Mulligan – Season 1 Episode 10 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

The Love Choice

Why have the people turned on Mulligan?

Mulligan announces their discovery of the seed and a potential solution to the food problem. But a bird snatches it away from his hand and the crowd grows restless. They feel Mulligan hasn’t done anything and they start chasing Mulligan and Lucy through the streets. LaMarr is angry at the duo for upsetting the people. He insinuates that intelligence agencies in the past have helped the government manipulate the masses like the CIA did with Woodstock. But now they have nothing.

What is the Cabinet’s solution to make the people happy again?

Lucy suggests they hold elections and let people elect a new President. LaMarr is strictly against the idea and says that this will allow them to elect someone weak and popular. It will cede control and significance from the government and undermine its role as an institution. Mulligan seems to agree but a more plausible solution for now is allowing the people to see their government at work. This would instil confidence and brew trust between them and the people.

What is LaMarr’s devious plan to unsettle the public showing of the White House?

LaMarr is once again not satisfied with the idea. But the Cabinet outvotes him. LaMarr tries himself to filibuster the discussion but is laughed off by Braun and the others. He goes to Zhao, asking him to intervene. LaMarr is worried that the Democratically inclined people are not “real Americans” and not “his voter base.” Zhao gets the idea to put up a show for the audience watching the WH show.

Zhao replaces Simon with a more attractive-looking substitute, encapsulating the judgmental and shallow standards of modern-day television. Among other things, he installs Axatrax as the villain for people to hate and intensify their emotional connection to Mulligan. Matty and Lucy are presented as a showbiz-like couple – perfect poster material. King Jeremy is also called to the show. Braun defends her decision to keep TOD in the dark about his identity.

Zhao’s most attractive centrepiece is the beef between Mulligan, Lucy, and Jeremy. He reveals the photo and Mulligan confronts Lucy in front of everyone. That leads us to the final act.

Why is Axatrax not contacting his people on Cardi-B?

Axtrax has assembled everything, including the Hope diamond, to make a machine. He can now establish contact with his home planet. But for some reason, he keeps procrastinating. He indulges in the public showing, taking solace in the fact that people like his humorous blooper acts.  The real reason is that he is afraid of what his people would do when they find out he failed the mission and is now living with the humans as one of them.

Who created TOD?

TOD has another vision where he sees the symbol of the organization/ the project under which he was created. Brauns sends him to donate her old clothes from the lab when TOD tries to kill Scarpaccio as he realizes that army men were there when he was created. On one of the shirts, he sees the same symbol and realizes that Braun was involved in his creation. Angrily, he flies back to confront her.

What is the “final act”?

Lucy says they must give people what they want and Zhao’s final show – The Love Choice. Lucy, Mulligan, and Jeremy are sat in front of everybody and she is made to choose between them. Jeremy’s debauchery to create tension between Matty and Lucy comes out as Lucy was inclined to choose Jeremy. Now, she decides not to choose either and in classic movie style, the boys unite and turn against Lucy. Lamarr’s plan is successful as everyone has forgotten about the elections.

Axatrax picks up chatter on the radio from his alien friends. He is terrified when they say that they are coming back, in their alien language. The final scene reveals that it is a boat with more people on it who have an accent like LaMarr. Axatrax is confused when he sees their alien spaceship has not returned. What he heard on the radio was a part of the song, “Daquiris on Christmas Eve.” These people are from Florida, LaMarr’s “voter base,” and now the old Senator relishes the prospect of an election, sure that he will win them and fulfil his long-lost dream.

The Episode Review

‘Mulligan’ has indeed ended on a cliffhanger. LaMarr might finally have his chance at a legitimate presidentship but we will have to wait another season to see it materialize. This was certainly an anti-climax given what the episode was building toward. Axatrax’s spaceship might never arrive as the alien warlord himself does not want to go back.

The feminist undertones in all the episodes had an ironic sense of deprecating humour, although the makers wanted to go out strong with Luc’s decision to focus on herself. TOD’s storyline remained compelling and serious-minded until the end. That is certainly an unresolved and emotionally complex subplot that we might be looking forward to in the next season. 209 might refer to the variant of the cyborg that was perfect for human beings given the emerging circumstances.

Matty’s rule was quite toothless. It ended in a frivolous dating contest and the universe in ‘Mulligan’ didn’t make any real progress. We would have loved a time jump here like HBO’s Barry in its latest season but that remains wishful thinking. Mixed feelings bidding farewell to the show, although the ending was frankly less than satisfying.