Karen and Benji
Episode 4 of Y: The Last Man begins with Yorick and Agent 355 on the ground, trekking through the eerily quiet woods. They need to keep a low profile, and that includes ditching the helicopter before they make it to their destination. With two scavengers sniffing around their tent, Yorick rushes them off their site. It’s a risky move but one that thankfully pans out okay for them. But as Agent 355 is quick to point out, they could have been armed and this stunt could easily have gone badly wrong. Meanwhile, Hero continues on the run with Sam, making their way to a quaint small town. In a nearby barn, Sam finds a car that still has gas in it. He believes they should drive and make it by morning but Hero talks him out of it, at least until morning. Instead, they hang out in one of the houses and smoke weed. However, when Sam falls asleep Hero decides to sabotage the car. That turns out to be a really stupid move, especially when they head to a local store. The shelves are stripped bare but a ball bouncing across the floor sends them on the hunt, where they find a young girl with an infected wound. It’s Mackenzie and she’s in a rough way. Sam agrees to help her though, telling Nora that she can join them in the house they’ve been crashing at. Still sporting a gas mask, Yorick and Agent 355 both show up in a bustling marketplace. After trading a generator for a bike, the pair look like they’re in the clear and back on the move. Well, that is until Yorick notices someone who looks like Beth. So off he goes, on his own through the marketplace to an abandoned, quiet tunnel down below. Predictably, he’s surrounded by women, who rip off the mask and see that he’s a man. What an idiot. Anyway, Agent 355 saves his life, knocking out the women and hurrying back upstairs to the bike. The pair do manage to get away but it’s certainly touch and go for a while. It’s also a great opportunity for Agent 355 to remind Yorick of the mission they’re on, imploring him to see sense and stop acting so stupidly. While Nora and Mackenzie hang out at the unusually quiet and spotless house, four women arrive with guns in the middle of the night. Their friend Kate has been shot and thankfully Hero’s medical knowledge is enough to keep them alive. At least for now. Hero does her best but Kate is too far gone. Without a trauma surgeon, it’s impossible. Well, one off the women eventually shoots Kate in the head as a form of mercy. With Mackenzie still in a rough way, the women decide to help the quartet out for the time being. Nora knows who Hero is though and warns the girl, telling her to keep her mouth shut. As they’re led to a backroom, the gang look in shock at the massive stockpiles of food.
The Episode Review
Why are the characters in this show so stupid? Honestly, it’s one of the most frustrating things that breaks the illusion of a post-apocalyptic world but here it’s particularly egregious. In this all-female world, Yorick should be cautious and keep a low profile. Only, he believes he’s seen Beth and wanders off alone down into a dark tunnel. Deus ex machina saved him this time but it only reinforces how unlikable his character is – especially when he bemoans their rationed food. Yet, didn’t he stay alone in his room for two months? Surely he would have rationed food then right? And what of Hero and Sam? Not only does Hero sabotage a car that could have come in really handy, the pair don’t think to keep their wits about them when they stay in an unusually eerie and immaculate house. They should have known there’s something up, given the state of the other houses around, but instead they walk straight into this trap and end up caught. I think it’s fair to say these women are not their friends but I can see these guys letting their guard down and paying a heavy price for it. With no White House shenanigans this time around, the story centers on these two storylines but there’s really not a lot of development. In fact, this feels more like a filler than anything else. Still, with our two groups inching ever-closer to their destination, the next episode promises a lot more drama.
