained to compartmentalize all that. Plus her manner doesn't really make her all that trustworthy, which kind of explains why Yorick isn't keen to follow her every command. She needs to try to connect to him on a human level and stop treating him as a macguffin she has to tote around.

Quote

And if the yahoos of Oceanic flight 815 realized that in a day or two that they had to burn the dead bodies from the plane crash on Lost, the women of the United States should have been able to do the same.

We are talking BILLIONS of bodies. Imagine how damaging that kind of mass cremation could be to the environment, the air quality. Not to mention, most people aren't well-versed in proper cremation.
 

Quote

 

Also, the women of the US armed forces (active and reserve) ought to be put to work on getting the power back on, towing wrecks off the roadways and basic functions like that.

Sure, there are a lot of dirty jobs done mainly by men, but not only by men, and women have transferrable skill sets.

 

It looks like the armed forces have been mobilized, they're just on priority to helping the living in immediate danger (bar the forces sent to protect antiquities at Harvard, which is really rather insane). They have to keep people fed and sheltered and healthy before they can turn their attention to anything else.

My parents are Soviet ex-pats, and when the Empire collapsed, the biggest issue was supplies being cut off from what was once a functioning network. The network in Y-World is gone. Supplies and utilities are in different parts of the country, different parts of the world even. You can't get medicine or clean water or even power to where it's supposed to be because your route is clogged with dead bodies in cars, or a plane has fallen onto a building and severed every power line in the area. The number of  people with the skills to fix these issues have been severely pared down, and almost everyone is traumatized and grieving. Y-World is in immediate survival mode, they can't get to practicalities all at once, no matter how necessary.

I bring up the Soviet Union's collapse because my aunt and her family were in Russia at the time and the only thing that happened was that a bunch of territories decided to split off from each other. We were sending food and items to barter with for two years. We barely could contact them because the phone system was so messed up. Even with our help the family barely made it through and they still came out of the ordeal malnourished and permanently scarred.

[Zonk]

On 9/28/2021 at 7:10 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Or it could mean that one of them has a genetic immunity that they passed along to the other somehow by being together. 

That's not how genetics work.

On 9/28/2021 at 7:10 AM, Chicago Redshirt said:

Even if it were the former, it only really matters if the immunity can be detected and duplicated on the genetic level. You probably would never be able to tell what combo of environmental factors caused Yorick and & to become immune, especially because you wouldn't necessarily know all the environments they'd been in. You could start with the obvious ones, like Yorick's apartment and wherever Yorick picked & up from. But what if the environment was a random subway car that they traveled in, or a friend's house they were both at? What if the X factor was something one of them carried on their person but faded away now that it's, what, two months after the apocalypse?

That's not how any of this works. There isn't "immunity on a gnetic level" in a human and a monkey who are the only two survivors. There has to be something in their blood that protects them against the virus (I assume it's a virus, it usually is). Like an antibody that their bodies made against another pathogen that was in their apartment and that by chance also binds to this virus.

So let an immunologist or a virologist look at their blood and bag everything in their apartment.

I repeat: There is nothing for a geneticist to do here. There is no way it has something to do with their genes unless the monkey and the human are secret brothers.

On 9/28/2021 at 12:44 PM, Haleth said:

Yorick said he rescued the monkey from a lab.  Maybe it was something in the testing that caused the monkey to become immune, and it was somehow passed on to Yorick.

Could be that the monkey had a protype (harmless variant) of the virus and since it bites (they did emphasize that a lot), Yorick got infected and both made antibodies against it.

Which still has nothing to do with genetics.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

31 minutes ago, Zonk said:

That's not how genetics work.

That's not how any of this works. There isn't "immunity on a gnetic level" in a human and a monkey who are the only two survivors. There has to be something in their blood that protects them against the virus (I assume it's a virus, it usually is). Like an antibody that their bodies made against another pathogen that was in their apartment and that by chance also binds to this virus.

So let an immunologist or a virologist look at their blood and bag everything in their apartment.

I repeat: There is nothing for a geneticist to do here. There is no way it has something to do with their genes unless the monkey and the human are secret brothers.

