The End of the F***ing World Season 2 Review: A F***ing Good Season of Television

It seems that we finally know, with certainty, what people mean to each other. 

The End of the F***ing World Season 2 brings with it the same shock-value, stunning visuals, and sheer madness, with Alyssa (Jessica Barden) and James (Alex Lawther) back for another round of intense Bonnie and Clyde style drama, this time with a side of self-reflection and healing.

When we last saw Alyssa and James in action, James’ mortality hung in the balance, following a string of events which began with James contemplating murdering Alyssa and ended with the pair on the run after murdering a sadistic rapist (in self-defense, which clears them of all charges.)

Two years have passed, and Alyssa and James haven’t spoken, aside from a terrible breakup note. They’ve each handled their time away from one another differently, with James pining for Alyssa while learning to walk again after becoming temporarily paralyzed, and Alyssa struggling to find a source of happiness that will make her feel as complete as she did with James.

Alyssa’s journey leads her to rush into settling marriage. In her eyes, finding someone to be around is enough, even if that person doesn’t make her happy. Her man of choice, Todd, isn’t an awful character.

He’s also not great. He’s essentially furniture, an ancillary item that fills space, and I don’t really care enough to learn anything about him. It’s okay — it’s intentional.

James, meanwhile, is coping with the sudden death of his father, spending nearly the entirety of the season carrying his urn around like it’s a security blanket. He’s also confounded by Alyssa, unsure of where their relationship stands, and hopeful for the chance to have a future with her when the dust from their latest escapade settles.

James and Alyssa are reunited when they both receive mysterious bullets in the mail, each with their names scratched into them. Alyssa is quick to point out that her own name is spelled wrong, so she doesn’t take it very seriously. 

The End of the F***ing World makes a wise choice to revisit a ghost from its first season, Professor Clive, the man who attempted to rape Alyssa, and who James ultimately murdered. This was perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the show’s first season, and at the moment it felt like the series handled it swiftly — too swiftly. 

Which is why it works almost perfectly as the driving force of the show’s sophomore season. 

For those who’ve forgotten the details surrounding Professor Clive in the show’s first season, Alyssa and James broke into his house, partied hard, and then Clive questioned Alyssa about her virginity before attempting to steal it from her.

It was a challenging scene to watch, and quite frankly frustrating that the series didn’t give Alyssa a beat to feel the effects of her assault before she was launched into a storyline about the search for her absent father. 

With a two-year time jump between seasons, we find an Alyssa who’s still very snarky and somewhat mean; however, it’s shaded with colors of depression, anxiety, and a lack of self-worth, all brought forth by the haunting memory of the night she was attacked. 

Jessica Barden is a standout this season as Alyssa. She stretches her character to new limits, shining when she’s in a scene alone, in an intimate setting which allows us to feel Alyssa’s feelings solely by reading Barden’s face.

In a show that’s shrouded in a lot of dark humor and heavy storylines, her performance is a bright spot, despite the subject matter she’s working through.

Professor Clive’s role in Season 2 doesn’t end with Alyssa’s haunting memories of him. 

Bonnie: You have to get punished. People are supposed to get punished.
Alyssa: You think we weren’t? I’m always in that house. I’m always in that room. I can’t get out. Maybe I did some things I shouldn’t have done, but I didn’t deserve that.

We meet a new character, Bonnie (Naomi Ackie), who regularly attended one of Clive’s classes. She believed that she was in love with the naughty professor, and she allowed him to explore his own fetishes on her, something that he’d record and photograph, as we learned in the first season. 

Her devotion to Clive led to jealousy, and when Bonnie discovered that she wasn’t his only companion she lashed out against her competition, landing herself in jail.

Bonnie didn’t know the full extent of Clive’s guilt, therefore, when she learned of his death in prison, she catapulted into revenge mode and made it her mission to kill those who killed him, which is how she ended up on a road trip with Alyssa and James that inevitably became a nightmare for all parties involved.

One night in a motel changed everything for these three damaged people, all somehow fighting for the same thing, confronting the same demons, but each doing it in their own unique way.

I initially had reservations about the addition of Bonnie. The Alyssa and James story is compelling enough that another layer isn’t truly needed to flesh them out further, and I’ve never been a fan of narrative shifts to a brand new character late in the game.

By the end of the finale, however, I had grown to love and appreciate Bonnie, her role in the series, and the effects that her own story had on Alyssa and James, and their growth as characters.

Just as in the first season, The End of the F***ing World is sprinkled with comical moments that break the tension in uncomfortably laugh-out-loud ways.  As I mentioned, the humor is quite dark, and not for everyone. You’ll be quite tickled if the jokes land with you.  

The overarching theme of the series seems to be acceptance, with each of the three main characters learning to come to terms with their pain, embrace their less desirable qualities, and actively work toward being better, and whether that means they do that together or alone is something you’ll need to watch the series to find out. 

What did you think of this episode of The End of the F***ing World Season 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The End of the F***ing World is currently streaming on Netflix.

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