In the second to last episode of the FX onHuluoriginal series,Y: The Last Man, the show ratcheted up the action. It’s not an overstatement to say that all hell broke loose. To some degree, it feels as if this could have served as a season finale if there was going to be a second season. However, becauseY: The Last Manhas been officially canceled, it’s hard to know exactly what the end of its run on the streaming service will hold. There’s an argument to be made that this is one of the best episodes of the season. On the other hand, the same thing that has plagued other installments also drove this one down when all was said and done.
Episode 9 of the FX onHuluseries did something that hasn’t been done for a while now, though it still seemed to have a problem figuring out what story it wanted to tell. For the most part, each installment of the season has had a focus on one of three storylines. There have been some that showed two stories, but it’s always spent considerably more time following either Yorick and his group, his sister Hero, or President Jennifer Brown. As the season winds down, the show is trying to wrap up all three stories, and so all three parties made an appearance, but it’s not clear if that was really for the better.
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Yorick Fading Into The Background
One of theoddest things aboutY: The Last Manis that the character that is supposed to be at the center of the story, has faded into a bit player as the season has gone on. The show is based on graphic novels by the same name, but the way the story is being told is quite a bit different. In the books, Hero and Jennifer were complimentary characters rather than central players. This time around, far more attention is being paid to them, than to the last person on earth with a Y chromosome. It’s possible that if the series wasn’t based on another story, the idea that Yorick isn’t that important to moving the plot forward could be easier to stomach. However, it still feels like the fact that the show talks about him more than it shows him is also a failure in the writing. It’s often felt as though the writers and show runners aren’t really interested in telling his story. It’s hard to stay engaged in a show when the people behind it don’t even have an interest in it.
Episode 9 picked up where viewers last saw Yorick and it seemed as if that meant that the story was going to be Yorick-centric. However, after continuing to tease the audience with yet another “what’s wrong with 355” cut scene or two, as well as her being over the top stoic in the face of someone who was literally just trying to talk to her, it was time to stray away from any more development in that direction. But hey! At least Yorick got to smoke a blunt with the escaped prisoner that he seems to be striking up a friendship with. However, with exactly one episode left in the series, it doesn’t seem as if there’s much point to that. Following this storyline, in that it’s one of the only big romances Yorick has in the books, is even tamped down a bit becauseother parts ofY: The Last Manweren’t brought forward the way they were in the book.
Why Is Beth Involved At All?
One of thebiggest changes inY: The Last Manthe series and the graphic novels is the relationship between Yorick and Beth. In the books, their romance is central to why Yorick is on the road at all. He’s trying to get back to his one true love, who started the story halfway around the world. Obviously, things were going to be a bit different in the Hulu show, considering they start out in the same apartment. However, after they separate, and the world goes entirely haywire, they are indeed separated. But Yorick’s desire to find Beth, though stated out loud isn’t nearly as strong as it is in the books. In fact, it seems as if at this point, he’s almost entirely forgotten that’s one of the reasons he’s traveling at all. It seems like the writers have forgotten as well.
Meanwhile, Beth is busy creating chaos in Washington, DC and while it makes some sense that they included the character inthis version ofY: The Last Man, she’s not remotely required to be the person the showrunners have decided she is. In fact, the character could be almost anyone in this particular world. She’s that inconsequential. Even the parts where she ingratiates herself to Jennifer Brown don’t have to be because she’s the girlfriend of the president’s son. It seems as if the writers wanted to give a nod to the fans but in a rather lazy way.
Letting The Air Out Of The Balloon Again
While there are several different “explosive” storylines in thepenultimate episode ofY: The Last Man, the show also does the same thing it’s done far too often during its run. The writers seem to know how to build tension. They simply don’t know how to let it play out. It actually did it twice in Episode 9, with the first being when the Amazons finally went wilding. It feels like they could have really shown how vicious and dangerous they are when they assaulted a camp of women who had committed the “heinous crime” of missing their men. Instead, the group was more “little kid throwing a tantrum.” That took the danger of being one of the most dangerous organizations in the book and made them quite a bit weaker.
Perhaps the biggest “letting the air out of the balloon moment” came when there was finally a showdown that the series had been building up almost from the first episode. That it resolved the whole thing in the blink of an eye, certainly summed up what’sjust not working forY: The Last Man. The question now is how is the season (series?) finale is going to wrap up the stories that still seem to be floating out there. Will it even try? Or will it just continue the pattern of killing off all the tension, for a quick fix.
