Thinky Telly Thoughts
So, Ashes to Ashes came to an end. And somehow they managed to pull the exact same trick with the finale as they did with the ending of Life on Mars - they went exactly where I didn't want the story to go and somehow I ended up really liking it.
Before the Life on Mars finale I was adamant that I didn't want to see Gene's world be un-real. I didn't want Sam to have been in a coma. I didn't want him to go back to the "present." I was very angry at my tv when all those things happened. And then Sam went up to that roof. And "Life on Mars" began to play. And I watched one of the best pieces of dialogue-less acting I have ever seen, and I bawled my eyes out and I bloody loved it.
So I came into the Ashes to Ashes finale thinking it unlikely that they could pull that off again. I didn't want the dead copper to be Gene. I didn't want Gene's world to be some sort of afterlife. I wanted to see Sam. I didn't want Keats to be unambiguously evil. About thirty minutes in I was pretty disappointed. Then I realised we were only thirty minutes in and started to trust the story, and somehow they made it all work for me. I have no idea how. I think it helped that no one used words like "purgatory", "heaven" or "hell." And it solved my left over annoyance that Nelson seemed to know so much in Life on Mars and then that went nowhere.
Also, "I am arresting you for murdering my car." Hee!
And this is hi-larious as far as I'm concerned:
Ashes To Ashes co-creator Matthew Graham has admitted that he has never understood the appeal of DCI Gene Hunt. [...]
Graham told The Guardian: "I'm still amazed that girls find it romantic, this big hulking bloke in a dated suit, that there could be anything even closely resembling a sex symbol. I find that baffling. It's great but I just don't understand it."
If you didn't want people to love Gene then why did you give him all the best lines and cast Philip Glenister?
And then Lost concludes tonight. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology it'll be simulcast here in the UK, so it'll be airing at 5am. Since this was announced I have managed to talk myself out of getting up at what-the-fucking-fuck o'clock at least twice. The plan now is to spend Monday avoiding all forms of media until after work when we'll sit down and have our minds melted and/or blood pressure raised. I will attempt to not throw anything at the telly.
I expect to see real-non-smokeyfied-John Locke walk once more on the island. Somehow.
I am scared for Desmond. Do not hurt mah Scotsman, Darlton.
Jack is probably dead. Because I used to dislike him and now I find him kinda awesome and that's precisely when evil showrunners kill people.
I predict Rose and Bernard (and Vincent!) have crankily rescued Desmond from that well.
I really want to see something that can be interpreted as Desmond's vision of Claire and Aaron getting on a helicopter. I'd really like Charlie's death to have the depth of meaning that it seemed to at the time.
I'd like to see Ben go out in a blaze of redemptive glory.
I really hope to see sideways-Juliet ask sideways-Sawyer out for coffee.
And I don't think I want the sideways world to be the "epilogue in advance" that many are predicting. I really want it to be concurrent with the prime timeline.
And if there are any hints of purgatory I will throw a tantrum. Just cause it worked once this week doesn't mean it will again!
Before the Life on Mars finale I was adamant that I didn't want to see Gene's world be un-real. I didn't want Sam to have been in a coma. I didn't want him to go back to the "present." I was very angry at my tv when all those things happened. And then Sam went up to that roof. And "Life on Mars" began to play. And I watched one of the best pieces of dialogue-less acting I have ever seen, and I bawled my eyes out and I bloody loved it.
So I came into the Ashes to Ashes finale thinking it unlikely that they could pull that off again. I didn't want the dead copper to be Gene. I didn't want Gene's world to be some sort of afterlife. I wanted to see Sam. I didn't want Keats to be unambiguously evil. About thirty minutes in I was pretty disappointed. Then I realised we were only thirty minutes in and started to trust the story, and somehow they made it all work for me. I have no idea how. I think it helped that no one used words like "purgatory", "heaven" or "hell." And it solved my left over annoyance that Nelson seemed to know so much in Life on Mars and then that went nowhere.
Also, "I am arresting you for murdering my car." Hee!
And this is hi-larious as far as I'm concerned:
Ashes To Ashes co-creator Matthew Graham has admitted that he has never understood the appeal of DCI Gene Hunt. [...]
Graham told The Guardian: "I'm still amazed that girls find it romantic, this big hulking bloke in a dated suit, that there could be anything even closely resembling a sex symbol. I find that baffling. It's great but I just don't understand it."
If you didn't want people to love Gene then why did you give him all the best lines and cast Philip Glenister?
And then Lost concludes tonight. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology it'll be simulcast here in the UK, so it'll be airing at 5am. Since this was announced I have managed to talk myself out of getting up at what-the-fucking-fuck o'clock at least twice. The plan now is to spend Monday avoiding all forms of media until after work when we'll sit down and have our minds melted and/or blood pressure raised. I will attempt to not throw anything at the telly.
I expect to see real-non-smokeyfied-John Locke walk once more on the island. Somehow.
I am scared for Desmond. Do not hurt mah Scotsman, Darlton.
Jack is probably dead. Because I used to dislike him and now I find him kinda awesome and that's precisely when evil showrunners kill people.
I predict Rose and Bernard (and Vincent!) have crankily rescued Desmond from that well.
I really want to see something that can be interpreted as Desmond's vision of Claire and Aaron getting on a helicopter. I'd really like Charlie's death to have the depth of meaning that it seemed to at the time.
I'd like to see Ben go out in a blaze of redemptive glory.
I really hope to see sideways-Juliet ask sideways-Sawyer out for coffee.
And I don't think I want the sideways world to be the "epilogue in advance" that many are predicting. I really want it to be concurrent with the prime timeline.
And if there are any hints of purgatory I will throw a tantrum. Just cause it worked once this week doesn't mean it will again!