As the second episode of Life After Life begins, we learn that there is a new baby named Jimmy. Ursula is trying not to sleep because her dreams are challenging. When she drifts off, she dreams of a snake striking in her direction. Sylvie (Sian Clifford) finds her on the stairs and learns she couldn’t sleep because of the bad dreams. She tells her daughter that only very special people have powerful imaginations. Although it is a burden, Ursula is extra interesting. Ursula believes she dreams about dying because she has already died many times. Sylvie promises she hasn’t since she would’ve noticed. She tells her there is nothing to worry about before joining Hugh (James McArdle) in the bedroom.

She tells him that London was boring. Sylvie wants to send Ursula to a psychiatrist after he talked her out of it after she pushed Bridget down the stairs. Although Hugh believes she is just introspective, Sylvie says she is always down in the dumps and has these terrible dreams. They need her mentally sound as she moves through the world since unscrupulous men lie in wait. Sylvie says Major Shawcross in the village has recommended a psychiatrist in London. Some of the Major’s men came back with bad nerves so he mentioned it to Sylvie in passing. Hugh believes it was Shawcross who had a bad case of nerves though.

Since the psychiatrist was in London, they decided that Sylvie would put Ursula on the train that would take her to Izzie in London. Sylvie and Hugh didn’t believe Aunt Izzie (Jessica Brown Findlay) was sufficiently reliable to be in charge of a child. Sylvie disliked her although she tolerated her for Hugh’s sake. Izzie had gotten a job writing a weekly column for a newspaper under the pseudonym Delphine Fox. The column was called Adventures of a Modern Spinster. When Izzie meets her at the train station, she wonders what adventures await, but Ursula says she needs to take her straight to the doctor. Izzie says the talking cure is a big thing now.

She asks Ursula not to tell Hugh that she brought the motor. He doesn’t have faith in her despite driving an ambulance during the war. Izzie really believes he is jealous and wants an automobile for himself, but Sylvie won’t allow it. As they get into the car, Izzie admits she is hoping they could be special chums. A few seconds after pulling away, the car is wrecked and Ursula dies. Ursula is born again as we quickly see the events that occurred after that. She pushes Bridget (Maria Laird) down the stairs again. Later, Hugh tells Izzie they don’t want her to reference their children in her column. Izzie claims they’re imaginary children she created for Delphine Fox.

Pamela tells her mother how she is shaping her ankle using the method provided by the modern spinster. Hugh sends the children inside before asking Izzie if she would mind doing them a small favor. They’d like her to meet Ursula at the train station and deliver her to Dr. Kellet on Harley Street. As Sylvie takes the baby inside, Izzie says she has wonderful ankles. She isn’t sure what else Hugh sees in her though. Hugh explains that Sylvie is worried about Ursula who suffers from an extraordinary amount of déjà vu. Izzie suggests she is clairvoyant so they should set her up with a gypsy caravan.

Hugh tells her that Dr. Kellet (John Hodgkinson) is a psychiatrist that their friends put them in touch with. Izzie wonders what horrible things he saw in France since she knows she did, but Hugh would prefer to focus on the daffodils. Personally, Izzie felt Ursula should see a psychiatrist since she pushed the maid down the stairs. She thinks they should mention that since it is odd. Inside, Bridget reads the column and asks what emancipated hemlines means. Mrs. Glover (Jessica Hynes) responds by calling Izzie a fool. She argues it’ll be a miracle if Izzie meets that train because she’ll forget and be off gallivanting.

Bridget says they are really sending her to London because they want a doctor to look at her head now that they know she is touched. Glover believes she is just a great worrier and that speaks of intelligence. Bridget reminds her that Ursula was not meant for this Earth since she was born with the cord around her neck like a serpent. Glover laughs when Bridget suggests Ursula is at least part of the spirit world. Glover insists that Ursula claimed she pushed her down the stairs to save her from influenza to cover up a bit of mischief. Regardless, Bridget thinks she has the sixth sense and no doctor is going to change that.

Then, we jump forward to Ursula meeting with Izzie at the train station. Ursula gets out of the car to get Izzie’s glove and to avoid a crash. It gives Izzie just enough time to avoid being hit by the other car. When Ursula meets with Dr. Kellet, he says he heard that she tried to kill her maid. He offers her tea while saying he isn’t Russian. He mentions that Sylvie said she often dreams she is dying and had been here once before. Ursula admits she sometimes thinks that. For instance, she remembers him saying tea to her before. Dr. Kellet agrees since he said it last week. During another visit, Ursula says everything is familiar somehow no matter where she is or what she is doing. She has a terrible fear all the time.

