Things haven't exactly gone Phil's way since he found other survivors, but his luck might be about to change.
Phil Miller's relentless pursuit of material superiority over his fellow survivors has dominated the last few episodes of The Last Man on Earth. It has been an awkward and tricky direction to take the series in. Ever since Melissa debuted at the end of the third episode, Phil has increasingly become a horrible human being. He has simply become an unlikable character. I don't mind having an unlikable character as the main protagonist. And yet, Phil's redeemable qualities haven't really been on display either. He has simply been allowed to be a jerk to everyone else on the show. He rarely gets his comeuppance. His behavior continues to be encouraged by the show because it hasn't gotten so bad that the rest of the survivors need to have a frank conversation about his future living with them.All of that does change throughout "The Do-Over" and "Pranks for Nothin'." Phil does a little bit of soul searching in these episodes. But it's only after his behavior becomes so bad and detrimental to the well being of the group that things are forced to change. Phil Miller does have his charms but everyone else around him was simply a tad too oblivious to his manipulative ways. Something needed to change.
And yet, that change comes after Phil is seemingly rewarded yet again for his narcissistic dreams of what his way-of-life should be. He has been so persistent in believing that he and Melissa should be together. The only reason he's not is because of his inability to be genuine and honest with the people around him. I can understand why the show would want to take Phil in this direction. In regular life before the virus, Phil would never have been able to mature as a man. Now that only he and a handful of other people are left, he is forced to become a more well-behaved member of society. That change is inevitable and he has been fighting it because of his sole desire to be completely laid back and have fun. He doesn't care about the rules of social interaction. He simply wants whats best for him and doesn't care about how that will effect other people.
So when two more survivors show up in Tucson right after Phil is once again praying to God for a do-over, it feels like once again he is being rewarded for his horrible actions. For a moment, he is allowed to live a more fun, happy life because Gail (Mary Steenburgen) and Erica (Cleopatra Coleman) don't know better. They are willing to accept Phil and trust everything he has to say because they aren't aware that Carol, Melissa and Todd are still alive as well. Because of Phil's refusal to inform everyone of each other's existence, he betrays them in a bigger way than he has previously.
Even though the show doesn't want to go into too much detail about the virus and how it wiped out most of humanity without changing the landscape around these characters, it is this clearly established history amongst the characters. Everyone feels these grand emotions when they meet new survivors. It's overwhelming because they've spent so much time alone. Gail and Erica had each other and have formed a strong friendship. And yet, knowing that there are other people out there is the most important thing. So getting in the way of that should be the thing that turns the entire group against Phil. Sure, it's grown tiresome with how many reveals of other survivors they are in this universe. At this rate, I'm expecting a few more to be living in Tucson somewhere, ready to thank Phil for putting up all those signs and then see how horrible he is.
Uniting against Phil is a very appropriate response and one that definitely feels earned by the show. He has become so horrible that it's easy for us to understand why the group no longer wants him anywhere near them. He has gone back to being alone which should be a terrifying prospect. He's back at the bar with his imaginary ball friends. His interactions with these inanimate objects have been a great device to get the audience to see what he is thinking. And yet, his sleeping in the bar does have some sadness in it. Not enough to suddenly make me care about Phil again. But enough to make him see that maybe he's the reason why he's not finding happiness with these people. If all of them are able to get along just fine, he's the one with a problem. Of course, it takes a few more attempts at lying to get that lesson through Phil's skull. He tries pulling off an elaborate story that keeping Gail and Erica from Carol, Melissa and Todd was just a big prank. No one believes it. Nor should they. And then for some reason he thinks they'll believe him when he changes his style and claims to be Phil's twin brother. It's lame and largely just an excuse to give Will Forte a new hair style.
And yet, all of this lying should have a massive effect on Carol and her marriage to Phil. She has been too blind to what he has been trying to do to Melissa and Todd. When he is exposed for the pathological liar he truly is, she has the most to be upset about. She rushed into this marriage because she was so happy to find another survivor. And yet, Phil has proven time and time again not to be all that committed to her or their union. He didn't want her to move in and now he doesn't want her changing any of his stuff. He wants to be more of independent spirit. He gets that wish through this exile and that is personally devastating to Carol. She takes out some of that anger on Gail and Erica. But Phil is to blame for so many of their problems. He has never been all that honest with her. The two had their good moments in the minutes following their wedding but that seems so long ago now. Now, he is just a horrible person who deserves to be sleeping on a pool table. Marriage was so sacred to her. But now, she needs a divorce because she's no longer solely focused on the future and surviving. She has a community of friends now. To her, friends are more important than this marriage. Sure, she may be pushing Todd and Melissa away for now but they are better people than Phil was. He does apologize and own up to everything that he has done to these people. But now the questions become: Is that enough to earn back their trust and is it a genuine realization that he needs to change?
Some more thoughts:
- "The Do-Over" was written by Tim McAuliffe and directed by John Solomon.
- "Pranks for Nothin'" was written by Emily Spivey and directed by Chris Koch.
- So besides a willingness to have fun, Gail and Erica really don't have unique and separate personalities. Also, Gail loves to bake which isn't all that original either.
- Todd actually believed Phil co-wrote a song with Sting? And that was the thing that Phil thought he had to apologize for? Not for trying to destroy his relationship with Melissa?
- So, that final kiss between Phil and Carol lingered a bit too long which might suggest that things may not be over between them. They are divorced now but his willingness to be more genuine could actually return those bonds of romance.
- The show was renewed for a second season earlier this week. It's now easier to see how the show can keep running for multiple seasons. But I'm hoping this moment of realization actually sticks for Phil because I can't take him doing horrible things to other people for another season.
