I may be a super harsh critic...
"I think the first episode and the last episode of Life on Mars are two of the greatest pieces of TV I've ever seen" - John Simm at the BBC
It's the second time Simm has said this, and... really, Simm? Really?
When the show finished, Simm was kind of damning with faint praise. He didn't say much about the ending at all. Even when everyone else was going on, and on, and on about it. No, that was it. Stop the bus, I want to get off. Sam Tyler's dead. I'm going to admit that having read and seen other interviews with him and noticed how he quite often later criticised the fuck out of certain productions he did, I'd assumed that one day we'd get him doing the same with our show. The truth would out and Simm would concede that there were myriad problematic elements with the conclusion and he was surprised and mildly creeped out that almost everyone cheered for the main character's suicide. I thought we'd get him saying something like he thought a brilliant show was let down a little bit by a rushed final episode. (Admitting that perhaps he was partly to, oh, I don't know, blame?)
But it hasn't happened. Either he's getting better at lying to reporters, or he genuinely liked the final episode of Life on Mars. Even beyond my hatred of various aspects, it's a crap episode of television in terms of plot and pacing (and yet others would argue characterisation.) It's truly, terribly shit compared with what went before. And I said that even when I was jumping up and down in glee because Sam/Gene OTP 4eva, yo. The melodrama is out the wazoo, in a show that had previously done a damn good job of being more dramatic than melodramatic, always paring it back to subtlety. A sense of humour is non-existent until the final moments. The dialogue is lacking. A couple of scenes are horrendously acted. There's really too much plot and not enough shown of each vital plotty element.
So. I don't get it. I understand liking the episode for what it gives us in terms of Sam 'going back to 1973', I understand thinking it's a happy ending. I don't understand not seeing how poorly constructed or badly paced it is, I truly don't.
I was originally going to post this to my personal journal, but I am fairly sure the rest of my friendslist think I have a sickness. And they'd be right.
It's the second time Simm has said this, and... really, Simm? Really?
When the show finished, Simm was kind of damning with faint praise. He didn't say much about the ending at all. Even when everyone else was going on, and on, and on about it. No, that was it. Stop the bus, I want to get off. Sam Tyler's dead. I'm going to admit that having read and seen other interviews with him and noticed how he quite often later criticised the fuck out of certain productions he did, I'd assumed that one day we'd get him doing the same with our show. The truth would out and Simm would concede that there were myriad problematic elements with the conclusion and he was surprised and mildly creeped out that almost everyone cheered for the main character's suicide. I thought we'd get him saying something like he thought a brilliant show was let down a little bit by a rushed final episode. (Admitting that perhaps he was partly to, oh, I don't know, blame?)
But it hasn't happened. Either he's getting better at lying to reporters, or he genuinely liked the final episode of Life on Mars. Even beyond my hatred of various aspects, it's a crap episode of television in terms of plot and pacing (and yet others would argue characterisation.) It's truly, terribly shit compared with what went before. And I said that even when I was jumping up and down in glee because Sam/Gene OTP 4eva, yo. The melodrama is out the wazoo, in a show that had previously done a damn good job of being more dramatic than melodramatic, always paring it back to subtlety. A sense of humour is non-existent until the final moments. The dialogue is lacking. A couple of scenes are horrendously acted. There's really too much plot and not enough shown of each vital plotty element.
So. I don't get it. I understand liking the episode for what it gives us in terms of Sam 'going back to 1973', I understand thinking it's a happy ending. I don't understand not seeing how poorly constructed or badly paced it is, I truly don't.
I was originally going to post this to my personal journal, but I am fairly sure the rest of my friendslist think I have a sickness. And they'd be right.