Could be that the monkey had a protype (harmless variant) of the virus and since it bites (they did emphasize that a lot), Yorick got infected and both made antibodies against it.

Which still has nothing to do with genetics.

 

Let me try to rephrase.

Either Yorick or & could have a genetic, inherent immunity to the virus, correct? Not one that they developed from having been exposed to a version of the virus and developing antibodies or some other reason.

If so, that genetic mutation could allow Y or & to create antibodies, which then they transmitted to the other.

Also, the assumption that this is all a virus may be ill-founded. Normally viruses don't just strike everywhere at once equally like the one in the show does. 

Finally, even assuming that it is a virus and a virologist/immunologist should be the first line of investigation,  a geneticist might still be useful in order to make sure that the X factor that protected Y/& can be passed on to fetuses so that there could be male children again. 

[KaveDweller]

6 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Let me try to rephrase.

Either Yorick or & could have a genetic, inherent immunity to the virus, correct? Not one that they developed from having been exposed to a version of the virus and developing antibodies or some other reason.

If so, that genetic mutation could allow Y or & to create antibodies, which then they transmitted to the other.

Also, the assumption that this is all a virus may be ill-founded. Normally viruses don't just strike everywhere at once equally like the one in the show does. 

Finally, even assuming that it is a virus and a virologist/immunologist should be the first line of investigation,  a geneticist might still be useful in order to make sure that the X factor that protected Y/& can be passed on to fetuses so that there could be male children again. 

Since it seems like 355's bosses knew something was about to happen, is it possible something was released into the atmosphere (all over the world?) that contained a toxin that only interacted with Y Chromosomes? It seems unlikely, but I am not a scientist. 

It was hard to tell from what we saw if it really was all at the exact same time, or if it was over a few hours. It would be really hard to have a coordinated attack everywhere in the world, especially since it would have been in the middle of the night in some places. But I agree a virus would not normally hit everyone at once. With a virus you would have one person who started spreading it and it slowly spreads. 

[Trini]

Next few episode synopses:

107 - My Mother Saw A Monkey - 10/11/2021

Spoiler

Kimberly uncovers a secret. 355 and Allison reach an understanding. Yorick stumbles on a mysterious town where things are not what they seem.

Written by: Charlie Jane Anders, Directed by: Lauren Wolkstein

108 - Ready. Aim. Fire. - 10/18/2021

Spoiler

Tensions at the PriceMax spiral out of control. Hero and Sam pass the point of no return. Nora uncovers dangerous secrets.

Written by: Coleman Herbert, Directed by: Karena Evans

^ I'm making an assumption based on the name, but this seems to be the first episode written by a man.

109 - Peppers - 10/25/2021

Spoiler

As tensions at the Pentagon come to a head, Jennifer faces a new, surprising threat. Meanwhile, the Amazons hit the road.

Written by: Katie Edgerton, Directed by: Cheryl Dunye

 

[marceline]

I'm beyond tired of Yorick running off distracted like a cat following a laser pointer. I guess the Church of Radiohead was supposed to be a counter to the bleak weirdness of the Costco crew. I did like seeing a transman safely take part in whatever that ritual was.

I'm curious about the bathing ritual and yet not curious enough. So is Sam ever going to get to take a bath?

Dr. Mann and Yorick are a bad combo.

[Chicago Redshirt]

2 hours ago, marceline said:

I'm beyond tired of Yorick running off distracted like a cat following a laser pointer. I guess the Church of Radiohead was supposed to be a counter to the bleak weirdness of the Costco crew. I did like seeing a transman safely take part in whatever that ritual was.

I'm curious about the bathing ritual and yet not curious enough. So is Sam ever going to get to take a bath?

Dr. Mann and Yorick are a bad combo.

At least in this episode, Yorick had a semi-rational reason for running off. 355 had lied to him about having spoken to his mother, and in his mind could no longer be trusted. Most of the other times he has run off so far were more laser-pointeresque, to borrow your term.

The bathing ritual has Big Cult Energy. It is essentially a secular baptism, up to and including giving up the old name to be reborn in a new one, in this case, Athena. 

