Last Man Standing is one of the many series that has had to endure a shortened season in light of the current troubles. It shut down production early last month, ahead of its Season 8 finale, which means fans will not get to see how it was originally supposed to end. Despite that, the episode that concludes the season will still “feel like a cliffhanger,” according to one of its stars.
Amanda Fuller, who plays Mike Baxter’s eldest daughter Kristin, revealed the surprising news. Fuller will be making her directorial debut in tonight’s (April 8) new episode of Last Man Standing. When the season began, Fuller’s Kristin announced that she and her husband, Ryan, were expecting their second child, later revealed to be a baby girl during a hilarious gender reveal party.
Considering her impact, the birth of said baby seemed primed to play into Last Man Standing’s Season 8 finale. Now that the actual episode is off the table (for now), how does Kristin’s pregnancy play into the final episode of the season? Speaking about whether or not the impending arrival took center stage in the season-ender, Amanda Fuller told TVLine:
Yeah, it was heading that way. [Laughs] I mean, we’ll see in the last episode that we did shoot that the journey has begun.
My guess? Kristin goes into labor in the penultimate episode of Season 8. She was probably supposed to have the baby in the finale, thus leaving us with yet another addition to the family. Instead, it sounds as though fans of Last Man Standing are in for a cliffhanger as they await the arrival of Kristin and Ryan’s new baby.
Since Kristin’s baby girl kicked off the current season of Last Man Standing, it only makes sense for her to end it. Now it sounds like she may play into both the Season 8 finale and Season 9 premiere. I will be a bit bummed if the long-lasting series returns only to skip over the arrival of Kristin and Ryan’s baby.
That said, I can totally see why Last Man Standing would pick up afterward and maybe not resume with a cliffhanger that sees Kristin readying to welcome her daughter. While the uber-popular sitcom will not get the proper season finale that was once planned, it will still end on a cliffhanger. Amanda Fuller teased whether or not Season 8’s last episode will have finale flare, saying:
I would say so. It’s funny because leading up to it, I was saying it would be really cool if they made the birth a two-parter, and generally they don’t do anything that I think they’re going to do. In this case, I was close to what they [had in mind]. It’ll feel like a cliffhanger, I think, for sure.
Season 8 finale – labor. Season 9 premiere – delivery? It sounds feasible. Last Man Standing fans will have to stay tuned. The new finale seems perfect to prime fans for next season’s premiere. Time will tell how the Tim Allen-starrer chooses to return. Of course, I hope that Amanda Fuller is on to something.
It has been an eventful season. Vanessa has waded into the political arena, while the usually simpatico Mandy and Kyle actually had a fight. Don’t worry; they totally made up. And, despite not being the episode it was supposed to sign off with, it seems Last Man Standing has an eventful installment with which to say, “See you next season.”
New episodes of Last Man Standing air Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. The sitcom’s impromptu Season 8 finale will air on April 30. While you wait for the Tim Allen starrer to return, check out this spring’s premieres in a bid to stay entertained.
