'The Last Man on Earth' season 2 release date: Will Forte talks show's return

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The winter finale of "The Last Man on Earth" proved to be the show's bleakest episode yet as one character met his demise, while another seemed to be in grave danger.

In the episode titled "Silent Night," Gail (Mary Steenburgen) reluctantly agreed to perform an appendectomy on Other Phil Miller (Boris Kodjoe), aware of the fact that she is a three-star chef and not a surgeon. As expected, things ended up badly and Other Phil dies. Meanwhile, Original Phil's (Will Forte) brother, stranded space astronaut Mike (Jason Sudeikis) decided to return to Earth in the escape pod with a worm he named after his brother, and he hurtled down to Earth screaming as the pod caught fire.

When the show returns next year, it looks like Phil's group will have to cope with the loss of their most resourceful member, Erica, (Cleopatra Coleman), as she is about to give birth to Other Phil's child. It also remains to be seen whether Mike will make it to Earth safely and be reunited with his brother.

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Forte talked about what fans can expect when the show comes back for the second half of the season.

The series creator and star said that when the show returns, they will be picking up where they left off. "And we are picking up in a way that is going to be a little different," said Forte.

Erica will be devastated because of Other Phil's death, but she will be the one who will prove to be the best at coping with grief.

"Everyone else is kind of just—weird stuff starts happening as a result," said Forte, adding that the others in the group will be dealing with the death in different ways.

As for Mike's fate, Forte did not give any hint on what happens to the astronaut but teased that Mike might survive as he told EW, "We'll see what happens. They make spacecraft pretty strong these days." The show creator also said that if Mike does survive, it might take him a while to find Phil's group.

"The Last Man on Earth" returns in spring 2016 on Fox.