The series began development atFX in October 2015, with apilot ordered and filmed in 2018. A first season was greenlit in 2019 with Clark replacing originalshowrunnersMichael Green and Aida Mashaka Croal. Filming began in 2020, with several casting changes, including the lead role of Yorick. It premiered on September 13, 2021, onFX on Hulu,[2][3] and Star with Disney+ in other territories, and starsDiane Lane,Ashley Romans,Ben Schnetzer,Olivia Thirlby, andAmber Tamblyn. It received generally positive reviews from critics, but was cancelled in October 2021, after one season.[4] The series was removed from Hulu and Disney+ on May 26, 2023, making it unavailable to stream on any platform in the United States or anywhere else.[5]
Y: The Last Man takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a mysterious cataclysmic event simultaneously killed every mammal with aY chromosome but for one man –Yorick Brown (Ben Schnetzer) – and his male pet monkey Ampersand. The series follows Yorick as he traverses the new world, as its survivors struggle with their losses and attempt to restore world society—led by Yorick's mother, who is the newU.S. President, Jennifer Brown (Diane Lane).[2][6]
In the original comic book series, every animal with a Y chromosome instantaneously dies at the same time, including mostmammals. (Birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates are unaffected because they mostly usedifferent sex chromosomes.) Whiletransgender people did not feature heavily in the original comic, it was mentioned thattrans men survived due to not having Y chromosomes.
The producers aimed to update and expand on the ramifications of this, to reflect changing societal attitudes in the West toward gender in the almost two decades since the comic began. The showrunners specified thattrans women with Y chromosomes also died, as well as women withandrogen insensitivity who were unaware they possessed Y chromosomes. The showrunners also added a trans male character to the regular cast (Sam Jordan, played byElliot Fletcher), who does not have a direct counterpart in the original comic, to expand on this world-building.
Speaking at the August 2021TCA panel, showrunner Eliza Clark said: "Yorick's maleness is not what sets him apart in this world — it's his Y chromosome that sets him apart. Gender is diverse and chromosomes are not equal to gender. And so, in our world — in the world of the television show — every living mammal with a Y chromosome dies. Tragically, that includes many women; it includes non-binary people; it includes intersex people ... We are making a show that affirms that trans women are women, trans men are men, non-binary people are non-binary, and that is part of the richness of the world we get to play with."[7]
Cast member Fletcher said that "In this world post the event, gender is somewhat irrelevant. I think one of the hilarious things about this show is that post the event, Yorick can walk around without a mask on because he's assumed to be trans, rather than pre-the-event, people are assumed to be cisgender. And so, I just think it flips the traditional idea of gender completely on its head, and so I was very comfortable joining a project that knew that ahead of time and committed to it fully."[7]
Showrunner Eliza Clark explained that the writing team tried to analyze the logical ripple effects of what would happen if all people with Y chromosomes died instantaneously. She said she was surprised at how even by 2020, there is still a large gender disparity in many aspects of essential infrastructure, ranging from the electrical power grid to something as basic as trucking to keep supply lines functional: "Basically what I learned is that our entire economy runs on trucks. So, if you're living in a city, you know when you go to a grocery store that grocery store needs two deliveries a day to be stocked for the number of people who are shopping [at] it, and they don't have storage. I think 5% of truck drivers are women."[7]
Clark went on to say, that while all people with Y chromosomes are suddenly killed off, essentially removing the gender binary divide among the survivors, the resulting society that develops over the course of the series is not egalitarian. Other social divisions remain based on race, sexual orientation, politics, or wealth.[7]
In the United States, Republican president Ted Campbell dies along with his vice president, most of both houses of Congress, and six out of nine Supreme Court Justices (including men as well as women who died in accidents resulting from the event). Thepresidential line of succession is killed wholesale, losing the Speaker of the House, Presidentpro tempore of the Senate, and (seemingly) all Cabinet officials. The surviving congresswomen hastily elevate the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee (Jennifer Brown, a Democrat) as Speaker, and in turn (within one hour) swear the new Speaker in as President.[8]
President Campbell's politically active daughter Kimberly Campbell Cunningham begins rallying the surviving Republican congresswomen, urging that they were the lawfully elected party in power before the die-off, while Brown's new Executive branch was not elected but came into power through line of succession. There was also a higher ratio of female Democratic members than Republicans, at least temporarily tipping the balance in the surviving government.[8]
Only two women were Cabinet heads – but Secretary of Education Abbott was born in Antigua and thus not eligible. The only eligible Cabinet head was Regina Oliver, who was visiting Israel at the time of the event and presumed dead. Later, however, it is discovered that Oliver survived: she was injured in a building collapse and left in a coma for several weeks, but recovers. Oliver is described even by moderate Republicans as a far-right radical who President Campbell only appointed to a minor Cabinet position as a concession to far-right swing voters. Even Kimberly Campbell's surviving Republican caucus considers Oliver a fringe lunatic, leaving them conflicted about pushing for her to replace Brown as president.[8]
The effect of the die-off on other countries is not discussed in detail in the first season, in part because the world has been thrown into such chaos that even Jennifer Brown's fragile emergency administration still doesn't know. Other countries with few or no women in leadership positions fared much worse than the United States, which was itself crippled. In the third episode, it is briefly mentioned that the Russian government tried to spread propaganda that their male leadership had survived in isolation, but when rioters stormed the Kremlin and exposed this to be a lie, the Russian government collapsed.
