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Afterlife - Season 2 review 🌼

Updated: Jul 24, 2020

Hello everyone! 🌼

I hope you’re all doing well and I'm really excited to finally announce that this week's post is a review of the amazing Afterlife by Ricky Gervais.

Disclaimer: All of the opinions and ideas throughout this post are mine and mine alone. I have huge respect for all actors, comedians, directors, producers and all the people behind the scenes that make these amazing works of art possible for us all to view. In no way am I disregarding the efforts they put in and all opinions are my own and should not be taken to heart as they are simply an opinion. The series I will be talking about involves themes of dark humour, sadness, self harm and loneliness but also some of the happiest and intense emotions you could experience.


Ricky Gervais is an actor, comedian, writer, director, producer and not to mention a huge inspiration to anyone aspiring to be any of the above and I’m completely ashamed to say that, up until a couple of years ago. I didn’t even know his name.


The first show of his I saw was his dark comedy show “Humanity” and I’ve never laughed so hard at such humour before. I always shied away from dark humour as it can be misconstrued or be received in an offensive manner when it is meant to inform and supply humour to the viewers. He is also one of the few people that I have actually connected with in terms of his humour, writing, direction and so much more.


Since then I have seen some of the absolutely amazing content he has acted in and directed. A few of the things I have seen do not compare to the variety of shows and films he has put out, but the ones I’ve seen, Extras, Afterlife, The invention of Lying and so on are all great, and although I’ve wanted to write for some time now, I never felt so passionately towards the pursuit of it as a career until I saw Afterlife.


My writing has been steered by detective series, films, and not very much comedy. This series united my love for writing and my want to someday write something that other people feel so passionately about they never want to stop watching. I will say however, if you are planning on binge watching Extras please be prepared for 'Tea for the tillerman' by Cat Stevens to be firmly implanted in your brain for the remainder of your days!


Not only does this show have some of my favourite actors and comedians, Ricky Gervais, Roisin Conaty and Joe Wilkinson, it also has some of the most completely gripping and compelling, relatable characters that submerge you completely in the story line. That’s what, in my opinion, makes this series one of near perfection and one I love so much I have watched it many times already and will continue to watch it probably 10 times a month for the rest of my life.


The first season completely captivated the nation so of course we requested another and in fact not two weeks after the second season aired on Netflix Ricky Gervais released an Instagram post with a line only he would put. “Because so many of you watched #AfterLife2 so quickly and made it Number 1 again, the nice people at @Netflix have suggested that I get off my fat arse and do another season. This is all your fault.” He’s right. I did watch the whole season 2 in one day, it just wasn’t long enough!


The second season, in many ways completely flows from the first, indicating to us no differences between the first and second season meaning us as viewers can simply watch episode after episode and not know a difference. I always find that when another season of a program comes out, you can often tell that they are different. The tone is written in a new way, or presented in a different format that makes it harder for the original viewers to identify and engage with, the series however Afterlife doesn’t do that. It flows flawlessly. The new season did come with some worries for me though, that the characters may not have the uniqueness or individuality that they had in the first, especially the relationship between Tony and the characters.


We see Tony chatting to Anne on the bench so often throughout season 1, we see them sharing a laugh, giving him a speech on the importance of being there not for you but for others. Which in my opinion was one of the most quality and heart warming pieces from the first season.


The first season presents the characters in such an amazing way, showing us little details throughout that give a subtle indication of background on all aspects of their lives, without completely delving us into knowledge of the characters in an obvious way. For example we never found out what Tony’s wife - Lisa, played by Kerry Godliman, did for a job, but we did see Tony startle her in the first season whilst she was painting, really well actually. This really subtly shows us their relationship being fun, strong and loving whilst also giving some insight into what she may do for an income, without openly expressing she worked here or did this or that. It’s actually a really clever way of exploring characters' backgrounds and giving snippets into their lives without presenting them in such an abrupt and obvious way.


All of these things follow really swiftly and efficiently through season 2 as well. The humour is something that when the second season came about I was intently worried about. That it wouldn’t be distributed in the same way throughout the show, or that the humour would be exaggerated, forced or even lacking in some ways but it simply doesn’t, it shines in ways that the naturalness of it can’t be overlooked. The humour completely enlightens the whole essence of sadness that runs through it, and no matter how much I cry, I will always love it and come out of it smiling and crying in utter relief. This series really is something that inspires me, it makes me one day aspire to be as great as the utterly gripping writer that is Ricky Gervais.


