WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Y: The Last Man Season 1, Episode 1, "The Day Before," now streaming on FX on Hulu.
Most modern TV shows spare no expense when it comes to sets, character and outfit designs and story. However, once those aspects have been created and are in top condition, there's still a matter of implementing the visual effects. While this is typically in small scenes, some larger CG characters often suffer in their look, pulling audiences out of the moment. This includes the tigers in both Netflix's Panic and Sweet Tooth. But now and then, a show comes along that does so well with its CG animals that they could be mistaken for real, like in the brand new FX series, Y: The Last Man.
Y: The Last Man is based on the DC/Vertigo comic book series of the same name by Brian K. Vaughn and Pia Guerra. The book was released in 2002 and tells the story of the Earth after a disease of unknown origin kills all people with a Y chromosome on the planet. With only women surviving, the main goal is to figure out how they will survive in the short and long term. However, two males, an escape artist named Yorick Brown (Ben Schnetzer) and a monkey named Ampersand, find their way into a survivor community. But the strangest thing is that both males survived and appear to show no signs of any latent side-effects or infection.
CG animals have been the latest way to ensure that no animals are harmed during filming while ensuring consistent interactions with the actors. Since Ampersand plays an equally important role in Yorick's life as the other supporting characters, he needs to look as lifelike as possible. When he's first introduced, the audience finds him searching through abandoned cars and quizzically looking at a hula girl on the dashboard of a taxi. Almost immediately, the parallels between him and a real monkey are evident, as he examines the hula girl by hitting her and watching her swing.
Following the scene, Ampersand meets with Yorick and presents a marker as a find. Yorick congratulates him and uses a magic trick to make the cracker he offered him disappear. Ampersand is confused but entertained after Yorick gives him back the cracker. Not only is the scene cute, but it again shows how much detail was put into creating a visually and behaviorally realistic creature. As a result, audiences can attach themselves to the character, which is tested when Yorick saves his friend from a falling helicopter. Thanks to the VFX team's tireless attention to detail, Y: The Last Man creates one of the most realistic animal presentations on television.
Later in the pilot episode, during a flashback scene, Congresswoman Brown's (Diane Lane) assistant, Christine Flores (Jess Salgueiro), encounters a horde of rats during a date. However, this isn't an ordinary horde, as they emerge from an alley and cover the street. After they disperse, some of the rats are found dead, alluding to the upcoming decimation of any human with a Y chromosome. That being said, what is really impressive with the scene is how realistically the rats are portrayed. Not only do they run uniformly down the street as real ones would, but they also topple over each other. While it's mostly a blurry brown mass, the brief moments where details on the creatures are shown, it's hard not to think they could be real.
Y: The Last Man looks to be another entertaining dramatic adaptation of a classic comic book. However, as the effects in the pilot have shown, it may also be a groundbreaking perspective on how CG animals can look on TV. With the series focusing so much on the human element, characters like Ampersand will get as much attention as needed to ensure that he consistently looks as real as possible. Any other animals that appear will surely be another mesmerizing addition to the surprisingly innovative new series.
To see how lifelike CG animals can look, watch Y: The Last Man, with Episodes 1-3 now streaming on FX on Hulu.