Paris Jefferson as Marla Campbell, wife and formerFirst Lady to the deceased U.S. President Ted Campbell.
Jennifer Wigmore as Regina Oliver, Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the next inline of succession for U.S. President before Jennifer Brown, who was believed to be dead.
Missi Pyle as Roxanne, the leader of the Daughters of the Amazon, a misandrist survivalist cult.
Three weeks after the event, Yorick and his petcapuchin monkey Ampersand are looking for food andtagging notes to Beth in a trashed, abandonedNew York City full of dead bodies and danger. The day before the event, male animals are already dropping dead. Yorick is fired as amagic andescape artistry teacher. He attends a12-step meeting with his sister, Hero, for whom it is court-ordered, and hertrans man boyfriend Sam. He cajoles her for money - although unemployed and unable to pay his rent without resorting to help from his parents, he intends to propose to his girlfriend Beth. In Oklahoma, more animals are dying as Agent 355 is embedded with a would-be domestic terrorist cell. She builds them a bomb and detonates it, killing everyone, as she leaves to meet her handler. Her next assignment is inWashington, D.C. guarding the President due to a "credible threat". Nora Brady is an assistant to the President, with him at a firing range where he cajoles her into firing a gun. Back in D.C., more animals are dying as Kimberly Cunningham, the President's daughter, balances speaking engagements as aconservative author with being a wife and mother of two. Nora assists the President as he meets and verbally spars with Jennifer Brown, acongresswoman, Yorick's mother, and part of theline of succession. Hero is anEMT having an affair with Mike, a married man with a baby at home. He claims to have told his wife about the affair. Yorick attempts to propose to Beth, but she feels he is holding her back and flatly rejects both his proposal and his inviting himself to move to Australia with her. He throws a toxic tantrum, and when she leaves he hurts himself trying to punch a wall. Agent 355 receives her new identity - Sarah Burgin of theSecret Service. Christine Flores is Jennifer's assistant, running errands for her as more and more animals continue to die. At a political event with her husband, Jennifer shares a laugh at Yorick's expense. Despite her olive branch, her husband has decided to divorce. More and more animals continue to die as Hero and Mike have sex in their ambulance. He hasn't told his wife after all, and finding this out triggers a rage response in Hero. She smashes him with a fire extinguisher, opening his carotid artery and causing him to bleed out. It is now the morning of the event. Hero is still in the now-missing ambulance, and opens the door to find that an investigating police officer has dropped dead. Agent 355 arrives in Washington as theCabinet meets. The President tells Jennifer that a mass casualty event is taking place in Israel, before he and every man in the room die. Nora finds her husband and son dead. A montage shows death everywhere, cars and planes crashing, all the characters covered in blood. Yorick wakes up at home and finds an apocalypse happening outside his window.
