As the second episode of Mayflies begins, a young Tully (Tom Glynn-Carney), Jimmy (Rian Gordon), and their friends go to Manchester. In the present, Tully (Tony Curran) calls to talk to someone about Switzerland. He claims Anna (Ashley Jensen) knows and is on board now. Jimmy (Martin Compston) talks to a woman who went through something similar with Colin. She tells him about the assisted dying support group before Jimmy admits they’ve been friends forever. At the clinic, Tully learns that they want to put him on another drug which is a mitotic inhibitor. He is told it basically glues the cancer cells up inside when they’re trying to divide so they don’t multiply or grow.

It could possibly give him a few more months, but it depends on how Tully responds to the medication. Tully asks how the Taxol knows which cells are the bad cells only to learn that there may be some collateral cellular damage. He may also experience nausea, vomiting, and hair loss. There is also a risk of infection if his immunity goes down with treatment. They believe the good outweighs the bad and it’ll be worth the risk. Jimmy learns more about Colin who had motor neuron disease. It was hard because they didn’t know how bad it’d get or how fast. They won’t let you go to Switzerland unless you can still hold a cup because it can’t be done for you. Jimmy offers to stop if it is too much for Marion, but she says it is fine.

She explains it is hard to get the timing right. They could always panic and end up taking matters into their own hands. Jimmy asks what it was like when they got there and whether Colin was frightened. Marion believes he needs to know what it is like before confirming Colin was frightened. The end was peaceful for Colin although it was the worst day of her life. You go with the person you love and come back without them. Marion doesn’t think it’ll be easy for his wife. Jimmy confesses that Tully hasn’t told his wife yet and she is fighting hard to keep him there. Iona (Tracy Ifeachor) overhears that and gets mad. Jimmy explains that Tully made him promise and it is his oldest friend, but Iona argues that isn’t enough. She’d never forgive him if he did that to her.

Jimmy just wanted to start the ball rolling first and see where it went. Iona is worried that Anna might say Jimmy forced him into it. He doesn’t think she’d do that. Iona isn’t sure since she’ll be beside herself with grief and won’t be thinking straight. Jimmy will try to sort it out by telling Tully he has to talk to her now. Iona insists she will if he doesn’t. In Manchester, the boys try to find a place to stay as they prepare for the upcoming festival. Once they reach one of the pubs, they drink and take speed. Tully tells Jimmy he never wants to go home. He wants his band on the stage, but he knows it’ll never happen because he is stuck in a factory with his dad. Jimmy and Tully chase Johnny Marr out of the pub and harass him briefly. In the present, Jimmy visits Tully who asks if there is a problem with the application.

Jimmy explains that Iona knows and she is raging so he has to tell Anna before she does. Tully doesn’t want to do that until he gets his date and he doesn’t think it is any of Iona’s business anyway. He is worried she’ll try to stop it. He needs it to happen because things are really bad. Tully has nerve damage so he doesn’t know how he is going to play at his gig. Tully argues it is his decision and he doesn’t need Anna’s permission although Jimmy says it isn’t about getting permission. Jimmy reminds him that she could make things difficult when he gets back. Tully claims he is doing this for Anna too because he wants her to remember him whole. Later, he throws up and tells Anna that was worse than last time. Anna reminds him that a strong reaction might mean it is doing what it is supposed to do so he just needs to give it a chance.

Tully mentions going to the caravan tomorrow. The following day, Anna finds a letter from Tully saying he loves her and is sorry. Tully walks into the water only for Anna to show up and yell for him. Later, Anna tries to find a way to make Tully not depressed. Iona asks her if Tully has said anything to her, but Anna knows nothing yet. She explains she is going to find him a lovely house with a beautiful garden and a view of the sea. Anna mentions a baby and how it’d be a way to keep him with her. She tries to talk about it with Tully later, but he isn’t interested. In the past, Tully meets up with Jimmy and tells him how Hogg for a snog and he got the bum stare. Jimmy gets upset when he realizes that he has lost his ticket. Tully gives him his ticket and suggests he can get in using the gift of the gab.

When they try to get into the concert, Jimmy uses the ticket only for Tully to be stopped by the security guard. In the present, Tully gets a letter with a possible date. He hides it in a book in his study. He meets up with Jimmy and admits he came through. Jimmy is still convinced they didn’t do this right. Tully says he’ll tell her tomorrow before revealing he has been having some wild dreams. After telling Jimmy about the dreams, he asks him to book the tickets. Tully feels so much better to the point that he is weightless. He thinks Jimmy should write about them since they knew how to live. Tully gets sick and collapses to the floor. Anna checks on him before he ends up in the hospital. Jimmy arrives at the hospital and sits with Tully while Anna goes home to get some stuff.

While looking through Tully’s stuff, Anna finds the letter from Switzerland. She rips it up. She goes back to the hospital to confront Tully. She complains she has been doing everything she can to keep him here while he has been planning his escape. Anna isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to forgive him for wanting to leave her before he has to. She tells him to go, but he’ll have to go without her because she’ll have nothing to do with it. Once she leaves, Tully tells Jimmy it doesn’t matter now because he is going to die in there like a prick. Jimmy follows her to try to smooth things over. Anna questions what kind of pal arranges his best pal’s death. He tells her that Tully was trying to protect her because he doesn’t want her to see him get really bad.

