Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra's beloved Y: The Last Man has, since ending in 2008, become a series that people who read comics frequently recommend to those who don't. Dealing with themes such as gender, sexuality, and identity, the comic felt mature, but not overly edgy. However, Y: The Last Man also suffers from some major issues: one of its biggest failures is it doesn't meaningfully address the existence of trans men. Now, the show's first live-action adaptation is here, after spending years in development hell. While FX's Y: The Last Man fixes some of its issues, its first six episodes are hampered by uneven writing.
At the start of Y: The Last Man, a mysterious illness wipes out every being on Earth with a Y chromosome except for Yorick Brown (Ben Schnetzer) and his capuchin monkey, Ampersand. Initially, Yorick contents himself with looking for Beth DeVille (Juliana Canfield), his girlfriend. However, he soon meets Agent 355 (Ashley Romans), a dangerous covert operative with a mysterious past, and they team up with geneticist Dr. Allison Mann (Diana Bang) in hopes of saving the human race. Elsewhere, Yorick's sister, Hero Brown (Olivia Thirlby), embarks on a journey with her friend Sam Jordan (Elliot Fletcher). The third plot revolves around Yorick and Hero's mother: Jennifer Brown (Diane Lane), who has become President of the United States following the previous one's death. President Brown has to navigate the complicated world of US politics while also keeping the United States from collapsing.
Y: The Last Man's pilot, "The Day Before," is fantastic. The episode sets the stage for the series well, taking everything slow and really showing life before the apocalypse. By the end of the episode, it's clear just who the series' core characters are and how their lost relationships will affect them going forward. And when people do finally start dropping, the visuals are absolutely haunting. The pilot is, undoubtedly, Y: The Last Man at its best.
However, Y: The Last Man doesn't capitalize on its pilot. The next few episodes of the show are hastily plotted. The second episode, "Would the World Be Kind," is particularly rough, essentially giving Yorick three plots that could, on their own, be entire episodes. There's a sense that the early part of the series is trying to move its characters to where they need to be for the rest of the season, but that severely shortchanges character moments and arcs.
Of the three main plots, Yorick's is the weakest; although it's worth noting that this is due more to the writing than Schnetzer's performance. He's characterized as a petulant man-child, which is fine in theory. His shtick grows old quickly. In the first few episodes, he's single-mindedly obsessed with finding Beth. He's so obsessed with finding Beth that he seems to not have fully realized that an apocalypse happened. This narrow focus takes away many of his chances to react to what's going on in an authentic way. He's basically forced to grow by Agent 355, but it's unclear as to whether what's happening really sticks. Luckily, Romans steals the show as Agent 355, and she -- along with Bang's Dr. Mann -- helps carry Yorick's plot.
Lane is wonderful as President Brown, bringing the exact poise and grace that one expects from the veteran actor. Watching President Brown try and hold the United States together when the country seems so likely to collapse is genuinely compelling. Additionally, President Brown finds a worthy antagonist and foil in the deeply conservative Kimberly Cunningham (Amber Tamblyn), the daughter of the deceased president. President Brown's intelligence and desire to do what's best for everyone is often challenged by Kimberly's incredible people skills. However, President Brown's plot doesn't really get the time it deserves.
Finally, Hero, for her part, is about as frustrating as Yorick. That being said, her internal problems feel a bit more justified than his. Hero is struggling with who she is as a person, and that's causing her to act in ways that are deeply self-destructive. Watching her try and stave off a total emotional collapse is excellent. Her plotline is also greatly improved by the addition of Sam, a trans man trying to survive in a world that's fraught for him in new and terrible ways. The two bounce off each other really well, and it's enjoyable to watch. However, the later addition of another major female character ends up bloating the plot more than necessary.
Still, Y: The Last Man's relationship with trans men does have some awkwardness, which is nowhere more evident than in the show's title. While the show simultaneously acknowledges there are plenty of men, and the actual issue is just the loss of people with a Y chromosome, the title still asserts Yorick is The Last Man on Earth. The choice here seems to be one more related to marketing and making the show's relationship to a beloved property clear, but it's still odd.
Y: The Last Man's first six episodes are a mixed bag. The show does improve markedly by the end of the first six episodes, and it's absolutely possible Season 1 will only get better as it continues. The original comic, after all, was also a bit rough for the first few issues. Still, considering just how beloved Y: The Last Man is and its long development period, it's disappointing that the show's opening episodes aren't better.
Y: The Last Man debuts Sept. 13 on FX on Hulu.