Sam is most definitely IMO not in a safe place. Given that woman got beatdown just for talking to him, I think it is strongly implied that he doesn't have a long-term Costco membership in his future. It's also worth pointing out that the leader made a point of telling Hero that she is welcome but mentioned nothing of Sam being welcome.

The show touches on a lot of potentially interesting concepts but then does not really do all that much with them. Maybe that's unfair and it will work on them in future episodes. The latest episode (#6) includes references to

Abortion: Does the notion that the human race may not be long for the world change the debate on personal choice? Is it right to bring a child into a world as messed up as the Y-verse?

Religion: How can one still believe in the face of the deaths of half the world and the prospect of the death of humanity in general? Or does one have to develop new beliefs in the face of such a tragedy as the Costco women have?

Politics:  Can we ever get past our ideological differences and focus on working on actually improving things, finding common ground, etc.? Or are we stuck looking for partisan advantage?

[xaxat]

This show has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. 

 

[KaveDweller]

This show is actually kind of boring.  You wouldn't think that was possible when the plot is about the death of half the world and the end of life as we know it.

9 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Politics:  Can we ever get past our ideological differences and focus on working on actually improving things, finding common ground, etc.? Or are we stuck looking for partisan advantage?

Apparently, no, we can never get past our ideological differences. It's pretty ridiculous that they are arguing about what party the president is in, when the biggest item on the agenda seems to be getting the electricity turned on.

[Danny Franks]

I'm three episodes into this and I have to say, the first episode was the best by far. As someone who read the comic I was just waiting for the disaster to happen, and the build up we got to it was really good - seeing dead rats, dead deer, seeing some sympathetic male characters and young boys and just having to realise they were all going to be dead very soon. 

There's a lot I don't remember from the comic, but I don't think Hero murdered her boyfriend just minutes before all the men died in it. Not sure why they needed to give her that extra trauma. I like Olivia Thirlby a lot as an actor, and think she's very good at looking lost and vulnerable, but I hope she gets more to do soon. I did like the trans-man friend, and the potential identity crisis that this event could bring on for him. It's a weird combination of lucky escape and slap in the face, that something kills every male on the planet but Sam survives because he wasn't born male.

Yorrick is a bit of a passenger, so far, and seems like he'd be better off just doing whatever 355 tells him.

I don't like the Republican women and the idea that their "values" matter one fucking bit when the lights are going out. I guess it's probably sadly realistic, but the partisan scheming just feels so petty and unworthy of any focus at all.

One thing that makes me happy - using a CGI Ampersand rather than a real Capuchin. I hate it when primates are forced to perform on TV and in movies because the animals are usually never able to have the normal sort of life that they should.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

14 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

I'm three episodes into this and I have to say, the first episode was the best by far. As someone who read the comic I was just waiting for the disaster to happen, and the build up we got to it was really good - seeing dead rats, dead deer, seeing some sympathetic male characters and young boys and just having to realise they were all going to be dead very soon. 

There's a lot I don't remember from the comic, but I don't think Hero murdered her boyfriend just minutes before all the men died in it. Not sure why they needed to give her that extra trauma. I like Olivia Thirlby a lot as an actor, and think she's very good at looking lost and vulnerable, but I hope she gets more to do soon.

 

Hero in the comics didn't murder her boyfriend. There was a scene in which she was sleeping with another paramedic and there was a catty discussion between a couple female paramedics as to whether she'd slept with every male firefighter or some such. 

I think giving TV Hero the trauma of killing her boyfriend better explains the journey that TV Hero is on than the comic explained the journey Comic Hero is on. It's sort of a strange thing to talk about because this involves things from the comics and the TV show beyond the first three episodes, so I will put it under spoilers just to be on the safe side:

 

It never seemed to me to be clear why Comic Hero became an Amazon or stayed with them as long as she did. I may not be remembering it well, but the Amazon plotline did not seem to be particularly realistic, and Hero's transition from a reasonable paramedic to a propagandized killer is abrupt.

