After Life, the melodramatic comedy from Ricky Gervais, is a rare gem that can make you laugh out loud and sob all at once in a spluttery mess.
The six-episode third and final series landed on Netflix on Friday, with Gervais reassuring viewers: “This season is the best one yet and I promise the dog does not die.”
A trailer teased that “every end is a new beginning” as Tony (Gervais) realises that making other people feel good is what can give him a reason to live.
Tony says: “I thought not caring was a superpower. I was wrong. Caring about stuff… that’s what really matters. Kindness, making other people feel good.”
We don’t see a huge amount of caring and kindness in the first couple of episodes, though. He lobs a cactus through the window of a Range Rover that didn’t stop at a crossing.
He ditches potential love interest Emma (Ashley Jensen) at an excruciating drinks soiree.
Tony’s life is still punctuated by grief.
From the small details – a ‘Mrs’ mug left by the kitchen sink is quietly heartbreaking – to the routine of drinking wine and watching old videos of his late wife Lisa, played by the excellent Kerry Godliman.
His German shepherd Brandy now sleeps next to him in bed, in the space where Lisa used to be.
This study of grief has so far pulled in more than 100 million views for its honest, heartwarming and relatable comedy.
And with Gervais teasing that this swan song brings an uplifting resolution for Tony, there are monologues about grief and mental health.
Sometimes it’s Tony talking out loud to Lisa, sometimes he’s talking to widow Anna, played by Penelope Wilton.
The deep and meaningful moments are always needed but are fortunately broken up by a raft of eccentric characters, allowing for the laughs.
There’s Diane Morgan as Kath, the colleague who’s “a bit psychic”, Joe Wilkinson as the postie with a troubled love life and Kath Hughes, who is brilliantly deadpan as new intern Coleen.
It’s an emotional rollercoaster as we are with Tony every step of the way.
We are eye-rolling with him as he interviews an erotic novelist fortune teller and a couple of swingers, then crying when Emma doesn’t laugh at his Lionel the Lemon joke – like Lisa did.
In season three Tony becomes more introspective and less out of control, but the rage and loneliness are both still there.
The question is, can he find a new kind of happiness? And can our hearts take the strain?
