Starring: Ricky Gervais, Diane Morgan, Ashlee Jenson, Penelope Wilton and Tony Way
In the third season, through the course of six episodes, Tony continues to go through the motions, while trying to move on from the death of his wife, in search of comfort and maybe love, while still trying to avoid as much human interaction as he can, despite being a newspaper journalist.
Starring: Ricky Gervais, Diane Morgan, Ashlee Jenson, Penelope Wilton and Tony Way
Created By: Ricky Gervais
Rating: 3.5 Stars
If the first two seasons of Netflix dramedy ‘Afterlife’ couldn’t deliver it, the final season of the show written by Ricky Gervais, in its unapologetically nasty manner, tells viewers that life is always worth living, however tough the circumstances may seem.
What's It About?
The third season of this dark and gloomy, yet warm and adorable dramedy takes place in the British town of Tambury, where everyone knows everyone. The story’s protagonist Tony (Ricky Gervais), is getting over the unfortunate death of his wife, Lisa (Kerry Godliman). As he grieves, he slowly comes to terms with his obtuse, rather grim worldview about people and embraces flaws with a lot more empathy.
In the third season, through the course of six episodes, Tony goes through the motions, while trying to move on from the death of his wife, in search of comfort and maybe love, while still trying to avoid as much human interaction as he can, despite being a newspaper journalist.
What's Hot?
As was the case with the first two season, there is lit in terms of plot, since it is more about exploring the various aspects of humanity, and familarising oneself with a world, that might not be perfect, but is full of love, hope and laugher, is a world worth living in. There are several jokes, of course, but the humour is not directed at the person, but often the complexities that are a sum of perspectives and circumstances.
In the very first episode, Tony brushes aside a fortune teller, who asks him if he wanted to communicate with his dead wife, but his colleague decides to give the fortune teller a benefit of doubt, and volunteers to do a follow-up story believing that “just because you haven’t seen something, doesn’t mean it isn’t real”.
What's Not?
With pessimistic overtones which might be interpreted as a story about a bunch of people who cling on to each other more out of desperation than love, ‘Afterlife’ falters, if at all, maybe in the way it fails to establish the reason, as to why the series resonates so much just because of just how on-your-face certain sequences are, and so its final season in a way, is forgettable, with cliché dialogues and remains unchanged.
The fleeting mention of coronavirus is one of the many instances where the extreme-relatability factor with the show, goes missing and one wonders if the events in Tambury, are a part of a parallel universe.
The Final Verdict
Yet, despite the authentic depiction of grief, where Gervais continues to get in the skin of a man who is constantly caught between just existing and actually living, latest season of ‘Afterlife’ is, once again warm, generous and funny enough, to teach one about the joys of living a life.