The
Last Man(s) on Earth Webseries Review
In
the hands of Hollywood, the end of the world has arrived numerous times
and in an equal number of ways. On the big screen, for instance, there
have been meteors (Armageddon) and comets (Deep Impact)
that have pounded the Earth, viruses that eradicated mankind (Twenty-Eight
Days Later and Twelve Monkeys) and natural disasters—including
earthquakes (Earthquake), volcanoes (Volcano) and
tsunamis (The Perfect Storm)—that have laid waste to
vast regions. The small screen, meanwhile, has witnessed nuclear attacks
(Jericho), alien invasions (Falling Skies) and even
zombies (The Walking Dead).
With the
firm conviction that any one of these events could indeed happen, producer
Joe England, director Eric Dove and actors Brady Bloom and Charan Prabhakar
have created a series of online videos outlining how to survive such
disasters. Taken together, the subsequent webseries The
Last Man(s) on Earth
serves as both a quick primer as well as humorous take on society’s
obsession with world-ending tragedies.
For the
two main characters in The Last Man(s) on Earth—Kaduche
(Prabhakar) and Wynn (Bloom)—the end of the world is slated to
occur in 2012. While they do not know the exact means of Earth’s
extinction, they are nonetheless prepared for any potential possibility.
“We’re experts,” Wynn explains in the first episode.
“We’ve seen every disaster film at least twice.” Each
subsequent installment features Kaduche and Wynn explaining survival
tips with both flair and conviction, but the scenes of the two characters
dressed as commandos are fantasy rather than reality as they also appear
more casually attired while having far less luck completing the task
at hand.
In “Accumulating
Weapons,” for instance, the duo are initially seen showcasing
such items as bowling pins, weed whackers and rakes. “I feel like
I’m planting a garden, not surviving the end of the world,”
Kaduche frustratingly tells Wynn. “None of this stuff is dangerous.”
He then offers his own version of the episode, and the characters transform
from two average-looking individuals sitting on their front porch into
bad-ass Rambos with guns, swords, butcher knives and wooden stakes.
“You’re friends may turn against you,” Kaduche states
in a voice-over as he is chased by a zombie Wynn. “Weapons never
do.”
According
to Brady Bloom and Charan Prabhakar, the idea for The Last Man(s)
on Earth was the melding of two separate sources of inspiration.
The first was from director Eric Dove, who witnessed a twister in the
California desert. “He wanted to make a webseries about two guys
that chase dust twisters, and every episode would be that they didn’t
find a dust twister because they’re just completely unreliable,”
Bloom explained to Bricks
of the Dead
in July 2011. Later, producer Joe England stumbled upon the concept
that the end of the world would arrive in 2012. “We mashed that
together with the lameness of the two guys chasing dust twisters and
with how the end of the world would be,” Bloom continued. “And
that kind of brought together that these guys are really lame guys,
but they think they’re really cool.”
The coupling
of the “lame” with the “cool” can be seen in
both the fantasy and reality scenes of The Last Man(s) on Earth.
In the fifth episode of the webseries, for instance, Kaduche shoots
Wynn in order to demonstrate how to survive a gunshot wound. In the
“cool” mind of his onscreen persona, Kaduche places Wynn
in a bathtub, sedates him with pain killers, places a sock in Wynn’s
mouth to mute his screams and removes the bullet with a pair of scissors.
In the installment “Fire,” meanwhile, real life Kaduche
becomes frustrated when Wynn forgets to douse a pile of wood with gasoline
before his partner drops a lit match on it. The frustration grows when
it turns out to have been the last match and Kaduche becomes pressed
for time. “I need to be home by six,” he tells Wynn.
Kaduche
eventually attempts to start the fire by rubbing two sticks together,
but this proves futile as well. “Even in my fantasy this is impossible,”
his alter-ego laments.
The “episode
within an episode” structure suits The Last Man(s) on Earth
well. While the actual survival video scenes are entertaining and enjoyable
in their own right, the “making of” element adds cohesiveness
to the series while bringing the characters of Kaduche and Wynn more
fully to life. Actors Brady Bloom and Charan Prabhakar, meanwhile, handle
the dual “lame” and “cool” aspect of their onscreen
personas with pinpoint precision, and director Eric Dove balances reality
and fantasy equally effectively, with an overexposed tint to the “fantasy”
scenes. The special effects—which include zombie decapitations
and exploding vehicles and buildings—complete the cinematographic
aspects of the production, while the scripts by writer Aaron Hultgren
sustain and balance the action with the comedy, not just within each
episode of The Last Man(s) on Earth but over the duration of
the webseries as a whole.
The destruction
of mankind for which Kaduche and Wynn are preparing may or may not occur
in 2012, but The Last Man(s) on Earth is an excellent way to
pass the time until the end of the world actually arrives nonetheless.
Anthony
Letizia (July 20, 2011)
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