In the minutes following the mass die-off on Day 1, surviving politician women scramble to identify who is the next President, as everyone in the line of succession is confirmed or presumed dead except for Regina Oliver, director ofHUD, who was last known to be in Israel but is unreachable, and Jennifer Brown. Agent 355 has not received the briefing she had been promised, and no one appears to be coming. We skip to Day 8, as Agent 355 finds her handler dead in aCulper Ring installation, where she attempts to log in, radios other locations, but finds that no one answers. Retrieving a golden necklace from among her personal effects, she finds a note with aMassachusetts address. Back in Washington, mobs of rioters have formed and are seeking to enter the White House, as the remains of the political establishment watch in fear from the Pentagon. They assess the national outlook - there will soon be no food, water, or power in any cities. Agent 355 returns to the Pentagon and reveals herself and the Culper Ring to President Brown. The rioters break through barricades and presumably loot and burn the White House, as Jennifer demonstrates leadership. It is now Day 63, and Yorick is still in New York writing notes to Beth. The politicians are preparing a mass evacuation of NYC, which has become uninhabitable due to lack of power to operate the pumps required to stave off flooding in the subways. Jennifer dispatches Agent 355 to New York to look for Hero, for which she commandeers a helicopter and its two pilots. Hero and Sam have been living and squabbling with a group of trans men, who are planning to leave New York. Hero has been frequenting aFEMA shelter where people look for and bring the ID's of known-dead persons. There she interacts with Mike's widow, eventually revealing herself as the "other woman", but does not admit to the murder. Sam suggests seeking help from Hero's president mother, but Hero flatly refuses to consider it. Yorick is still impotently spray-painting New York. Ampersand runs off, and Yorick decides to enter the festering floodwaters of the subway in a misguided attempt to rescue him, only ruining his clothes. While trying to loot a dry-cleaners, he talks his way out of a tense standoff at gunpoint and trades theSnickers bar he had promised Ampersand for clean clothing. Shoeless, he sits by the same subway entrance and reminisces over a video of a flabbergasted Beth in disbelief about his "ironic acquisition" of a capuchin monkey. Ampersand returns, as being a monkey he did not need rescuing. Hero and Sam's "friends" have bailed, leaving him with only a single vial oftestosterone. Sam laments the renewed visibility and othering he experiences as a trans man and pleads to find Hero's mom, eitheremotionally blackmailing her or leveraging an unspecified debt that Hero owes him. An unconcerned and annoyed Hero half-heartedly agrees to his half-plea, half-blackmail demand to find her mother the President. Back in Washington, Nora and her daughter Mackenzie have made it to the Pentagon but are turned away. Marla Campbell, the formerFirst Lady, monologues with President Brown about motherhood, questions her about the search for Hero, and announces her intention to walk toLynchburg. Yorick is now sleeping in Hero's old apartment, where he is discovered by Agent 355. She brings him back to Washington and detains the two pilots, who have now seen Yorick (and Ampersand), apparently the only mammals with Y chromosomes left alive in the world.
Nora and Mackenzie return to where they have been staying - a communal arrangement with two other mothers, who are closer to each other than to Nora. In her absence they have arranged for another place to stay for just themselves, disinviting Nora. The pilots are still detained, and Agent 355 interviews them as thy wait. President Jennifer Brown sleeps in the same bed as Yorick, who awakes to find that his monkey is gone again. Chasing Ampersand through the halls of the Pentagon, he is eventually cornered by Marla in the middle of a large room full of cubicles, and seen clearly. Just then, Jennifer and Agent 355 catch up andgaslight her into doubting what she saw, as Yorick finally hides. Returning to the presidential quarters, Yorick throws a tonedeaf fit but eventually settles down when he hears the sobering news about his uniqueness. Although Beth rejected him, Yorick says they are engaged, and asks his mom to find his girlfriend. Agent 355 is increasingly concerned with crowd control and stopping the spread of the knowledge of Yorick's presence, but struggles to impress the urgency of her recommendations as Jennifer leaves. Kimberly attempts to stress the importance of sperm banks and science, but Jennifer dismisses these concerns, instead seeding disinformation about Marla's sanity (to discredit her having seen Yorick). Agent 355 relates an anecdote about the "Russia situation": theFSB attempted to claim that the top men survived, provoking a storming of theKremlin and an apparent collapse of the remaining semblance of government. She scoffs at Yorick's half-baked questions and mocks him for being named after adead clown. The President is problem solving: she talks the only woman nuclear engineer into returning to her duties, then meets with Yorick, Agent 355, and the newly included Christine Flores. 355 is foremostly concerned with crowd control and secrecy vis-a-vis the pilots, and Jennifer is thinking about geneticists. In Israel, Regina Oliver comes out of a coma, is informed about what happens, and proclaims herself the President of the United States. Kimberly catches Agent 355 rifling through personnel files of scientists and is suspicious, though she focuses on her efforts to form an opposition camp with the conservatives (now aminority), usingscaremongering tactics while talking to people about her conservative agenda. Nora and Mack return to their home, where the unburied bodies of Mack's brother and father are attracting scavengers. Trying to run them off, Mack falls and cuts her leg badly on a shovel. Her panic about not being able to "leave them" forces Nora to attempt digging a shallow grave, during which a vulture menaces her. She and Mack head out, although their gas tank is on empty. In Washington, 355 has filtered all possible geneticists, settling on Allison Mann from Harvard as the only viable option. Yorick is going along with the plan, although he is self-aware enough to be riddled with doubts. Finally, news of Regina Oliver reaches the Pentagon and a buddingconstitutional crisis is staved off only due to the dominant majority and united front of theDemocrats, who staunchly oppose Regina'sfringe politics. A decision on Yorick is made, and Agent 355 ominously promises to "take care" of the still-detained pilots. She presents them withDistinguished Flying Cross medals, and appears to recruit them to the mission of taking Yorick to Dr. Mann. Jennifer and Yorick say goodbye. Kimberly finds Jennifer at the shrine built to all the people who have died, and they speak ofgrief before Kimberly muses on the likelihood that if she were imagining, Marla might have imagined any number of men closer to her or moreaesthetically appealing, but instead has identified Yorick specifically as the man she saw. To sneak out of the Pentagon undetected, Yorick must hide among corpses (dead for over two months) as Agent 355 wheels him out on a gurney. On the way to the helicopters, she tells the pilots that the two of them will be providingair cover as she flies the other helicopter with Yorick. Mid-flight, the "cover" helicopter's engine suffers sudden catastrophic failure and falls in a large explosion. Yorick is shaken at the sight, while Agent 355 is emotionless.
