Take Three: Years and Years

Years and Years: Season 1, Episode 3 (B)

It’s 2026 already, and the world isn’t looking like a fantastic place. There wasn’t much criticism of what America has become in this hour, but instead a more skewering indictment of everything happening within this fictional near-future England. Rook is sharing even more dangerous ideas about what she’ll do in power as she ascends the ladder of influence, like citizens having to take an IQ test in order to vote, and now she’s going to be able to achieve a lot more after her impressive election performance. This show is probably strongest in its representation of subtle technological developments, namely the self-heating meal that managed to put Rosie out of a job. Bethany and her new friend continue to get themselves into trouble by trying to turn their bodies into machines, and it’s no surprise that one of their surgeries got botched in a frightening way. Celeste swooped in to help even though she’s going through a lot, namely Stephen complaining about his miserable job constantly and having an affair that he’s doing a poor job of hiding. Edith is keeping busy with her anarchist behavior, making use of whatever time she has left to bring down those she considers to be villainous. Viktor is quite the lucky guy, managing to escape Ukraine just before the police arrived and seek asylum in Spain, where he was even granted a conjugal visit with Daniel. This relationship may well work out, and eventually they could even be together again, though not likely in England if Rook decides immigrants aren’t part of her vision for British society.