After throwing a grenade into the vent of an alien spaceship, Matty Mulligan was celebrated as a world hero. “Mulligan” is about the journey of the baseball enthusiast who was declared President of the United States. Matty was accompanied by Lucy while saving the world from aliens, and he proposed to her with the grenade ring when the war was over. It was the perfect ending to an unexpected invasion, but as it turns out it only gets worse for the surviving humans. Mulligan had to deal with the unavailability of electricity, the scarcity of food, the dearth of consumable water, and the terrible conditions of buildings and roads. He had his plans noted down on a whiteboard, but it was all too overwhelming for him. As the First Lady, Lucy decided to play an active role in rebuilding the world, but her enthusiasm was considered a threat by the self-appointed Vice President, Cartwright LaMarr. In this article, we discuss the summary of the ten-episode series and focus on the ending of “Mulligan.”
Spoilers Alert
‘Mulligan’ Plot Summary: What Is The Series About?
Vice President Cartwright LaMarr had waited years for the opportunity to become President of the United States. When he noticed how the crowd upheld Mulligan as their hero, he knew that declaring him president would not just make the people happy; it would also serve his purpose. As Vice President, he could influence the man and successfully execute the plans he had in mind. Lucy’s enthusiasm to save the world scared LaMarr, and he advised her to take up the more traditional roles of the White House. Even though Lucy was mostly clueless about executing her grand ideas, she cared about people and wanted to do something meaningful with the power she had. As Miss America, she already had a list of social welfare activities she wanted to be a part of. Lucy was passionate about animals and hoped to make the conditions at the National Zoo better. The zoo had a backup generator, but it was not enough for the freezer and the grill. After hearing the case, all Mulligan could think about was the backup generator that he could use to chill his beers. He was quick to steal the generator and distribute free chilled beers to the public to cheer them up. The animals from the zoo were let loose, and Mulligan’s decision resulted in mayhem. Lucy was not ready to forgive Matty, but when he used the leftover beer to put out the museum fire, she decided to reconsider.
History professor Simon Prioleau and scientist Dr. Farrah Braun decided to conduct a census of the remaining population. While working together, they felt a growing attraction, but the result of the census affected their possible romance. According to the census, women outnumbered men. There were two women for every man, possibly the worst nightmare of LaMarr. While Simon initially ignored the approach of a young crowd, after analyzing the census, he realized that maybe the scarcity of men has resulted in him appearing a lot more attractive than he used to be. He decided to take his chance with the young woman instead of settling for a 40-something mother of two. Farrah was heartbroken, and she sought comfort from the captured alien, Axatrax. She poured all her frustration onto him, and he happily listened to her stories. Farrah caught herself getting attached to the green being. He was a lot more sympathetic and emotional than her human lovers, and she was all in for her “Shape of Water” love story. The only problem was that Axatrax was taking advantage of her emotions as well, and he escaped by shedding his skin while pretending to kiss her. Farrah might have been a little slippery in the hope of love, but with the help of her cyborg TOD-209, she managed to find Axatrax and stop him from escaping to his planet. The new census troubled LaMarr, and he decided to distract the women by introducing frivolous competitions while he focused on important political decisions.
Who Won The Stamp Competition?
While Mulligan could not care less about the census, LaMarr instilled fear in him, making him believe that the high number of women could be a threat to his position. He devised a plan to keep the women distracted while he worked on matters of importance. LaMarr introduced a stamp competition through which they would select a woman to be on the stamps. Farrah was not interested in taking part in the competition, and she did not believe in female friendship. During her postdocs, she was forced to work with another female candidate, and her experience was bitter. While her lab partner, Vicky, wanted to become friends, Farrah concluded that Vicky was just too incompetent and was the reason behind their failed experiment. Farrah’s decision changed when she noticed young girls’ obsession with looking good. She realized that they needed a woman to look up to—someone who was not from the beauty industry. She joined and gave Lucy tough competition. Farrah decided to use nanobots to control Lucy and make her lose the competition. But instead of the nanobots, she came across a file labeled “Project Ape Storm,” and in it was another file named “Project Catfight.” Farrah realized that she and Vicky were part of an experiment conducted by men. The male scientists had intentionally drugged the chimps to make them act wild and to test how the women reacted to the situation. They concluded that females could not get along, and it was scientifically proven that women deserved to be treated as inferior. Farrah realized the mistake she made, and she explained it all to Lucy. They decided to rise against the men and pose together for the stamp. While all women made it to the stamp, when zoomed out, the stamp looked like Chuck Norris.
