LONDON: Thanks to the near-universal acclaim for “The Office” and “Extras,” few people tend to question Ricky Gervais when the British comedian embarks on a second series. So, although many critics felt that the first season of “After Life” left its protagonist, widower Tony Johnson, at the perfect point in his post-bereavement journey, Gervais (who writes, directs and stars as Tony) brings his embittered journalist back to Netflix for a second series.
On the surface, Tony is doing better. Though he’s still devastated by the death of his wife, he’s been dating nurse Emma (played by “Extras” co-star Ashley Jensen), tolerating his friends (including postman Pat, played by Joe Wilkinson, and sex worker Daphne, portrayed by Rosin Conaty) and making a living writing for a local newspaper. Though he’s more recently become a Hollywood mainstay, Gervais remains one of the best in the business at mining small-town rural English life for laughs, treading that line between saccharine schmaltz and genuinely touching humor with aplomb.
The first season of “After Life” worked so well because of the delicate balance between Tony’s rage-fueled screams into the void and the surprisingly earnest glimpses into the grieving process that made the show so relatable. And while the second series is still very funny on a regular basis, the ever-so-slightly improved version of Tony is a little too quick to slip into a tear-filled recollection of things he misses about his wife. These monologues are all beautifully written, and well performed by Gervais (an actor perhaps not famed for his more-serious side), but they tend to make the episodes a little formulaic. The appeal of Tony in the first season was how tough it was for him to open up to the people who loved him. Second time around, his struggle to process the various stages of grief are undermined by a tendency to conspicuously tug on the audience’s heartstrings.
On balance, however, “After Life” remains one of the better-written and -acted comedies of recent years. Supporting characters (such as Penelope Wilton’s Anne and Diane Morgan’s Kath) are excellent and fill in the gaps between the Gervais-heavy narrative. And just when you think you know where the series is heading, Gervais throws a curveball in there to remind you that when he’s at his best there are few better.
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