Kellet wonders if there is a little flaw in the part of her brain that is responsible for memory. He describes it as a neurological problem that leads her to think she is repeating experiences. When she asks if she is really dying and being reborn, the doctor confesses he has no idea. Instead, he wonders if there is a neurological blip in her brain that causes her to believe she has been here before. Alternatively, she might’ve been here before and her dreams are premonitions. He says they may never know before questioning whether she might be remembering another life. The doctor tells her a little about Buddhism and other religions that believe in some form of circularity.

He shows her a picture of an Uroboros. When one of the sessions ends, Izzie is there to pick her up and ready to have fun. She told Hugh she’d catch a later train to give them more time. Lizzie tells her she needs a haircut and she is turning out to be very pretty. She offers her a cigarette only for Ursula to remind her she is 10. Lizzie knows that Sylvie believes she is mad, bad, and dangerous to know, but she still thought they could be special chums. She says Pamela is a little dull while the boys are just boys. As for Ursula, she is interesting. She agrees to be special chums with Izzie. When she returns to her father, he surprises her with an automobile. Hugh warns her that Izzie is not to be trusted.

As they ride home, Hugh says the war has made Sylvie parsimonious. He has become less prudent. Sylvie says that isn’t an admirable trait for a banker. According to the narrator (Lesley Manville), Ursula saw Dr. Kellet for several years until Sylvie and Hugh decided paying a man to discuss life’s mysteries with their daughter wasn’t necessary. Since she became happier, they felt Ursula was cured. On her 16th birthday, the world felt crisp and fresh. Maurice (Harry Michell) comes down for the weekend. He was in his last year at Oxford for law. Maurice is surprised it is Ursula’s birthday. They go inside where Maurice introduces Howie (Zachary Nachbar-Seckel) and Gilbert (Harry Cadby) to his brothers. Pamela (Patsy Ferran) and Ursula (Thomasin McKenzie) come down to greet them as well.

Pamela is on crutches because she twisted her ankle during a hockey game. Pamela and Ursula spy on Howie and Gilbert. Howie had a special kind of glamor because he was American. Ursula was surprised that Pamela was more drawn to Gilbert. Later, the family watches them play ball outside. Izzie asks if she can have one because they’re rather gorgeous. They go back inside so Ursula can open her birthday presents. Izzie gives her a bunch of stuff that Sylvie won’t let her have because she is too young for it. Hugh wonders how she can afford all this and whether she stole it. Maurice comes in with his friends to say they’re hungry.

Glover is asked to prepare them something. After Ursula blows out the candles, Izzie gives Teddy The Adventures of Augustus by Delphine Fox. She surprises Teddy by saying she based Augustus on him. Izzie tells Hugh that he doesn’t have to worry about her anymore because she has a publisher and money now. Later, Ursula asks Pamela if she’d like to go for a walk, but it is a bore with her crutches. She ends up going alone. She runs into Howie who is digging through the shrubbery in hopes of finding her brother’s ball. She reminds him that she is 16 and it is her birthday. When she says she is freezing, Howie warms her up with a kiss. The narrator believes kiss is too courtly of a word for what Howie was doing.

He stops when Maurice comes outside calling for him. Ursula felt being kissed on her 16th birthday was a considerable accomplishment. She thought about Howie often and how he was thoughtful enough to try to find Teddy’s ball. They visit another day because Maurice says they’re going to London to help with the strike. He explains they’re going to drive buses, trains, and whatever else is needed to keep the country running. Pamela tells him about the firemen instead of stokers to show he knows very little. Maurice says it is probably best she didn’t get into Cambridge. Ursula says she isn’t hungry before running in to Howie on the stairs. He kisses her again. He begins taking off his belt as Ursula says no.

Howie puts his hand over her mouth to keep her quiet. After he has sex with her, he says you English girls really are something. They leave a bit later as Hugh calls them imbeciles. Pamela asks what happened to Gilbert only to learn he was sent down for an indiscretion. Hugh checks on Ursula before going inside with the others. As weeks passed, Ursula took care to mask her misery because questions would’ve been intolerable. Sylvie approaches to talk to her about something uncomfortable later. She knows her daughter is out of sorts with Pamela going away, but she wouldn’t eat her worries. Sylvie says it is just puppy fat and it has to be addressed. Then, Ursula looks through her book that might be about pregnancy.

