#Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 8 Review: Ready. Aim. Fire.

Things are not what they seem at the PriceMax.

On Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 8, we learn more about the dynamic figure that is Roxanne and how she came to be the leader of these women.

It’s a searing world and some people just want to watch it burn. 

Reinvention is what Roxanne is all about.

Missi Pyle shows her phenomenal range here, portraying the many faces of Roxanne and her gradual evolution. 

The structure of the episode is reminiscent of a Lost episode but with a topsy-turvy narrative line. The flashback sequences are mostly told in reverse chronological order, from Roxanne gunning down of Kate to Roxanne working at the PriceMax before the Event. 

The choice to tell the story this way makes it tricky to follow initially, but provides a great sense of mounting dread as we figure out what’s going on and all the pieces we’ve seen finally fit together. 

Kate must have found out Roxanne’s secret. She was wet in the first scene — we know the police car full of bodies was in the river. We also know Roxanne liked Kate, maybe more than the others. She seemed genuinely upset that she had to gun Kate down. 

This is the only time we see any hint of remorse or sadness from Roxanne. 

Missi Pyle can convey so much with the mere lifting of an eyebrow. Her posture is all swagger and bravado, but it wasn’t always. She’s completely believable as both a tough-as-nails homicide detective and a beleaguered assistant manager at PriceMax.

You’re angry. I don’t blame you. I know what it’s like to wake up in a life you didn’t ask for.
Roxanne

Roxanne belongs to the post-apocalyptic trope of the Alpha badass (mentioned in the review of Y: The Last Man Season 1 Episode 7). She’s found her pack to protect and she’ll go to any length to preserve that dynamic. We just usually see men in these types of roles, so it’s both refreshing and disturbing. 

Roxanne is the most sinister type of predator — the one who finds pliable in which she can instill a narrative that maintains her status quo. She is extremely shrewd and is so entrenched in her lie that you can tell she almost believes in the version of herself.

We celebrate the absence of fear. We embody it.
Roxanne

Roxanne knew that Nora was too discerning to stay. But in refusing to let her, Roxanne unwittingly lit a fuse in Nora, and Nora lit the fire. 

Nora’s reasoning for destroying the PriceMax is unclear. Perhaps there was no reasoning. Maybe she was just fed up and wanted to see Roxanne lose everything.

It’s only after the fire that Nora discovered the car full of corpses and Roxanne’s name tag. What she gains from blackmailing Roxanne could have been so much more. 

The push-and-pull between Nora and Mackenzie is unmistakable here. Mack knows her mother isn’t the most likable person, and this gets hammered into Nora with every interaction she has. 

It was always hinted that Mackenzie preferred her father to her mother. Nora had an extremely high-pressure job and thus was not around as much, because the pre-Event world (our current world, too, let’s face it) was not set up to make a working parent’s life easy in the slightest. 

Dad is not here! You’re stuck with me!
Nora

Thus, Nora was the secondary parent in Mackenzie’s eyes. Nora does not think less of Mackenzie for this though — in fact, she seems resigned to it — and to her credit that doesn’t stop her from always putting her daughter’s needs first. 

This somewhat strained relationship is the only one that Nora has that means anything to her, and she is ready to do what it takes to keep her daughter safe. 

Marin Ireland is such a wonderfully subtle and specific actor — she conveys so much with glances and shifts of tone in her voice. It’s easy to forget how good she is because she is so familiar, so real. 

Sam was absolutely right to call Nora out. She makes him into a one-issue person, which he’s not. Though it might have been worth it to band together, he recognizes that she’s only trying to befriend him because she needs Sam to get to Hero.

Did I give you the impression that we’re friends?
Sam

But Nora doesn’t realize Hero’s already made her choice.

Hero comes across as a loving, desperate, broken person trying to find a way to fix herself. She recognizes her own flaws but is still selfish enough to put her needs above a friend’s suffering.

Does Roxanne want Hero there because of her perceived strength — after all, she killed a man — or because of her need for absolution?

Hero wants to believes that she is a good person rather than actually confront her flaws and improve herself. Roxanne can give her that.

Despite everything, it was touching how Hero refused to bad-mouth her father or Yorick. If Hero knew Yorick was live, she would probably be less reluctant to see her mother. 

It was important for Sam to stand up for himself. Nothing he was saying to Hero was false. She’s an empathetic narcissist — it’s clear she loves him, but not enough to give up what she wants. 

It’s easier to hate the person who calls you out for your toxic behavior than it is to actually confront your issues.

It seemed like Sam was in real trouble when Roxanne caught him getting ready to go — after seeing what she’s capable of, she could have just ended him right there.

But, maybe Roxanne realized she would have an easier time bringing Hero into her fold by painting the absent Sam as the bad guy, a cruel man just like all the rest, who would leave her without saying goodbye. 

Sam’s journey takes him to school, where he finds a piano and meets an optimistic older lady, Principal Blackwell.

This was such a lovely scene with bright colors and music (off-key, but still music). Nicky Lawrence has such a warm presence as Blackwell and together, she and Elliot Fletcher imbued their short interaction with just the right amount of levity and heart. 

Sam: I was an artist, kind of, but not this.

Blackwell: What kind of an artist?

Sam: The struggling kind.

It was a moment to breathe and hold space for hope in the midst of a grim and gruesome episode. Here’s hoping Sam will remain at the school for at least a little while. 

Art will persist because artists survived. Even in the wake of the worst catastrophes, a human’s urge to create something beautiful is never truly gone.

Now that the PriceMax is all but destroyed, the New Amazons will be forced to move.

Where will they go? The lake houses same spoke of? Or will they venture further, destroying everything in their path on a wild rampage, taking to heart Roxanne’s message that this is now their world?

Will Nora keep Roxanne’s secrets? Will Roxanne have any revenge in store for Nora? 

Will Hero recognize Roxanne for who she truly is, or is she happier with the lies? 

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Mary Littlejohn is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow her on Twitter.