Y: The Last Man: Neil
September 19, 2021 2:38 PM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
With Jennifer and Yorick reunited, Agent 355 hatches a plan for what comes next. The dead President's daughter, Kimberly, circles Jennifer's secret. Meanwhile, Nora Brady and her daughter Mack say goodbye to home.
so, I haven't read the comics, and maybe it's better explained there, but I wish they had spent some time on the details of why everything stopped working after the event, because it seems like they are saying that without men the world would just crumble and women couldn't keep things going. It's making it hard to get into the story while I'm rolling my eyes so hard "of course we have no power without *men* running it, no we caaaaan't find anyone qualified..." arrrrg
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:14 AM on September 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:14 AM on September 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
I don't think that you have to have read the comics to understand that it is meant to exaggerate things. The whole point of the comic is that men influence the world way more than they should. It was written almost twenty years ago, and from what I understand the TV adaptation was in development limbo forever.
There have been some comments here despairing that that Yorick is portrayed as a loser and that it is hard to think of him as any kind of protagonist. I feel that it is really intentional on the part of the authors/creators. You are not supposed to like Yorick, at least initially. I mean, you could write a story where all of the men die except for one superhero guy that saves all of the women, but I wouldn't read it.
It's been a long time since I have read the comics, but it was the story that I remember loving, and we are a long way fron getting into it.
posted by Quonab at 5:51 AM on September 20, 2021
There have been some comments here despairing that that Yorick is portrayed as a loser and that it is hard to think of him as any kind of protagonist. I feel that it is really intentional on the part of the authors/creators. You are not supposed to like Yorick, at least initially. I mean, you could write a story where all of the men die except for one superhero guy that saves all of the women, but I wouldn't read it.
It's been a long time since I have read the comics, but it was the story that I remember loving, and we are a long way fron getting into it.
posted by Quonab at 5:51 AM on September 20, 2021
I buy the civilizational collapse, though YMMV for how much one enjoys watching it depicted onscreen. Plenty of jobs necessary to the function of modern life are 80-95% male. Do I believe women could figure that stuff out? Sure, obviously, but they'd probably have an easier time of it if they weren't coping with the abrupt traumatic deaths of every man and boy they knew. And there's a lot of creaking infrastructure that relies on some institutional knowledge in order to not screw everything up. I think they can and should have been a little better about rounding up the corpses (yikes, for so many reasons) and creating a delivery network. But running sewage treatment facilities and salvaging power stations? Yeah, I would buy that there are not be a lot of people who can do that from the jump.
(I'm actually a little surprised by how bad the humanitarian situation is, because if there's anything a bunch of women around DC would have actual logistical experience in, it's assisting with a humanitarian crisis? People are clearly scrounging for food, if not actively starving yet. But maybe this is just an argument that USAID sucks.)
Also, I know the comic book is called "Y: The Last Man," but characters in the show don't know that. If I found one cis guy who survived, I would at least consider searching for more.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:24 AM on September 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
(I'm actually a little surprised by how bad the humanitarian situation is, because if there's anything a bunch of women around DC would have actual logistical experience in, it's assisting with a humanitarian crisis? People are clearly scrounging for food, if not actively starving yet. But maybe this is just an argument that USAID sucks.)
Also, I know the comic book is called "Y: The Last Man," but characters in the show don't know that. If I found one cis guy who survived, I would at least consider searching for more.
posted by grandiloquiet at 7:24 AM on September 20, 2021 [6 favorites]
From the Vulture recap I linked in episode 2:
(Did you know that women make up 6 percent of truck drivers in the U.S., 5 percent of pilots worldwide, and just one percent of the global maritime workforce?)
I’d love to have seen numbers on far more occupations. Maybe I’ll try to hunt for data after work.
posted by bunderful at 11:07 AM on September 20, 2021
(Did you know that women make up 6 percent of truck drivers in the U.S., 5 percent of pilots worldwide, and just one percent of the global maritime workforce?)
