Tony Johnson and the Tanbury squad are back for one last time in After Life Season 3, and they will definitely make you cry.
After Life is a refreshing British Comedy Drama Series produced, written, created and directed by Ricky Gervais, who also plays the character of Tony Johnson, the star of the series.
The series is a dark comedy that revolves around the themes of loss and suffering, and the show really pulls on your heartstrings.
Without being outright preachy, it offers a genuine viewpoint on the bitterness and resentment that is usually left behind when we lose our loved ones and everything that comes with it.
The first season, in particular, was an undoubted masterstroke, balancing grief and heartfelt moments with genuine laughter-filled jokes and dark comedy.
In the second season, we find Tony plunging back into the darkness and wallowing in grief to the point that he endangers his new potential romance with Emma, the nurse he met, played by Ashley Jensen.
We saw a rude, insensible and unapologetic Tony in the previous seasons. However, the third season takes a self-reflective turn, and we get to see the real Tony.
So let’s take a look at what really happened in After Life Season 3
Warning: This review of After Life Season 3 contains spoilers.
After Life Season 3 Ending Explained and Review (Image Credit: Netflix)The third season of After Life starts with the song “The Things We Do For Love” by 10cc and shows us how each character is going on with their lives after the last season. Everything looks pretty light and happy in the beginning.
After the music fades, we get a peek at the depth of each character’s lives which isn’t so happy going as it looks. Everyone is struggling with their own insecurities and concerns.
We see Tony spending a lot of time with Emma, but things aren’t as good as they look. Tony is still struggling to find a purpose in his life post-Lisa, so his romance with Emma is still a subject of debate.
The first two episodes show him throwing snarky comments and being harsh to a lot of people around him, but as the season progresses, his actions start softening. We also see Tony forming a connection with his brother-in-law, Matt, played by Tom Basden.
We also get introduced to a new character, Coleen, a gloomy new staffer at The Tambury Gazette, played by Kath Hughes, who lives with her alcoholic mother and wants to start a new independent life.
We also get to see how each character’s life individually progresses. The friendship between James, played by Ethan Lawrence and Brian, played by David Earl, is oddly sweet.
The storyline of Kath, played by Diane Morgan, of feeling lonely hits hard. She is desperate to find herself a man throughout the season, but once she starts going out on dates, they keep getting worse one after the other. It ultimately puts her in a vulnerable position.
We see Tony and Anne (played by Penelope Wilton) have some very touching conversations in the graveyard as the season progresses. We get some fantastic introspective monologues from Tony, who starts realising what he has been doing ever since Lisa left.
He admits that he’s struggling with mental illness and sometimes even feels like he wants to die, but he wants to help others. He wants to make everyone happy.
After Life Season 3 Ending Explained: How does After Life Season 3 end?
Tony meets a sick child during an interview at the cancer hospital, which hits him hard. He realises what he should be doing with his life and starts looking at life from a different angle.
He then meets all his friends at The Tanbury Fair, where Kath adopts a dog and finds a cure for her loneliness. We also see the other characters trying to start their next chapter, but most importantly, happy.
After Life Season 3 Review (Image Credit: Netflix)Where is Tony now?
In the last scene, we see everyone on a merry-go-round with Tony looking at them teary-eyed and finally leaving with his adored dog, Brandy.
It is up to the audience to decide what has happened to Tony.
In the final moments of the finale episode, Tony walks through the garden with Lisa and Brandy. Lisa then starts fading away, followed by Brandy, and finally Tony fades away.
After Life Season 3 is now streaming on Netflix.
Head over to Netflix to watch this heartwarming series.
