Tuesday, October 20, 2015

The Last Man on Earth, Season Two, Episode Four: C to the T

Tandy is now locked up in a pillory and crying out for water to quench his thirst.  Melissa complies and brings him a glass of water but because Tandy is in a pillory, he cannot bring his hand to his mouth to drink.  In desperation, Tandy tosses the water at his face hoping to be able to at least get a little bit and then dropping the glass on the ground.  Phil comes out and places a gun to Tandy's head, asking Tandy if he likes playing with guns.  Phil fires in the gun into the air as Tandy protests that his gun was not loaded.  Carol rushes out at the sound of the gunshot but returns to the house when Phil assures her that this is just boys being boys.  Tandy tries to tell Phil that he has changed but Phil turns and fires at a plant, telling Tandy that he hopes so for his sake.  When Phil leaves, Tandy calls out that he needs a change of pants, shoes and underwear.

Carol redresses Tandy and she asks the group if Tandy can be released now because what they are doing is medieval and cruel. Erica is quick to point out that Phil held them all at gun point but Carol argues back that the gun was not loaded.  Todd is still extremely angry and Phil argues that Tandy did the crime and must now do the time.  Finally, Phil proposes 1 week of solitary confinement in the workout room but Carol argues that it's going overboard. Tandy then suggests how about 3 or 4 or five.  Carol asks Tandy what he is doing and Tandy explains that this is his time to prove that he has changed.  Phil agrees to the situation.

Tandy has locked himself away and when Carol comes to see him, she finds the door locked. He explains that it wouldn't be a punishment if he were allowed to fraternize.  Carol again asks why Tandy agreed to extend his solitary confinement and he explains that he has always taken the easy way out and doesn't want to do it anymore.  Tandy tells Carol to go and have fun and not worry about him.

Carol sits down to eat with Melissa and Todd and they discuss the fact that all of their canned foods are expiring, which means the cow will be their main food source.  Melissa says that they have to treat the cow like a queen.  Todd leaves to get wine and Carol feasts on the cheese.  Carol asks how things are going with Melissa and Todd and she explains that things have been weird and that Todd has been cold and distant.

From his confinement, Tandy spies the cheese.  Long after Melissa, Carol and Todd have left, Tandy sneaks out of his jail.  He crawls over to the table and puts a hunk of cheese in his mouth.  Tandy changes his mind and spits out the cheese and tells himself that he is better than this.  Tandy then stuffs his face again, only to spit it out again.  Melissa's back is to Tandy as he backs away but when he bumps into the windmill, Melissa calls out to the group that Tandy is out.

The next day, Tandy is taken out to the field and the shock caller that the group uses to keep the cow from wandering is placed around his neck. Carol once again argues that this is barbaric and Tandy claims that this is just what he needs. Tandy again says that this is what he deserves because he did the crime.  In trying to prove his point, Tandy gets too close to the perimeter and is shocked. The group walks away except for Carol, who asks if Tandy would like a pillow.  Tandy responds that if he had a pillow it wouldn't be a punishment. Carol kisses Tandy calling him strong and backs away.

That night, Tandy is sleeping when Todd sneaks out.  The next morning, Erica comes outside and Tandy starts to compliment her in a fake Australian accent. Next to head outside is Gail, who Tandy asks if she has Benjamin Button disease.  The women sit at the pool and ignore Tandy but when Tandy doesn't stop, Gail calls out that he is to shut the hell up.  When Melissa exits, Tandy starts to sing the Miss America theme, causing Melissa to inform Tandy that they are adding total silence to his punishment.  Tandy claims that he is tying to spread good cheer and letting people know that he cares about them.  When next we see Tandy, he is meeting with the group.  It seems that Tandy had Carol procure a new collar which will spray citronella into his face whenever he speaks. Phil takes the honour of putting the new collar on Tandy and Tandy tests it by speaking and gets sprayed immediately.  In fact he is sprayed several times.

Tandy sits by himself when Carol approaches to tell him that he has made it five days.  Tandy whispers that this sucks and asks if anyone is talking about him. Carol tells him that no one is talking about him, even though she keeps talking about his sacrifice.  Tandy says that he would like a little acknowledgement and Carol replies that he needs a little walk.  Arm in arm, Tandy and Carol walk to the perimeter. Carol passes Melissa on her way in, who claims to bringing Tandy some beer.  Melissa walks up to the perimeter and places the cold beers just out of reach. Melissa then reaches into the bucket and drinks down a beer in front of Tandy.  Tandy claps and tells Melissa that what she has done is funny.  Tandy gets down flat on his stomach and tries to reach the beers with his feet, only to be shocked.

Later, Tandy tries to get the attention of the group by clapping and when no one responds, he throws plants on the patio.  This inflames Todd's anger and he calls Tandy a real piece of work.  Melissa has to tell Todd to be calm down.  Tandy claps again and Carol comes to his side. Tandy whispers to Carol that he is sorry he threw the plants and adds that he just wanted the groups attention because he has something he wants to say.  The group tells Tandy that they cannot hear him and so he engages in charades to try and get his point across.  Tandy manages to convey that he hates the collar and Phil tells him that it's too bad.  Melissa translates Tandy's message which is that since the collar was his idea, he should be able to take it off whenever he wants.  Todd yells no and adds that it's about trust and that Tandy lost theirs.  Erica calls out that if Tandy is going to act like an animal, he is going to be treated like an animal.  Phil grabs Tandy by the ear and drags him to a small storage area outside, locking him in.

Tandy is curled in a ball inside his little enclosure but he wakes to a fire on the patio.  Tandy screams but each time he does so, he gets sprayed by the Citronella.  Tandy manages to get out and then is shocked repeatedly as he gets water out of the pool to put out the fire. After being shocked several times and putting the fire out, Tandy crawls back into his enclosure.

The next morning the group sees the results of the fire and wonder who must have put it out.  Todd claims that he slept right through it but his eyes are hella shifty.  Carol says that she thinks she knows and the group confronts Tandy.  Using hand signals, Tandy explains what happened the night before and Carol translates for him.  Phil steps forward and takes both collars off of Tandy.  The minute Tandy starts thanking the group and saying how much he has changed, they turn and walk away in unison.

That night, Todd is sneaking around by flashlight.  He calls out that daddy's home and enters another building.

This episode was all about Tandy's redemption and he spent most of them digging bigger and bigger holes for himself.  It's official, not only does the manchild have no morals, he absolutely has zero people skills.

What I am curious about is Todd's sudden rage.  Several times during this episode, Melissa had to put her hand on Todd's shoulder to calm him down.  Who is this person? He's certainly not the easy going Todd we have gotten to know.  Clearly something has changed since the move.

There's also the issue of Todd being all shifty.  Is he somehow responsible for the fire? We also know that Todd is sneaking away from the group.  I swear that if they have him sneaking away to eat food, I am going to lose my shit.  I know that it's something serious because of his rage about Tandy's deceptions.  It really had an air of thou dost protest too much.