“No Tomorrow” (9 p.m. Tuesdays on The CW) has an out-there premise similar to “Last Man on Earth” and “The Good Place.” Awkward, pretty Evie (“The L.A. Complex’s” Tori Anderson, occasionally slipping into her Canadian accent) meets suave dreamboat Xavier (Joshua Sasse), who believes the world will end in eight months. The show – at least in the first season – follows the couple as they behave as if the end is nigh. How does the imminent doomsday change their behavior? And in what ways can this “carpe diem” attitude carry over to the real world, which probably won’t end in eight months?
In the pilot episode, “No Tomorrow” – the least rainy show ever set in Seattle — clears the first hurdle: It convinces viewers that Xavier believes the world will end, and that he’s not crazy for believing it. A former copy editor at a science magazine, he reads about how an asteroid will just miss Earth in eight months. However, he calculates that the mathematicians forgot to take into account changes in the atmosphere, and that the rock will indeed hit our blue-and-green globe. Additionally, he suspects they purposely got it wrong, positing that NASA would not inform the populace about an unavoidable (the future tech of “Armageddon” is not here yet) disaster, because such an announcement would only create panic and chaos.
And we’re convinced that Evie would go along for this ride with Xavier. She’s skeptical, but she can’t resist his Australian-accented, perfectly-groomed-bearded charms, nor the charm of a lifestyle of doing what you want without worrying about long-term ramifications. Before long, she has her own “apocalyst” to mirror Xavier’s.
Beyond the premise, “No Tomorrow” is a lot more traditional than “Last Man on Earth” or “The Good Place.” It’s a whirlwind romance story that relies on the sparks between the two leads, and the end-of-the-world stuff is mostly a framework for that. The show might get into headier questions about the nature of rote lifestyles and the fantasy of unfettered freedom as it goes forward, but it might not want to get that heavy.
“No Tomorrow” is mostly a comedy, and the humor comes rapidly enough to be appealing in a light way, even if it doesn’t break new ground. For example, the idea of Evie’s on-again/off-again boyfriend Timothy (Jesse Rath) being a low-talker comes straight from “Seinfeld” (he speaks at a normal volume in the second episode, thus undercutting the joke). And the notion that Evie would smoothly tell a guy she just met that, if the world were coming to an end, she’d stop shaving her “legs, vagina and mustache” is a standard joke in this post-shock-comedy era (undercutting the joke, she’s not usually that witty).
“No Tomorrow” has fun sidebars such as the absurd notion that Evie’s ice-cold boss at the shipping warehouse, Deirdre (Amy Pietz), has an unrequited crush on her slobbish employee Hank (Jonathan Langdon), who is himself a doomsday prepper (although he believes Xavier’s specific theory is bunk). Her stiff attempts at wooing Hank are humorous, as are Evie’s flailing attempts to see that Deirdre stays within HR guidelines.
Meanwhile, Evie’s quirky co-worker Kareema (Sarayu Blue) delivers over-the-top nihilism and go-her-own-way interests that are worth a chuckle, such as when she hopes one of the visiting consultants “lays me off, if you know what I mean.” Kareema already acts as if the world is going to end, but I’m not positive that “No Tomorrow” is consciously making that parallel.
Other things fall completely flat, including subplots with Xavier’s and Evie’s families. I don’t particularly care that Evie’s dad is trying to win salesman of the year. The fact that Xavier’s mom died when he was young is relevant to his character, but not all that interesting. When episode two ends with Evie and Xavier dancing in a yard full of suds from nine washing machines, it doesn’t have much more meaning than any of the other items from Xavier’s and Evie’s “apocalysts.” And I liked the “fun in the suds” scene of “The Way, Way Back” better.
The first couple episodes could be a rom-com movie of the type ABC Family used to show, but it adds a springboard that makes it into a series: Xavier’s cousin Jesse (George Basil) shows up at Xavier’s door, having broken out of prison. He doesn’t intend to spend the last eight months of the Earth behind bars.
And so the stakes are raised for both Evie and the show. She’s once again forced to ask herself if she really believes Xavier. In the first episode, she scrambles to get her job back after Xavier sends a “take this job and shove it” email from her account to her boss – so she is hedging her bets so far.
As for “No Tomorrow” itself, a story about a convict and his two accomplices on the run moves the series into different territory. That territory will necessarily be more whimsical and less attached to reality, as the producers aren’t intending something in the “Fugitive” vein. Indeed, Evie and Xavier get Jesse into Canada via a shipping box in the second episode, a strategy that’s not tethered to reality. Increased detachment from reality soured me on “Last Man on Earth” and “The Good Place,” so this show will have to be careful.
And it needs to realize what its strengths and weaknesses are. It needs more scenes at Evie’s workplace, particularly featuring Kareema. I wouldn’t be averse to a dialing back of the Jesse subplot, but that seems unlikely given how important he is to Xavier.
It’ll live to see another week on my DVR, but if the ratings say there’s no tomorrow for this light rom-com, it won’t be the end of the world.
Main image: CW publicity photo