Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 7 Review: My Mother Saw A Monkey
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It's not easy to be a survivor in this world.
On Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 7, we say goodbye to one character and welcome back one who's been absent for quite some time.
Things are feeling increasingly bleak -- is there a ray of hope to be found?
This episode is a lot to take in. It's heavy. The whole series has been heavy so far, but it's been worth it for the issues it tackles and the care it takes with them.
The world is still going through a rough time right now and sometimes Y: The Last Man hits very close to home.
This is one of the show's greatest strengths, but it also could be too much for some viewers. I'm in it for the long haul, though, and I will firmly encourage anyone who can handle the subject matter to persevere because there is so much to love.
As Kimberly said in Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 3, grief can be quantified.
If you shed even half a tear, your boys would have to split it.
Marla
Marla has lost a tremendous amount. The revelation that she was with her three grandsons during the Event is heart-shattering.
Her catatonia makes so much sense now. Not only that but her grief was compounded by the information that their family home had been destroyed in a flood. No wonder she lost her faith.
The scene where she comes in in her nightgown and calls out President Brown is truly chilling -- she comes in like a vengeful ghost and nearly gives up the game.
Paris Jefferson has been a riveting presence and it's a shame to see her go. Marla is a reminder of how trauma can truly destroy a person -- that without proper support, grief can be too much to carry.
Though Marla has given up, Kimberly's resolve has only strengthened. She hides her grief by working towards goals -- badgering Regina until she gets information that she can use to take down President Brown.
However, the knowledge that a man has survived completely alters her outlook. It doesn't matter that it's Yorick -- all that matters is that there is hope now.
You said he was a beta boy who did magic tricks.
Regina
Kimberly's descent has been so gradual that it's as believable as it is unsettling. Amber Tamblyn has made Kimberly such a sympathetic figure that her fanaticism seems almost justifiable.
Her portrayal of this woman -- one who is so desperate to maintain her identity as a mother, who has always defined herself by the men and boys in her life -- is scarily grounded in reality.
It highlights the fact that there will always be women who are complicit in the patriarchy -- who will trade progress for their own needs and safety.
Regina (Jennifer Wigmore) is doing a good job at laying low.
She keeps being referred to as a "nutjob" but she's showing no signs of that personality here and keeping herself in check. Even she seems slightly off-put but Kimberly's fanaticism, though she hides it well.
Regina may have questionable politics, but thanks to having been on television, she's got a following, not to mention a legitimate claim to the Presidency. If she can continue to sow distrust in President Brown, overthrowing her may not be that difficult.
With only Christine to truly confide in, President Brown seems to be cracking. Her secrets about Yorick are getting more difficult to hide.
Though it was understandable to protect herself and Yorick, President Brown's treatment of Marla was questionable and she will eventually need to answer for her complicity there -- Regina may even be able to use Marla's death as a way to highly the President's incompetence.
Like Tamblyn's Kimberly, Diane Lane's portrayal of Jennifer is so richly nuanced that her moral dubiousness sneaks up on us.
She believes that what she is doing is good and in the grand scheme of things, she is doing what's best for the country. She's doing what she can to prevent the collapse of society, but also to maintain the status quo.
President Brown does well at compartmentalizing her feelings in order to get her work done, but she is not great at hiding them, which is a subtle but important distinction. Regina could tell something was up and Kimberly connected the dots.
If President Brown goes down, it will be in no small part because of the love of her somehow miraculous son. If her downfall is imminent, will it come at the hands of Regina and Kimberly? Will it be her own doing? Or could it be someone else?
BETH IS BACK. After being absent for the five previous episodes, Yorick's girlfriend finally makes a re-appearance. Though she's always being mentioned, seeing her in the flesh was definitely a surprise!
The whole time she was back, you could just see President Brown itching to tell her about Yorick, but it was probably a wise decision not to. Beth is as good as a daughter to her, but President Brown must have got the sense that something was off, especially since Beth didn't want to stay.
Their mutual love of Yorick is what binds them -- and what made it so easy for Beth to infiltrate the most guarded building in the country. How might Beth react if she found out Yorick was alive?
