‘The End Of The F***ing World’ Releases Its Second Season
November 13, 2019
Spoilers and triggers ahead!
If you watched the first season of “The End Of The F***ing World” back in 2017 and missed the hypnotic British accents and psychotic tendencies of James (Alex Lawther) and Alyssa (Jessica Barden), you’re in luck; season two came to Netflix last week.
On Thursday, Nov. 7 the second season of “The End Of The F***ing World” was released on Netflix. Like season one, season two consisted of eight 20-minute-long episodes, making it an easily bingeable show.
Season one followed James as he struggled to find the right time to kill Alyssa simply because he wanted to kill something bigger than an animal for once. After running away from home and committing murder with her, James realizes he has feelings for Alyssa.
The first episode of the season introduces viewers to a new character named Bonnie (Naomi Ackle). Bonnie was taught from a young age that people who do bad things must be punished. It is revealed later on that Bonnie was in love with Dr. Koch (Jonathan Aris), a professor that Alyssa and James killed in self defense during season one. Naturally, Bonnie believes these two should be punished and that she should be the one to do it. By killing them.
Bonnie pretends to be a hitchhiker when James and Alyssa drive by her, and they pick her up. However, just like James with Alyssa in season one, Bonnie cannot seem to find the right time to kill them. She is alone with them in a car and a hotel in multiple instances, but either something gets in her way or she doesn’t feel as though it’s the right time yet.
One abnormality about the show is that most, if not all of the characters give off an eerie vibe, whether it be the way they interact with others or their hidden motives. Rarely would you find so many people who are willing to commit murder within the same area. However, the show is based on a graphic novel of the same name by Charles Forsman, and most graphic novels are not exactly known for being realistic.
The show uses narration as a tool to let you know what the characters are thinking. While some critics could argue that narration is a tool used by writers who do not know how to convey emotions subtly through action and dialogue, it has been established that none of the characters in “The End Of The F***ing World” display their emotions in a normal manner. Therefore, the narration feels needed rather than out of place in the case of this show.
Here is where the spoiler alert takes into effect. Bonnie ends up cornering James and Alyssa in a cafe and explaining that they murdered her “boyfriend.” Alyssa and James are shown both being shot in the head in the middle of their “please don’t kill us” speech, but that is revealed to just be Bonnie’s imagination. In actuality, Alyssa and James are able to talk her out of killing them, and the cops show up to arrest Bonnie after she points the gun on herself instead.
It seems unrealistic to end the central conflict of the season by just talking a character out of murder. After all, Bonnie deeply loved Dr. Koch and put a lot of effort into her plan to kill James and Alyssa. Perhaps the writers were trying to squeeze in a resolution since each season is only eight episodes and they had not yet wrapped up the romantic subplot.
Speaking of the romantic subplot, Alyssa and James admit that they love each other (in their own indirect and awkward way) despite Alyssa technically being married to another man (oops) and hold hands at a picnic table.
There is talk online about a third season, but the show could end with season two without leaving too many unresolved questions. Viewers already know that James and Alyssa will most likely end up together and that Bonnie most likely will be in the custody of the law for a while.
If it wasn’t obvious already, “The End Of The F***ing World” is an extremely rude show. If you are uncomfortable with swearing or murdering, it may not be for you. But if you can get past the vulgarity and don’t mind that the whole show is spoiled for you now, it’s an interesting watch.