We’re Not Fucking Around Here: a review of The End of the F***ing World, season two
Dark comedy
Based on The End of the Fucking World by Charles Forsman
Written by Charlie Covell
Directed by Jonathan Entwistle, Lucy Tcherniak, Lucy Forbes, Destiny Ekaragha
Starring Alex Lawther, Jessica Barden, Gemma Whelan, Wunmi Mosaku, Steve Oram, Christine Bottomley, Navin Chowdhry, Barry Ward, Naomi Ackie
Composer(s) Graham Coxon
Country of origin UK
Channel 4 in the UK is known for its groundbreaking young adult and adult programming, and the 2017 series, The End of the F***ing World was perhaps the most daring and striking since the legendary Skins.
The two main characters are a 17 year old boy and girl. James put his hand in a vat of cooking oil at age eight “in order to feel something.” After that, he took up killing small animals and pets. He met Alyssa a deeply depressed girl with antisocial personality disorder, and resolved to make her his first human victim. Flattered (she is irredeemably plain and unlikeable) she goes out with him.
About the only thing about them that makes them tolerable at the start is they both have deep British reticence.
Normally, a story like this would conclude with a news article about how “the body of a local high school girl was found in a marsh, the killer remains at large.”
Only it doesn’t go that way. Instead, they end up on a sort of a spree—not a Bonnie and Clyde or even Thelma and Louise sort of spree, but a sort of a “Oh fuck, what just happened?” sort of thing where they just sort of fall into one misadventure after another.
They are an absolutely horrid pair, but they are played so masterfully and with such painstaking realism by Alex Lawther (James) and Jessica Barden (Alyssa) that you find yourself caring about them, and even liking them a bit.
The result is glittering, dark, sincere black comedy mixed with surprisingly compassionate drama.
It was meant to be a one-shot, concluding where the original graphic novel by Charles Forsman ended, but response, both critical and in viewership, created an irresistible demand for a second series.
In the second season, James and Alyssa are now 19. He is recovering from injuries sustained in the conclusion of season one. She is getting married to a fellow named Todd because why the fuck not.
James has reconciled with his father (last seen getting punched out by James who proceeds to steal his car and run off with Alyssa) who has shown him caring and a closeness he has never had before in his life. Until he suddenly drops dead of a heart attack.
James, now homeless and alone, seeks out Alyssa. He wants some sort of closure on the events of season one, and also to warn Alyssa that someone may be hunting them as a result of their spree. They both suffer from variations on PTSD from that. In addition to all the other psychological problems they came pre-equipped with.
They run off, and meet Bonnie, who secretly believes they are responsible for the death of the true love of her life, and a cat-and-mouse drama ensues.
The second season is every bit as good as the first, with a killer soundtrack and some of the best acting around, subtle, understated, and sometimes wildly funny. The penultimate episode also has one of the greatest WTF moments since “The Red Wedding”.
The show stands above the others, resisting pat plot resolutions and not softening the characters at all, but at the same time getting the viewer to actually like them. It’s a tour de force of good writing and great acting, but not for everyone. But if you are even a remotely interesting person, you will enjoy this show.