‘Y: the Last Man’ Ep. 6 Finally Introduces the Amazons
This week’s episode puts its own spin on some of the comic book’s most memorable moments, including the leader of the Amazons.
It seems like the FX/Hulu show Y: The Last Man has found its stride. Fans got their first glimpse of the show’s version of the Daughters of the Amazon. Plus, an upgrade to the book’s famous memorial scene.
This article is 100% spoilers for this week’s episode of ‘Y: the Last Man’. Need to catch up? Check out last week’s recap!
Rest in Peace, Weird Al
Similar to the Washington Monument scene in the comic book, this episode begins with a tender moment as Yorick discovers a candlelight vigil. He’s greeted by a trans man, who tells him that it’s safe to remove his mask. A choir sings a beautiful rendition of Radiohead’s “Karma Police.” When 355 arrives to shoo Yorick to safety, he convinces her to stay and participate.
Unfortunately, their group has been followed by General Reid’s soldiers. Their moment of grieving is cut short when the soldiers start passing 355’s photo around. Yorick and 355 escape, returning to an abandoned church and Dr. Mann.
As they’re shuffling in, Yorick realizes that 355 did not, in fact, speak with Jennifer Brown back in Boston. She excuses the lie by telling Yorick that he asks too many questions. She reveals her plan to lead the soldiers to them while she ‘takes them off the board’. Yorick expresses horror at the idea of more women dying to protect his identity.
Later that night, Yorick wakes up to find 355 standing in the church balcony. As he tries to engage with her about their argument earlier, he realizes that she’s sleepwalking. He gently leads her away from the balcony ledge and back to bed. The next day, when Allison suggests they leave without 355, he refuses. Allison suggests that he has a crush on 355, which he doesn’t outright deny, but instead blames his ‘expressive face.’
Still concerned about 355’s sad-girl sleepwalking, Yorick expresses concern. But 355 recoils, snapping at him and telling him that she isn’t his girlfriend or his sister. Surprised and hurt by her cold response, he tells Allison that he was wrong, and the two plan an escape.
Tensions Rise in the White House
At the same time, conflict in the Capital is growing. Kimberly shares her suspicions about Jennifer Brown and “Agent Bergen” a.k.a. 355 with Regina. Soon after their chat, Kimberly runs into Christine in the hallway. Despite Christine’s obvious discomfort, Kim asks how she’s feeling. When Christine expresses unease about being a mother, Kim offers some unsolicited advice, and even offers to raise the baby.
Elsewhere in the White House, President Brown arrives at a briefing with General Reid. She finds Regina Oliver already catching up with the General. Reid then tells the room the latest news of “Agent Bergen”, the secret service agent who stole two helicopters. Her soldiers have confirmed that she’s is holed up in a church with two others– her soldiers are just waiting on her word to attack.
While Regina expresses concern over a rogue Secret Service agent, Jennifer is silently realizing that Yorick is likely alive and with the Culper Ring agent. When it comes time to give the order to strike, Jennifer is hesitant– a fact that doesn’t escape Regina’s notice.
Courtesy of FX
As the soldiers close in on the church, Yorick and Allison try to sneak away. Meanwhile, 355 is incapacitating the three soldiers one at a time, but a fight with one results in a gun firing. Jennifer, who can hear this all through the General’s comms, flinches. As 355 knocks out the soldier trailing Allison, she realizes that the two tried to escape. Hearing General Reid over the unconscious soldier’s walkie-talkie, 355 smashes it and runs to catch Yorick.
But a solider has seen Yorick, maskless and fully identifiable. After 355 knocks her out, she pointedly asks Yorick if the woman saw his face, and he lies in order to save her life. There’s an awkward moment where Yorick and 355 acknowledge Yorick’s betrayal, but in perfect tsundere fashion, 355 redirects her anger to Allison, reminding her that, until they get to Mann’s lab, 355 is in charge.
