New season “After Life”
Ricky Gervais is the crying clown again
Ricky Gervais (left) as depressed newspaper reporter Tony Johnson.
© Ray Burmiston
On January 14, Ricky Gervais returns with the third season of his dramedy series After Life. This is where the new episodes start.
“Comedy is tragedy plus time,” says the film “Melinda and Melinda” – Briton Ricky Gervais (60) has internalized it like no one else. His Netflix series “After Life” proves that gallows humor and, of all things, new courage can arise from the worst strokes of fate. The new episodes of season three will be released by the streaming provider on January 14th. What can the fans expect from it?
The fight back to life
At the start of season one, journalist Tony Johnson (Gervais) seemed to have lost all hope. After his wife died of cancer, the widower lost his will to live and even considered suicide in his grief. He is snooty and condescending towards those around him – but for some reason neither his newspaper colleagues nor the quirky residents of the small town of Tambury let him down. On the contrary, more and more people are bumping into his life unintentionally.
Despite the newfound friends, Tony is still plagued by depression in season two. After all, he’s made a decision to stop being willfully a disgust to those around him, who, Tony notes, each have their own emotional battles to fight. Even a tender new relationship between him and a nurse (played by Gervais’ “Extras” co-star Ashley Jensen, 52) from the nursing home that houses Tony’s demented father seems to be in the offing.
Does everything start over?
But then Tony’s father dies and his vicious cycle of hopelessness and self-pity threatens to start all over again. With that setback – but also a renewed glimmer of hope – the season two finale left us.
Season three remains true to the previous recipe for success of devastating, unpleasant, touching and hilarious everyday situations. In addition, there are numerous new and some newly ignited loves to be explored among the characters. And the fate of the local editorial office of the “Tambury Gazette” was hanging by a thread. Will Tony’s staff manage to save the ailing sheet after all? And Tony with you?