'The Last Man On Earth' Season 1 episode 12 recap: 'The Tandyman Can' 

‘The Cripple of Inishmaan’ is a roller coaster of laughs and poignant moments

The Last Man On Earth" from last night on Fox, April 26, details the events of episode 12, titled, "The Tandyman Can," and may contain spoilers. During last few weeks of "The Last Man On Earth" we found out that Phil Miller, played by Will Forte, and Carol Pilbasian, played by Kristen Schaal, were not the last two people on earth. The cast has grown to include Melissa Shart, played by January Jones, Todd, played by Mel Rodriguez and in the episode, "The Do-Over," we were introduced to Erica, played by actress Cleopatra Coleman and Gail, played by actress Mary Steenburgen. Last week in an episode titled, "Moved To Tampa," we gained one more cast member, Boris Kodjoe as Phil Miller, a former special forces member who just so happens to have the same name as our original protagonist, Phil Tandy Miller.

It\'s never been more crowded on Earth, that we know of, since the virus wiped out virtually everyone except our current cast of seven desperate and lonely humans, who have all found each other due to Phil Tandy Miller\'s signs along the highway that stated he was alive in Tuscon. In this episode we see interpersonal relationships within the group redefined and we see jealousy rear its ugly head more than once. The episode culminates in the cul-de-sac where a meeting of the survivors results in a re-election for President of the United States. We also get to dive a bit further down the rabbit hole that is Carol, who isn\'t at all what she first appeared to be during her relationship with Tandy.

At the start of the episode everyone is gathered around the cow, who has been living in Carol\'s house. Phil asks, "So, why\'s it living up here now?" Tandy takes the opportunity to laugh at Phil, proclaiming that he\'s, "So new, so naive." Phil slaps the cow and it walks downstairs on it\'s own, which leads Phil to say, "Well, all it takes is a firm slap and an authoritative tone, you can make a cow do whatever you want." Gail affirms the statement by adding, "Doesn\'t just work on cows, hon." Todd and Tandy, unimpressed, both mutter, "Friggin\' Phil."

While all the women are suddenly infatuated with the new Phil Miller, it\'s actually Carol who appears to have the best shot with him from the start, and she lets Tandy know that she thinks he\'s going be a very positive addition to the community, even claiming that he will clean out the garbage pool. Meanwhile, Erica and Gail try to get some alone time with the new Phil by claiming they have a broken generator and ask him to come by and fix it. Phil tells the couple, "Yeah, I can\'t find anything wrong with this thing. It seems to be working just fine." He also sees right through their plan, but plays along. When Phil & Carol show up a few minutes later, Phil thanks Carol for the pie she brought him, and it starts to turn into a contest over which woman can offer the new Phil the best food in the cul-de-sac. Gail remarks that she used to be a chef.

The conversation quickly turns to the question of where the new Phil is going to live. All the women offer Phil a place to stay at their homes, and Carol even tells him, "You know, now that you got the gall-dang cow out of my house, I\'m all alone and divorced. So I have plenty of room." Tandy makes Phil the offer, "Bro it the hell out! Move in with me, huh? A little bachelor pad action. We got the weight bench. We can spot each other." Phil ends up picking Tandy to live with, despite the two having an uneasy relationship so far. Phil, now having a place to live, soon after tackles the garbage pool situation. When Todd sees Phil driving a huge garbage truck to help with the task, Todd asks him, "You got a class B commercial license to operate this thing?" Not surprisingly, Phil says he does have a class B commercial license. Phil tells Todd to, "Take it easy, Tom," getting his name wrong. Once again Todd mutters, "Frickin\' Phil," as he sees Melissa hanging off the back of the garbage truck. She went along for the ride, and this infuriates Todd.

Back at Phil & Tandy\'s house, Phil has improved the shower system. He tells Tandy, "The flash heater connects to the water reservoir. I jacked up the water pressure. Basically, it feels like a shower." Tandy and Phil\'s relationship takes a complicated turn when Tandy begins to feel physically inadequate around the new guy. Phil takes a shower and Tandy is fascinated by Phil\'s physicality after he removes his shirt. Tandy goes to the bar and works out and talks to all of his sports ball friends, asking them, "This is a good body, right? I mean, I don\'t have that weird V thing that he does that kind of points your eyes down to your business."

Tandy eventually gets to the heart of the matter, saying, "Hey, who does this guy think he is, huh? He\'s taken my name. He\'s stealing all my chores. And now, just stripping down in front of me, in my own house? He\'s trying to establish dominance. That\'s a statement move right there. And I have to respond in kind." Tandy goes back to his house, strips nude and tells Phil he\'s going to take a shower. Phil tells him, "Huh, why don\'t you go put some clothes on?" Erica walks in on the two, because no one knocks or has boundaries any longer, and laughs at Phil, exclaiming, "Oh, my God!" She\'s not impressed with what she\'s seen.

Todd has meanwhile reached his boiling point with the new Phil and goes over to Melissa\'s house to confront her about the situation. Todd tells Melissa, "Don\'t hang out with him. If this relationship is gonna work, you can\'t hang out with him. I forbid it." When Melissa responds, it starts out sounding like she might be ending things. She tells Todd, "Look, I\'ve had a really nice time with you," and Todd cuts her off and says, "I know how that sentence is gonna end. And I\'ll beat you to it. We\'re done, Melissa." Melissa tells Todd that she wasn\'t going to dump him, but she accepts the fact that the relationship is now over.

