Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Last Man Standing episode "How Do You Like Them Pancakes?" Read at your own risk!
Last Man Standing aired its Season 8 finale, or at least the final episode that could be completed before production shut down. The series was unable to film one final episode before officially wrapping and awaiting word on whether Season 9 will happen at Fox.
In the original plan, "How Do You Like Them Pancakes?" was supposed to be the first half of a two-parter, which may explain why it ended on such an awkward note. Mike and Vanessa were sitting in the waiting room with Eve, awaiting word on Kristin while she was in labor. The show went into commercial with Kaitlyn Dever's Eve sharing a tender moment with her parents, and then returned with a classic Mike Baxter webcam monologue.
Should Last Man Standing return for Season 9, the most obvious thing to do would be to pick up and film the second part of the episode to effectively close out the story. Of course, there's a hangup in doing that considering Kaitlyn Dever is not a series regular, and would be needed for the episode so her character could get a proper sendoff.
That's easier said than done, of course, as Kaitlyn Dever left Last Man Standing to get into Hollywood projects elsewhere. She has been really successful since then with acclaimed roles in Booksmart and Netflix's Unbelievable, so I think planning on getting her back for the second part of this planned two-parter could be a tall order. She may have another commitment and be unable to make time in her schedule for her Last Man Standing family, although only time will tell.
Tim Allen spoke to TV Guide about Kaitlyn Dever's return, but didn't say whether or not she could return in Season 9. He did say the door is certainly open if she's willing.
My preference would be, yes to have her on more. If she's a fighter pilot for the Air Force, we're not sure how much she's allowed to see us. She'd be in Europe. We'd have to schedule it around her flight training. But my guess is, as much as possible, we'd have her on. We love her and we love to honor our military.
If Kaitlyn Dever isn't able to return, Season 9 will presumably have to either continue the episode while finding a way to work Eve out of the story, or jump ahead in time. The unfortunate situation in the latter is that Kristin's childbirth would likely just be skipped and picked up sometime after. Ideally, it would just be better if Dever could come back for the final episode, so that this story can be completed in full.
Last Man Standing is done with Season 8, and we'll have to wait and see whether or not Fox will bring it back for Season 9. Continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news happening in television and movies.