As much as it hurts to watch the series I think, especially in lock down it gives some form of an experience of emotion with it. We are all separated from someone we love right now, it may not be through cancer, or death, but the wholesome emotion of finding help in the little happy things of love within this. They all instill a feeling in me of love and faith that even through this time, the most heart aching time of this covid, all the people in this series give us some sense of normality and happiness through its emotion.


If you haven’t seen it, please watch it, before you judge Ricky Gervais as a comedian, or think it’s a sad story, it’s not. It’s worth it. The first season, for me, finished with a hope and happiness for Tony - The main character played by Ricky Gervais, as we saw his relationship with Emma, also known as “The nurse” Played by Ashley Jensen - Who by the way is an amazing actress, but I’ll come back to that - Throughout the series we saw their relationship blossom. At the end of the season I know a lot of people were rooting for Emma and Tony to get together, however I think I was the only person who really didn’t want them to end up together and stay friends a bit longer. I wanted to see more of Tony, see him calm down, cheer up a little before their relationship really bloomed.


The new series like the first one, begins as though following on from before with a memory from his wife. “You always like it when you do the right thing” Is one of the first things she says, reminding us of the last episode we saw where Tony tries to right his wrongs and make it up to the people he really cares about. The line “Too honest” Is a key characteristic we saw in Tony throughout season one and it immediately indicates to us what is to follow and sets a high precedent for viewers to relate to Tony even if we haven’t gone through the same loss as him. We can all relate to being a little too honest sometimes.


Something I haven’t yet mentioned about season 1 is that I absolutely love Brandy - Tony’s dog, she is a German Shepherd and it is so enlightening to see that Gervais chose to use a companion of her breed. We see so many people posting about German Shepherd’s aggression or lack of love and empathy and for me, a lover of the detective series, they often present the dogs in a state of aggression towards the ‘bad guys’ baring teeth and being shown capturing them. Brandy is shown to be the most adorable companion and is seen as lovely and caring. Setting a whole new side to the breed that is often overlooked by the general public and drowned in negative posts through social media.


I also love the way Monty Python is introduced in the first and second season, from “The life of Brian” Written by Sandy at the end of the first season. Daphne's mention of Tony being sat naked like some weird Monty Python sketch in season 2 really indicates a sense of flow and anyone who loves Monty Python can appreciate any mention of it.


The characters are such a strong part of the series I have to go through them, but in all honesty Daphne is probably my favourite, and my least favourite may be the postman Pat. Which, spoiler alert, I was not rooting for them to get together but it really does work in my opinion. Along with these characters you have the utter idiocy that is Lenny, naming him Lenny, honestly im hoping this is an obvious homage to Of Mice and Men, if it wasn’t intentional then, it was definitely a stroke of genius. Lenny - ‘Shrek’ as Tony once called him comes across as the best witless man, which is honestly a perfect addition to the writers at the Tambury Gazette.

Sandy is another amazing character, we see her enter the gazette at the beginning of the series and when she does so she strokes her hair on one side to ensure its neat, in the second season we see her do the same in a mirror. It’s these key little traits of characters we love to see and find relatable and that’s what makes them the best. The only person we see go through any dramatic changes in this second season is Tony and it is brilliant.


All of the characters bring a crucial sense of life to the series and in doing so help Gervais to explore different mediums of humour through the different types of people he has written into the script.


The way new characters are introduced are as in the previous season, where people pop their heads in, in a non obvious way, like people do in real life. Not openly like where Simon comes in, Emma could say “Oh hi gavin your mums in room - whatever” But the way it is written is so normal and not obviously introducing someone new, but adds a lot of dimension to the series and a new layer to the characters. This also instantly shows us some of Tony’s jealousy that he mentions in season 1 about wanting to punch Gavin Tilly, and made me wonder so strongly if he would end up hitting Simon for winking at Emma the way Gavin winked at Lisa.


I also really love the characters that Tony and Lenny visit for stories, they have some of the craziest banal stories that give it an extra laugh, it also shows elements of other people that we probably wouldn’t think about in everyday life. We see Anette Crosbie, the amazing Margarette Meldrew in the brilliant series ‘One Foot In The Grave’ make an appearance and she plays a great part at the beginning of this second season. This is followed by a multitude of great little stories that somehow make the show that bit more lovable.


There is also this emphasis on other characters, the loneliness of the older woman for a newspaper story. Matt - we see him in a whole new light and it’s incredibly heartwarming to see Tony comforting others, showing he has a greater understanding now and it really develops him.


