all we need is the summer time (hey hey)
Now this is me, talking about Ashes to Ashes. Finally. I don't think I've ever properly talked about my thoughts on this show in the three years it's been on (just random references to watching and loving it), which is a shame, because it is amazing. I held, well, I hold Life On Mars on a pretty big pedestal, but rather than being the second-rate spin-off I thought it would be (and felt it was during the first series), Ashes to Ashes has truly earned its place in my hall of fame of teevee. They are two parts of the same whole, they are two stories about two very different people in very different times, but it is all the same story.
Spoiler alert: Next week we are going to find out that it was the Weeping Angels what sent both Sam Tyler and Alex Drake back in time. Duh. Easy, mystery solved. It also explains how Lucian Msamati got from 1980s London to 1500s Venice.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Seriously. That has been my thoughts after every single episode this series but even moreso now. "Get your coat. You've pulled." When she said that I paused, threw my headphones off, and silently screamed out of shock and happiness for about 30 seconds. I have probably been the only person who watches this show who isn't really a Alex/Gene shipper but OH MY FUCKING GOD, this episode cured me of that. The dance. To True! And he kissed her forehead! I was literally flailing around on my bed and and biting my sheet so I wouldn't make giddy shrieking noises. The only reason I wasn't jumping for joy was that I am grossly hungover. And they were so close to kissing it's like Fight the Future all over again! Only instead of the bee, it was fucking Jim Keats. I said to myself, the ONLY way that them being interrupted ("WAIT IN THE BEDROOM"!) is okay is if the person at the door is Sam Tyler. BUT NO.
I've been theorising that Sam is going to show up in the last episode. Even whilst we thought he was dead. (Because he's Sam Tyler, he's never REALLY dead.) But aha! Sam and Gene faked Sam's death, and Gene didn't ask why because he trusted Sam! (♥ ♥ ♥) So now that Alex is going to Lancashire, I feel it in the air, in the fucking air, we are going to see Sam Tyler one last time. (Or I will cry. I miss you so much, Sam Tyler. I haven't even checked John Simm's IMDb page because I'm so afraid that it's on there or not on there, I just HAVE TO BELIEVE HE WILL RETURN.)
It was kind of weird that Keats wrote "I think we've found our grave" on the back of that photo, and then said it to her face. Because I almost thought that Sam had written that, perhaps to Gene, only he couldn't have because Keats just got the roll developed. Either way, I have NO idea what's going to happen, especially with that dead soldier ghost who looks a bit too much like Chris. 6 6 20 is his epaulette number --too bad it has nothing to do with 26 6 2010 from Doctor Who!-- but uh-oh, Ray's friend told him there was a fire in the records back in Manchester.
As much as LoM had an epic ending, it really didn't solve the mystery at all. I was okay with that at the time, but more and more I am loving that with this third series, it's all being connected, everything's weaving into the fabric and it's all coming to something very very big. And they're all involved. With the two series of LoM and the first two of AtA, it was just Sam and Alex who were out of place, who saw something off with the world. Which gave more evidence to the theory that it was time travel, or that it was their minds creating this world. But now it seems like the world is dissolving. Now Shaz, Ray and Chris are seeing stars and hearing music and voices. And Chris knows who it is! NELSON! FROM THE PUB! BACK IN MANCHESTER! OH, ♥! The weird thing is that Nelson DID seem to know a bit more than he was letting on. Remember that conversation he has with Sam in either the first or second episode of LoM? I honestly don't remember it that well myself but I do remember that he did seem to come off as a somewhat omniscient figure.
I've been meaning to say ever since last week (or the week before) when Ray started seeing the night sky like Shaz, and described it as being like they were astronauts in space -- I AM SO WORRIED. Remember this? I heard him say those words and all of a sudden my brain was just like, PING, and I am still so terrified that this show is going to end with all of them waking up in their holodeck stasis chamber and Nelson is the captain of the HMS Bowie or some shit. (BOWIE ONE!) However, even the worst is true and if that IS the ending they've always planned, and the writers of the American version somehow got a hold of it, I feel like Matthew Graham wouldn't use it to end AtA now, even just to spite the American version.
I love all of these characters so much, I love how they've grown; Ray most of all. I've always loved Chris from the early days and he has truly come into his own especially with the events of this week's episode (AND GENE HUGGED HIM, OMG), and Shaz is amazing and needs to get promoted next week or I will hit something. But Raymondo! Think of how horrible he was in Life on Mars! And now, what with the Falklands episode, and him duetting Danny Boy with Shaz (oh my god, his voice is so lovely! who knew!) -- he has evolved more as a person, for the good, than possibly any character I've seen on teevee. At least for a long time.
I love that they cast Daniel Mays as Keats. I've been meaning to talk about this since the premiere of the third series. He is an amazing actor; I've loved him since Vera Drake and his baby face is just the perfect casting for this character which started out ambivalent, got a bit creepy, and is now just terrifying. He's playing him perfectly, you can see in his eyes that he believes he is doing this all for the good of the Met. Even when he killed Viv. But the motherfucker killed Viv (and scared the shit out of me -- that whilstling!) and he must go down.
So, my checklist for next week: Alex and Gene must get with the making out, Sam Tyler must show up, Shaz must get promoted, Keats must go down, and hmm, let's say, Ray and Chris have got to do some more doubles body popping (omg how amazing was that?!) or I will be very very very sad. Which I will probably be anyway.
