Every Year After expands the character of Delilah in so many ways from Carley Fortune’s book Every Summer After. For one, there’s her fling with Charlie, which is a big new twist on its own, but even that is further complicated by an unexplored connection with her childhood friend Jordie. That love triangle gets even messier in Season 1’s finale, when Delilah is briefly shown kissing a woman during a Halloween party. While the show has yet to really delve into Delilah’s apparent queer identity, that kiss was very illuminating for Abigail Cowen.
The actor tells Elite Daily that she was initially thrown for a loop by Delilah hooking up with a woman following her divorce, but after reflecting on it, all the pieces came together. “It was a surprise, but also, not really,” Cowen says. “It kind of made sense, because although she was a free spirit when she was young, she was also kind of stifled. She kept herself in this box. Maybe this is something she’s been running from since she was young, and that plays into the reasons she’s guarded and pretends to be someone she’s not.”
The woman who kisses Delilah is not named, and is barely even shown in the brief scene, but Cowen sees the moment as something that “opens up the doors” to “see where Delilah can go” in the future.
Of course, the new divorcée also has some clearly telegraphed romantic prospects with Jordie and Charlie (though Michael Bradway has said he thinks Charlie and Delilah are done). Cowen is happy to let Delilah “play the field” for now: “She spent so many years yearning for Charlie, and then it wasn’t right when she finally got it. But of course there might still be something there. And she’s also questioning Jordie, but I think she’s in a space of focusing on herself and figuring out what she really wants right now.”
Although Delilah was kind of pulled between guys throughout Season 1, Cowen doesn’t rule out her character potentially moving on from men entirely. “I would love to see her be with a woman,” Cowen says. “Who knows?”
Charlie Florek is done living in the past… even if his last scene in the Season 1 finale of Every Year After may suggest otherwise. After spending a summer hiding a steamy affair with his childhood friend Delilah, Charlie seems to have fully moved on from Barry’s Bay, until a photograph brings him back (and also gives him a frightening heart attack). The picture is a clear indication that Alice Everly, the photographer who Charlie falls in love with in his book One Golden Summer, will be introduced in a potential second season. But, what about his feelings for Delilah?
Well, according to Michael Bradway, there is no romantic future there. “I think Charlie and Delilah’s love story has come to an end,” Bradway tells Elite Daily. “I just don’t think it makes sense for them to revisit that.”
He feels that the couple’s breakup in Episode 5, in which Delilah turned down Charlie’s proposition of exploring a real relationship, serves as a fitting end for the pairing. “I think she knew that Charlie wasn’t 100% in it when he asked, because she’s also not 100% in it,” Bradway says. “And so she was the responsible adult in that situation and said, ‘If this was a long time ago, I would’ve jumped at the opportunity. But we’re just at such a different place in our lives now, so it just doesn’t make sense.’ I think it ended at the right time for the right reasons.”
Bradway’s assessment is surprising, even to his co-star Abigail Cowen. Although Delilah claims to be over Charlie at the end of Season 1, Cowen doesn’t think she’s being totally honest. “I think there might still be a little bit of something there,” Cowen says. “I would like to see she and Charlie’s dynamic after they’ve healed a bit.”
While Bradway clarifies that he’d still love to see how Charlie and Delilah interact in the future, he’s firmly in the camp of Charlie and Alice being endgame. Though Prime Video has yet to officially confirm a second season, Bradway already knows which One Golden Summer scene he’s most looking forward to adapting: “In the book, Charlie bakes Alice a cake for her birthday, and I’m really excited for that scene.”
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