We’ve got theories on that big ‘Last Man on Earth’ suicide cliffhanger

Up until its mid-season finale, we’ve been focusing a lot on Gail’s (Mary Steenburgen) unfortunate situation on “Last Man on Earth.” Lacking water or any real sustenance — wine and crackers can only go so far — it’s possible she took some extreme measures in the final moments of Sunday’s (Dec. 12) episode. But, while we heard a gun shot, we never saw a body. Gail could’ve killed herself — but we can’t scratch the sneaking suspicion that “Last Man on Earth” has pulled a slight of hand.

In the past two seasons, the show has delved from oddball comedy into some heavily dramatic territory. We’ve previously remarked at how it may be the most unpredictable primetime series on television right now. And while Gail’s suffering a gunshot wound and has run out of food, we have to wonder if the person really in danger is Melissa (January Jones).

RELATED: Things aren’t looking good for Gail on ‘Last Man on Earth’

We’ve watched as Melissa’s relationship with Todd (Mel Rodriguez) moved into rocky territory. And as that transpired, it seems that she’s slowly lost any sort of grip on reality. Gail may have turned to her wine bottles for emotional refuge amid this apocalyptic reality, but Melissa’s straight up gone off the deep end.

First, it was her gravitation towards guns — becoming an expert sniper is an appropriate response to the apocalyptic threats these folks daily face — but when you factor in PTSD from her murder of Darrell (former “Mad Men” husband/co-star Jon Hamm), it just seemed realistic and sad. But her downward spiral has only increased since then: She found a new home for the group, and has found a role acting as a sort of insane oracle, but then immediately wandered off again. As glad as we are to see January Jones getting more to do on the show — and she’s crushing it! — we’re still more worried than ecstatic. Todd’s bizarre reaction to her latest breakdown — locking her up in a conference room — can only make things worse.

How easy would it be, now that Melissa is locked away in that observation room, for “Last Man on Earth” to divert our attention from what she’s going through with a slight of hand cliffhanger that puts Gail’s safety in question? Being stuck in an elevator in an empty building without power is no joke. But while she seems like the obvious choice for the show to kill off, at this point, putting Melissa straight in the cross-hairs would have bigger ramifications for Todd.

RELATED: Todd is ‘Last Man on Earth’s’ emotional center — and his heart is breaking

Let’s look at it this way: Todd turned to Gail because Melissa pushed him away, creating a hairy situation for himself briefly where he was seeing them both.

But as we’ve seen throughout the last few episodes, Todd feels total responsibility and blame for Melissa’s situation. If Gail ends up surviving and Melissa meets her demise, all sorts of dramatic possibilities open up in the story which would directly pit a resentful Todd against his former lover, Gail.

The painful irony of isolation is a theme in every episode: How even in a group of strangers bonded by tragedy and survival, someone’s always the odd man out. This season’s parallels of these two very central women, caught in two very different cages, has seen the situations dance elegantly around one another — but in the end, with Melissa trapped in one prison and Gail possibly free of another, either loss may be too much for Todd, and the whole family, to bear.

“Last Man on Earth” Season 3 will return in the Spring to FOX.

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