I’d love to have seen numbers on far more occupations. Maybe I’ll try to hunt for data after work.
posted by bunderful at 11:07 AM on September 20, 2021
9% of engineers is a stat that I hear a lot for UK engineering. WES reports it is now 14.5% here.
posted by biffa at 4:10 PM on September 20, 2021
posted by biffa at 4:10 PM on September 20, 2021
I found this breakdown for the UK workforce.
Kind of puzzling it out for myself - roughly half the population is dead. It hadn't really occurred to me before but what would you even *do* with all the bodies? Even with the current pandemic - which is bad, but not 50% of the population - there are stories of undertakers struggling to store and cope with the number of bodies.
And then on a practical level - getting access to the systems, spaces, and tools necessary to do various jobs - sanitation, utilities, transportation - and then sorting out how to do them.
Plus childcare still needs to happen.
posted by bunderful at 6:16 PM on September 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Kind of puzzling it out for myself - roughly half the population is dead. It hadn't really occurred to me before but what would you even *do* with all the bodies? Even with the current pandemic - which is bad, but not 50% of the population - there are stories of undertakers struggling to store and cope with the number of bodies.
And then on a practical level - getting access to the systems, spaces, and tools necessary to do various jobs - sanitation, utilities, transportation - and then sorting out how to do them.
Plus childcare still needs to happen.
posted by bunderful at 6:16 PM on September 20, 2021 [1 favorite]
Yeah, the logistics around half the population dropping dead within 24 hours or so boggles my mind. It's like a real life rapture event but with piles of bodies, and massive amounts of animal bodies along with it.
I am no longer neutral on Yorick: I hate him too. But, I agree that the show wants me to hate him right now. He's so myopic and useless right now, I assume he'll get better. If 355 ever likes him, then I'll probably like him too.
I'll save my real hate watching for the former president's daughter, Kim. She's awful and dangerous.
posted by gladly at 7:49 PM on September 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
I am no longer neutral on Yorick: I hate him too. But, I agree that the show wants me to hate him right now. He's so myopic and useless right now, I assume he'll get better. If 355 ever likes him, then I'll probably like him too.
I'll save my real hate watching for the former president's daughter, Kim. She's awful and dangerous.
posted by gladly at 7:49 PM on September 20, 2021 [2 favorites]
Yeah, i hate Yorick because he hits a nerve with me on a personal level, though I know his character is set up like that for a reason.
But Kim makes my hair stand on end.
posted by bunderful at 4:45 AM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
But Kim makes my hair stand on end.
posted by bunderful at 4:45 AM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
I suppose in this world women now make up over 99 percent of pilots worldwide.
Well, a teeny bit less now thanks to Agent 355's shrinking of the circle.
posted by fullerine at 6:20 AM on September 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
Well, a teeny bit less now thanks to Agent 355's shrinking of the circle.
posted by fullerine at 6:20 AM on September 21, 2021 [1 favorite]
Also check how Covid pole-axed our supply chains, and Covid is only a tiny fraction of this Event. It doesn't matter if you know how to run a power plant if you have no fuel and no spare parts.
posted by Mogur at 6:34 AM on September 21, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Mogur at 6:34 AM on September 21, 2021 [3 favorites]
Well, a teeny bit less now thanks to Agent 355's shrinking of the circle.
Agent 355's speech to the pilots, rallying them to fly Yorick to Boston fooled me completely. I was positive that she was going to have to kill them earlier in the episode, but she was so convincing that the ending was a real shock to me. Which was incredibly foolish since we'd already seen her respond to Kim's "friendly" overture, trying to flip 355 earlier. She's clearly more than capable of the mental side.
I just realized that Nora Brady is played by Marin Ireland, who I only knew as an amazing audio book voice actor. Now I hope Nora rehabs into a more likable character too.
posted by gladly at 7:27 AM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
Agent 355's speech to the pilots, rallying them to fly Yorick to Boston fooled me completely. I was positive that she was going to have to kill them earlier in the episode, but she was so convincing that the ending was a real shock to me. Which was incredibly foolish since we'd already seen her respond to Kim's "friendly" overture, trying to flip 355 earlier. She's clearly more than capable of the mental side.
