After Life season 1 finale review and season 2 speculation

In the season 1 finale of Netflix series After Life, Tony starts to cheer up. However, what it will it mean for season 2?

In episode 5 of After Life, Tony (Ricky Gervais) began looking on the brighter side, indicating a return to a less depressed, normal self. However, based on what occurs in the season 1 finale, one wonders if the character’s overcompensating for crossing the line. Could he slingshot back into a depressive state? On the surface, there’s no strong indication of this. However, given that the series has focused on Tony’s emotional trauma, it seems inevitable that some of it could creep back. Let’s look at the After Life season finale for some possible clues, shall we?

Possible “triggers” for Tony

The episode begins with a focus on Tony’s job, which happens to involve stupid local news stories. When parents (Beth Mullen/Mark Weinman) dress their baby to “look exactly like Adolf Hitler,” Tony notes how they just made him look like that. For him, the story is, “Why are you making your kids look like a genocidal maniac?” Although he finds humor in it, it easily lends itself to a grim (and glib) outlook. It is an all-too-accurate look at an attention-starved world which, honestly, could be depressing to contemplate. What could drive parents to such absurd lengths? It’s similar to stories about finding images of holy icons in pieces of toast. It is potentially maddening, and could definitely come back to bite Tony in the future.

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For another work-related issue, Tony has to deal with co-workers who may annoy him like Kath (Diane Morgan). In this installment, she asks him why, if he’s an atheist, he doesn’t just go around raping and murdering people? To some people this a profound “gotcha'” question against non-believers. However, it automatically assumes a natural proclivity for such behavior among atheists

. To complicate things for Tony, however, he certainly does have a dark side. In episode 5, he semi-jokingly threatened to kill a child (Thomas Bastable) with a hammer for bullying his nephew George (Tommy Finnegan).

In other words, Kath may annoy him for her inane implication about atheists, but he actually does embody man’s innate potential for dark and sinister thoughts, or maybe even acts. It’s a complicated mix of elements which will surely come back in season 2. He does tell Kath that “Life is precious because you can’t watch it again,” which makes it more magical, and that it should inspire people to do everything they love with passion. That’s all well and good, but sometimes passion can backfire and transform into something else.

After Life and practical optimism

While philosophy can be good, and even keep people out of trouble, Tony’s best bet is to not be too philosophical. He is too easily governed by emotions which cloud his judgment and clutter his wisdom. When he attends the funeral of drug addict Julian (Tim Plester), it’s an obvious reminder that Tony’s actions have consequences, as he gave Julian the money — even though he told Tony he’d likely O.D. with it.

While Tony doesn’t dwell on their decisions here, it’s yet another thing that will probably come up again. Does Tony view his overdose as inevitable, like a fatalist philosophy? If so, it’s a bit of a slippery slope (which isn’t always a logical fallacy). On this topic, Tony’s best bet will be to not overthink what happened. After all, was he directly responsible? It’s debatable, but he could see it as tantamount to murder in season 2.

He later sees Daphne the sex worker (Roisin Conaty) standing around, telling her he’s going to ask out nurse Emma (Ashley Jensen). It seems these simple acquaintances are what will save him. When he visits his dad (David Bradley), it helps him see that some people are good. However, he ditches his therapist (Paul Kaye), based on the simple wisdom that he’s bad and that he simply doesn’t work.

He also learns that Matt (Tom Basden), his brother-in-law and boss, is getting a divorce. It’s an opportunity for Matt to note that other people have problems, too, though they usually keep them private (unlike Tony who was wearing his depression on his sleeve). This leads to the big moment where Tony apologizes again, adding that he’s not going to kill himself.

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He also says he likes his job, that Sandy (Mandeep Dhillon) is smart, that Kath makes his days interesting and Len (Tony Way) is his “human stress ball.” He adds that you can’t change the world but you can change yourself. He later gifts Kath a Kevin Hart snow globe and asks Emma out. All of these spell a brighter future for After Life, but a cautiously optimistic Tony would be best. Life can be bitter, and Tony’s bitterness will likely return in the future. After all, nearly every story requires conflict, right?

What are your thoughts on After Life? Let us know in the comments!

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