Anyone who had to listen to Fine Young Cannibal's "She Drives Me Crazy" on repeat ad nauseam can relate to Phil's (Will Forte) pain in this week's first episode, "She Drives Me Crazy." This is good, because by this point in The Last Man on Earth, viewers need some reasons to start sympathizing with him again.
After some weeks of Phil becoming a nearly insufferable prick in how he treats his fellow survivors Todd (Mel Rodriguez), Melissa (January Jones) and his wife Carol (Kristen Schaal), it's good to see Phil take the baby steps back towards humanity. Unfortunately as this week's second episode, "Mooovin' In," comes into play, this good-will starts to move backwards.
After confessing his feelings for Melissa in his bar last week, Phil revisits this moment once again in "She Drives Me Crazy" but it goes a completely different way. Rather than turn down the man, she welcomes him with open arms, affectionately kissing him as Fine Young Cannibal's hit song plays in the background of their love-making. Turns out, however, this is not meant to be their song for that special moment as Phil walks up from a series of Inception-like dreams to discover newly-coupled Melissa and Todd use that signature hit to get it on.
This does not become the last time the community hears the song, of course. Over the course of the week, the speakers blast the song for multiple hours in the day, as Phil grumpily is reminded of their love-making. Carol couldn't really care because she has other concerns on her mind, like Phil's toilet pool. He refuses to clean it and it now stinks up the newly-formed community. As Phil tries to get some legislature in town to stop Todd and Melissa from having sex, it ends up turning sour for the President of the United States. They all vote against him on the love-making rule and also on him refusing to clean his extended toilet.
As Phil get mopey, Melissa tries to cheer up the second living man on the planet while he's down. He assures him as best as she can that it's not his fault, but Todd ultimately is here and there's nothing he can do about that now. Phil tries to change that, however, as he drives an unsuspecting Todd hours away from their society. He chickens out, however, and decides to give him back to the woman he loves. A running theme of The Last Man on Earth, it's always evident how dark the show could be, but any time foul play could be in order, Forte loves to flip the script and reveal his character's intentions as being far more childish and simple than one would think. He's no monster, he's mostly just ignorant.
This is a quality The Last Man on Earth harkens on at its best. As seen from the first two episodes, Phil is a man of simple pleasures. When he has all the freedom in the world, he spends his time making margarita pools, masturbating and smashing things in town. He almost has a 14-year-old mindset, but it's evident in the pilot he has a lot deeper thoughts and feelings, perhaps even spiritual ones. Perhaps what makes these last series of episodes before "She Drives Me Crazy" slightly disappointing is how they rarely follow up on this. Phil's understanding of his new world is compromised, but he now spends all this time trying to destroy other people's relationships. This can be funny at times, but it takes away from the charm echoed in the original episodes.
That said, "She Drives Me Crazy," written by David Noel, does a solid job at showcasing Phil's range. He may have selfish intentions often, but at his core he shouldn't be a deplorable person. He's just childish. He wants what he wants, especially when he can't have them. This plays well in the much simpler society he and his other three living, breathing people encompass. As such, "Moovin' In" resorts back to the meaner side of Phil's persona and, while still funny, it doesn't have the heart of the episode prior.
The crux of this second episode comes from Phil discovering animals still exist in an apocalyptic 2020 when he finds a cow roaming the streets. He takes it home, hoping to please those around him with burgers or steak. But they see the cow as a great source of protein-products, which Todd is happy to serve thanks to his farm experiences as a kid. Jealous as ever, Todd sabotages their White Russians and cereal by letting the cow go. Once again, however, he can't help but try to make things happy again for the community.
Perhaps The Last Man on Earth, and Phil, come down to their respected writers. "Moovin' In" is written by Liz Cacowski, who also penned the similarly-troubled "Sweet Melissa." It has a number of funny moments—including some very funny Carol moments like her reading of the similarities between Melissa's sounds of enjoying ice cream and love-making—but it all feels too similar to the comedic shows this Fox series is encompassed around.
What made the original episodes so engaging, in part, was how different they were from the rest of Fox's programming. Not only in terms of character structure, but pacing and use of space. With these last couple episodes, it goes head-first into the Fox formula, where characters are sassy often and speak readily in pop culture references. This can work fine, but one hopes Forte's show returns to its roots. If only so that it can make us want to celebrate what was not only the last man on Earth but one of the best new shows on television.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com