What Was The Stench From?
The stench became impossible to live with, and Lucy was determined to find a solution to the problem. As usual, LaMarr did not care about the problem, and he added that oil spills were quite normal. He instead encouraged Lucy to conduct a concert to raise donations for the cause, even though money was useless in the new world and people paid in kisses. Meanwhile, Farrah and Simon got into an argument about figuring out the days of the week. Farrah believed it was Monday, while Simon was confident that it was Sunday. The two conducted intense research, and while trying to study the sky through a telescope, they discovered another truth. They realized that the stench was being produced by the oil field, and it was looked over by LaMarr. LaMarr was not ready to accept the blame for the stench. He was drilling in the swamp, and that resulted in the production of gases that caused the stench. A giant bubble of gas had formed, and it was all too late to stop it. LaMarr realized that the problem had gone way out of hand, and he had to find a solution to handle the uproar of the common people once the bubble burst. He convinced Lucy and Matty that the stench bubble could be good for the United States. People have been living around hog lagoons for years now, and LaMarr believed that the stench could be an indication of possible pig farms and more jobs. At the stench concert, Lucy referred to George Washington’s journal that stated how the United States smelled of turds, and after all these years, humans were going to experience a similar condition that Washington did. If it was good for Washington, Lucy, and Mulligan announced that it was good for them. The people cheered, believing that history was repeating itself and that the smell of turds indicated a promising future. The bubble bursts, and the people embrace the smell and dirt that start pouring on them. Since Axatrax fed on sulfurous pluff, he was grateful for the stench, and he consumed it as much as he could.
‘Mulligan’ Ending Explained: Who Did Lucy Choose To Fall In Love With?
After making countless mistakes as president, Mulligan had lost the trust of the common people. Lucy tried to gather support, but after the tragic last six months, the people were not ready to listen to Mulligan and his committee anymore. People wanted to vote, and LaMarr was worried about his plans going wrong. The committee meetings took place in front of the crowd for transparency, and LaMarr realized that the focus of the audience could be shifted from their disappointment in the government to something more entertaining. People laughed when Axatrax made funny moves and cheered when TOD_209 did a little break dance, and Zhao, as the news editor, had a role to play in the continuous distraction. LaMarr mentioned in passing how King Jeremy had visited Lucy when Mulligan was away to create controversy. The audience was in love with the drama, and Zhao provided picture evidence to make it all the more spicy. Lucy had fallen in love with Jeremy, but she was not ready to part with her nation and decided against their relationship. She shared with him how her relationship with Mulligan was nothing but a mutual understanding. The people loved them together, and she wanted to be the First Lady, so they decided to publicly pretend to be a couple when in reality, they were not together. Jeremy had spilled the secret to Zhao, and with the picture, he had a story to run. LaMarr was right; the audience’s focus shifted from the presidential election to guessing who Lucy would choose as her life partner. The committee meeting soon turned into a match-fixing show, where Lucy was seated at the center to choose one between Mulligan and King Jeremy. After the two men discussed why they were the right option, Lucy declared that she chose none. She had been a people-pleaser all her life, and she was not ready to repeat her past mistakes. The people forgive mistakes and often laugh at them, as Axatrax had said, and so Lucy decided to do what she wanted to do even if it turned out to be another mistake.
What Happened To Tod-209? Did Aliens Invade Earth Once Again?
The last military cyborg soldier, Tod-209, gradually realized that he used to be a person who had a family. Using his brain, the military had created a machine that was capable of following instructions and acting as robotic soldiers when needed. He felt all the more betrayed, realizing that Farrah had created him. Farrah knew that the day Tod-209 found out his truth, he would try to end himself just like the previous versions did. She was a scientist, and she believed she could not have helped the situation in any way. Tod-209 left Farrah in the end, expressing his grievance.
Meanwhile, what seemed to be a spaceship turned out to be a boat and came to a halt. The people in the boat recognized LaMarr, exclaiming that he was their senator. It turns out there were others who survived and found a way to reunite with the rest of the population. Now that LaMarr had the support of his people, he was ready to contest the election. Since “Mulligan” ends with a “to be continued” reminder, we can expect the new set of people to play an important role in the next season. While Lamarr has a fair chance of winning, hopefully, he will be challenged by someone promising. But what will happen to Mulligan? Will he change his ways and win the hearts of the people? Tod-209 can return next season with a new purpose. There is plenty of scope for season 2 of “Mulligan,” and hopefully, it will make the audience laugh louder the next time.
