This part of the walkthrough looks at episodes five and six fromLast Man on Earthsthird season.
Previous installments of this walkthrough can be foundhere.
We always wanted to do something different than just picking another house to live in.
A Silicon Valley self-sustaining office building seemed like a fun wish fulfillment-key in of place to call home.
Its basically an adult playground.
ANDY BOBROW:Ill tell you the whole inside story because its probably interesting to someone.
We really waited until the last possible minute on this decision.
We knew we wanted to move, and we wanted it to be dramatically different.
The options on the table were 1.
An urban look, like Portland or Seattle, where we could show empty city streets; and 3.
This weird idea of a self-sustaining office.
We threw out theLittle Houseidea pretty quickly because it just didnt make enough sense.
Weve all started using the word janky all the time.
The world is janky, Tandys inventions are janky.
So the idea of placing things in the Apple headquarters, it just didnt seem janky enough.
So we killed the office idea.
We decided on a big Victorian bed and breakfast in Portland.
We were really going to do that.
Longer commute, ungodly hot, and no place to relax.
It used to be DeVry University.
I think theyre also using it in that Netflix showGoliath.Steve took Will there and Will fell in love.
Just looking at the huge empty floors.
Wills first question to the location guy was, could I drive a go-kart in here?
The guy said, you could do anything you want.
ANDY BOBROW:Yeah, it was the lesson we learned last season.
An empty beach is not post-apocalyptic.
An empty downtown is.
Of course shooting an empty downtown is tricky.
You either have to block off city streets or paint out any signs of life in post.
But a big empty office building gets us a real nice unique look.
He literally brought one to her.
Even if its not much bigger than a kids playhouse, Carol loves it.
Last year we had plenty of conflict with interpersonal relationships.
It was almostFriends, except for the apocalyptic twist of polyamory being a truly practical choice in this world.
I think the next several episodes will be a Rorschach for the audience.
Theres a skull on a table in one of the introduction scenes.
Foreboding symbol or just a fun throwaway prop?
ANDY BOBROW:Ooh, I actually hadnt seen that.
But honestly, its just our frigging awesome set decorators.
Shout out to Erin Boyd and Zach Kramer.
Erin and Zach found a million little details that didnt cost a fortune but looked perfect.
That giant squid/Cthulu-esque mural is gorgeous.
Same with the whole sort of Tetris motif thats present through the building.
Whats the story there?
Bryan designed that perfectly ambiguous four-cube Tetris-y logo, which tells you nothing and everything.
We conceived a running gag, and you might be able to see remnants of it in some shots.
Like they didnt get a chance to put the letters on the sign.
Tandy arranges them to spell The Fart Company.
But you could call it The Fart Company if you like.
We finally move towards Gail stepping aside, this week.
It felt time to break off Gail and focus more on her own journey this season.
MATT MARSHALL:That was a great moment.
Mel Rodriguez is such an underrated actor.
Hes brilliant and doesnt get enough credit.
I think it was a great reminder to show just how much Todd loves Melissa.
ANDY BOBROW:Yes and January too.
When she hugs him, its like this drink of water and you didnt realize how thirsty you were.
Melissa has gotten funnier this year, but we really want to lean into the reality now.
Theres a difference between a goofy character on a sitcom and a legitimately damaged person.
Were going to explore that.
How do you weigh decisions like this as a writer versus the characters actually living in this situation?
ANDY BOBROW:You have this ability to expose our cracks and this may well be one of them.
The question you just asked is exactly the discussion we had in the room.
Is it going to seem like Carols concern is coming out of nowhere?
Would she really feel this?
Wouldnt everyone just love that building?
Well youre right, Carols concern is a little hard to buy wholesale.
There really doesnt seem to be a logical reason why she would reject the building.
But what you always have on your side when youre telling a story is that people arent logical.
Usually its the illogical stuff that creates the feeling of depth.
Hopefully, the way Carol articulates herself in the end, it buys the illogic of it.
But its also possible that people watched this one and said, eh, not buying it.
For those people, hopefully we at least made them laugh with the brain freeze.
Meanwhile, Carol asks Gail for a big favor and Todd addresses Melissas mental state.
Theres a realShiningvibe at times in their new home.
Is that feeling intentional at all?
Phil Lord said something in one of his famous 3am text messages last year.
I dont know anything about directing, so I dont know how to make anything look a certain way.
He sent us a note saying basically, This show plays in wide shots.
Tell every director who comes in.
This show plays in wides.
Now I know that.
Seeing Todd and Melissas Shawshank love evolving into roleplay is another beautiful touch here.
Tim McAuliffe had it nailed.
We werent even picturing the actors going for it like that.
But Mel wanted to get it right, so he studied that performance and really refined it.
I love what January did too.
Originally she asked if we wanted her to attempt an impression or just to stay in character as Melissa.
We said even if Melissa does a bad Tim Robbins, it will be funny.
But damn, she came up with a real take on Tim Robbins.
I think she pulled out something really interesting and perfect.
Damn, Gail is never going to get a break, is she?
That piece of backstory on her son is rough but explains a lot, too.
ANDY BOBROW:Yeah, Ill confess, this was never something that we designed from the start.
Gail drinks and does quips.
Now, on a 1970s sitcom or 1980s sitcom, thats all youd ever need to know.
I mean, whats the reality?
Why would someone be like that?
Probably because shes got some shit she doesnt like to think about.
Im really glad to see Mikes livelihood get addressed.
ANDY BOBROW:Yeah, its been on Wills mind for a while.
We almost did that scene in the road trip episode.
Ive got an errand I need to do, and then Im heading up there.
Anyone wants to follow me, fine.
Otherwise, its been nice knowing you.
And then he goes to Tucson to leave a note.
And when he comes out of the house, everyone is there waiting for him.
It would have been very teary in that episode.
Either way, Will always knew that Tandy would have to go leave a note for Mike.
Our walkthrough onLast Man on Earthsthird season will continue every two weeks!
