Summary
“Weird Al Is Dead” finds Yorick acting out as ever, while Hero is swayed by a new leader.
Is anyone really all that surprised that Yorick Brown once considered Weird Al Yankovic to be basically the be-all and end-all of music? I’m certainly not. A woman says the title of Y: The Last Man episode 6, “Rest in peace, Weird Al”, during a candlelit vigil for the world’s fallen men, scored to Radiohead. I’m not particularly surprised that Hero took Yorick to see Radiohead to prove her point about Weird Al either. The Brown siblings are many things, cliched among them.
Y: The Last Man season 1, episode 6 recap
But in a post-Y world, Yorick Brown is, on some level, all we’ve got. The future of the entire human race might rest with him. But his only real minder is Agent 355, who is being hunted by black-clad motorcyclists that catch up to them rather quickly and force them to take shelter in a nearby church while 355 prepares to take them “off the board”, and Dr. Mann, who thinks 355 is a lunatic. She might be right.
Things aren’t much better within the heart of American – and thus global – political power, which is becoming, in basic terms, a matter of whether the right-wingers can oust the liberal left. Kimberly and Regina represent the Republican viewpoint, and Jennifer, accosted on all sides, is the Democrat. Even with the entire world at stake, politics is always binary. The type of feminism Kimberly and Regina discuss here is in some ways deliberately juxtaposed with the type of feminism espoused by Roxanne, who thinks even young Mackenzie should be aware of how men have beaten, belittled, imprisoned, and killed women all throughout human history, sometimes – often, even – for no better reason than they were women. This isn’t untrue, but you must know your audience. As if it wasn’t clear that we’re supposed to be as wary of Roxanne as Hero is, she outright refuses to take in what is by all accounts a completely unthreatening family.
Roxanne is vaguely terrifying, at least in part because she represents the kind of extremism that is doubtless going to flourish in a decimated world. When Nora later spots her one missing breast, she explains how Amazons used to sever one in a display of strength. Someone who is into self-mutilation as personal expression is a worrying individual at the best of times, and only more so in a society rendered suddenly lawless. There’s a distinct cult leader vibe here. The other women tell Hero how Roxanne saved them, how she can save her too. And gradually Hero’s skepticism gives way to a kind of morbid fascination, especially as Laura is buried and reborn as “Athena”. It’s Sam who considers this stuff to be weird; Hero is entranced by it.
In the church, 355 prepares for a siege while, unbeknown to her, Mann tries to talk Yorick into abandoning her. The geneticist points out, rightly, that their pursuers are after 355, not him. Of course, Yorick has a crush on 355, but the two of them don’t exactly get on at the best of times, and especially not when Yorick tries to raise the matter of her sleepwalking and burning the candle at both ends. He can’t see that her simply protecting him is something that he should be mightily grateful for. As ever, the spoiled brat in Yorick comes to the fore. I’m not sure at this point that he has any other personality traits.
The church raid is known to Regina, and General Reid, and they listen to it live with Jennifer (who, remember, is trying not to get Yorick killed while also not giving away who he is.) Yorick’s rash idiocy almost gets him killed, again. But they’re able to get away, which only sows more discord between Jennifer and Regina. The episode ends with discord, really. Just as Hero is being persuaded to the Amazon point of view by Roxanne, mostly by way of being absolved for Mike’s death, Nora is being taught a lesson by Laura and two other women about what happens if you violate the rules. Kelsey spoke with Sam alone, after all, which is forbidden, and the punishment is a brutal beatdown. The lesson sticks.
You can stream Y: The Last Man season 1, episode 6, “Weird Al Is Dead”, on Hulu.