I just realized that Nora Brady is played by Marin Ireland, who I only knew as an amazing audio book voice actor. Now I hope Nora rehabs into a more likable character too.
posted by gladly at 7:27 AM on September 21, 2021 [2 favorites]
After the first two episodes we had a similar discussion in our house about the infrastructure, etc..
I'll just drop this here:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020
I'll save you scrolling through all of it to find the relevant parts. What you'll find is that under the relevant occupations (construction, resource extraction, maintenance, repair and engineering) that men make up anywhere from 84% to 97% of the workforce. Keep in mind the remaining 13-26% is spread throughout the entire country. In other words, I think the single most realistic thing in this show is the complete collapse of modern life in a relatively short time.
Someone else pointed out upthread that covid has affected a relatively small portion of the population, but the ripples created have disturbed distribution of goods and service worldwide to an astonishing degree. When I imagine that extrapolated for the level the show puts forth . . . it's a wonder anyone at all is alive after 30 days, let alone that there's ANY clean water, electricity, etc..
posted by kaiseki at 8:33 AM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
I'll just drop this here:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020
I'll save you scrolling through all of it to find the relevant parts. What you'll find is that under the relevant occupations (construction, resource extraction, maintenance, repair and engineering) that men make up anywhere from 84% to 97% of the workforce. Keep in mind the remaining 13-26% is spread throughout the entire country. In other words, I think the single most realistic thing in this show is the complete collapse of modern life in a relatively short time.
Someone else pointed out upthread that covid has affected a relatively small portion of the population, but the ripples created have disturbed distribution of goods and service worldwide to an astonishing degree. When I imagine that extrapolated for the level the show puts forth . . . it's a wonder anyone at all is alive after 30 days, let alone that there's ANY clean water, electricity, etc..
posted by kaiseki at 8:33 AM on September 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
355 likes to have a moment of intimacy with the people she's about to kill. The pilots this episode and the white supremacist she blew up in the first episode.
posted by rdr at 6:10 AM on September 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by rdr at 6:10 AM on September 24, 2021 [4 favorites]
With a 50% casualty rate, the only viable solution is mass cremation or mass graves.
The setup of the wife/ daughter of a powerful social regressive politician in it for power, and a virulently right-wing female vice president has a lot of promise for conflict. I'm curious how this plays out.
The confrontation of that group with the senator power group; it was interesting that there was a frame of the former showing them wearing heels (and one or two obvious counterexamples) and the latter - some wearing heels, but many wearing low heeled boots. Also, the foley effects of the former clopping.
posted by porpoise at 10:08 PM on November 6, 2021
The setup of the wife/ daughter of a powerful social regressive politician in it for power, and a virulently right-wing female vice president has a lot of promise for conflict. I'm curious how this plays out.
The confrontation of that group with the senator power group; it was interesting that there was a frame of the former showing them wearing heels (and one or two obvious counterexamples) and the latter - some wearing heels, but many wearing low heeled boots. Also, the foley effects of the former clopping.
posted by porpoise at 10:08 PM on November 6, 2021
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
My rage at Yorick reached a peak (so far) in this episode. He reminded me of a person I know who, when things are difficult, is quick with one-liners, whining, and criticism, and has absolutely no thought of considering what he can do to help, make things easier for other people, or even just get out of the way. Yorick 1) letting Ampersand get loose and then 2) RUNNING AFTER HIM is just catastrophically immature, selfish, and stupid.
Regina coming to in Tel Aviv - ugh.
Agent 355 though.
Kimberly thinking that coloring her hair is going to make Jennifer take her more seriously.
And OMG Yorick lying that he's engaged and trying to get his mom to find Beth for him before he'll participate in saving the damn world. Then complaining about the picture used to memorialize him.
Vulture recap
posted by bunderful at 3:18 PM on September 19, 2021 [5 favorites]