Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah
So there was much sex and violence to be seen at work today. Yes, the ducks were back and it was all kicking off. The female duck, affectionately known as Slutty, lived up to her name today, although at one point I did actually fear for her life. The two male ducks had been jovially swimming around all day until Slutty showed up, waggling her tailfeathers in what must be duck speak for 'I'm here and I'm horny, guys'. Both the drakes tried getting it on with her at the same time and poor Slutty was under the water several times and for longer than could possibly be healthy even for a duck. There may even have been some drake-on-drake action at one point then Slutty escaped and shimmied out of the pond whilst the two fellas just attacked each other. Seriously thought one of them was going to be going the way of the dodo. Anyway, the upshot was one of the drakes being chased off by the other while Slutty generally swanned around the pond like she owned the place and their asses. Which, quite honestly, she does.
Anyway, now I've bored anyone who happens to be reading this to tears by rambling on about ducks (I mean they're ducks FFS!), I'll turn my attention to the series finale of Life On Mars.
I was so looking forward to finding out the answer to Sam's eternal question and I was left kind of, well, I don't really know.
I was disappointed with the initial reveal that he was always in 1973 and he'd taken Sam Tyler's history, his undercover legend, as his real life. I kept thinking that it was too early in the hour to tell us what was actually going on so it must be a red herring. Because, honestly? That explanation really wasn't flying for me. If that had been true, how would Sam know about modern policing policies and techniques? How would he know about events in the future and music that had yet to be released in 1973? No, not buying that. Have to say though that John Simm knocked those scenes with Sam struggling with all Morgan was telling him out of the park. The boy's good, very good.
Having been underwhelmed by the 'always in 1973' explanation, I was pleased that they pulled it back to Sam actually being in a coma in 2006 and dreaming about being in 1973. Thing is, though, because that was the only way it could realistically go after the false reveal, I felt a bit cheated because I didn't feel like I got the big 'wow, so that's what it's all been about' pay off that I wanted. Also thought it was incredibly sad that Sam felt more alive in his coma than he did in the real world. In fact, his real existence was such a pale comparison to his vivid dreams that he threw himself off the roof of the police station to get back to his fantasy world. Incidentally, the final scene in the car where Sam could still hear the people in his hospital room in 2006 indicated that he was back in a coma. Surely a fall from that height would just have killed him? *shrugs*
My friend, Jenna, has been watching this show and texted me straight after to say that she didn't get it. She had a completely different take on the last episode from me. Mine was that Sam dreamed it all, got back to 2006 and decided he'd rather be back in his coma with Annie, Gene et al. Jenna's take on it was that Sam was in 1973 all the time and had some kind of episode in the tunnel that made him realise he couldn't betray Gene and the team. Her version left her with lots of unanswered questions so she's now adopted my version on the grounds that it makes her head hurt less! *chuckles* Makes me wonder what other people took from that ep though. Anyone care to share?
I wish there had been more Gene Hunt in this episode. I know this was ultimately Sam's story and we needed to follow it all through Sam's eyes but, for me, the Gene Genie made this show. On paper, I should have hated him. A sexist, arrogant bully of a man, blazing his way through life with his fists and little regard for the law he was sworn to uphold. But...but Philip Glenister gave him heart and made him a joy to watch. Bring on the 80s set sequel and pray to all that's holy that it centres on DCI Hunt. Although, if Sam dreamed the whole thing, how can Gene be a real person?
Life On Mars has been pretty hit and miss at times but on the whole when it was good it was really good. There have been some really funny moments and the acting has been outstanding throughout.
On an entirely different subject, I came across this manipulation of Jensen today. It's by
supernana494 .
I'm not usually a fan of manipulations but this one is really well done and it makes me think of an older Alec, still hiding his barcode. Which he probably wouldn't be doing, especially as the events depicted in the ASHverse stories by
alethialia are now pretty much my definitive version of what happened to the transgenics after the events of Freak Nation. *grins*
Oh, and I have a very happy brother tonight after his beloved Manchester United destroyed Roma 7-1 at Old Trafford. I saw the first half of the game and they pretty much handed Roma their arses on a plate, complete with garnish. By my reckoning, that makes it three English teams looking likely to be in the Champions League semis. Man Utd and Chelsea are definitely through and, barring any hiccups tomorrow, Liverpool are looking good for a place in the semis too. The chances of bringing the trophy to these shores are looking good!