Agent 355 dreams about singing and dancing as shesleepwalks. She and Yorick have landed and are camping. Hero and Sam trespass and investigate a horse barn while on their way toWashington, D.C. and find a car in running condition and with keys. Sam is excited to start driving and arrive by nightfall, but Hero manipulates him into consenting to spend the night in the house. She half-admits to being with Mike during the event, allowing Sam to assume that Mike died happy during the event and notviolently hours earlier, and relates how her mom (Jennifer) called her selfish and cruel over the relationship with a married man. While Sam sleeps, Hero sabotages the car, forcing them to continue walking. They encounter Nora and Mack. Hero uses herEMT training to clean and dress Mack's infected wound and invites them to stay at the ranch house, thereby delaying their departure another day, chagrining Sam. 355 is about to kill two women ransacking their camp before Yorick surprises them in his gas mask and they run off. They go to a market being "kept orderly" by a gang of police widows and trade agenerator and ahand grenade for amotorcycle. While 355 is transacting, Yorick runs off and is immediately caught, unmasked, and clocked as a man by theimpostors. 355 rescues him and they flee under fire, with Yorick clearly seen by many at the market. They argue about Yorick's irresponsibility and 355's ruthlessness but continue on the road, almost to Boston. They make peace over a card trick which Yorick executes successfully. Nora discovers that the ranch house is adomestic violence shelter, and Hero claims the aliases "Karen and Benji" for herself and Sam (actually the names of her formerriding coach and the coach'shomeschooled son). Later she tries cajoling Sam into staying, but Sam becomes upset and asks her what happened to the car. Later, a group of well-armed women arrive on horseback - it's their house and they are looking for medicine for Kate. Nora deduces that Kate has been shot and negotiates for their lives with Hero's EMT training. They are taken to thewarehouse store where the women live now, but Hero can do nothing for the devastatinggunshot wound. When their leader Roxanne arrives, she immediately executes the theretofore-alive Kate, dresses down thetransphobic andbloodthirstylieutenant, and welcomes the four travelers ("until [Mack] recovers").
Ben Schnetzer portrays series lead character Yorick Brown
In October 2015, it was reported thatFX had begun development on a television series adaptation ofBrian K. Vaughan andPia Guerra's comic book seriesY: The Last Man. Vaughan was set to produce alongsideNina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Production companies involved with the series were expected to includeColor Force and FX Productions.[11]
In November 2016, it was announced thatMichael Green would serve as showrunner for the potential series in addition to writing a pilot script with Vaughan.[12] In January 2017, it was reported that FX was expecting to receive the script in the next few months.[13] In May 2017, it was clarified that Green had solely written the script and that Vaughan had read and liked it.[14] In July 2017, it was confirmed that FX had received a draft of the script from Green, that they had liked it, and that discussions over the potential series were ongoing.[15] In January 2018, FX CEOJohn Landgraf commented on the series' status during the annualTelevision Critics Association winter press tour saying, "[We feel] pretty optimistic, not quite at a final decision point. But we got a script I really like, a draft we really like recently." Landgraf went on to comment that Green was now available for the series following his departure fromAmerican Gods.[16]
In April 2018, it was announced that FX had given the production a pilot order. Green was expected to co-showrun the series with Aida Mashaka Croal, both of whom were also set to executive produce alongsideMelina Matsoukas, Jacobson, Simpson, and Vaughan. Matsoukas was also slated to direct the pilot episode.[17] In February 2019, it was announced at theTelevision Critics Association's annual winter press tour that the production had been given a series order for a first season, expected to premiere in 2020.[18]
In April 2019, Green and Croal exited the series, with creative differences cited.[19] In June 2019, it was announced thatEliza Clark would be replacing Croal and Green as the showrunner.[1] In February 2020, it was concluded that Clark, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force, and Vaughan would executive produce. Matsoukas also serves as executive producer, as does Mari Jo Winkler-Ioffreda. Nellie Reed serves as producer.[20] In May 2020, it was announced that the show's title had been changed from simplyY toY: The Last Man.[21] In June 2020, it was announced that the series would premiereFX on Hulu instead of FX's linear cable network.[22] In October 2020, it was announced that along with serving as showrunner, Eliza Clark would also be writing the first two episodes, with Louise Friedberg directing those episodes. FX also announced that the entire first season would be directed by women.[23] The series premiered with its first three episodes on September 13, 2021, with subsequent episodes released weekly.[3]