What is Beth up to? Who is she with? Revolutionaries? Anarchists? Why did Beth smile as they drove away? Was she proud of herself for all the information she got out of Christine and President Brown? Do they want society to collapse?
We definitely haven't seen the last of Beth. The romantic in me wants to see her and Yorick reunited, but it feels like that might endanger them both.
Is it just me or did Agent 355 and Dr. Mann have a moment?
Maybe it's just that Ashley Romans is so charismatic that she has great chemistry with everyone she shares a scene with, but it definitely looked like they considered each other.
Dr. Mann even manages to get info about 355's past -- a car crash that haunts 355 to this day. The pendant she retrieved from her agency's headquarters belonged to her mother.
Allison's is slowly cracking that veneer. Whether Agent 355 will lean in or pull away remains to be seen.
I would be worried, but now you've got that shoelace.
Dr. Mann
It's curious that when Agent 355 was telling Dr. Mann about the scientist shortlist, she didn't mention that Dr. Mann was chosen on her recommendation. She has to retain the power dynamic she's got going, and that could potentially give Dr. Mann the upper hand -- a "you got me into this mess" sort of thing.
Now the question is, did Agent 355 have an ulterior motive for choosing Dr. Mann in the first place, or was it merely for the reasons she laid out?
Yorick brought them together, but now they have their own unique interpersonal dynamic. What will develop remains to be seen. If nothing else, they can always find common ground by complaining about Yorick.
Agent 355: Stop putting those dumbass ideas in his head.
Dr. Mann: Oh, please. He has dumbass ideas all by himself.
Agent 355 nearly destroys herself by trying to be strong but ultimately realizes she can trust Dr. Mann and Yorick -- and she'll have to if she wants to survive. She can't be a lone wolf anymore.
Meanwhile, Yorick is being well taken care of. Sonia seems to be charmed by him, even if the others are not.
Yorick: I was doing a trick.
JR: A trick?
Yorick: Yeah, I'm an escape artist.
JR: Is that a joke?
Yorick: Jokes are funny.
This show takes post-apocalyptic tropes and turning them on their head. A community of escaped convicts -- sounds terrifying, right? But no, they're just a group of individuals trying to co-exist in peace and harmony.
As far as we know.
Sonia is very quick to explain Janis's checkered past, but what did Sonia do that landed her in prison? Dominique is worried that Yorick will upend their way of life. It's possible he's more of a danger to them than they are to him.
Things aren't always what they seem, but sometimes they are. A big part of the drama and suspense of this show comes largely from the question of will it subvert the tropes the genre is known for?
It's definitely saying something when the escaped convicts form the most cohesive and least hostile community we've seen so far -- compared to say, the Government or the PriceMax.
Let's just hope they are not cannibals or something like that. It would be a bold choice to just make them a pleasant, functional mini-society, but a welcome one.
The more we delve into this world, the more apparent it becomes that overall the people left just want to build a society where everyone is safe, healthy, and comfortable -- something we never even had in the first place.
I'm not cursed with a Y chromosome, but I'm cursed in plenty of other ways.
Ray
So many post-apocalyptic stories are focused on the lawlessness, the chaos, and the Alpha-male fantasy of getting to kill a bunch of monsters to protect their womenfolk and take what they want by force, society rules be damned.
It's been done. This is different.
One thing that strikes me is that how this show has respect for its audience. It takes care, does the work, and is mindful of its potentially triggering aspects.
What do you think is going on with these convicts? Is there more to it than what it looks like?
Something's undoubtedly going to go down at the PriceMax. Will Hero, Sam, Nora, and Mackenzie be caught in the crossfire?
How will Washington react to Marla's death? Will President Brown try to cover it up? Will Regina use it to her advantage? Will Yorick and Beth ever find each other?
Share your thoughts in the comments!
Mary Littlejohn Mary Littlejohn is a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She loves television, cinema, and theatre (especially musicals!), particularly when it champions inclusivity, diversity, and social justice. Follow her on Twitter.