If you have an apocalypse theme in your show, I’ll probably watch it so of course, I checked out You, Me and the Apocalypse. If you don’t like cliffhangers, stop reading now because You, Me and the Apocalypse is only one season, and it ends with one so you probably should not waste your time. (Side note: it is rather amusing that two shows with Rob Lowe aired at the same time and lasted for a single season.)
You, Me and the Apocalypse consists of 10 episodes that are the length of a drama, but is actually a comedy. You, Me and the Apocalypse tries to do a mashup between apocalypse by asteroid and some zany take on a Biblical apocalypse with Rob Lowe trying to find out who is the second coming of Jesus. Side note: I know You, Me and the Apocalypse is not faithful to most people’s interpretation of the Biblical account of Jesus’ second coming, but this is fiction, and You, Me and the Apocalypse takes a lot of liberties with Biblical themes so if you hate it when shows do that, you probably should stop reading because you should not watch it.
Every episode begins with the day that the asteroid hits and gives the audience more information on who ends up in the bunker. The rest of the episode is told in chronological order beginning with everyone’s daily life before they discover that the world is going to end. As the show unfolds, the viewer discovers how the characters know each other. As the story progresses, the characters begin to converge. Initially there are several separate storylines: the sad sack English adopted bank employee who moons after his missing wife while accompanied by his zany roommate; the simple housewife played by Jenna Fischer from The Office stuck in prison for a crime her son committed; a Vatican priest played by Rob Lowe who debunks fake miracles; and a Washington bureaucrat who is working on how to save humanity from the asteroid.
You, Me and the Apocalypse has an ensemble cast of British and American actors. I noticed that most of the time, there are shows like The Walking Dead where a ton of cast members are actually British, but the viewer would have no idea because they are such good actors. You, Me and the Apocalypse does not have that problem. When a British actor is faking it, it is kind of obvious and awkward like when we fake a British accent. Is that what you think we sound like? It is slightly annoying, but not a deal breaker. You, Me and the Apocalypse just isn’t getting the grade A imports.
Some of the storylines are quite predictable-will the priest and the nun hookup. Many of the developments are ridiculous such as the search for the messiah or annoying such as the constant twin mix ups-at some point, don’t you start using a safe word whenever you are briefly separated. The messiah should not be such a clueless idiot. The 70s called-they want their trope back. Some big reveals do not make any sense.
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I love Diana Rigg, who is killing it as Lady Olenna in Game of Thrones. Her character on You, Me and the Apocalypse has an interesting back story, but it does not make sense with what we were given. Her children are the priest and twins, one of whom is the unassuming housewife, but they don’t seem to know each other, but they are only a decade apart. She is some massively evil woman whom Lowe purposely distances himself from, but apparently she took a low-key identity when she had the twins then abandoned them and resumed being filthy rich and venal. I wish that You, Me and the Apocalypse devoted more time to her character. We never find out who is in the box.
Fischer’s character arc was also intriguing because first, she was paired with Megan Mullally, who is famous for playing Karen on Will & Grace and is almost unrecognizable as a white supremacist, and second, she changes gradually as she gets closer to D Day and may be more like her mother than she knows. If You, Me and the Apocalypse had a second season, it could have been devoted to her trying to resist the dark side now that she knows that she has it.
You, Me and the Apocalypse is absorbing as it gains momentum, but even though it is possible to watch it in a single sitting, I did not, which says a lot about the show. It took me awhile to get into the rhythm of the show. You, Me and the Apocalypse is an entertaining diversion, but definitely not must see TV. I probably would not have watched it if I knew then what I know now, but I’m not mad like some people. You, Me and the Apocalypse was an ambitious show that never succeeded at jelling fully.