'After Life' Season 2: Each of Tony's boring journalistic assignments helps him see his own sadness
Spoilers for ‘After Life’ Season 2
The Tambury Gazette where Tony (Ricky Gervais) works as a journalist in ‘After Life’ is possibly one of the most boring news organizations in the world. And why wouldn’t it be? It’s a small village, and exciting stories are far and few. But the stories that Tony covers, always accompanied by Lenny (Tony Way), the photographer, hold a special significance to the story.
It’s as if through these stories, Tony, the unpleasant, foul-mouthed, nihilistic widower, would learn something new about himself. Something new about life. Something new about coping with grief.
In season 2, the first story he and Lenny cover is that of a woman who had just turned 100. She had even received a telegram from Queen Elizabeth commemorating her centenary. When they asked her about how she felt, she shared her utter disgust at existing so painfully. For her, it was no reason to celebrate. For her, life was nothing more than a gift basket of pain. Tony saw his own reflection in her. Ever since the death of his wife, he had nothing to live for. His nastiness stemmed from this. Maybe their interaction jolted Tony to the fact that perhaps, he ought to be less bitter.
The second assignment he has is that of a woman who claimed she could talk to her cat. Tony recognizes the woman’s loneliness when they visit her home. He recognizes that the cat was just an excuse. She craved human contact, ever since the death of her daughter and husband. She wanted to talk about them but had, perhaps, like Tony, alienated everyone in her grief. That Tony recognized a kindred spirit was a sign that his grief had not made him apathetic to other people’s sadness.
The third one was more subtle. They visited a woman who was suing her cosmetic surgeon for botching up her surgery. She was a woman who was addicted to reconstructing her body. She had changed everything, starting from her lips to her breasts to her vagina. Tony recognized two things here. One, addiction -- something that he too was going through. In the aftermath of his wife’s passing, he had taken to drinking every night alone while watching old videos of them. The second thing he recognized was the desire to change their whole self in the face of some overblown shortcomings. That he was now alone had made him abandon his cheery demeanor in a heartbeat. With every passing day, he had decided to become gruffer. He was now trying to unlearn that.
His fourth assignment was, perhaps, the most poignant. It was a poor old man -- almost senile -- who wanted to sue the post office, claiming his letters were not being delivered. It turned out that what he thought was a letterbox was actually a box to deposit dog poop. When Tony asked him if he had never suspected the box for what it was, especially given the strong odor, the man said he thought the smell came from him.
He explained that because he was alone, he did not ever care for hygiene. And he was alone because he had never had a relationship because he was afraid they would end. Tony’s life is once again, reflected in this. Tony liked Emma (Ashley Jensen), his father’s nurse. But the idea of putting himself through a relationship again, especially knowing that mortality was an unignorable factor was something that weighed on him. It was perhaps from this experience that Tony realized he had to stop holding on to his heart like it was fragile cargo in a turbulent flight.
The final one reflects what Tony has to do as well. It’s a story about a 50-year-old man who now believes he’s an eight-year-old girl. His wife tells him he’s having a nervous breakdown. But he stands his ground and tells her, “You are who you identify as.” Did Tony identify himself as a bitter, unpleasant man who had nothing to live for? Or did he want to change? Only Tony knows that.
‘After Life’ Season 2 is available for viewing on Netflix.