I really could write a whole blog post on each character because they are so full of depth and layers that really make them amazing. Gervais also gives us snippets from the camera in aspects of each character's lives that even he doesn’t know about, for example we see Sandy’s home life before Tony does and he is still the main character. This is a really unique way of doing things as we can relate to each character without it being all directed through the main characters eyes.


I was going to write a paragraph on the therapist however, is he really worth it? Nope. I’m not saying everything in this second season is perfect because it really isn’t, but maybe that's what makes it so good. It is diverse, it explores lots of different aspects of humour without being overly obvious, but it does also have some obvious parts that I think could’ve been portrayed better.


A good example of this, is one thing that I would question and honestly I didn’t feel was needed was the stranger references to sexual humour. In my opinion these were somewhat desperate attempts to enhance the hatred towards the therapist or maybe even an attempt at bringing another tone of humour to the show. I’m unsure of the motive here. I do think some of the things referenced with the therapist are a little far for this, but still it adds a great element of disgust to the therapist character and honestly emphasises the fact he clearly needs therapy himself.


The Lenny sex scene - was it really needed? This was something that the media questioned a lot, but honestly I think it was kind of needed - maybe not in the way it was, but it was somewhat great for the development of Lenny. He constantly spoke about his girlfriend in season 1 and how it was great, and this shows his realisation of him wanting something a little better, and we see a different side to him, but I’m still unsure if it couldn’t have been presented better.


Another new thing in this second season is a location, the cafe, which is something I really like as this gives a place for Tony to comfort others and start helping them like they tried to help him in the past. This is another crucial piece of character development and not just for Tony as we see him bond with Sandy and even offer a lifeline for Kath. When Tony describes not saying “I love you” and not wanting to say it back for being embarrassed, it hit me really hard because if anything happened I know this is something I would regret because I always get embarrassed to say it back. Although Kath is one of the characters that is so annoying to Tony, she is so pure and just lovely, I hope we see her find some happiness in the next season.


Closeness is also presented between Daphne and Tony, their friendship is something really great and she constantly shows she is there to help him, reminding him that not everyone is out to get him. I’m so glad she is played by Roisin Conaty because only she could forfill this roll so well, it’s also nice to see Tony now refer to her as a sex worker and not a prostitute in the second season.


It is also seen as a place of kindness and possibility when Tony spoke to the owner of the gazette and asked him to reconsider the sale of the paper here, we all had hope he would say yes and he did! It’s really important as this shows that sometimes simply asking someone not to do something or to do something may work and you never know the outcome. When he wishes he had the company of a lady I honestly held such a huge hope that him and Anne would meet and be introduced by Tony and I’m so glad he did.


Costume is also something that shows Tony’s recovery. In the first season we see him specifically dressed in baggy t-shirts and joggers and although it’s not much of an improvement, we see him in jeans. I know it is subtle but it’s an indication of wellness and effort.


Hope is something that is pushed through this series, hope that Tony can be happy, that he can find love. That all characters can find love. This hope though also carries a big weight of dread because we know it can’t all be hopeful and that something bad would happen and just when we were at the most hopeful point of Emma reaching out and hope they’d be together, his father passes away and its presented in such a beautiful way, with a slow piano of sadness. It really was presented in a way that gave such dignity and kindness for the character.


The love from so many characters booms in this and we see a crucial twist in Tony, his care and love is completely amplified and his appreciation for Emma, it’s lovely to see something beautiful come from the passing of his father.


I think that’s all that’s left to do is to address the ending - Groundhog day. We see Matt and his wife resolve their relationship. The therapist actually give in to an end that I’m very happy about, I wanted him to stop being a therapist because he clearly never helped anyone! Daphne and Pat are in a wonderful relationship. Anne and the owner of the newspaper find comfort in each other. I was worried that all of these things were coming together as though it was the end for Tony, and the end of the season, almost killed me. I think I cried for all of episode 6 and especially the ending, but it was so uplifting and a wonderful choked ending that we all hoped for and didn’t expect.


Emma took groundhog day.


This series is an amazing one of great quality, it embodies the most gentle of dark humour that gives a new perspective on life for everyone and if you watch it and don’t come out feeling at least a little refreshed and positive about life, you’re not watching it right. I can’t begin to imagine what Season 3 will bring, but I know it will be something great, made with great people and raw emotion and I can’t wait to be one of the first to watch it.


Thankyou so much for reading, I know this was a long read, but it’s hard to pick a few things to write about when it’s something you love.


I hope you all have a lovely day,

Feel free to leave a comment, like or reach me on social media!

🌼 Stay smiling


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