Mann Hunt
Episode 5 of Y: The Last Man begins with Yorick and Agent 355 out on the streets, checking graffiti on the walls. However, there’s a curfew going on and with military vehicles patrolling the area, 355 forces Yorick to don his gas mask and take shelter in an alleyway. She demands he stay put while she questions the military convoy nearby, currently stationed outside Harvard. 355 talks her way in, questioning those in charge over Dr Mann’s whereabouts. With the science lab destroyed and regular tear gas strikes to quell protestors, Agent 355 realizes the complexity of their mission – which has just got a whole lot harder. Of course, because this world is inhabited with absolute morons, Yorick decides not to listen and picks a lock to break into a building behind him. The only trouble is, this place is a refuge for rebels who are fighting back against the military. Yorick decides to take off his mask again, showing a girl called Steph that he’s a male. Heading back out into the alleyway, Agent 355 grabs Yorick and forces him to move. With the lab and science building destroyed, they scramble over to her place of residence instead. There, they notices numerous pictures showing off the Union Club, which is where the pair find their doctor. However, Mann is not looking to stick around. In fact, with the lab completely destroyed she intends to heads off to San Francisco instead. That’s the only lab left for her to do research. Agent 355 decides to skip out for the time being, feeding this news back to Jennifer and awaiting orders. Before she hears from 355, Reed feeds back the news to Jennifer about the crashed copters found in the field. Although no bodies have been found, Reed reiterates that it doesn’t look good. Anyway, Agent 355 heads up to Warren Street, following the instructions given on that slip of paper she received earlier in the season. Sneaking in from the top window, she finds a fellow assassin lying in wait. The two fight for a bit, trading blows, before finally coming to an understanding. They’re both awaiting instructions from their superior, but 525 has been in this house for 3 weeks and she’s had enough. She wants to live her own life but the only way to do that is by killing their superior and breaking the loop. Regina heads back to the pentagon after being in Israel. Tensions immediately flare between her and Jennifer, despite the latter giving instructions for everyone to be sweet and give her a warm welcome. Regina is very clearly vouching for the presidency spot, something that Kimberly is well aware of. In private, she makes it clear that Regina’s not alone. As the episode draws to an end, a drunk Allison Mann discusses the importance of the Y chromosome and just how many variations there are beyond men and women. However, their chat is interrupted by a return Agent 355, who has new orders from Jennifer. They’ve been approved to head on down to San Francisco.
The Episode Review
Y: The Last Man returns this week with another episode full of soap opera shenanigans and the world’s most annoying male still alive. Honestly, Yorick is such a liability and if this is the best male left for the job, god help us all. He constantly takes off his gas mask, can’t follow simple instructions and acts like a bumbling buffoon most of the time. I haven’t read the source material so I can’t say how well this has been adapted but honestly, writing like this would not be out of place on the CW Network. Characters have such thin motivations too, they’re all walking caricatures with very little depth and intrigue, while the few characters who actually are interesting – like Agent 355 – are bogged down with needless fetch quests. This chapter does introduce Allison Mann at least, although now the quest continues with a further road trip to San Francisco. While it’s good to see the action move to another city, the social commentary in this is a little on-the-nose, and it doesn’t help Mann’s character at all. However, the ending is just enough to hook you in for more, leaving lots of intriguing possibilities for the future. Whether this show actually steps it up a gear and comes out the blocks fighting in the second half remains to be seen, but this has not been a great showing so far.
