Season 2, which continues the story past the end of the graphic novel, is haunted by those events in a literal way: They keep flashing onscreen, in the jagged, agonized memories of Alyssa and James (yes, hes alive). Its two years later, but neither can move forward from what were the most horrible and, in the unexpected closeness they shared, the happiest moments of their lives.

It might be the biggest spoiler to say that this eight-episode coda involves them finding their way back to each other and figuring out how to express their feelings despite their terminal awkwardness and protective armor of nihilism. But what else would it be about? To complicate the process, Covell introduces a third young character, a woman named Bonnie (Naomi Ackie), who like Alyssa and James has been warped by the harsh indifference and creepiness of the adult world.

Bonnies damage intersects with that of Alyssa and James, and she joins them in a violent misadventure that recapitulates some of the motifs of the first season aimless road tripping through a backwoods British countryside reminiscent of Twin Peaks, severe harm to an adult male who probably deserves it. The shows attitudes and comic strategies are still in place, too, with the not-too-subtle punch lines delivered in an affectless deadpan and the reflexive undercutting of sincerity or sentiment.

Its all still amusing, and the notes of strangled romanticism and just-perceptible nobility are still in place. But the plot doesnt have the momentum and the crazy energy it did the first time around, and its harder to ignore the shows calculating nature: how it uses Alyssa and Jamess interior monologues to tell us what to think, and the constant musical cues to tell us how to feel, and the flashbacks to continually remind us of the stakes. You could make an argument in favor of this, as forthrightly postmodern mediation, but its really just predigestion.

The worst effect of this spelling everything out is the way it boxes in the actors theres not much left for them to communicate, and Bardens relentlessly flat affect, in particular, starts to have diminishing returns. Lawther fares better if only because Jamess cringing neediness is inherently funnier. Ackie, whose face fully registers the tumble of emotions inside Bonnie, dominates the scenes among the three of them.

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Review: Its The End of the World, and Youll Know It - The New York Times