The Liberal Agenda Review: After Life – art so good not even the woke can burn it
Ricky Gervaise’s beautifully sad series returns to Netflix and is sobbingly great.
The rawness of loss and grief and the desire to self destroy while writhing in the pain of that loss is a story rarely examined in a consumer culture constantly focused on new choices.
Capitalism hates regret and wants us to focus on the bouncy, shiny and new, that’s why the expression of loss and sadness is so unique in this series.
Critics have torn the 3rd series to bits, his crimes against woke dogma mean his work will always get the JK Rowlings treatment now, but the clumsiness of the 3rd series and lack of a sugar coated ending is what true emotionally attached viewers already knew to be true – that there is no sugar coating with loss and grief, that it hangs next to you in the gallows forever.
That’s why it’s so moving and wonderful. It acknowledges there is no happy ending, just an ending.
The best part of After Life is that it is such extraordinarily beautiful art that not even the woke identity politics lynch mob can find a way to cancel it, and maybe that’s the ultimate art?
Work so fine that not even the creators most vitriolic critics can rip it down.
There is a power in art this certain.
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Series 1 and 2 were great, but 3 was a tad dull. Ricky Gervais excels being depressed, suicidal and unsensored. In the third series he’s less suicidal which makes it a bit hit and miss. Plus a few key support characters are not in it. But a good show nonetheless
Big fan of Ricky stemming back to his earlier days with Karl Pilkington.
The fact he speaks up against animal abuse earns him another big credit. Only he could use his intellect and sense of humour to tear the establishment a new one and not care less about who he offends.
Series 1 of After Life was magnificent. Some tender and thoughtful moments thrown in with the sort of humour I gravitate toward but is so hard to find these days. My only concern was his visits to watch deceased wife Lisa on his laptop. Had it just been shown once and with Lisa being more natural I would have enjoyed it but she was always unnaturally jovial when we all know nobody is like that all the time especially when facing their own imminent demise.
Series 2 was every bit as good to my eye. We binge watched both series 1 and 2. We all invested in the characters and the way everyone evolved. Roxy had depth and Sandy in the office was smoldering away in an appealing way. I especially enjoyed Emma from the rest home and the way that union was carefully cultivated. Most of the humour was top drawer but some of it was crude and added very little value. Again the aspect I enjoyed least were the highly contrived clips of happy Lisa on his laptop.
Series 3 was an epic disappointment to me. Some really funny enjoyable scenes but they were mostly canceled out by nonsense.
Alarm bells went off at the get go with the blatantly contrived walk to school. Then no Roxy and no Sandy. The belligerent throwing of a pot plant through the back window of a Rangerover at a Zebra crossing was well over the top. You’d get locked up for doing that or seven bells kicked out of you. That could have easily been done differently in a way that was both realistic and humourous. Again the laptop was overused with Lisa appearing happier than ever. It was becoming sunburn on sunburn. Then we see him treating Emma like an unwanted friend and pushing her into the arms of another man. What was the point in investing 20 seconds of my life into that evolving union especially in series 2 just to see that unfold? The ending was a nothingness that left me feeling empty. One could be forgiven for thinking he was about to go and do a Peter Pan off a bridge with the dog just to be with Lisa.
After Life was a breath of fresh air……then it wasn’t.