Moving Out And Moving On
Episode 2 of After Life Season 3 begins with Brian arriving at Tony’s, in an unusually joyous mood. That’s obviously in contrast to Tony’s nonchalance at starting another day, confronting what life throws at him. Things are still tense between Tony and Emma, although they do agree to meet for drinks on the couch later that day. At the Tambury, Tony greets a new addition to the team; a doom and gloom trainee called Colleen who’s looking to make a name for herself at the newspaper. After a gig at the swingers club, Tony is encouraged to join Coleen for a flat viewing. Although it’s a bust, Ken’s flamboyant display in the office actually bags Colleen a flat. Unfortunately, it’s also above his office, and it’s less than ideal as Ken continues to make unannounced visits. Another person looking for a place of his own is James. Eventually though, Brian suggests he come and stay at his place. After an uncomfortable incident involving his mum and the bath, he decides to press forward with this. His parents even offer to help him move in the next day. Kath’s fortune telling gig goes awry that night. She’s given some bad news about her personality, something that hits particularly hard when she reaches the harsh reality that really, deep down, she’s not happy. Back home, Emma heads over to Tony’s to drink some gin and tonics. This echoes back to Tony’s time with Lisa, and as he draws a face on the lemon, he hopes for the same reaction from Emma that Lisa gave. Instead she slices the lemon without thinking twice. This only makes Tony long for Lisa more, typified by the final, touching shots of him in bed later on, reaching over to the empty side of the bed.
The Episode Review
After Life continues to develop the relationship between Emma and Tony, with the real elephant in the room here being Lisa. Moving past what’s happened has really been the crux of the entire show and this season in particular continues this with the increased pressure on Emma trying to make sense of where she fits in in Tony’s life. The various other subplots continue to tick over too, with James moving in with Brian, new depressed employee Coleen working to give Tony some equally negative energy to feed off and work with. Kath meanwhile, hits a big realization in her life, something that’s almost certainly going to crop up more in the coming chapters. Either way though, this episode rounds things out with a touching conclusion, leaving everything wide open for the rest of the season.
