OH WHAT A SEASON. With how little time passed between episodes 1-15, it’s hard to believe the season is already over. It feels like we’ve only just recently left Malibu, when, in reality, that was the first episode of the season. Of course, I’ve recapped every episode of the season, but assuming that at this point, you don’t want to go back and skim 18 recaps as a refresher, I’ve got your full season three recap here!
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “Mama’s Hideaway” on FOX
The season opened where season two left off — strangers in a boat creeping up on our group of survivors. Melissa, who had been going through a triggerhappy phase, preemptively shoots and kills one of the men, Darrell, played by Jon Hamm. (Probably well-deserved from his days on Mad Men with costar January Jones, who plays Melissa.) The other two men swear that they are good guys. Pat buddies up with Tandy, but he starts to act like his normal crazy self that we met in season two once he finds out that Tandy is actually the brother of the man he left for dead, Mike. He believed that Mike was contaminated, and that he might have brought the virus back to this home, infecting Tandy & Co, too. Basically, he tries to kill everyone, but Tandy, Carol, Melissa, Gail, Erica, and newcomer Lewis hit Pat while fleeing in the A-Team van, driven by Todd. At first, they believe that Pat had been killed, and Todd is filled with remorse. When they go back to check on his body and find that he walked away from the incident, they agree they must leave Malibu and find somewhere else to live. They head for San Francisco, but San Francisco is nonexistent. They continue north and find a few self-sustaining buildings with working electricity, which is something they thought they’d never see again. Of course they choose to live there.
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “Five Hoda Kotbs” on FOX
Melissa and Gail had simultaneously been in a relationship with Todd, but throughout the season, Melissa becomes more and more catatonic and weird, and as Todd shifts his focus to be solely on Melissa, Gail feels ignored and she breaks things off with Todd. We later find out that the reason Melissa acts this way is because she had been off of her bipolar medication for too long. Once she’s back on her medication, she acts like our regular Melissa.
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “Point Person Knows Best” on FOX
The power at their building starts becoming prone to outages, so when Lewis figures out that the power is being split between a few empty buildings on the lot, he turns the power off for every building except his. This is a great idea, but Gail had wandered into one of those buildings drunk and got stuck in the elevator. She manages to pry the doors open, but she’s stuck between floors. She has a gun, which she fires in hopes that someone will hear her and figure out a way to help. The midseason finale ended with us unsure of whether or not Gail gave up all hope and ended her own life. We eventually find out that Gail is okay, but not before Lewis dies — his attempt at flying an airplane ending in disaster.
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “The Spirit of St. Lewis” on FOX
One character down, but a new one found when Carol finds that someone has been living nearby, dressed in a Yoda mask. This weirdo ends up being Jasper, a boy who never speaks. The group struggles to get him acclimated over a few episodes, and they even throw him a party that features every single holiday. He doesn’t start talking until 3×16, where the show jumps forward a few months.
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “Name 20 Picnics… Now!” on FOX
When the show picks back up after the time jump, Todd and Melissa get married and Erica goes into labor. Carol, who is also pregnant, is overly sensitive about all of the negative aspects and possibilities during childbirth when they realize that Erica’s baby is breech. It all turns out okay. Well, it all turns out okay for Erica and her newborn daughter, Dawn. It all turns out not okay for the air basically everywhere in America when Tandy finds that nuclear meltdown is happening all over the place. Since there isn’t a clear path to Mexico (their target being Zihuatanejo à la The Shawshank Redemption), they go back to LA to find a boat to take to Mexico, avoiding all of the toxic air.
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “When the Going Gets Tough” on FOX
They worry that Pat may still be in LA, but with LA being a big city, they’re probably safe. Only they’re not. Tandy gives a long speech before the boat actually leaves, and it gives Pat enough time to find them. He’s just about to kill freaking everyone with his shotgun when he himself gets shot through the back of the head by a meek, awkward woman named Pamela (played by Kristen Wiig). I spent much of the last half of the season waiting for Kristen Wigg’s character to integrate into our group. Even though we only had about two seconds of that, I’m excited to see what season four will have for us, and I hope that she’ll be on more than a couple of the episodes. (I’m also still holding out hope for Mike, Tandy’s assumed dead brother, played by Jason Sudeikis.)
Screenshot: Hulu – The Last Man on Earth “Nature’s Horchata” on FOX
That’s it for this season! You can rewatch every episode of The Last Man on Earth on Hulu or Amazon. Seasons one and two are available for purchase on DVD, or likely to borrow through your local library.
