This past summer during the peak of quarantine, one of my friends suggested a TV series for me to watch called Years and Years. He told me that it has similar concepts like Black Mirror and that instantly sold me. Years and Years is a British drama television series that follows a British Manchester-based family — the Lyons and how various types of political unrest along with technological and economic advances affect their lives within the span of 15 years. The first episode took place in 2019 where it introduces the characters and their massive extended family. It jumped to the year 2024 with tensions between the U.S. and China rising along with the uneasy political atmosphere in the UK with the rise in power of the MP, Vivian Brooke. While I don’t want to spoil too much about this show, it shows what will happen to innocent people everywhere when the wrong people are in power. Unlike Black Mirror where it throws the audience in a setting that seems so distant into the future, Years and Years began in 2019 and it shows progessive how things change within the span of every 5 years. I personally think that’s very interesting yet daunting to see how things we do right now can potentially affect us so soon into the future.
I watched this show during quarantine and with the political unrest that has been continuously affecting our country, it really led me down a rabbit hole with thoughts about the upcoming presidential election. Similar shows such as Black Mirror and The Handmaid’s Tale foreshadows what a society will become if we as the people allow unqualified and radicalized individuals to come in power. They warn us and make us think what we as a society can do in order to prevent such disastrous events from happening. I really recommend you all to watch this show when you have the time. It’s a relatively short series with only 6 episodes, and due to the rapid nature of the plotline, each episode will keep you on the edge of your seat.
