It’s official: someone must hate Phil Miller. After “three wonderful weeks of marriage,” Phil’s finally a free man. A divorcee with two women at his disposal, the sky’s the limit for a record hour of Phil’s life since the apocalypse. But if one man can make a difference, than all it takes is another man to ruin it all.
Spoilers Follow
There only seem to be two kinds of Phil Millers: jerk Phil to sad Phil. Neither have aged well as the series has gone on, but at least it’s a change of pace from the rut the series has felt like it’s been spinning its wheels in the majority of the time. Well, aside from the whole being one of the last seven known people alive on Earth luck. That’s actually pretty lucky, as is having not one, but two women to choose from.
Still, Phil winds up getting stuck on billboard platforms erasing his past. The resulting mishaps this week are marginally amusing and there’s no doubt that much of the joy of this show comes from seeing bad things happen to Phil. But he also got back to some of his old habits, like some satisfying destruction (paint in a wood chipper!). I like this kind of Phil a whole lot better than paranoid stalker Phil, but that there’s only two to choose from is the kind of “either or” ultimatum that’s not helping to expand him.
It’s another turn of bad luck for Phil, any chance he seemed to have with Gail and Erica appears to now be out the window with the arrival of a new hunk, who happens to – in a rather convenient twist – also be named Phil Miller. This was the guy we thought Todd was going to be, strong, handsome, nice, knowledgeable. This is the Phil Miller the world needs! Which is why plain old regular Phil Miller will henceforth be called “Tandy.” For that matter, who’s this “Jessica Tandy” Carol asks about? Could Phil and Carol be related after all?
Moved to Tampa basically reverses every bit of progress the series has finally made up ’til now and even its twists, for the first time that I’ve been watching it, have gotten stale. Phil chasing every woman he comes across, obsessing over his novelties, getting introduced to new survivors – all of them have just become their own cliché by now and that our other Phil Miller’s so square-jawed and reserved makes for more of a bland opposite than the amusing funhouse reflection. There’s no one left for Phil to play off of but himself and sitting alone moping seems to bring the series full-circle, but we’ve already heard this joke before.
While the world’s revolved around some Phil Miller or another, it was interesting to know how Todd and Melissa are doing as a couple. It was rather nice to see lovable Todd actually feeling dejected and then jealous about their relationship without being a troll about it. Melissa just can’t say the “L” word, no matter how many heart-shaped butt pancakes Todd makes for her. Honesty is really the best policy even in the apocalypse and it’s nice to know that at least one guy out here’s willing to apply it.
After so many thought-provoking forks in the road, it really feels like The Last Man on Earth is beginning to at its wits end with Moved to Tampa. In an episode that began with a toast to Phil and Carol’s future, this episode was all about setting them back another deprecating notch for no reason I can imagine than just wasting time until whatever our finale is about. Another guest in town didn’t help reconstitute what’s amounted to little more than I guess Phil might just want to think about that move – for real this time.
The Last Man on Earth airs Sunday nights on FOX at 9/8 Central. Catch all the latest episodes at FOX.com and all the latest reviews here at BagoGames.
The Last Man on Earth: 'Moved to Tampa'
Pros
- Todd and Melissa's Humanizing Moment
- Tandy?....
Cons
- Phil's Belated Redemption
- Other-Phil's Pretty Boring
