Or not.

It was pretty touch and go there for a minute.

The larger painting that Last Man on Earth is trying to create is slowly coming into focus. While the first season of the show toyed with the idea as to whether Phil even liked Carol at all, or was just interested in her because there was literally no other option (give or take a mannequin). On countless occasions we saw him trying to hook up with other people, and even Carol herself seemed to have found a certain happiness with the Other Phil. However now a very different story is being told, with “The Boo” clearly making its mission statement that Phil and Carol are Meant-to-Be Soul Mates, and the show is all the better after embracing this decision.

After their gutting separation last week, we see these lovable fools braving the elements to try and find each other, with their own inadequacies and fuck-ups actually leading themselves to one another in a way that’s quite beautiful. There is a very appreciated Carol-centric first act that shows her being left to her own devices and slowly exhausting hope, almost as quickly as she is emergency flares. Great leaps are actually taken this week to put Carol on the same “fool scale” that Phil’s been on, with stuff blowing up in her face and random bad luck coming at her as if she was Murphy himself (y’know, from “Murphy’s Law,” the principle that states—never mind). But as Carol flounders, Phil seems invigorated in a way that we haven’t seen him in a while. One of his plans involves a fantastic balloon set piece (that’s of a scale that it would make Frank from China, Il envious) that director Jason Woliner kills it with, which feels akin to his “paint cans in the wood chipper” moment from last season. It’s such a bright, creative, bewildering expression, and the sort of larger than life imagery that has begun to be associated with this show.

In spite of its simplicity, I’m kind of floored by Phil’s train gesture to help locate Carol. First off, I think Breaking Bad is the only other time I’ve seen a train in a television show, and it immediately makes you feel like you’re dealing with film instead of something off of this meager televisual device. Also, the gesture immediately reminded me of Fry’s beyond-romantic proposal towards Leela, and that is something that gets high points in my book. Plus, I love that even though Phil’s plan-A works, he’s also launched out a supplementary army of machines to spread his message to Carol. There’s no doubt now a bunch of aimless vehicles out there doing their best Maximum Overdrive impressions for no one in particular. I pray we see one roving in the background in some future episode.