Word gets around that Phil has figured out how to get hot showers, and he tells everyone, "Y\'all are welcome to use it anytime you want to." Gail is the first to respond, claiming, "Well, I might just take you up on that offer \'cause I am very, very dirty." Phil is a bit taken aback at her forward suggestion. It\'s actually Carol with her understated ways that catches Phil\'s attention with a scarf that she makes for him and remarks, "What a set of crafty hands you got." Phil then notices the kittens that Carol has painted on her nails and he remarks, "I\'m a cat man, myself." There\'s something brewing between Phil and Carol and the other women begin to get jealous but acknowledge Carol\'s methods, saying, "Well played."

Todd and Tandy get together by the cow, who is now fenced in thanks to Phil, to talk about their current misfortunes and their mutual rival. Tandy tells Todd, "So now I see that exposing my genitals to Phil was just a massive misfire." Todd tells Tandy, "Melissa and I broke up less than three hours ago, and I\'m already in a kind of free fall." Both men try to come to terms with where their lives are headed since Phil joined their group. Tandy tells Todd, "He definitely wants to sleep with Melissa. And everyone else here. Hell, I\'m not even sure the cow\'s safe." Todd agrees with the assessment about Phil and remarks, "He\'s a monster."

The turning point of the episode and the series so far came when Tandy confronted Phil at a meeting in the cul-de-sac. Phil asks Tandy, "Do you have a problem with me?" Tandy initially says he doesn\'t, but quickly confesses that he does have a problem. Tandy tells Phil, "Oh, you friggin\' come in here and try to impress everybody with all your skills that pay the bills. But deep down, you\'re jealous. Jellin\' so hard right now." Phil assures Tandy, "I got no beef with you, Tandy." Tandy reminds Phil, "That\'s President Tandy to you."

Melissa tells the group, "Okay, I think we\'ve had enough of this president crap." Erica chimes in and says, "And we didn\'t even get to vote. It\'s not fair." Tandy holds his ground and says, "Yes, it is, and even if it wasn\'t, none of you seem to be interested in the responsibility. So unless any of you want to get off your butts and throw your hats in the ring, looks like you\'re stuck with little old me." Phil declares, "Well, I\'d throw my hat in the ring." While Phil admits that he doesn\'t want to be President, he tells Tandy, "I just don\'t want you to be the president." Gail calls for a re-vote on the spot and all the women vote for Phil, who becomes the new President, while Tandy sulks at losing the job.

Phil falls back on his old habit of lying to people and tells everyone, "I\'ve made us a farm, a viable, sustainable, working farm. I found some good forgivable Tucson land, and I plowed it, I raked it, I tilled it, I sewed it, I farmed it." When President Phil calls him on the bluff, Tandy works throughout the night at a nearby farm planting jalapeno seeds. The next morning, when Tandy arrives back at the cul-de-sac and is ready to show off his farm to Phil, Todd has a lie of his own and tells Tandy that all of the women had sex with Phil. Tandy goes to check out the situation for himself, but discovers that the only thing going on is hot showers. All the women take turns in the shower and clean up for the first time in a long time.

When Phil and Tandy arrive on the farm, Phil is actually impressed and says, "Nice job, Tandy, this is a really good start." When Phil asks him what he planted, Phil lies again and tells him, "Ah, you know the necessities. Everything from, uh, fruits to veggies." The two have a momentary bonding over the situation and they apologize that their relationship got off to a rocky start. Tandy tells Phil, "I just want to say I feel like you caught me on a weird week." Tandy goes to the bar and tells his sports ball friends about the situation. Tandy asserts that, "This is Tandy Land, and he knows it."

President Phil meanwhile goes over to check up on Carol, and he notices her nails right away, asking, "You changed your nails up? Different cats. I like it." Carol giggles and says, "You noticed." Carol and President Phil go up to her bedroom and have loud sex, despite not being married, a prerequisite she had with Tandy. It turns out Carol is a bit of a freak in bed and Phil plays along. Carol tells Phil, "Oh, there you go, you big camper. Oh, now put the food in the bear box." Phil responds, "The food\'s in the box, baby." She instructs him, "Put it high up in the tree so the bears can\'t get to it." Phil assures her, "It\'s in the tree, it\'s high up there."

Everyone in the cul-de-sac can hear them having sex, as Phil asks Carol, "What kind of chocolate do you want?" Carol informs him, "I want the darkest chocolate! The darkest chocolate!" When Carol calls out, "Yeah, Phil Miller!" it wakes up Tandy, who goes outside to sit with Todd, who looks miserable sitting alone on the couch by the campfire. Tandy says casually to Todd, "We got to kill this guy." Todd, without flinching, responds, "I\'m in." The season wraps up next week when we\'ll learn the fate of the newly minted President.

'The Last Man On Earth' Season 1 episode 11 recap: 'Moved to Tampa'

'The Last Man On Earth' Season 1 episode 10 recap: 'Pranks for Nothin''

'The Last Man On Earth' Season 1 episode 9 recap: 'The Do-Over'

'The Last Man On Earth' Season 1 episode 8 recap: 'Mooovin' In'

'The Last Man On Earth' Season 1 episode 7 recap: 'She Drives Me Crazy'

John Schulze is a veteran of concert photography in Milwaukee, and has over 20 years experience in the industry. A former student of The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and a graduate of The Peck School of the Arts at UW-Milwaukee, John takes the privilege of being in the photo pit very seriously, and has covered countless elite stars in the music industry such as Taylor Swift, Widespread Panic, Derek Trucks, The Pixies, Social Distortion, The Dead, String Cheese Incident, Phish, Bush, Evanescence, Anthrax, Michelle Branch, Santana, Tom Petty, Sheryl Crow, Kittie and countless others. Contact John at john@johnschulze.com.

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