What I’m Watching: Years and Years

Years and Years: Season 1, Episode 5 (B)

With Daniel gone, this episode delved a lot more into the rest of the family and their activities in this new world order trying to stay productive and, in some cases, resistant to the regime in power. Some parts of what’s happening make a small degree of sense, like the new law that anyone with two spare bedrooms must be ready to take in the homeless, while these rumors about the “disappeared” are deeply disconcerting. It’s more disturbing to learn that this “erstwhile” project is pointed and deliberate, and Vivienne, seen up close in a room full of important people who work in the shadows, believes that the natural selection process should be allowed to play out to manage overcrowding in the places that she understands she probably shouldn’t call camps. Rosie’s neighborhood being classified as a criminal zone was unsettling also, and now she’s both out of a job due to the cancelled license and unable to even leave her during restricted hours. Some people are benefitting more from newly available technology, like Gran getting her eyes completely fixed for a sizable fee, and Bethany got closer to digitizing herself than ever before. At least it’s good to see Bethany doing something helpful for once, assisting Edith in breaking in to find files and then causing a blackout when she was about to get caught. Stephen’s behavior has been highly deplorable, and Bethany knowing that he got Viktor disappeared is going to make for tense battle lines being drawn heading into what’s sure to be a transformative finale.