After Life Season 1 Episode 1 Recap

Still in bed, Tony watches Lisa’s video: a guide to life without her. She gives him instructions on how to turn off the alarm, feed the dog, and do other basic things he’ll have to do alone when she’s gone. Their dog comes and barks, prompting him to finally get up.

Tony feeds the dog baked beans while eating vegetable curry straight from the can because those are the only food items left, and dirty dishes have piled up in the sink. They go to the park and play fetch until a passerby tells him that his dog should have a leash to keep the park safe for everyone. They visit Lisa’s grave and finally head home.

The postman catches him as he walks out the door and hands him his mail, and Tony tells him to put them through the door just as an average postman would do. The postman, Pat, argues that Tony could have done that himself, but then Tony tells him he won’t because he’s not a postman.

Matt briefs Sandy on her first day at the Tambury Gazette and tells her about the people working there. He tells her about Kath, who’s in charge of the advertising, and Lenny, who is in charge of photography. Sandy tells him that she loves writhing features. He then tells her that Tony is the head of features. He says that she should brace herself when she meets Tony, who happens to be his brother-in-law, because he recently lost his wife to cancer and has not been himself since.

After a session with his therapist, Tony arrives at the office, and Kath tells him he’s late. He tells her she’s boring and picks a fight. Matt calls him to his office and tells him he cannot go around being rude to people. Tony tells him he can, and that’s the beauty of it. He goes on to tell that being nice and thoughtful brings you nowhere. Matt tells him that he will have to let him go if he carries on like that. Tony tells him that he won’t let him go because he’s a good guy and that he’ll take advantage of him, just like everybody else does. Matt asks him why he can’t be happy, and he tells him the only reason he’d be happy is Lisa, and since she’s gone, that can’t happen anymore. He says that the only thing that stopped him from killing himself was the look on the dog’s face and that from then on, he thinks of his life as a bonus. He also says that he’s going to be rude; he’s going to say whatever he likes, and when it all gets too much, he can just kill himself.

Tony visits his dad in the shelter. He still thinks Lisa’s alive and asks Tony to bring her with him the next time he visits.

Tony heads back home and eats leftover cereal with water before watching Lisa’s video again. Matt comes over to invite him to lunch.

Tony gets annoyed by a man noisily eating chips at the other table at the bar. Matt and Lenny convince him to focus on his work and interview a man who got the same birthday card five times.

Tony and Lenny head to the man’s house for an interview. He tells them that what happened will make her deceased wife happy because he used to share everything with her. He says that nothing’s as good if you don’t share it and that he still gets sad sometimes, but then life will throw something interesting at him, so he can’t always feel sorry for himself, and he’s got to keep going.

On his way back from the store where he bought dog food, he gets stopped by two teenagers to rob him. They threaten to kill him if he doesn’t give his money. He tells them he’s not like others who would instead give money because they’re afraid of dying. When one of the boys tries to attack him, Tony punches him and tells them to fuck off before walking away.

At home, Tony feeds the dog and watches Lisa’s video guide and old footage of him playing a prank on Lisa before going to sleep.

Our Thoughts

That pilot was promising and has made us want to watch more. It’s a sad thought – Tony being ready to kill himself any moment. Losing loved ones is a devastating experience, and it’s a good thing that he sees a therapist. It’s also nice that he works with Matt, who’s family and who understands what he’s going through because they both lost Lisa. We hope that we’ll see things getting bright for  Tony in the next episode.