By contrast, I could very much see TV Hero being full of self-loathing after having an adulterous affair and killing her lover. I could see that she would be desperate for acceptance and redemption. And therefore, that would make her extra-ripe for the picking by the women we've seen who tell her the past doesn't matter, she can join them and be welcome, safe, forgiven in a new life.

 

Edited October 6, 2021 by Chicago Redshirt

[Nande]

On 8/6/2021 at 7:23 AM, Anduin said:

"Yes, let's region-lock a trailer. God forbid people outside America might be interested and want to give us money."

I don't blame you, AnimeMania, you're just sharing what you found. I'm blaming the idiot of an exec who thought it was a good idea.

Here's a version that works in Australia.

 

Legit can't watch any videos on FX its so dumb. Like what's the damn point, its just a trailer ugh

[Haleth]

I’m about done. It’s not enjoyable for me to watch stupid people doing stupid things (Yorick and the scientist whose name I can’t remember) and I don’t care at all about anyone in the women’s cult. And since we are finally rid of Meghan McCain on tv I don’t want to see her clone. (Why oh why did you take that role, Amber?)

[bilgistic]

What's up with the full frontal nudity on what's essentially a cable channel? It seems really unnecessary to have multiple instances of female nudity on a show about all the men in the world perishing except for one. It felt like the episode was made for the male gaze, despite being written and directed by women. Super disappointing.

[zenithwit]

RIP Weird Al

I think the concept behind this show (and comic book) is really interesting.  But as others in this thread have pointed out, it feels like a lot of the female characters are behaving "like men".  I know the writer for the comic book is a man so maybe the issue with this universe is that it's from the male perspective to begin with?

That being said, I do think that if such a catastrophic event happened there would women grabbing guns and rioting (we know from the pandemic that raiding grocery stores would definitely happen too).  But I think there would also be a lot of cooperative communities that would emerge as well.  Women tend to be caregivers of their families.  Even if that might be rooted in gender roles, I don't think those tendencies would go away.  So I could see a lot of women wanting to find and bring together their family (mothers, grandmothers, sisters, etc).  From there, I could see multiple families joining forces to build a local agricultural based economy.

I really would like to learn more about this world and have so many questions.  What would happen in countries where women are significantly oppressed?  Would women in countries like Saudi Arabia stop wearing the full burka?  

Lastly, I hope they flesh out Amber Tamblyn's character a bit more.  Her whole identity was based around the men in her life (from her president father to being a "boy mom").  To lose all of the men in her life must be causing a huge identity crisis on top of grief she is experiencing.  Maybe her desperately clinging to her patriarchal values is how she's coping with everything but it would be cool if the show acknowledged that.

[AllyB]

The best thing about this episode was the Radiohead and I thought that was more effective at the end of the last episode of Ted Lasso. (Pretty funny that this 24 year old song would feature on two tv shows in the same week.)

[BasilSeal]

On 10/7/2021 at 3:27 AM, bilgistic said:

What's up with the full frontal nudity on what's essentially a cable channel? It seems really unnecessary to have multiple instances of female nudity on a show about all the men in the world perishing except for one. It felt like the episode was made for the male gaze, despite being written and directed by women. Super disappointing.

I think the nudity was there to symbolise Hero's reluctance to open up to the Amazons' new vision for the new world, where they embrace the new all female world and literally divorce themselves from the past, their past actions, and their past associations with men. hero covers herself up, she is resistant to their ideas, the other women have opened themselves up to this new philosophy, and are completely at ease with it.

when the leader removes her shirt and we see her mastectomy scar, this is a visual reference to the Amazons, but what it also demonstrates is that in this new world if she wants to take her shirt off, she can. women are no longer compelled to cover their bodies to ward off unwanted attention from men. for example when in the past women have been told to not wear provocative clothes so as not to provoke men to sexually assault them, with the obvious irony being that women are being told to modify their behaviour as a result of something that is being done to them, when it should be men who are being told not to be rapists.

but anyway, i think that's the point that's being made here, i take your point about the male gaze, nudity in film and tv can be problematic, even if there's a clear reason for it it could still be seen as exploitative or voyeuristic,  the nudity in this episode isn't presented as sexualised or intended to titillate, obviously there will be some who do view it this way, but then the fault would lie with the observer rather than the observed. 

