‘Last Man Standing’: Mandy and Kyle Discover If Ed Is a Murderer or Not

While the main plot for the first Last Man Standing episode of 2019 was a serious exploration of a man’s relationship with his son-in-law, there was also a hilarious secondary plot lampooning the country’s obsession with true-crime podcasts.

In “Three for the Road,” Mandy Baxter (Molly McCook) and her husband, Kyle Anderson (Christoph Sanders), were listening to the last episode of a true crime podcast at the Outdoor Man offices. Sadly, the podcast ended with the 1970s Leadville murders not being solved. This left the couple determined to find out who the murderer was.

When Mike (Tim Allen) walked in, he was skeptical of his daughter’s detective skills, especially when she said her resume included winning two games of Clue during summer camp.

“That’s how Comey got his job,” Mike said, referring to former FBI Director James Comey.

Mike became a little interested in the subject though after discovering that one of the photos of a suspect looked curiously like Ed Alzate (Hector Elizondo) when he had hair. Mike then left the office after making that tantalizing comment.

This inspired Mandy to consider a shocking possibility — what if Ed was the murder!

“In 1972, Ed would have had hair. Do you think…” Mandy began.

“No, the profiler said the miller was an experienced hunter with excellent survival skills, but that could be a ton of people in Colorado,” Kyle reminded Mandy.

“They also said he was a short-tempered man with a dancer’s body,” Mandy added.

“Zoinks!” Kyle said.

Later on, Mandy and Kyle invited Ed to lunch. They talked about the podcast and when they mentioned Leadville, Ed got defensive.

“Whatever picture you found is none of your business,” Ed said as he got up from the table. “You really shouldn’t be snooping around. Someone could get hurt.”

“You’re making it sound like you have something to hide,” Kyle said.

“Anyone who’s interesting has something to hide,” Ed said before leaving. “Thanks for the lunch.”

This all made Mandy even more suspicious.

In the end though, the photo Ed was nervous about Mandy and Kyle actually finding showed him frolicking in the woods in the nude with Barbra Streisand! Ed was, of course, not really the murderer.

“I didn’t want the world to see Fanny Brice’s fanny,” Ed said.

Ed told the couple they could put the photo out in the world, but Mandy and Kyle refused. Instead, they wanted to un-see the photo.

“Let’s just hope no one sees the tape of me and Madeline Albright,” Ed quipped.

The main plot of the new episode included Mike and Ryan (Jordan Masterson) bonding on a trip with Ryan’s son Boyd (Jet Jurgensmeyer).

Last Man Standing airs at 8 p.m. on Fox Fridays.

Photo credit: Michael Becker / FOX