Memorable Moment in Last Man Standing: Joking about Doomsdaying

I've been moving this post around from week to week for over three months now. I finally decided to post it in conjunction with my post on the Grand Canyon and my post on the problem of seamless political narratives. After all, doomsdaying is one of those supposedly seamless narratives!

One of my absolutely favorite sitcom lines occurs in Last Man Standing, "Free Range Parents." 

The bulk of the episode is Mike and Chuck helping Ryan deal with letting his son walk home by himself. 

Meanwhile...

At Outdoor Man, Ed puts on a workshop for preppers, people who prepare for the end of the world by building (entirely useless) bunkers. Yeah, not that much protection against an ASTEROID. 

Ed gives guileless Kyle questions to ask at the workshop. Reading off an index card, Kyle asks a prepared question about the "Yellowstone supervolcano."

Reading the question aloud, Kyle becomes more and more agitated. There's a supervolcano in Yellowstone Park?! When he expresses concern since his grandmother is going there on a bus trip, Ed reassures him:

"The last time it exploded was 174,000 years ago."

"That means it's due!" Kyle exclaims.

I LOVE this line. It is so entirely human. Sure, we know the statistics. But what will stop US from being THAT statistic THIS TIME? 

On the tougher, darker side, Ryan agrees with Mike that he is overreacting to the idea of his son's freedom but doesn't care--he just wants to keep this child/his child safe. 

To which Mike (and Tim Allen) responds, "[The news] makes everybody think they're living on one big cruise ship...The scared part of me had to be quiet so the other part of me could figure out what to do." 

At the end of the episode, Mike overrides Ed. He replaces the fearmongering prepper workshop with a seminar for parents since Outdoor Man is a "fear-free zone" which "sells courage...engagement." Kyle is the adorable and kid-like babysitter. Ryan attends.  

From a character-building perspective, the end of the episode delivers another great exchange between Mike and Ryan which illustrates that although Mike argues with Ryan, he reaches out to the younger man because he understands where Ryan is coming from. After all, Mike is sure that even after he dies, he'll stick around to make sure Mandy is taking care of her car.