Every Year After Recap Season 1 Episode 2 ‘Young Blood’
- Jun 12
- 5 min read
The second episode of Every Year After did a much better job in executing this tale of first love and loss, and that was in large part due to the introduction of young Delilah into the 2012 summer of Percy, Sam, and Charlie. Percy and Sam were just two good kids who liked hanging out with each other and liked wearing friendship bracelets and liked each other more than they had the vocabulary to express. Delilah, even as a kid, was frank and fiery, and in between trying to catch Charlie’s eye, she found time to push to clarify Percy and Sam’s relationship.
Sam was concerned that Percy bringing in her friend Delilah to their little summer haven would change things, and it did, in a way. Whilst playing truth or dare in Sam’s basement, with Charlie hovering nearby, Delilah asked Percy if she had a boyfriend. Percy said no. Delilah asked Sam if he had a girlfriend. Sam said no. Delilah dared Sam to kiss Percy. That got Charlie’s attention, and he offered to kiss Percy if Sam would not (much to Delilah’s visible unhappiness). It looked like Charlie would actually do it, but he stopped at the last moment and told Percy to give him a few years. Charlie was 17. Sam and the girls were 14. Sam stormed out of there.
Percy and Sam cleared the air before Percy left, but that summer was the beginning of the end of childhood. They were growing up. They were starting to feel the earliest twinges of desire, which in the present day led to heartbreak, as Percy found a ring in Sam’s room and realised that he intended to propose to his girlfriend Taylor.
A decade has passed since their breakup, but Percy has not gotten over Sam. She ended up calling her mother and crying, and her mother told her to get out of town, it and the boys were toxic. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on her motel room door, and there stood Sam, who asked to come in.
Meanwhile, Delilah grew up to be a goal oriented woman, because she turned her schoolgirl crush on Charlie into a full blown affair. Apparently, as she confessed to Jordie, things between her and her husband Whit were a total disaster. Perhaps her unhappiness drove her to make Percy miserable, like giving her a list of odd jobs for the memorial (to be fair, Percy offered to help). Perhaps Delilah genuinely cared for the brothers, and worried that Percy being there would upset the already delicate balance in the relationship between the Florek boys.
Chantal, too, was finding her time occupied by Jordie, who turned out to be charming, once the two of them got past their initial stage of sniping at each other. Because the motel wifi was not great, Jordie offered the use of his office so Chantal could work, after pointing out that most people did not go to Barry’s Bay to work. Chantal found Jordie taking a midday nap, which was alien to a dedicated workaholic like her. But, she ended up falling asleep as well. As someone who in general has issues with sleeping, I totally get this; my father had this place in the country where time just felt slower, where I could actually fall asleep and wake up rested. Jordie got Chantal to come with him to get ice cream, and Jordie opened up about building his whole life around playing professional basketball, getting injured, and ending up back in the town he swore he would not live in, running the family business he swore he would never run. Chantal, on the other hand, had hit every benchmark she has ever set for herself. They lived different lives, but the ice has definitely broken.
Have I fallen in love with Every Year After? I think the second episode is an improvement, but we’re still a way yet toward a tale that moves, a tale that stays. In general, I really like shows that pay attention to even small details, and though there are plenty of scenes here that I liked, something small bugged me. When the cooler at The Tavern broke, and the food they stored for the memorial was in danger of spoiling. Delilah tasked Percy into getting ice, and when Percy was alone and without a ride, it made sense that she could only carry two bags of ice. But, Sam came along and gave her a ride, and they did not turn back to get more. Instead, they took the scenic route which gave them a lot of time to reminisce over the olden days (and made me wonder how Percy could have walked all that way whilst carrying two bags of ice), got stuck waiting behind a road closure, and arrived at The Tavern just in time to almost catch Charlie and Delilah making out. Sam even said he would get more ice. Was the pickup truck not big enough to get more with Percy? Did it make sense to drive all the way to The Tavern knowing that the ice was not enough, given that presumably the ice needed to cool food that was meant for a good many townsfolk who would show up for the memorial? Did it make sense for Percy to carry the bags of ice instead of borrowing Chantal’s car for what was presumably a short enough drive? It’s a tiny thing, I know, but it’s the tiny things that make me fall in love with a show, and it’s also the tiny things that bug me. Besides, Every Year After will hopefully get a second season, and I hope the writers would pay closer attention to these little details so we can have a show we will all love. Including me, your faithful recapper who hyperfocuses on little things.
Rating: B
Strays
🚤Percy offered to help with Sue’s obituary, but Sam said Taylor was already working on it. Ouch. Taylor told Percy that she and Sam met at med school, and that she was doing her fellowship in pediatric surgery. I’d crash out, too, to be honest.
🚤Charlie was all set on getting The Tavern in good shape to sell, whilst Sam was not ready to even start thinking about selling.
🚤The episode title was the same as the short story Percy wrote in her teens, Young Blood.
🚤Percy went to Sue’s house to pick up a photo album, and Taylor was there getting it organised. There was a box of horror DVDs that Sam kept saving, that belonged to Percy when they were kids.
🚤Song of the episode: Anchor by Novo Amor
Episode Title: Young Blood
Episode Writers: Leila Gerstein and Julie Rottenberg and Elisa Zuritsky
Episode Director: Jeff W. Byrd
Release Date: June 10, 2026