Exclusive Interview
‘Every Year After’s Michael Bradway Talks Charlie’s Fate After Finale Twist (VIDEO)
What To Know
- The Season 1 finale of Every Year After ends on a major cliffhanger for Charlie Florek.
- Michael Bradway broke down the shocking scene in an interview with Swooon.
- Bradway opened up about his hopes for Every Year After Season 2.
“I wonder who took this…”
At the end of Every Year After Season 1, Charlie (Michael Bradway) stumbles on the biggest One Golden Summer Easter Egg yet: A framed photo of himself, Sam (Matt Cornett), and Percy (Sadie Soverall) riding on the Banana Boat many summers ago. If you haven’t dug into One Golden Summer yet, this may not seem like too much of a big reveal. However, readers know that this photo puts Charlie one step closer to the love of his life. (Warning: Every Year After finale and One Golden Summer spoilers ahead!)
When Charlie sees the photo, it’s incredibly bittersweet, as he isn’t exactly talking with Sam or Percy at the moment. As his boss tells him, “I bet you can’t wait to get back there, especially now that the summer’s here,” it becomes clear to Charlie that something has to change. Later, when he goes to look at the photo one more time, he becomes short of breath, grabs the arm closest to his heart, and falls to the floor. With a history of heart problems in the family, it’s instantly clear what’s happening.
In One Golden Summer, readers find out that Charlie has a congenital heart condition, which he was diagnosed with months before the novel takes place. When asked about the final moments of the season, Michael Bradway told Swooon, “Obviously, I read One Golden Summer, and so, I knew it was coming. I didn’t know how soon.”
As a potential Season 2 of Every Year After teeters in the balance, both Bradway and viewers are eager to find out what happens next in Charlie’s story. “There are a couple of things that I was aware of, and tried to play as the season went on, knowing that that was going to happen,” Bradway revealed. “But it is a shock, and I don’t know what happens next, so I’m on the edge of my seat.”
Prime Video
During Episode 5, Delilah (Abigail Cowen) tells Charlie that nobody goes to him for a relationship, reshaping his perspective on his own worth. Later, Charlie drunkenly knocks on her door with his rebuttal. “I just have one thing to say,” he tells her. “You think that I am some stunted, selfish man-child, but I am more than that.”
He returns one last time to say his piece to Delilah, admitting, “I think I’m f**ked up… No one would go to Charlie Florek for a real relationship. Most of my life, that has been a point of pride… [But] I don’t want to be this forever. Maybe it’s time to change.” Asking Delilah if she wants to try a real relationship with him, it’s clear that this is the first time he can see himself as worthy of love since the summer he hooked up with Percy.
While Percy saw their hook-up as a mistake, Bradway confessed, “I think he loved her. I think he had genuine feelings for her, or he wouldn’t have done it.”
Prime Video
With both Percy and Delilah out of the picture romantically, Charlie’s love life is wide open. “I think, obviously, Charlie hasn’t met his person yet,” Bradway told Swooon. “Percy is not his person, but I think he still loves her, and I think he fell in love with her, in whatever way that means to Charlie that summer.”
That brings us back to this summer, when the heartbreak of rejection from Delilah, reconnecting with Percy, and rupturing his relationship with Sam led to a real-life heart health scare.
Charlie may be on his own for now, but there’s a certain photographer whom readers would love for him to get to know. It’s time to do a little digging into who took that photo.
Every Year After, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video
