The HBO series Years and Years has come and gone, but its impact is still being felt. The series explored some of the most controversial political and social topics of today, blended in with some of the most heart-wrenching and shocking family drama on TV.
It is this point that led the show to success. It is one thing to make a work of art commentating on important issues, but it is another thing entirely to tell a compelling character piece. What happens to many of these characters, and the world as a whole is incredibly shocking. Here are the most jaw-dropping moments, ranked.
Muriel Kicks Out Steven
There is almost always some sort of infidelity scandal in any family. It is an unfortunate fact of life, that some marriages don’t work. Because of this, it was bound to happen in the series. Stephen begins an affair with a colleague from work, and when Celeste exposes him, all hell breaks loose.
At the time, the family was staying with Stephen’s grandmother Muriel. Shockingly, due to the grudge, Muriel holds over Stephen’s late father for also being unfaithful, she sides with Celeste. This moment of solidarity with her granddaughter-in-law over her grandson was shocking, but also satisfying.
Edith Threatens Jonjo
Rosie, the youngest of the Lyons siblings, found love in the adorkable Jonjo. This pair hit it off after he sold her a food truck, and the two began their romantic and business adventure. Edith, Rosie’s sister, is welcoming to Jonjo at first but makes her stance clear when Rosie isn’t in the room.
In an unexpected moment, Edith holds a knife to Jonjo’s throat, stating that she is capable of anything. She threatens Jonjo and states that his intentions with her sister, and her nephews, are nothing but genuine. It was a seemingly random interaction, but one that speaks a lot to Edith’s character.
The Vagueness Of The Ending
The ending of the series reveals that to combat Edith’s shortened lifespan, she will attempt to transcend to the cloud in the same way Bethany hoped at the beginning of the series. It is revealed that the entire show had been her retelling while her consciousness was uploaded and that she is the first human to attempt the procedure.
After her physical form passes, the camera cuts to the whole Lyons family, years after the main events, anxiously awaiting to see if the procedure worked. Muriel asks if Edith is there, a garbled response comes from the AI Signor, sounding somewhat like Edith, and the screen cuts to black.
Viv Rook’s Concentration Camp Speech
In this moment, Viv Rook is selling the idea of Concentration Camps for the infected and overpopulated to a group of investors. The nonchalant delivery from Emma Thomspon and the rationalizing of interment in the writing made this scene horrifying to watch. The rationalization of concentration camps by what should be a civilized government was quite the wakeup call.
Tony’s Robot Friend
One of the more enjoyable parts of Years and Years is its duplicity. While it teeters on nihilistic commentary, it still offers laughs and moments of compassion. It lives in a gray area, like life itself. One of the funniest moments was Rosie’s discovery on one of her dates. She learned that her date uses his family robot as a sex doll, using specialized “attachments” when he needs it. It also came out of left field and was totally unexpected.
Bethany Is Transhuman
This moment came very early in the show, but it set the stage for the shocks of the show perfectly. Early on Stephen and Celeste can tell their daughter Bethany is growing apart from them. In an attempt to discover why they find a reason to believe she might be transgender.
Little did they know though that Bethany’s trans identity didn’t apply to her gender. Bethany coming out as transhuman, someone who wants to combine their physical form into the cloud, was a shock to everyone watching, introducing ideas that made everyone question the way they would react to such news.
Steven Condemning Viktor, And Bethany Witnessing It
The lengths that some people will go to amend a personal tragedy is shocking, but Stephen went farther than most. After Daniel’s death, Stephen resented Viktor, Daniel’s lover. He blamed Viktor for Daniel’s death, as Daniel died trying to save Viktor.
As revenge, Stephen, while working for the Erstwhile camps, transferred Viktor to them as a death sentence. This villainous moment was shocking enough, but seeing Bethany learn about it was even more so. Not only did Stephen lose a bit of his humanity, but Bethany also lost her faith in her father.
Steven And Celeste Go Broke And The Banks Collapse
Talk about a stressful sequence. The morning after Stephen and Celeste sold their home, all the banks went under. Because of this, the pair lost nearly all of their earnings from the sale and much of their savings.
The way this played out though was the exact opposite version of the bank run from It’s a Wonderful Life. The sheer chaos of the sequence and the consequences that followed were mind-numbing. Imagining losing that much security, and having no way to get it back is horrifying.
The Bomb
The final moments of the first episode were certainly one to remember. In a shocking, but prescient move, the in-show version of Donald Trump bombs an island off the coast of China on the last night of his presidency. The uncertainty that the characters felt, with sirens wailing in the distance, was like watching the end of the world.
Not only that, but they had just finished skyping their sister, who was off the coast of the bombed island. Not knowing whether their sister, themselves or the world was safe was an unimaginable situation.
Daniel’s Death
This was the most harrowing moment of the whole show and the one that felt the most relevant. To try and smuggle Viktor back to the UK, Daniel and he boarded a small raft to cross the English channel. The crossed during the night into a storm, and Daniel drowned, leaving Viktor alone on the other side.
The fact that the show killed off one of their leads so mercifully was shocking, but the accuracy in portraying the lengths refugees will go to obtain a bit of safety in another country was something else entirely.
