ALAS, POOR YORICK IS TOO FAMILIAR
A NEW SERIES SET IN A WORLD WHERE ONLY ONE MAN IS LEFT ALIVE TAKES US INTO POSTAPOCALYPTIC TERRITORY WE’VE SEEN BEFORE
IMAGINE a world without men. A world where women are in power, a world stripped of misogyny by the simple fact that men no longer exist. It’s an idea so rich in possibilities that it’s possible to imagine a dystopian (or should that be utopian?) TV drama based on such a premise spinning off in all manner of directions.
Which makes it quite sad that much of Y: The Last Man occupies predictable postapocalyptic territory. As it opens up with scenes that could come straight out of The Walking Dead – cars strewn across streets, eerie corpse-strewn highways – we’re presented with a disaster scenario that feels almost comforting in its familiarity.
To be fair, Y: The Last Man is based on a comic-book series by Brian K Vaughan and Pia Guerra, so to some extent the writers had their storyline plotted out for them. But in an opening two episodes heavy on exposition, it’s a touch dispiriting to be presented with a woman-led world of power-grabbing politicians, bickering factions and hysterical panic that feels exactly like how things would pan out in a reversal of misfortune where men were the ones left standing.
But by episode three, the dust gradually settling, quite what caused the planet’s men, all bar one, to suddenly keel over is touched upon and Y: The Last Man starts to exert some pulling power. The Last Man in question is amiable drifter Yorick (Ben Schnetzer), who also happens to be the president’s son, sparking a storyline in conspiracy theories. Magician Yorick (whose sister is called Hero – we’re heavy on the Shakespeare here), though regularly upstaged by his cute capuchin monkey, Ampersand, suddenly finds himself at the centre of the story when he’s much more comfortable floating on the periphery. He’s hot property and the future of the planet could depend on him, a fact his presidential mother (Diane Lane) is keenly aware of. What will become of Yorick and how the competing factions of women play out their power struggle is what gives Y: The Last Man its killer hook, even if it takes a while to dig in.
For while the show headlines a Last Man in its title, this is very much a story about a world of women and one wonders: would it really be so different?
First three episodes available today on Star (via Disney+). New episodes Wednesdays