[TimWil]

Well, that’s one bland Canadian actress down. The one playing Regina is OK, though, she’s growing on me a bit.

[bettername2come]

"You're about to get your ass beat with a fucking shoelace." 355 continues to be the best.  Although, I appreciated that Yorick really didn't make any dumbass moves. Well, aside from thinking he could beat even a concussed 355, but her vomiting and collapsing after proved his point pretty well. I think this was my favorite yet. No boring amazons, (though I admit, Missi Pyle's probably putting in her best performance ever), some interesting new characters. I like Yorick, 355 and Dr. Mann together. They play off each other well,.

Didn't care too much about the former First Lady, but my inner Joan of Arcadia fan sympathizes too much with a grieving Amber Tamblyn. Of course, I may have also yelled, "How do you know? You haven't talked to God in 16 years, Joan!" when she was yelling "God chose him!" re: Yorick. 

[zenithwit]

Makes sense that former female inmates would have a somewhat well-functioning collective with limited resources.  Wouldn't want to be one of those guards though.

[oakville]

On 9/15/2021 at 3:26 PM, rollacoaster said:

Amber Tamblyn's character is a more polished, mature version of Meghan McCain. 

Agreed. I haven't read the comics but Amber does remind me of Meghan McCain.

[Nande]

 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Nande

[General Days]

I'm not surprised. It's probably for the best.

Edited October 17, 2021 by General Days

[Haleth]

Yeah, it is pretty terrible. Except for 355. Can she have her own spin off?

[Chicago Redshirt]

A shame. I hope it gets to do a wrap-up movie. 

[ottoDbusdriver]

Hopefully the season (now series) finale isn't a cliffhanger.

[zenithwit]

Sounds like the showrunner is shopping around for another network/Streaming service for season 2.  So maybe this isn't quite the end?

https://www.avclub.com/y-the-last-man-has-been-canceled-by-fx-may-find-new-l-1847881697

ETA: But what a blow to cancel it mid-season.  The numbers must be really bad.

Edited October 18, 2021 by zenithwit

[PinkRibbons]

Considering I was coming here to complain that this show has a serious problem with understanding what the interesting story is and sticking to it, I'm not that surprised. I hope that if the show is rescued they realize how bad it's gotten and tighten the hell out of the piece, cut down the cast and storylines. As far as I'm concerned, the story is Yorrick, Allison and 355. Maybe some of the Hero stuff, but not whole episodes. And the white house/pentagon shit just needs to stop. It's just not interesting.

[Chicago Redshirt]

It was sort of sad watching the latest episode (with more details about Roxanne) knowing it's Dead Show Walking. But I think that stuff like this would have probably helped build an audience.

Or maybe not. It still was dependent on characters acting like psychos rather than fully-formed women. The notion that Roxanne decided that she would adopt the persona of a cop based on her viewings of Law & Order to manipulate the women she met seems a little too much of stretch, along with her straight-up murdering the first few women to come to the PriceMax (and them not coming in enough numbers or with enough weapons to have successfully looted it). So does Nora's willingness/ability to set an arson fire that would destroy a CostCo-sized building before anyone noticed (and before the sprinklers kicked in). The notion that the women could have in their drunken revelry forgotten to put the fire out at the end of the night I can accept, as is the notion that they don't have any sort of 24-hour watch to protect their food/other stores. But for the fire to burn down a brick structure to make it uninhabitable, for no one to question that Nora was the first to spot it, and for no one to question how the fire spread from its point of origin to the actual building...that's just bad writing IMO.

 

[WaltersHair]

Didn't know it was cancelled until I came here to post.

I hate when this happens. I tried to get people interested in it, but no one thought it sounded like a good premise. I think the timing is off- a few years forward or back might have made a difference. I remember when Breaking Bad came out and it couldn't get arrested for 2 seasons. I told everyone about it. Then it hit Netflix and the rest is history.

The biggest misstep, IMHO, is the idea that Diane Lane's character would let her son and only genetically male survivor out into a world that is almost guaranteed to kill him.

