WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first three episodes of Y: The Last Man Season 1, now streaming on FX on Hulu.
In Y: The Last Man, President Jennifer Brown (Diane Lane) has had quite the grueling task so far of rebuilding America after a mysterious extinction event took out all the men. Months later, she's been thrust from congresswoman to president, hoping to quell uprisings in the nation as poverty levels are rising and essentials like food and electricity are dwindling. However, as Jen tries to chart a way forward, the human villains waste no time in moving in on her.
Jen's formed a makeshift hub, not caring if dissidents raze the Oval Office because to her that part of Washington always represented misguided male toxicity. However, the real threat's coming from within as Jen finds herself at odds with Kimberly (Amber Tamblyn) -- daughter of the last Commander-in-Chief that bled out and died when the event occurred.
As a Republican and best-selling right-wing author, Kim just can't stand what Jen's doing, pushing what they think is a skewed liberal and Democratic outlook that won't uplift America after the apocalypse. Kim wants more conservative iron-fisted action and control, making it clear she was her father's aide and should be at least advising. In reality, she wants to take over, slowly weaponizing the grief of other women and stirring insurrection within.
Tamblyn admits divisive real-world figures like Meghan McCain inspired the character, which has led to Kim being anti-feminist, pro-choice, pro-guns, anti-LGBT and also, very discriminatory in her ways. It's why folks were afraid to let her be a voice in the Cabinet as she won't restabilize or add order, she'll bring chaos to an already-broken America as she grapples for power with her entitlement. Thus, as she manipulates people after losing her husband and sons, she moves from sympathetic to terrifying with her grief, especially as she can tell Jen's hiding a couple secrets.
One secret is that her son, Yorick, survived and is hiding out at their base, which Kim's depressed mom starts to suspect. The other brings another enemy in line, Regina, the right successor for leadership. Regina was thought dead after diplomatic duties in Israel, but now awake she wants to come back home and take over.
When news breaks that Regina is alive, Kim and the right-wing mothers/wives are emboldened, launching a tirade as they believe Jen's a biased liar. They even chide their own Republicans who admit Regina is a racist not fit for public service, wanting them to put party first. As such, Kim's left to formulate a new plan, while Jen is now on the defensive.
Ultimately, Jen's team doesn't want Regina coming home and may resort to sinister tactics to snuff the threat out, foreshadowing a civil war to come. The problem is, with Agent 355 taking Yorick to Dr. Mann to study, Jen may be short of allies to come as Kim is already converting believers to her cause, prepping for Regina's reign, or worse, her own.
Based on the acclaimed DC/Vertigo comic of the same name written by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated by Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man stars Ben Schnetzer as Yorick Brown, Ashley Romans as Agent 355, Diana Bang as Dr. Allison Mann, Olivia Thirlby as Hero Brown and Diane Lane as President Jennifer Brown. Y: The Last Man is now streaming on FX on Hulu.