Back in Washington, Regina implies that Agent Bergen stole the helicopters under Jennifer’s secret orders to find her daughter, Hero. Jennifer tries to dismiss them as rumors, blaming Kim’s recent traumas. But Regina points out that Jennifer, as a feminist, is eager to call another woman crazy. The moment is uncomfortable but valid and draws back to a few scenes earlier when Regina tells Kim that “feminism” was a term that only applied to liberal women.
The conversation gets heated. Jennifer moves to attack Regina’s politics, and Regina suggests that Jennifer is somehow compromised. The two go back and forth about which of them belongs in power, and Regina threatens to show the people the ‘truth’ about Jennifer.
Courtesy of Image comics
Did You Ever Hear of the Amazons?
This episode also features our most revealing look at Roxanne’s community so far as she addresses a group of her followers, along with Nora and Mackenzie. She asks women to recall the abuses men inflicted on them, and when she singles out Mackenzie, Nora tries to leave. Roxanne insists that they stay, but her discussion with Mackenzie is cut short when their pots-and-pans alarm system begins to go off. A small group of starving women, including one kid, approach the store and beg for entry.
The occupants fan out around the building, guns in hand, as Roxanne walks out to greet them. She refuses them entry, and when the mother begs for Roxanne to take her daughter, Roxanne refuses that as well. Seeing the expression on Nora’s face, one of the girls says that Roxanne will “save your life if you let her.”
It’s clear that Sam, who is clearly being treated like an outsider, is becoming more uncomfortable. The group of women expresses a lot of “anti-man” sentiment, although their full pharmaceutical cache does include the testosterone he needs to keep taking.
He also notices that Hero seems to be bonding with members of the group, who take a liking to her while they’re all bathing. Many of the girls can identify with Hero’s need to escape by getting high or drunk, and they try to convince her to stay behind with them. One of the girls, Kelsey, takes a liking to Sam and tells him that there is going to be a special event that evening. She refers to it as a “funeral”, and Sam looks rightly freaked out as she walks away.
Before the ceremony, Nora brings Roxanne a cup of tea, possibly hoping to understand who it is that she’s dealing with. She offers the gesture as one of apology for their argument earlier that day, and as she’s talking, Roxanne changes her shirt. She reveals her bare chest, one half bearing a single mastectomy scar.
She tells Nora about the Amazons, who would remove one of their breasts as a sign of strength. Roxanne talks about fighting the pressure to have her breast replaced, and says that the other women in her support chat referred to themselves as Amazons.
With this reference, it’s clear that the character is a much more dimensional, modernized take on the cult figure from the comics, Victoria. Rather than waxing poetic about the holiness of women and chess games without any real motivation, Missi Pyle’s portrayal of an ex-cop who spends her pre-event life in a notoriously toxic, male-dominated career field is much more believable.
That night, to add to the culty vibes, everyone attends a ceremony in which a girl “dies” and is reborn a member of the community. Sam is weirded out by the ceremony, but when he notices that Hero seems to be into it, he excuses himself. Kelsey follows him, but when he asks her what happened to Kate, their injured friend, she looks afraid. She advises Sam to keep a low profile. Just then, another girl interrupts, saying that Kelsey is needed outside.
If it wasn’t already clear, it is now. Sam is definitely in danger.
Later that night, Roxanne and Hero sit on the roof. When she asks Hero to stay, Hero’s guilt causes her to confess to Joe’s murder. But Roxanne compares her to an abused animal, saying that striking out isn’t necessarily in her nature. And Hero, upon releasing her guilt and finding validation, looks about ready to go off the deep end, leaving Sam alone.
As this is happening, Nora walks in on a group of the girls beating Kelsey for talking to Sam. Nora seems more aware of the danger than even Sam. We can only hope that she’ll use her diplomatic skill to protect him from the charismatic and dangerous Roxanne.
Will Hero abandon her friend? Will our save-the-world trio fall into step with one another? Looks like we’ll have to wonder until next week.
A new episode of ‘Y: the Last Man’ is available for streaming every Monday, exclusively on Hulu.
