After Life Season 1 (Review)

After Life, a new Netflix show that actually quietly dropped on Friday, is a new Ricky Gervais run show. He writes and directs for this little 30 minute series, starring Ricky as Tony, a man who lost his wife to breast cancer, and is learning to cope the best way he possibly can. Today, I want to talk about some of the things I liked, as well as what I hope gets improved if we do indeed get a season 2.

So the series actually uses a lot of "past" footage, not really flashbacks, but POV shots of things Ricky's character, Tony, shoots of his wife Lisa and himself experiencing, as well as videos Tony has found that his wife left him, once she died. We actually open up to the first video, explaining to Tony about how if he was watching these videos, she must have passed. You get a quick understanding of where Tony is mentally as his place is a wreck, and he doesn't have food for their German Shephard, Brandy. If you are use to Ricky's comedy, you'll still find the comedy here to still be dark and brooding. However, in this show, Ricky does a great job of also focusing on some deeper, more emotional moments too. It isn't just all laughs. It focuses on a man, who now that he has lost the love of his life, the woman that he felt the most complete with, trying to find a grip on what life is all about now. Ricky actually managed to bring some great supporting characters into the mix. Penelope Wilton as Anne, a woman who also lost her husband after being with him 40+ years, acts as his white board, bouncing off what life's true meaning is. There are some great moments, both tender and hilarious between the two. Ricky's character Tony, actually works at a newspaper company, that is run by his brother-in-law, Matt. Matt tries to drag Tony back to the world of the ongoing through out, worried that Tony might eventually kill himself. Matt has a kid, George, who Tony actually really loves and adores, and occasionally watches when Matt needs a night out with his wife. Other great characters include Tony's dad, played by the lovely David Bradley. Tony's co-workers, Lenny (Tony Way), Kath (Diane Morgan), and the new girl Sandy (Mandeep Dhillon) also supply us with a TON of laughs, as well as a few tender moments. The cast in this show is great, and really do a fantastic job on screen together. The show soars the most when there is either a tender moment between Tony and his coworkers/boss, or when they venture out into the town, to find "local" stories to put into the paper. From the silly, to the ridiculous, some of the patrons in town go so far as to make crazy shit happen, like painting a mustache on their child to make him look like Hitler. Another great character that Tony runs into is Roxy (Roisin Conaty), a "sex worker" who he befriends and helps him "around the house". Each character isn't wasted, as each one has not only their own quirks of course, but really something that either keeps them going, or not in some of the cases. It's used to contrast to Tony, that being a dick, just because your world is a mess, doesn't solve anything, and just makes life harder for everyone involved, including him. Everyone has shit happening to them, that doesn't make it right, and that you should focus on being a better human being, for everyone else, not always yourself. There are some great lessons taught and produced through out the show, that honestly remind me of Bojack Horseman. The show has a lot of heart, and it's the biggest reason I love it so. The show is a deep look into grief, and the many ways we let it either hinder us, or empower us. It's up to you how you deal with it. There are several moments where Tony has to learn to be nicer, as it effects the ones that he loves, when he learns about troubles at home for Matt, Kath being all alone (But he'd say it's because she's 'boring'), or even his father, who has Alzheimer's, and trying to be there for him, even though he forgets who Tony is, or forgets that Tony's wife has passed. Tony also manages to find a Nurse who works with his dad, that he starts to develop a crush on by the end of season 1.

Of course there is Brandy, the German Shephard that sometimes is the sole reason that keeps Tony going, as she's "Useless without thumbs". But a lot of cute moments come from the two of them, and it's sad seeing the old video of him surprising his wife with Brandy early one morning.

Honestly, if I had one gripe about the show, I'd say it's just that it feels too short. Maybe it's because I've been blessed with 20+ 30 minute episode seasons, or 10-13 1 hour episode seasons, but having only 6 episodes is sad, because I want so much more. But maybe that's attributed to the show being as good as it is?

Dialogue is sharp, witty, and sometimes just downright hilarious. I was laughing at some points so hard, that my throat hurt. Music is fucking brilliant in this show, as it picks several great songs, to play on and off through out some of the episodes, and the music choice is just great. Some of it somber, some of it sad, some of it really happy, it plays to the mood of the episode nearly perfect. Cinematography is also on point, as there are just some well lit, well shot, wide angles that just capture certain moments beautifully. Whether it's Tony taking Brandy to the beach, or just going for a walk in the park, some of the shots really stood out to me.

Overall, I think this was a really great show, I really want more of. I want a second season, and I want a slightly longer one. It doesn't have to be 20+ episodes, as this is a series with LITTLE filler, as it should be. But if it was like 8-10, I think it would be perfect. But as far as the opening season of this show goes, I'm going to give it a...

8/10. I think it's really good, and I don't want to give away too many spoilers, so I won't go too deep in the one or two other small gripes I had, but overall, this is a great little show, you could binge in 3 hours, and I feel like if you like Bojack Horseman, I think you'll like this too. It's sad, it's cute, it's funny, and it's everything else in between. Like I said, I hope it gets a season 2, but until that's announced, I'll be advocating every day for it. I'm working on a review of How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, I'm finishing up DMC 5 as well as a review of that, and something else close to my heart that I want to talk about. Just deciding if I'll do it here, or on YouTube. Stick around, let me know what you think. Have you watched this show yet? Will you check it out now if you haven't yet? Let me know in any of the comments sections, and I'll catch you guys on the next, OnTheShelf.