'Last Man on Earth' Wraps Up a Weird Season 1 That Could Be Weirder

[Warning: This story contains spoilers about the first season of Fox's "The Last Man on Earth."]

When Fox's "The Last Man on Earth," which wrapped up its Season 1 last week, aired in March, there was a lot of speculation as to where the post-apocalyptic comedy series could go: it's title alone suggested something that seemed too out of the box for network TV - a series that stars literally one man.

But after a few episodes, "The Last Man on Earth," created by and starring "Saturday Night Live" alum Will Forte, soon lands into typical sitcom tropes and turns out to be not as groundbreaking as previously thought. As it turns out, Phil Miller (Forte) isn't really the last man on earth: first he meets another woman, Carol Pilbasian (Kristen Schaal) and soon enough the cast expands to include a handful of people who all end up living next to each other on a cul de sac in a once well-to-do area of Tuscan, Arizona.

Once "Last Man" established what kind of show it actually is, the stakes are lowered. But "Last Man" proves itself to be a weird and even touching; it's just not the weird show it could be.

Set in the year 2020, a deadly virus has evidently eradicated most of the human population the year before viewers are introduced to the show, and our (anti-) hero, Phil Miller. In the first moments of "Last Man," we see Phil traveling the country, putting up billboards that read "Alive in Tuscan," in hopes that anyone left in the world will see the signs and travel to desert city, where he resides.

Just before giving up all hope and committing suicide, Phil meets Carol, a quirky, brash woman who keeps hope alive by clinging to social norms of the past. She corrects Phil's grammar, makes him wear a seatbelt (despite there literally being no other cars on the road), and forces him into marriage so they can have kids to repopulate the world.

It's incredibly hard not to like Carol. Schaal, probably best known for providing the voice for the youngest sassy sister on "Bob's Burgers," is stellar in this role. She may be grating, but she's lovable and plays well off Forte's Phil, who draws from that love-to-hate persona Steve Carell captured perfectly as Michael Scott in "The Office."

Though Phil and Carol's marriage is forced, there is an undeniable sweetness to their relationship. Carol is determined to "fix" Phil -- transforming him from the guy who literally shits in his own pool, drinks from a "tequila kiddie pool," and has stacks of porn -- into her ideal man.

Obviously, this doesn't work out and sets up a major portion of drama in "Last Man."

Things only get worse when the couple meets Melissa Shart (January Jones), and a wrench is thrown into how audiences expected the rest of the season to play out. Melissa is the "straight man" in the comedy - she's an extension of the audience and reacts to Phil and Carol's hijinks in the way we would expect.

When they first meet Melissa, Phil curses himself for marrying Carol just days before. Melissa is a beautiful blonde woman, and pretty much Phil's ideal partner. Over the next few episodes we watch Phil become a disgusting human, trying everything in the book to hook up with Melissa without Carol knowing. When that doesn't work he late tries to trick Carol that it's OK to sleep with Melissa -- in the name of repopulating the world!

But Melissa has none of it and constantly puts Phil in his place - especially when new arrival Todd (Mel Rodriguez), a joyful and selfless man who is overweight, makes his way into Tuscan. Right off the bat, Todd is the antithesis of Phil, and Melissa connect and sparks fly, causing Phil to become an even worse human by plotting to destroy their relationship and even leave Todd out in the desert to die.

Though Phil proves again and again he is the worst, deep down, he has a heart and can't do anything to harm nice guy Todd, eventually wishing the best for him and Melissa.

Without giving too much away, there's an addition to the cast - two more women, Erica (Cleopatra Coleman) a sexy Australian "political nerd" and Gail (Mary Steenburgen) a cougar from the south who is a chef and was a restaurant owner. Later on, another man, who is also named Phil Miller (Boris Kodjoe) and is a super sexy guy's guy who can do everything from build solar panels to be a world-famous model, finds the group.

Still, this cast is relatively small, and the bare location of Tuscan doesn't give the group much room (it should be mentioned that "Last Man" is shot beautifully and at times feels like a movie with shots of Tuscans' sprawling barren landscape), which is an interesting setup. But as "Last Man" chugs along, it falls into the familiar sitcom rhythms and it's easy to predict reactions to situations and outcomes and even lines characters spew, which is unfortunate. But what separates "Last Man" from similar sitcoms is that even though it doesn't fully get weird, it's weird enough to shine bright. And even when "Last Man" isn't being weird, it does normal really well.

There is still hope that "Last Man" will get there -- just a few episodes in, the first season it was picked up for a second. The way Season One ends gives the writers and producers of "Last Man" lot of wiggle room. There's a chance for Forte and Co. to start from scratch and rebuild the show with new characters and setting. There's also a cliffhanger that creates a path for the show to get truly bizarre - almost unfathomable. But the show is in good hands with Forte, who is easily one of the most underrated "SNL" cast members in the last decade. If Forte can swing it with Fox execs, "Last Man" can be both a complex and moving TV show with characters audiences care about and want to get to know more, while being a strange piece of art.