I will miss 355. Actually, I will miss the show. I was enjoying it.

[bettername2come]

I hope it gets picked up elsewhere. I’m enjoying it. Well, the parts with Yorick and his team. They have great chemistry. It did make me finally read the comic, which I’d been hearing recommendations for since it was first published. It needs less of the the Hero and political storylines (or the political storylines need to make more sense), but even then I enjoy the performances especially from the actors I’m familiar with. I said before that I think this is Missi Pyle’s best performance yet, and seeing her slip back into the look and mannerisms I expect for the flashbacks confirmed that for me.

 I kind of want Sam to get mistaken for Yorick. I got them mixed up in the first ep - didn’t realize Hero wasn’t talking to Yorick at AA until she went outside to talk to Yorick - and would like the fact that they look similar to cause hijinks.

 

[Chicago Redshirt]

I'd be interested in hearing more about what makes the political plotlines confusing.

Kinda stale, underdeveloped or poorly handled, I can see though not necessarily agree with.

But let me try to explain the political plotlines as I understand them.

Before the plague, Yorick's mom Jennifer was a Democratic congresswoman from Ohio in danger of being voted out. A moderate Republican president had a far-right Cabinet head Regina who was in Israel on a trip, and also had his First Lady, his Megan McCain-like First Daughter and a top aide in Nora. 

When the plague hit, it took out most of the presidential line of succession because they were male. Yorick's mom was named Speaker of the House after the death of the men (off-screen, unfortunately). Since the Constitution has the Speaker of the House as second only to the VP in the line of succession, Yorick's mom therefore became president.

The death of all men led to various crises, including power outages, looting and lack of security/food/shelter. The Brown Administration managed to cobble together a response to all this.

Protests at some point became a fixture outside the White House insisting that the government caused the death of all men or having other beefs. (It's never really made very clear). 

Jennifer semi-abused her power by sending a helicopter to try to find her daughter Hero in New York. Instead, it found Yorick. 

Jennifer made the decision to send Yorick on a trip with 355 in part because she figured that if his existence became known, it would inflame the conspiracy theories that the government caused the death of all men while protecting some of their own. And the spreading of those conspiracy theories would undermine all that her administration had done to try to bring society back to normal. So far, only Jennifer and one aide know for sure that Yorick survived, while others are forming suspicions.

Initially, there was no one who challenged Jennifer assuming the presidency because Regina was injured and there apparently were no other surviving female cabinet members who wanted to. There was some grousing by First Daughter about how the right had lost power, and First Lady was paralyzed by grief.

But then Regina emerged from a coma that she entered into when the plague hit. The Israelis brought her back to America. Before she came back, Yorick's mom talked things over and realized that Regina could argue that Yorick's mom did not have a legitimate claim to be speaker and therefore did not have a legitimate claim on the presidency. 

Meanwhile, Yorick's girlfriend Beth made it to the Pentagon and got brought in by Jennifer. Jennifer did not reveal that Yorick is still alive, and Beth did not reveal that she is apparently part of some group that is anti-government/spies/something in that vein.

[BasilSeal]

18 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

But then Regina emerged from a coma that she entered into when the plague hit. The Israelis brought her back to America. Before she came back, Yorick's mom talked things over and realized that Regina could argue that Yorick's mom did not have a legitimate claim to be speaker and therefore did not have a legitimate claim on the presidency. 

I don't find the political stuff confusing and i'm not in the US so not wholly familiar with your political system. there are clear parallels to the current post T**** political landscape in the US and the inevitable identity politics that come with it.

I think there an additional parallel with the former presidential aid backing Roxanne and enabling her to keep her power base with the costco Amazons. The Aid does thin for purely selfish reasons and in the knowledge that Roxanne is a fraud.

I think it's a real shame the show has been cancelled so soon particularly as they've just aired what i thought was a strong episode. The nutty / despotic leader with the loyal band of redshirt followers is a common trope in apocalyptic fiction, but there's a tendency to just have said leader as a bad guy who does bad things simply because they're the baddie, and it's what baddies do. It's a trope that's been done to death in The Walking Dead.

