Netflix’s After Life Season 2, Episode 2 recap: More awkwardness

In After Life Season 2, Episode 2, Tony’s life remains semi-stable, but supernatural mumbo-jumbo gets on his nerves. Also, more awkwardness unfolds.

Previously on After Life Season 2, Tony (Ricky Gervais) had doubts about his relationship with Emma (Ashley Jensen), his father’s nurse. Also, he didn’t take kindly to a yoga outing with his brother-in-law and boss, Matt (Tom Basden).

Episode 202 begins with Tony watching himself tango with his then-alive wife, Lisa (Kerry Godliman). Soon, Postman Pat (Joe Wilkinson) pays a visit, asking about Roxy (Roisin Conaty), who he had seen with Tony the day before. Pat seems interested in a relationship with her. Tony struggles to not belittle him.

When Tony gets to work, Matt addresses Tony’s drinking, which Tony downplays in response. He says being healthy is just dying slower. As a semi-joke, Tony tells Kath (Diane Morgan) about his plan to drink himself to death. A bit later, Tony visits Anne (Penelope Wilton) in the graveyard.

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She surprises Tony by saying he’s a sensitive and trusting sort, after telling him the fable of the frog and the scorpion. In the fable, both the frog and scorpion risk drowning when one helps the other.

Awkwardness at work

In the last episode of After Life Season 2, June (Jo Hartley) wanted her son, James (Ethan Lawrence), to get experience at the “Tambury Gazette.”

While it’s partly for his benefit, it’s also obviously for hers. After she drops him off, June awkwardly whispers her concerns about James’s obesity.

The awkwardness piles on when Lenny (Tony Way) tells Sandy (Mandeep Dhillon) about his days as a ladies’ man. Tony can barely hold back his ridicule once again. Meanwhile, Brian (David Earl) shows up to work and James is to help him. On their way out, Brian tells a bad, gross-out elephant joke to Valerie the receptionist (Michelle Greenidge).

The Tambury Players

The Gazette heads out to cover the amateur theater troupe, the Tambury Players, which Brian has an interest in. He introduces himself as hating his ex-wife. Tony shows up, surprised to see Rebecca (Tracy Ann Oberman) there, the two had a very awkward date in the first season of After Life Season 2. The Tambury Players leader, Ken (Colin Hoult), goes on to say a number of potentially inflammatory things when interviewed by Tony and Sandy.

He reminisces about experiencing a paranormal sexual assault by the ghost of Liberace, prompting Tony to leave (Sandy stays to hear him babble, however). Earlier in the episode, Tony grew irritated with Kath’s talk about supernatural things, so one gets a sense that Tony’s frustrations on the topic are pent up.

On that note, Matt has the misfortune of meeting with Tony’s former therapist (Paul Kaye). He remains completely unprofessional, drunk this time, talking about his sexual exploits instead of addressing his patient.

Shortly after this scene, Tony visits his dad (David Bradley) in the hospital again, this time to read him a poem. The subject of Lisa’s cancer comes up. Although David doesn’t remember that Lisa died, he does say that he loves Lisa, which.

Tony also sees Emma again, but their relationship remains on hiatus. In the next scene, Tony meets with Roxy again. After saying that women are better than men, he mentions Postman Pat to her anyway. Finally, the episode closes on an awkward note: Later at night, James enters the room while his mother and Lenny are having sex and the two act like nothing awkward has happened.

What are your thoughts on After Life Season 2? Let us know in the comments!