Ashes to ashes...this is not a post about how Icelandic eruption's screwing up European air traffic
Who would have thought, 4 years ago when I started watching Life on Mars, that Ray Carling would become my favourite character from the Gene Hunt's team? Dean Andrews has been great in Ashes to ashes, and was wonderful in the latest Ray-centric episode. The character's progress since Life On Mars is really amazing.
So Keats, the DCI who wants to "expose" Gene Hunt, is a regular now; he appears in the credits; he steps in cases; I think that Keats is a wannabe-Iago. So far he's failed to drive a wedge between Gene and his mates, but he represents a sort of self-destructive side within the CID. As Iago could be seen as Othello's dark face, Keats is Gene's. It's like the series has changed its pattern and chosen to follow Shakespeare instead of Stevenson.
The way Keats talks to people en aparté , especially to Ray in this Ray-centric episode, while being within earshot , is quite histrionic and recalls a play.
Is Ashes to ashes a sort of Morality play, a modern Psychomachia? Whose psyché are we in? Alex'? Gene's? Sam Tyler's?
Btw I love how Gene got it wrong again--unless he did it on purpose just like he put crap in Keats' offfice, when saying "psychiatrist", and that Alex muttered "psychological". This week's case wasn't very exciting (even though for a few minutes I wondered whether the half-face man was actually wearing the uniform of a fireman) but it was a good excuse to recall the Falklands war, see footages of 1983 election and hear scary Maggie again. And since our heroin is called alex DRAKE I couldn't help remembering Mitterrand's words bout Thatcher having Marilyn's mouth and Dracula's eyes!
I enjoyed the episode because of Ray, and when he kissed Alex's cheek I grinned in front of the screen! We didn't learn anything more concering Sam, but Chris mentioned him through the phrase "God is in the details" (God not the Devil!), and of course...there was that moment again, just after Gene said "well done Ray" when the Life On Mars music kicked in, as the camera zoomed in and Ray stared at us, so I guess that we’re going to get a Chris-centric episode where the same thing happens. Every character will find a closure, before we get the final answer.
ETA: The unforgettable rendition of "Uptown Girl" from the previous episode is on youtube!
Click to view