Here's why Gail's fakeout death on The Last Man On Earth was so annoying. There's something oddly irresistible about post-apocalyptic stories, from I Am Legend to The Walking Dead. The Last Man On Earth added a sitcom twist to the concept, which follows a lazy, slothful loser named Phil (Will Forte) who thinks he's the last man alive. This soon proves not to be the case, and he struggles to fit in with the various survivors he comes across.
The Last Man On Earth pilot was directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street), with the show created by Forte himself. It featured a great supporting cast and a long list of surprise guest stars, including Jon Hamm, Kristin Wiig, and Alexandra Daddario. While the show was mainly a comedy, it wasn't afraid to dig deeper and get a little emotional and existential too. The show ultimately lasted for four seasons, ending on a major cliffhanger.
Mary Steenburgen (Back To The Future Part III) played Gail on The Last Man On Earth, who arrived towards the end of season 1. She ran a restaurant before the world ended and acts as something of a doctor to the group, and she and Phil got off to a bad start after she catches him out in a lie. Season 3 finds Gail adopting Phil's wife Carol (Kristen Schaal), which is somewhat painful as she reveals she had a son who died. She eventually runs away to get some breathing room and decides to hang out in an elevator. This proves to be a bad move as she becomes trapped and her attempts to escape backfire - quite literally, as she accidentally shoots herself when firing at the ceiling.
The Last Man On Earth's "If You're Happy and You Know It" ends with an ominous scene where the trapped Gail loads her last bullet and a gunshot is heard, implying she committed suicide. It's ultimately revealed a couple of episodes later in "Hair of the Dog" that she survived, and she escapes the elevator after power is restored to the building she was hiding in. While this cliffhanger added some tension to the show's midseason finale, it was something of a cheap ploy too.
Like Glenn's supposed death during The Walking Dead season 6 - which was later revealed to be a fakeout - Gail's fate was only to get audiences talking. It made The Last Man On Earth fans nervous because it seemed Mary Steenburgen could be leaving, but in hindsight, its execution was irritating. At least being trapped for ten days gave Gail some perspective, but it could have done without the mystery.