What I’m Watching: Years and Years (Season Finale)

Years and Years: Season 1, Episode 6 (B+)

Well, this was a pretty intense and thorough finale. Seeing the BBC close and journalists banned for challenging Vivienne was an unoptimistic start, but things got a lot better by the end of the hour. Gran planning to sell her house was a sign that the family might truly disintegrate, especially when it was revealed that, not only was Bethany working with Edith, but Celeste was working with them too to try to track down Viktor. To me, their affinity for Viktor both before and after Daniel’s death has been the strongest indicator of the bond that ties this family together. I like that, so many hours of watching and years of events into this show, it transformed into less of a family drama and into more of a triumphant showcase of a revolution. Edith taking her phone out to begin recording and, in her own words, start a war, was an exciting moment that was followed by Rosie barging in with an extra set of legs and a truck, and Bethany broadcasting to ensure that their message got out to the world. While it’s hopeful that it wouldn’t take over a decade to reverse some of the more troubling trends of our day, this was a reassuring finale that also had an eerie forward-facing conclusion. Explaining the framing device as Edith narrating her life so that she could be digitized was an interesting reveal, and having everyone turn towards Señor to see if her consciousness had been downloaded into it was a mesmerizing way of ending the show. At least Stephen got redeemed somewhat too, making the family narrative piece of this worthwhile in addition to the overall global perspective it portrayed. I don’t imagine that a second season will be happening but I’d be somewhat curious to see it. Mostly, I’m hopeful that some of the technological advances predicted do end up becoming real while the global developments don’t.

Season grade: B+
Season MVP: Ruth Madeley as Rosie