This Way Up – Season 2, Episode 1 Review

Aisling Bea’s comedy-drama series, This Way Up has returned for a second season. The first episode of the new season was a solid if an unspectacular entry for the series.

Étienne (Dorian Grover) goes back to France for the first time since his mother’s death. That means Áine (Bea) and Richard (Tobias Menzies) can have sex for the first time. Áine’s sister, Shona (Sharon Horgan) has moved into a new house and prepares for her wedding with Vish (Aasif Mandvi), however, she’s lonely because Vish is away in New York.

This Way Up has two of Ireland’s most talented female comedians currently working in the lead roles. They are the best feature of the series because they have great chemistry together. The best parts of this episode were when the two were together. Their material was the funniest and most genuine in the episode. A scene where the sisters were playing with a doll felt like it was partly ad-lipped and that there were alternative takes on the cutting room floor.

Bea’s enthusiasm was infectious in this episode especially when Áine got to see Shona’s big garden. However, there was pain to the character. In the first season, she was recovering from a mental breakdown and she still suffers from it. In this episode, there was a powerful scene when Áine and Richard were having sex, and Áine becomes so overwhelmed that she broke down in tears. It was shocking since she was the one anticipating getting laid.

Character development was the other great feature of This Way Up and this episode does have some good moments. When Áine and Richard took Étienne to the train station they wave for a long time at the teenager, but he was clearly hurt when they were talking to each other seeming like they were ignoring him. The other key character moment involved Shona and her co-worker Charlotte (Indira Varma). In the final episode of season one Shona and Charlotte kissed despite Shona being engaged. Charlotte was angry at Shona when she received a wedding invitation. This storyline will play a big part in the season.

However, This Way Up did suffer from some lackadaisical pacing and some episodes that lacked a narrative drive. This affected the second season’s first episode. This Way Up is a slice of life show with a naturalistic tone. It doesn’t follow a sitcom formula like other shows. But this episode just focused on two characters who were just waiting around for events to happen. It didn’t make for compelling viewing.

Season 2, Episode 1, potentially could have a dull 30 minutes of television. It was able to overcome this due to Bea and Horgan’s performances and some strong character moments.