'Every Year After's Big Twist Gives The Show A Villain - It's Just the Wrong One

Gradually, Prime Video’s Every Year After (2026), an adaptation of Carley Fortune’s Every Summer After, reveals that Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall) slept with Charlie Florek (Michael Bradway), the brother of her ex-boyfriend, Sam Florek (Matt Cornett). The details there are critical because Sam breaks up with Percy before she and Charlie hook up. A decade passes before Sam learns the truth, and it only comes out because Percy wants to be honest with Sam.

In an attempt for their second-chance romance to start (again) on the best footing, Percy tells Sam the truth. The peak of this drama all occurs during Every Year After Season 1, Episode 7, “The Boathouse.” The narrative’s dual timelines give the show the opportunity to illuminate the past while the characters deal with the fallout in the present. There’s a lot of complicated history there (Sam has broken Percy’s heart twice) and a lot of guilt from both Percy and Charlie. So, Sam may want to see Charlie as the villain of this story, but the truth is far more nuanced.

What Happened Between Percy, Sam, And Charlie?

It all goes back to Summer 2016 for Percy, Sam, and Charlie. Their history extends well beyond that, but that’s the summer that fractured everything between them. What starts with the optimism of Charlie fixing up their dad’s banana boat and Sam and Percy spending the summer together as a couple quickly unravels into something different. Percy comes into that summer with a certain idea of how it will go, only for Sam to knock off her rose-tinted glasses by saying that he’s going to a summer intensive after only two weeks in Barry’s Bay.

Their long-distance relationship never really stands a chance. Earlier in their lives, he makes the choice for both of them that their relationship would only complicate things for them. Then, in summer 2016, he breaks up with her over email when the barrier of communication gets too large. Every Year After tries to do Sam some favors by having Matt Cornett’s voiceover inject some sentimentality into Sam’s words. Still, it’s absolutely brutal to watch a relationship that’s meant to mean so much end so casually and impersonally. It’s heartbreaking for Percy. 

So, Percy spends the summer in Barry’s Bay with Charlie, who is there and helps her reclaim the summer from that heartbreak. They work closely together in repairing the boat, which is a nuanced metaphor all of its own. Even before Sam and Percy break up, Every Year After uses a montage to show how close they get as Sam and Percy pull apart at their fragile seams. It really means something to Percy that Charlie is there for her; it’s comforting and different than what she feels for Sam. It makes complete sense that after Sam and Percy break up, Percy and Charlie find intimacy and vulnerability—that they don’t really have with anyone else—with each other. It’s also so clear that those feelings don’t even compare to what Percy feels for Sam. It’s just fun and easy with Charlie, and it’s a break from the heartbreak and emotional whiplash. 

‘Every Year After’ Is Better Without A Villain

All of which isn’t to say that Sam has no right to be hurt by learning that Percy and Charlie slept together. It must be jarring to learn that the love of his life and brother slept together. However, Sam never really takes a beat to try to understand why Percy and Charlie would even hook up. He just sees it as another reason to push Charlie away and a confirmation that he and Percy aren’t meant to be together. Sam refuses to engage with how he handled things. 

Honestly, that’s not shocking since at one point, Charlie says that Sam “shuts down when things get hard.” For that reason, it’s so hard to meet Sam where he’s at because he walls up. He calls Charlie selfish and won’t even speak to Percy. Meanwhile, Delilah brings it to Sam’s attention that he broke up with Percy multiple times, and each one really hurt Percy. Sam’s too in his own head to even understand his role in all of this, yet he’s so quick to villainize everyone else. The truth is more complicated–there is no villain. There are only people making mistakes. 

So, it’s perfect that Percy and Charlie are stuck in this place where they made that “terrible mistake” a decade ago. It’s such a good way for them to work through their tension. They open up to each other (Percy about her panic attacks, Charlie about the time that he lost with his brother and mother) for the first time since that night 10 years ago. Charlie takes accountability and doesn’t let Percy shoulder it all by herself anymore, and that’s critical character work for both of them. Elsewhere, Sam has to realize that he can’t run from his life and from Percy or Charlie. He also can’t run from himself and his choices. Every Year After knows that they all have to forgive themselves, and that’s a lot harder to do than making someone else the villain.