C.‘is a song that has me always made think of Tony from After Life (Ricky Gervais; performer, as well as creator, director and producer): it is Who by fire from Leonard Cohen.
Towards the end the text goes like this: “Who in solitude, who in this mirror/ Who by his lady’s command, who by his own hand / Who in mortal chains, who in power “, which translated means more or less:”Some in solitude, some in the mirror. Who under the orders of his lady, who with his own hand. Who in mortal chains, who in power“.
A perfect summary of Tony, and its journey through the series’ three seasons – now available on Netflix with the final season After Life 3.
Widower profession
Tony’s problem is loneliness, immediately after the death of his wife Lisa from cancer (Kerry Godliman). Which, as a video testament, leaves him with a series of practical “orders”, useful to carry on the house without her, but also moral: it is she during all three seasons who tells him she is now good, now kind, now cheerful, in short, to be Tony.
His life was turned upside down, but at the end of this season seems to be regaining control, albeit in the crudest and saddest way. Or at least this is one of the possible interpretations finished watching the last of the 6 episodes.
After life 3: the end
What does the last, ambiguous, image of After Life? The third season sees Tony, once again, in extreme difficulty. If its mental health he has probably made some progress compared to the second season (certainly not thanks to his psychologist we would say), decides not to continue the relationship with Emma (Ashley Jensen), but still be friends with her.
The new Tony, if we want to call it that, after having convinced himself that his super power, that is, always doing and saying what he thinks without worrying about hurting others, is not all that useful, decides to use Lisa’s insurance money to help her friends: Lenny (Tony Way) with the wedding, Matt (Tom Basden) who is Lisa’s brother and also the children’s hospital where he met children with cancer.
Lisa, Tony’s wife. (Netflix)
The last day takes place right at the fair in Tambury, not surprisingly the place where many years earlier he had met Lisa, together with his lifelong friends: it is his chance to say goodbye to everyone in peace.
In fact, in the very last frames we see him leaving the fair alone with the inseparable dog Brandy, smiling as his wife remembers that, in the form of an aura, if we really don’t mean ghost, walk with him on the edge of a wood which turns to autumn.
First the image of Lisa disappears, then that of the dog and finally Tony too.
Ricki Gervais and Tony Way (Lenny). (Netflix)
Is that what we think?
From what emerges from the social debates among fans of After Life, the most popular interpretation is that Tony made the extreme decision to take his own life: in particular the greeting he gives to Lenny, and his expression after understanding, are blows to the heart.
However, it is a deliberately open ending to multiple interpretations: the most immediate and shocking is clearly that of suicide but, to grasp it, there is a hint of hope. Even just for a moment Tony appeared happy and finally solved. Even if thinking about the saddest ending brings a lump in the throat, a happy ending that was too happy would not have been credible for this series.
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