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Apart from being the only post apocalyptic survival series we can rely on (before Walking Dead began decomposing before our eyes!), and before its scandalous cancellation : Last Man On Earth tackled the range of human emotions in an extremely direct but caring way.

Spoilers obviously, you turds!

In case you havent discovered this gem here is the premise : After a virus seemingly wipes out the entire human race Tandy (Will Forte) is The Last Man On Earth. His mental stability deteriorates due to time and loneliness resulting in an attempt to take his own life. This is halted at the discovery of another survivor – Carol (Kristen Schaal). And that’s just the pilot! Along the way they discover more survivors and build a community of sorts.

The writers put these characters through the spectrum of human emotion. Season 1 sits comfortably within the awkward comedy genre. Season 2 mutates into a situational comedy vibe. Season 3 is the closest thing we have to an apocalyptic drama. And season 4 continued by blending all of these elements together. I feel like the show took a noticeable turn toward the end of season 2 when it began to move the plot out of the day-to-day boredom scenarios and Tandy decided to embrace the group in a more 3 dimensional way essentially becoming the leader of the group, at least in his own eyes.

The show deals with depression, mental health, love, loss, relationships, friendship, and bacon, and it does it in a very unsubtle way. Like the way of a drunken master this show appears to stumble flailing into this subject matter when in fact its tender delivery is nuanced and heart-driven.

Tandys spiral into depression in the pilot is spurred on by the loneliness and his alcohol abuse. He watches Castaway and scoffs at the Tom Hanks inability to cope with the situation which sets Tandy up for a comedic fall. But there is an undercurrent of dark comedy about this that leads up to his attempted suicide. The audience for a time only sees the fun that Tandy is having in this new world – this is referenced in his new collection of artefacts and trinkets, car park bowling, his Margarita pool and his penchant for just blowing stuff up – but we are treated to a cut away set months later where Tandy has given up on life. Obviously this is the payoff from his scoffing but the contrast is jarring. Show creators Phil Lord and Chris Miller set the character up in the pilot as a goofy fun-loving child who is left to his own devices. This cut-away destroys the sense of fun and brings the audience back to earth with a crash. Tandy is The Last Man On Earth and he’s going to die.

In season 3 we are shown Melissas unaddressed bipolar disorder (which featured some great Shawshank Redemption references – “truly Tom Hanks finest movie” ) and her inevitable loss of control as she goes unmedicated. Again the writers deal with this in comedic but very direct fashion. Her condition is treated sincerely at the core but not before adding some tension to the shows atmosphere.

The writers succeed in this by shining a light on the mental illness, its effect on the sufferer, surroundings and then milking the darkest corners for comedy. That milk is obviously from a comedically-barren place but by showing it in this light we are taken through the various stages of the illness. The only place where they fall down in this task is by not showing the stages of healing and recovery – but it’s a comedy so we have to get the funny in there at some point.

It goes without saying that i had an ulterior motive for this post. I did want to talk about a show which I’ve really enjoyed which dealt with a subject close to our hearts, but after the world lost Anthony Bourdain at the start of June i figured this was a good time to open the mental health conversation up. There’s not a person on this planet that hasn’t suffered from some sort of mental health issue. I would say that symptoms of poor mental health can manifest in a variety of ways – some seemingly more positive than others. The message i want to hammer home is that you can always talk to someone about it. I understand. For many – “talking about it” may actually be the hardest step but it is the most necessary.

My DM’s are open. Even if you just wanna talk crap about movies!

TALK ABOUT IT!

UK : https://www.mentalhealth-uk.org/get-help/

US : http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/finding-help

Stay safe, Nerds!

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