She freaks out and runs outside. She goes to the train station where she contemplates stepping in front of the train. Once she finds out it is the London train, she goes to Izzie’s house. Izzie calls her parents to tell them and say she’ll take her to the theater or something. She tells Ursula she is such a fool since there are things one can do. Ursula is taken to the doctor and no one told her what would happen next. She is told to remove her shoes and undergarments. Ursula believed the baby would come out with a certain amount of difficulty. She thought it would be wrapped in a shawl and given to a nice couple. Soon, a doctor comes in and tells her to get up on the table and put her feet in the stirrups.

She passes out after being given gas. Ursula leaves with Izzie a bit later. Izzie helps her go inside and get in the bed since she is still wobbly. When she wakes up in the morning, Izzie gives her soup only for Ursula to throw up in it. She realizes Ursula isn’t cut out for this sort of thing. Ursula remains sick throughout the night. She tries to get up from the bed in the morning, but crashes to the floor. Before long, Hugh arrives to check on his daughter who is still sleeping in bed. He tells her she has a bit of an infection so they’re going to take her to the hospital. Izzie says no because she’ll be prosecuted. Hugh says good and he hopes they jail her.

Sylvie meets them at the hospital. She wakes up her daughter to ask how she could do this. The room goes dark as Ursula struggles to reach the light above her. When she flops back down to the bed, she is no longer alone. On the way home, her parents agree she will tell everyone it was blood poisoning and they will say nothing else about it. As they arrive, Teddy asks what is wrong with mommy. Ursula is sent to her room with Glover promising to bring her something to eat.

Bridget tells Mrs. Glover what she said about God wanting the baby back and suspects God has poisoned her blood. Before Mrs. Glover leaves for the evening, she tries to talk to Sylvie about it, but Sylvie isn’t eager to chat. She returns to George (Jack Forsyth-Noble) to feed him while saying she thought that would make mother and daughter closer. She wonders why it would have the opposite effect. Pamela asks her sister how she got blood poisoning, but Ursula insists she doesn’t know. Then, she asks Ursula about disappearing and showing up at Izzie’s. Ursula says she is tired and asks her to turn off the light. Pamela reminds her she is going off to the university soon and won’t have anyone to talk to.

The next day, Ursula tells her sister that she was going to have a baby. She confesses it was strange having sex with Howie on the stairs. Once Pamela learns about the illegal abortion, she understands why their mother is so angry. They go back inside as Pamela tries to find out why Ursula said it was strange. Ursula says it was very quick. She eventually admits that he forced her so Pamela urges her to tell someone. Ursula doesn’t think it matters now that Howie has gone back to America. She prefers not to think or talk about it again. Pamela leaves for the university a short time later. Ursula goes with Sylvie to see what the chickens have left them.

She argues she can’t go back to school and would rather take a secretarial course. Sylvie agrees with that before she learns that her daughter wants to see Dr. Kellet again. He has already retired though. Ursula goes to his former office to see if he left a forwarding address, but he didn’t. Then, she attends the secretarial course. Ursula and the other students are taught how to type while blindfolded to increase their speeds. While Ursula types, the professor plays with himself next to her. Ursula eventually got a job as a secretary in a big importing company and made no friends. Her first glass of wine was an experiment. She was a secret drunk in a matter of weeks.

When she met Derek Oliphant (Joshua Hill), she was stone-cold sober. She fell because she didn’t see the slab and her hands were full of groceries. They were married three months later. Sylvie suspected her daughter mistook gratitude for love. She married Hugh a short time after the family fell into poverty. He had offered her a life.

 

Life After Life Review

While the show seems to be missing direction, Life After Life is still enjoyable. The episode was authentically emotional with everything going on in Ursula’s life. The mood is established exceptionally well by the dialogue, lighting, and soundtrack. The addition of Jessica Brown Findlay as Izzie brought much-needed humor and excitement to the episode.

The acting has been top-notch from the entire cast, especially Thomasin McKenzie and other younger members. I know nothing about the novel this is based on so that could be why I can’t clearly understand the central purpose, but I like Life After Life anyway. The second episode scores a 7.5 out of 10. Recaps of Life After Life are available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support Reel Mockery at this link.