Anna argues this is only about Tully and not her. She goes on to say you don’t kill yourself ever. She believes that is what hospice is for since he can be managed and dignified. Jimmy says Tully doesn’t want that and instead wants to be in charge so he can go out in a blaze of glory. Anna says that is the past Tully and she is his present. He is punishing his present for what’s happened to him and Jimmy has helped him do it. When Anna talks to Fiona, she is told it has to be faced and that is what Tully is trying to do. He didn’t ask her because he knew she’d say no. Anna thinks the clinic should’ve told her and she’ll never get over this. Later, Tully learns that the scan results are back and they’re not what they were hoping for. Despite the treatment, the disease has progressed and the tumors have gotten bigger.

The doctor believes it is time to accept that they’ve exhausted all possibilities. Tully admits he is relieved before telling Anna it is over. It is getting bad now and Tully knows it is going to get worse. Anna asks what he wrote in the goodbye letter because she couldn’t bear to read it. Tully reveals he wrote that he wished he didn’t have to leave her and she made him the happiest he’d ever been. She changed him and made him the person he always wanted to be. Tully had a good life and she made it great. He just wishes he’d known her for all of it. When Tully asks her to come with him, Anna pleads with him not to ask her to agree with it. Jimmy tells Iona it feels different thinking about himself and Tully back then now that they don’t have a future.

It’s more charged and more important somehow. He realizes that there is no messing around now and this is all there is. In Manchester, Jimmy wants to leave the concert until he realizes that Tully got in too. In the present, he struggles to rehearse for the gig so Tibbs (Cal MacAninch) gets him a seat. Jimmy follows Anna outside. She admits she is coming, but none of this is her choice. The whole thing they concocted has made her even sadder and she will never accept it, but she will go along with his ending because she loves him. Tully manages to perform. He tells Jimmy and Tibbs that he only wanted the cover of the NME and a two on an old Bedford van. Limbo and the NME died before he did. He wants to say arrivederci to him tomorrow. In Manchester, the boys decide to stay at the YMCA.

Limbo tells them he has booked a one-way ticket to Salford so he isn’t going home. Jimmy and Tully sit near the tool. Tully worries Limbo will end up like his old man if he doesn’t watch it. Woodbine had a heart attack on Wednesday. Tully explains he came through this one but it is just the start. He wonders if he is a bad person for coming. Tully reveals his dad had trials for Man City. All those guys at his work are just waiting to buy their houses off the council. He questions whether that is all there is and if he’ll end up dying there too. Jimmy tells him to get out of there. He offers to help him like they helped him. In the present, they visit the cemetery as Jimmy admits he wishes they could go back to Manchester. Tully thinks Lincoln would tell him to screw off.

He leaves one of his pills on the gravestone. Later, Tully cries while packing his stuff. When Anna enters, he admits he isn’t sure what to take. At the airport, Tully tells Jimmy he wasn’t sure what to pack. Before they board the plane, Tully says he finds it weird that he’ll never see Scotland again. Tully and Jimmy continue playing around while the others are more somber. Later that night, they go out for dinner. They begin talking about music as Tully admits he knows Ravel was the punk of his time. They give Jimmy a gift to thank him for the betting before Tully thanks him for everything. Tully urges him to try to write something decent with it. He gets sick and has to use the bathroom. When he is alone, he remembers what happened to his father.

Tully reveals to Jimmy that he felt like he would infect him when he was trying to help him. He thinks his dad was trying to tell him that he never really knew him and called him son. Jimmy comforts him. In the present, Anna begins having a panic attack. Anna asks if they can go home and make it be like normal. Jimmy says it is up to him since he can stop any time he wants. She thinks Jimmy could stop him, but he doesn’t think so and says he is just honoring the promise he asked him to make. Tully overhears them so he interrupts with cigars. The next day, Tully tells them that the doctor has been and the papers are all signed. He is ready to do it. They meet with Marta who invites them inside. They go inside where Tully learns that Zoe and Georgia will be his companions.

Marta reminds him that he is free to leave at any time, but Tully insists he is fine. Tully is given paperwork to read and sign so he asks Anna to check them. She lets Jimmy read them too. Marta wants to make sure the decision is Tully’s and he is there of his own free will. He borrows Jimmy’s pen to sign the papers. Marta gives them all the time they want. Then, Tully is given the first cup to drink and told they’ll wait 30 minutes before drinking the other one. Once he drinks it, he is given permission to go outside for five minutes. He goes out with Anna. After flashbacks of his life, Tully kicks the football into the goal.

 

Mayflies Review

Despite only being two episodes, Mayflies was one of the most impactful miniseries of the year thanks to the wonderful performances and emotional, thought-provoking story. This is truly what peak television looks like and what modern television should strive to achieve without the bells and whistles that are so common in modern productions.

When television or film is at its best, it should grab ahold of viewers, entertain them, make them feel, and leave them contemplating well after the final scene. Mayflies fits the criteria perfectly with a hard-hitting story and authentic performances from Tony Curran, Martin Compston, and Ashley Jensen.

Some viewers may have difficulty getting through Mayflies if they’re not ready for a beautifully bleak story about friendship, love, and death. The series did exceptionally well blending the past and present to create what could possibly be the best series of 2022. The casting was also spectacular making it easy to match the younger actors to their older counterparts.

Start the New Year by bingeing Mayflies which easily deserves to pick up a few awards for its story, performances, and editing. The second episode scores a 9 out of 10. Recaps of Mayflies can be found on Reel Mockery here. We’re an independent entertainment website operating in our spare time. To support us or find out how to advertise with Reel Mockery, follow this link.