In July 2018, it was announced thatDiane Lane,Barry Keoghan,Imogen Poots,Lashana Lynch, Juliana Canfield,Marin Ireland,Amber Tamblyn, andTimothy Hutton had been cast in the pilot's main roles.[24][25] In February 2020, it was announced that Keoghan was no longer portraying Yorick and that a new actor would be cast.[26] Later that month,Ben Schnetzer was cast in the role of Yorick.[20] In March 2020, it was announced thatElliot Fletcher had been cast in the series regular role of Sam Jordan, Hero's best friend.[27] In October 2020,Ashley Romans andOlivia Thirlby joined the cast to replace Lynch and Poots as Agent 355 and Hero Brown, respectively. It was also announced that Hutton was no longer part of the cast list due to series restructuring,[2] and his role would be played byPaul Gross.[23] It was later announced thatDiana Bang had been cast as Doctor Allison Mann.[10]
On October 17, 2021, FX on Hulu canceled the series after one season. However, Clark was committed to finding a new outlet or network for the series to continue.[4] Numerous reasons have been provided for the cancellation, including low-viewing figures, as well as contractual and budgetary considerations. Due to the showrunner and cast changes as well as theCOVID-19 pandemic-related production shutdowns, FX had to pay to extend the contracts for the actors. The contracts were set to expire on October 15, 2021, and FX ultimately decided against spending $3 million to further extend them.[32] In January 2022, Clark revealed that the series was permanently canceled as it failed to find a new network.[33] In February 2022, FX Chairman John Landgraf referred to a "really steep decline" in viewership over the course of the show's run as the reason for its cancellation.[34]
Thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes reports a 77% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10, based on 60 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Y: The Last Man makes a few key updates to its source material and boasts a number of incredible performances, but this highly anticipated adaptation can't help but feel like a bit of a letdown in a world full of dystopian realities."[35]Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 63 out of 100 based on reviews from 26 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[36]
Judy Berman ofTime wrote, "Y: The Last Man improves so much over the course of its first six episodes that its potential feels limitless. If audiences can weather its apocalypse, the show might well become something special by the time rebuilding commences."[37]Alan Sepinwall ofRolling Stone gave it 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "A solid but frustrating show that frequently struggles to embrace what's unique about itself."[38] Darren Franich ofEntertainment Weekly gave it a "C" grade and wrote, "there's a basic lack of flair in the storytelling" and "even if you never read the comic book, you've seen this all before."[39] FromThe Guardian, Joel Golby notes that its "...telling good, human stories against a backdrop of unbelievable sci-fi architecture makes for something utterly gripping"[40] whileLucy Mangan dismissed the series as "a stale, male manbaby mess."[41] Kelly Lawler ofUSA Today called it a "flawed but vibrant epic" and stated that the show "doesn't quite achieve the mastery and impact of its source material but is certainly a worthy adaptation."[42] Clint Worthington ofConsequence considered the series "dated and languid".[43]Caroline Framke ofVariety felt that "the real undoing ofY: The Last Man, at least in the first six episodes provided to press ahead of the show's premiere, is that it takes itself too seriously to allow for many other emotions beyond 'desperate' and 'grieving'."[44]
According to market research company Parrot Analytics, which looks at consumer engagement in consumer research, streaming, downloads, and on social media,Y: The Last Man was a key driver of demand for Hulu originals in Austria. There was high Austrian demand for the series in September 2021, which contributed to the overall growth of Hulu's demand share during that month.[49]Whip Media, which tracks viewership data for the more than 18 million worldwide users of itsTV Time app, reported thatY: The Last Man was the second most-anticipated new television series of September 2021.[50] It was the ninth most-streamed original television series in the U.S. during the week of September 19, 2021.[51] Parrot Analytics later announced thatY: The Last Man was one of the top-premieres in Q3, ranking among the top 10 with a demand of 16.7 times the average series demand.[52]