I am worried about my emotional well-being after this ends. The end of Life on Mars broke me to pieces; I cried way too hard for way too long. However, what I don't think I ever mentioned is that literally right before watching it I watched the very last episode of The West Wing (for the first time). So it went: watching TWW's Tomorrow, watching the finale of LoM, finding out that Kurt Vonnegut had just died. So that might have had something to do with it.
I love you guys. I'll miss you.
Spoiler alert: Next week we are going to find out that it was the Weeping Angels what sent both Sam Tyler and Alex Drake back in time. Duh. Easy, mystery solved. It also explains how Lucian Msamati got from 1980s London to 1500s Venice.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Seriously. That has been my thoughts after every single episode this series but even moreso now. "Get your coat. You've pulled." When she said that I paused, threw my headphones off, and silently screamed out of shock and happiness for about 30 seconds. I have probably been the only person who watches this show who isn't really a Alex/Gene shipper but OH MY FUCKING GOD, this episode cured me of that. The dance. To True! And he kissed her forehead! I was literally flailing around on my bed and and biting my sheet so I wouldn't make giddy shrieking noises. The only reason I wasn't jumping for joy was that I am grossly hungover. And they were so close to kissing it's like Fight the Future all over again! Only instead of the bee, it was fucking Jim Keats. I said to myself, the ONLY way that them being interrupted ("WAIT IN THE BEDROOM"!) is okay is if the person at the door is Sam Tyler. BUT NO.
I've been theorising that Sam is going to show up in the last episode. Even whilst we thought he was dead. (Because he's Sam Tyler, he's never REALLY dead.) But aha! Sam and Gene faked Sam's death, and Gene didn't ask why because he trusted Sam! (♥ ♥ ♥) So now that Alex is going to Lancashire, I feel it in the air, in the fucking air, we are going to see Sam Tyler one last time. (Or I will cry. I miss you so much, Sam Tyler. I haven't even checked John Simm's IMDb page because I'm so afraid that it's on there or not on there, I just HAVE TO BELIEVE HE WILL RETURN.)
It was kind of weird that Keats wrote "I think we've found our grave" on the back of that photo, and then said it to her face. Because I almost thought that Sam had written that, perhaps to Gene, only he couldn't have because Keats just got the roll developed. Either way, I have NO idea what's going to happen, especially with that dead soldier ghost who looks a bit too much like Chris. 6 6 20 is his epaulette number --too bad it has nothing to do with 26 6 2010 from Doctor Who!-- but uh-oh, Ray's friend told him there was a fire in the records back in Manchester.
As much as LoM had an epic ending, it really didn't solve the mystery at all. I was okay with that at the time, but more and more I am loving that with this third series, it's all being connected, everything's weaving into the fabric and it's all coming to something very very big. And they're all involved. With the two series of LoM and the first two of AtA, it was just Sam and Alex who were out of place, who saw something off with the world. Which gave more evidence to the theory that it was time travel, or that it was their minds creating this world. But now it seems like the world is dissolving. Now Shaz, Ray and Chris are seeing stars and hearing music and voices. And Chris knows who it is! NELSON! FROM THE PUB! BACK IN MANCHESTER! OH, ♥! The weird thing is that Nelson DID seem to know a bit more than he was letting on. Remember that conversation he has with Sam in either the first or second episode of LoM? I honestly don't remember it that well myself but I do remember that he did seem to come off as a somewhat omniscient figure.
I've been meaning to say ever since last week (or the week before) when Ray started seeing the night sky like Shaz, and described it as being like they were astronauts in space -- I AM SO WORRIED. Remember this? I heard him say those words and all of a sudden my brain was just like, PING, and I am still so terrified that this show is going to end with all of them waking up in their holodeck stasis chamber and Nelson is the captain of the HMS Bowie or some shit. (BOWIE ONE!) However, even the worst is true and if that IS the ending they've always planned, and the writers of the American version somehow got a hold of it, I feel like Matthew Graham wouldn't use it to end AtA now, even just to spite the American version.
I love all of these characters so much, I love how they've grown; Ray most of all. I've always loved Chris from the early days and he has truly come into his own especially with the events of this week's episode (AND GENE HUGGED HIM, OMG), and Shaz is amazing and needs to get promoted next week or I will hit something. But Raymondo! Think of how horrible he was in Life on Mars! And now, what with the Falklands episode, and him duetting Danny Boy with Shaz (oh my god, his voice is so lovely! who knew!) -- he has evolved more as a person, for the good, than possibly any character I've seen on teevee. At least for a long time.
I love that they cast Daniel Mays as Keats. I've been meaning to talk about this since the premiere of the third series. He is an amazing actor; I've loved him since Vera Drake and his baby face is just the perfect casting for this character which started out ambivalent, got a bit creepy, and is now just terrifying. He's playing him perfectly, you can see in his eyes that he believes he is doing this all for the good of the Met. Even when he killed Viv. But the motherfucker killed Viv (and scared the shit out of me -- that whilstling!) and he must go down.
So, my checklist for next week: Alex and Gene must get with the making out, Sam Tyler must show up, Shaz must get promoted, Keats must go down, and hmm, let's say, Ray and Chris have got to do some more doubles body popping (omg how amazing was that?!) or I will be very very very sad. Which I will probably be anyway.
I am worried about my emotional well-being after this ends. The end of Life on Mars broke me to pieces; I cried way too hard for way too long. However, what I don't think I ever mentioned is that literally right before watching it I watched the very last episode of The West Wing (for the first time). So it went: watching TWW's Tomorrow, watching the finale of LoM, finding out that Kurt Vonnegut had just died. So that might have had something to do with it.
I love you guys. I'll miss you.