The most recent episode of Y: is an object lesson in how to set up a Negan figure convincingly and give them depth, motivation and nuance. they should glue the TWD show runners to their chairs and make them watch it.

Edited October 20, 2021 by BasilSeal

[Trini]

'Why ‘Y: The Last Man’ Was Abruptly Canceled' -- Essentially, BTS finances and Covid delays.

[BasilSeal]

5 hours ago, Trini said:

'Why ‘Y: The Last Man’ Was Abruptly Canceled' -- Essentially, BTS finances and Covid delays.

It's possible it may get picked up by another network, particularly if it does well on delayed viewings.

[Trini]

Finale synopsis:

110 - Victoria - 11/1/2021

Spoiler

As the Amazons close in on Marrisville, Nora reaches a breaking point. Yorick makes a new connection while 355 faces her past.

Written by: Eliza Clark, Directed by: Daisy Von Scherler Mayer

 

[thetvpusher]

I guess I’m in the minority, because I’ve been really enjoying it and am sad it’s being cancelled. I hope someone else picks it up! It’s not perfect, but there’s a ton of potential. I feel like they’ve done a nice job of updating the comic to a more modern place and 355 is PERFECT. Yorick is so useless and it’s just great; I love that the only person with a Y chromosome to survive is such a dork. And it feels like the story is just picking up momentum at the end of the season so I’d love to see what they’d do with a season 2. 

[marceline]

Ugh. This episode was a tough watch. I didn't really need a Sliding Doors version of the Insurrection. I almost shut it off when they started putting everyone in zip-tie restraints. I'll finish out this season but even if it gets picked up by someone else I think I'm out. I don't need all this nihilism in my pop culture.

I was genuinely surprised they killed off Regina. I saw her being a problem for a long time to come. It was satisfying because she really was just a monster of a character.

I have no idea what's going on with 355.

Edited October 25, 2021 by marceline

[BasilSeal]

I'm really hoping it gets picked up by another network, i think this show has some interesting things to say and i'd like to see more.

[bettername2come]

I enjoyed the 355 and Yorick stuff. Her following along with his dorky dancing and his “Is this our song? I think this is our song.” I would’ve liked more of that over the political storyline or the Amazons. Although I continue to be impressed with Amber Tamblyn and Missi Pyle’s performances.

I kind of hope the show gets picked up. There’s no way I can be satisfied by the next episode being the last. Things can’t come together that quickly.

[Chicago Redshirt]

Maybe I am just adjusting to the possibility/probability that no one will pick the show up, but I'm finding myself less enthused about the show than before. 

I enjoyed the Yorick/355 dance scene at the beginning, and...that was about it. And even that is with an asterisk because I really really don't like the notion of someone as awesome and kickass as 355 having any romantic or sexual feelings for Yorick.

Spoiler for the graphic novel:

Yes, I know that their having an interest in each other comes from the graphic novel, but I didn't love it there either, and worse, when 355 gets all soft and sentimental, the graphic novel fridges her. A silver lining to a possible cancellation is that we won't have to deal with that possibility..

The sentiment here has been the political story and the Amazon story have been some of the weaker stuff. Well, here was an episode that was seemingly 80 percent that. 

I am not sure that I understand what got Beth so radicalized that she would participate in this whatever it is...and I guess we're unlikely to really get the backstory on it.

I don't think I'll miss Regina at all. 

[zenithwit]

Welp, things are about to get interesting for Yorick next week.

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I am not sure that I understand what got Beth so radicalized that she would participate in this whatever it is...and I guess we're unlikely to really get the backstory on it.

Further proof that Yorick is a dope for wanting to throw away the future of the human race to find Beth.

I liked that we started to get some more of 355's background this episode.  And I didn't mind them showing a bit of Roxanne's background last episode (didn't agree with the Amazon-centric episode but thought it would have been okay if they spread some of that plot over a couple episodes). 

Maybe there would have been a stronger reception if this show had gone more of the Orange is the New Black route and had a focal character and showed their background each episode?  Plus that could allow us to get to know some of the men in these women's lives to better help us understand their motivations in this new world.

