Netflix's After Life Season 2, Episode 5 recap: The Revue

Episode 205 of Netflix’s After Life is awkward entertainment.

In After Life 205, Tony (Ricky Gervais) must still face the eccentricities of his job. This time, he and Lenny (Tony Way) interview a man (Steve Speirs) who’s been erroneously putting his mail in a dog waste bun, due to his bad eyesight.

It gets sadder and weirder when he admits he thought the stench came from himself. He also mentions he never had any relationships due to low self-esteem, knowing that any woman would leave him.

After this unusual bit of journalism, Tony visits his dad (David Bradley) and Nurse Emma (Ashley Jensen). This episode also has a brief meeting between Matt (Tom Basden) and his unprofessional therapist (Paul Kaye), who discuss the politics of lesbian sex. However, some of the biggest moments involve Tony inviting Anne (Penelope Wilton) and Paul (Peter Egan) to the Revue at the Community Hall, acting as sort of a matchmaker.

After Life: The Revue

In preparation for his Revue performance, James (Ethan Lawrence) “limbers up” his leg on a desk, annoying Valerie the receptionist (Michelle Greenidge).

We also learn that, due to his hyperactivity, James’ father gave June (Jo Hartley) an ultimatum: Either James goes or he will.

On the bright side, the character of James seems to like being at The Gazette. In fact, Tony and Sandy (Mandeep Dhillon) consistently seem more down in the dumps.

As another bright note, Kath (Diane Morgan) brings a date (Robert Woodhall) to the Revue. Postman Pat (Joe Wilkinson) is also in attendance, and Tambury Players performers include filthy and clumsy comedian and hoarder, Brian (David Earl), as well as June and James.

Revue host Ken (Colin Hoult) does a rousing rendition of Dion’s “The Wanderer,” then June and James perform Elton John’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart.” James also wards off Rebecca (Tracy Ann Oberman) with a fart, essentially thwarting her poem.

light. Must Read. After Life Season 2, Episode 4 recap

The other big event

After Life has obviously hinged on Tony’s reaction to the death of his wife (Kerry Godliman). This episode offers another sad event: Tony’s dad dies. It gives us a chance to hear another side of the character. Tony tells Emma his father never hit him as a child, choosing instead to say he’s disappointed. On the surface, Tomy takes the news with aplomb, but we’ve seen how he can struggle to cope with loss before.

What’s the theme of the episode?

This episode can easily be considered clumsy, blending themes of a talent show with a tragic death. However, one possible message is that life is sort of random like that. It does not necessarily have a coherent message. Life can be a bunch of semi-random events, then you die.

Tony’s character seems to reflect the idea that life itself is almost nihilistic. It throws endless pitches at us, with many of them being curveballs. In that sense (if I may stick to the baseball analogy), this episode perhaps knocks it out of the park. Even if it’s nobody’s favorite, it is definitely a hodgepodge of events highlighting the random nature of human experience.

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