Forever review: I don’t really know what I just watched

Forever is the eight-episode half-hour dramedy that dropped on Amazon Prime Video last week. Honestly, I’m not really sure what I just watched.

I’m not a binge-watcher. There are certain shows that I will finish within a weekend, but those are usually the ones I watch with my husband. If I watch on my own, it can take me a while to get through each episode and that’s what happened with Forever on Amazon Prime Video.

I got through the first two episodes last weekend and then slowly worked through the eight-episode half-hour dramedy. But each episode I put on, I got no further into figuring out what I’d just watched. This wasn’t what I expected based on the synopsis of the series from Amazon.

Caution: From this point there are spoilers.

This was introduced as a series about a married couple who decide to shake things up a bit. After 12 years of doing the same thing, June suggests they go skiing instead. And that’s where the fun begins.

Only it wasn’t the fun that I expected. I thought we’d see them make mistakes on the ski slopes (which did happen in the first episode), run into car trouble, even have an amusing encounter with a cop or a gang; the normal things that happen in these types of shows.

More from Amazon Originals

• Will Your Christmas or Mine 2 come to DVD and Blu-ray?
• The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3 release updates, cast, and everything we know
• Them Season 2 release updates, cast, and everything we know
• The Boys Season 4 release updates, cast, and everything we know
• What time is Dating Santa coming to Prime Video?

Instead, the original premise was over after the first episode. Suddenly, we learn that Oscar died while skiing into a tree and June has to start her life anew. Then by the third episode, both are dead and living in the afterlife, which is the same old thing over and over again. That leads to June discovering that there is more in the afterlife and June and Oscar have the biggest fight ever.

Watch 1000s of TV shows and movies with Amazon Prime

But by the end of the eight-episode season, I’m still not sure what I’ve watched. This was a story mostly told from June’s perspective. We saw her understand what it meant to be dead, figure out what she could do, and explore Oceanside instead of Riverside. She decided on whether she still wanted to be married or not, made new friends, and, in the end, explored a completely different side to herself.

At the end of the season, Oscar and June end up back together and take a trip under the sea (because ghosts can walk along the seabed just like the half-dead in Pirates of the Caribbean) and head to a new land. Where are they? Well, that’s clearly something for Forever Season 2 if it happens.

You know the crazy thing? I’ll watch it. I may have no idea what I just watched in the first season but I’ll tune in for the second. That’s all because this was a series that touched on life and death. It drew us in with realism and development. We learned as June learned.

Forever felt completely different to anything I’ve watched before. I could connect with June and live through her, experience the world through her. And it certainly made me decide on one thing: to really live life. You only get one. There may not be an afterlife like Riverside or Oceanside, so it’s important to really feel like you’ve lived when you can.

Did you watch Forever? What did you think about the series? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Forever is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.