ETA: side note: how is it that Nora has no one else that she can turn to for help?  I get how she may have fallen through the cracks and not make it on the Jennifer Brown administration list (though you would think that they would be desperate for anyone with government experience).  But as a White House Staffer, how is it that there isn't a donor or some other politician that she could try to hook up with?

Edited October 26, 2021 by zenithwit

[lavenderblue]

Okay, did anyone else catch what Jennifer's assistant (sorry, I keep forgetting her name) said about getting pregnant -- something like she went off the pill because so many women were having miscarriages and she decided to just chance it? So were XY fetuses being impacted even before the small animals that we saw as the harbingers in the Pilot?

[KaveDweller]

On 10/27/2021 at 12:58 PM, lavenderblue said:

Okay, did anyone else catch what Jennifer's assistant (sorry, I keep forgetting her name) said about getting pregnant -- something like she went off the pill because so many women were having miscarriages and she decided to just chance it? So were XY fetuses being impacted even before the small animals that we saw as the harbingers in the Pilot?

It sounded like she was just saying she missed taking her pill a couple of days, not that she deliberately went off it.

[WaltersHair]

I'm still watching: Anyone else?

Killing off characters like The Walking Dead.

[bettername2come]

Well, I liked this one. I can live with the show not coming back on some other network. Allison cuddling 355 to keep her from sleepwalking was cute. I love that it worked. I liked that Yorick made a decision about continuing with this and chose not to remain helpless. I thought the weird sex dream with him and Amber Tamblyn was better than it had any right to be, although I want Kim to stay at least 500 feet away from Yorick. I'm glad Hero didn't betray Yorick

Spoiler

and that she wasn't the one to kill Sonia, unlike the comic. 

I liked how Yorick stopped crying and stared in shock when 355 said "you wanna know something about me?" Yes, he's grieving and racked with survivor's guilt, but 355 is going to reveal something - everything must stop. 

Nora having a fake name seems kind of pointless. And I was very surprised surrendering led to the Amazons just leaving. Um, I'm not under the impression that's how surrender works. I thought they'd maybe end up absorbed into Marrisville, except Roxanne who would have no cult anymore. 

I wanted my "Sam gets mistaken for Yorick" scene! Why else would you put him with Jennifer?! Not like it wouldn't get figured out pretty quickly, but still.

[xaxat]

I've taken a lot of shots at this show, but this was a legit good hour of TV.

355 and her developing relationships with Yorick and Allison, the development of a plot where "matriarchy" is not a magical uniter, etc. I especially liked that the show mostly dropped the DC centric plot and went with the fog of war on that situation and Nora's power play/assassination. And the fact that 355's grandmother (?) is an officer in the Culper Group.

This should have been the third episode of the season.

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, bettername2come said:

Nora having a fake name seems kind of pointless. And I was very surprised surrendering led to the Amazons just leaving. Um, I'm not under the impression that's how surrender works. I thought they'd maybe end up absorbed into Marrisville, except Roxanne who would have no cult anymore. 

Yeah, I don't buy them just letting the Amazons leaving. That was kind of a blood bath and then they stop and walk away?

I was glad to see Hero and Yorick briefly re-unite and see Hero try to help him.

I don't totally buy that all these people would just run into each other when they don't even know where the other was. Sam just bumps into Jennifer and Beth while they are in hiding? Or was that in some place he would have known to look for them? And the Amazons just happened to be near the town where Yorick, 355, and Alison ended up?

[ottoDbusdriver]

1 hour ago, KaveDweller said:

Yeah, I don't buy them just letting the Amazons leaving. That was kind of a blood bath and then they stop and walk away?

The thing that I thought was odd was why did the Marrisville group let the Amazons keep their guns -- that made no sense.

I liked the closing shot -- how it bookended with the one of the opening shots in Episode 1, with the prominent 'Y'.

Sonia: "So what's the idea ?  You become Johnny Appledick, a universal donor."
That made me laugh.  I liked Sonia -- too bad she was gunned down in the field.

I'm still trying to figure out how that pool was so clean after several months have gone by.