Afterlife Ends with More Questions Than Answers

The BBC series AFTERLIFE starring Lesley Sharp and Andrew Lincoln comes to a full stop after only two seasons, leaving behind a number of questions that will never be answered -- which, for a series dealing with the eternal questions, is just how it ought to be. Maybe.

In this continuation of the story of medium Alison Mundy (Sharp) and the psychology professor Robert Bridge (Lincoln) who takes an interest in her -- first to debunk her then to help her come to terms with her own ghosts -- we are told right up front that things aren't going to go on forever for these two. Robert is diagnosed early on with an inoperable brain tumor, which he keeps secret from everyone, even his ex-wife as he attempts reconciliation with her. Meanwhile, Alison -- who briefly died at the end of the first season -- has brought back a haunter of her own: her mother.

Alison's mother was an obsessive/compulsive personality, which manifests through Alison in bizarre ways. We're almost never quite sure if it's hallucination or an actual haunting up until the very end of that particular arc. When Robert helps Alison past that trauma, she is left suddenly bereft of her abilities to see the dead, allowing Robert's skills an opportunity to shine when a young boy claims to be haunted by visions. However, the very next episode, Alison is once again able to see spirits, with no explanation given as to how her gift returned. And by this point, we are very clear as to whether the spirits Alison sees are real or not.

This two-disc DVD set includes forty-five minutes of bonus footage that takes the viewers onto the set for a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the series. Cast and crew give insights into how stories came to be, and let us in on certain decisions and even guidance that the actors brought to the stories.

I think I would have liked to have spent more time with Alison and Robert, but the writers ended the series with an absolute finality. Then again, the show is all about people returning from beyond the grave, so... who knows?