Dust to Dust
And that is how you do a series finale. Well, almost.
It was damn near prefect. I do have one quibble and it's pretty major, so I'm going to get it out of the way quickly. It was Alex. Her storyline was wrapped up way to quickly. She's been fighting for so long to return to her daughter. Just giving in like that seemed so rushed. And when exactly did she die? Shortly after she was shot? Or was she actually in 2006 at the start of the series? I still want answers, show! And the pain was, it felt like Alex was taking a back-seat in this episode to pretty much everyone, which should not have happened given that she was the protagonist of the series.
However, I'm quite aware that twenty minutes was cut out of the episode and maybe it was contained within that twenty minutes. There needs to be an extended version (DVD release, I'm looking at you).
That being said, the rest of it I thought was brilliant.
First of all, the big reveal was wonderfully done. I'm pretty sure everybody on LJ had guessed in advance, but that's not a bad thing. That's a brilliant thing because the clues had been planted so well by the writers all season. The LoM/A2A writers had been getting better and better at season arcs as the shows went on and this really was the best of them and such a high to go out on.
What surprised me was how early in the episode the Gene exposure happened. Having being killed as an arrogant kid does explain his personality so, so well. And I have to say, as much as I don't like Gene most of the time, seeing him so defeated that he couldn't do anything while Keats tore his world apart around him was heartbreaking.
I said earlier this week that it was the trio of Shaz, Ray and Chris that I was really become invested it, and all that wonderful development was served so well. First, they took control of the chaos, solved the case and planned the sting.
And then they found and we found out the truth. Shaz, as so many had predicted was stabbed with a screwdriver. I had no really theory as to how Chris died, had a death that made completely prefect, sense. I had a theory based on little but characterisation that Ray was a suicide, but him having killed himself after having beaten a kid to death tied that Ray that's so likeable despite his many, many, many flaws in Ashes to Ashes with that despicable cop that killed a suspect in custody back in Life on Mars. It also added new dimensions to his role in 3x05, which of course, had him befriending and turning on a fellow cop who beat a kid to death.
And they left Gene, just like Keats had said they would when the scales fell from their eyes.
Which brings me to Keats. I don't think we needed to know what Keats was. Some horrible creature that lurks in the afterlife. Daniel Mays was fantastic in the episode, becoming less and less human and more and more...I don't know what but in his last scene in the episode, I was half-expecting his skin to split open revealing some horrific, twisted monster inside. Give that man an acting award.
Damn, that elevator scene nearly killed me. It was going down. Down! I was damn near screaming as I was watching “WHEN YOU ARE DEAD DO NOT STEP IN A LIFT GOING DOWN!” during that scene (I wondered whether Chris and Shaz would go help Gene, but that Ray would choose to go with Keats, choosing to go to Hell for killing somebody maybe also committing suicide- I would have loved that happening as much as I liked the ending we got).
Thinking about it, I do have another quibble, which was that we never got to see the trio leave Keats and Keat's reaction. I think I would have enjoyed that more than the inevitable Chris and Ray save the day in the nick of time scene.
Finally, the goodbye. I've covered my thoughts on Alex (really, I want to say more about Alex in this episode, but it was like she wasn't much of an entity at all in this episode).
Loved how it tied into Life on Mars through Nelson, the pub and the song itself. Love, loved, loved the trio bickering as they entered, and Shaz shipping Ray/Chris just after she and Chris got back together. They really are an OT3 and I loved the writers recognising that.
And the prefect way to enter the show, Gene about to break in a new cop that's wandered in. Because the afterlife goes on.
Okay three points that don't fit in but also should be mentioned:
1. Annie closure! We got Annie closure! Thank you show. That was what I wanted.
2. You've got to give the franchise an award for having an 100% fatality rate of series regulars, beating even Blackadder Goes Forth.
3. Finally: Rest in Peace Quattro.
It was damn near prefect. I do have one quibble and it's pretty major, so I'm going to get it out of the way quickly. It was Alex. Her storyline was wrapped up way to quickly. She's been fighting for so long to return to her daughter. Just giving in like that seemed so rushed. And when exactly did she die? Shortly after she was shot? Or was she actually in 2006 at the start of the series? I still want answers, show! And the pain was, it felt like Alex was taking a back-seat in this episode to pretty much everyone, which should not have happened given that she was the protagonist of the series.
However, I'm quite aware that twenty minutes was cut out of the episode and maybe it was contained within that twenty minutes. There needs to be an extended version (DVD release, I'm looking at you).
That being said, the rest of it I thought was brilliant.
First of all, the big reveal was wonderfully done. I'm pretty sure everybody on LJ had guessed in advance, but that's not a bad thing. That's a brilliant thing because the clues had been planted so well by the writers all season. The LoM/A2A writers had been getting better and better at season arcs as the shows went on and this really was the best of them and such a high to go out on.
What surprised me was how early in the episode the Gene exposure happened. Having being killed as an arrogant kid does explain his personality so, so well. And I have to say, as much as I don't like Gene most of the time, seeing him so defeated that he couldn't do anything while Keats tore his world apart around him was heartbreaking.
I said earlier this week that it was the trio of Shaz, Ray and Chris that I was really become invested it, and all that wonderful development was served so well. First, they took control of the chaos, solved the case and planned the sting.
And then they found and we found out the truth. Shaz, as so many had predicted was stabbed with a screwdriver. I had no really theory as to how Chris died, had a death that made completely prefect, sense. I had a theory based on little but characterisation that Ray was a suicide, but him having killed himself after having beaten a kid to death tied that Ray that's so likeable despite his many, many, many flaws in Ashes to Ashes with that despicable cop that killed a suspect in custody back in Life on Mars. It also added new dimensions to his role in 3x05, which of course, had him befriending and turning on a fellow cop who beat a kid to death.
And they left Gene, just like Keats had said they would when the scales fell from their eyes.
Which brings me to Keats. I don't think we needed to know what Keats was. Some horrible creature that lurks in the afterlife. Daniel Mays was fantastic in the episode, becoming less and less human and more and more...I don't know what but in his last scene in the episode, I was half-expecting his skin to split open revealing some horrific, twisted monster inside. Give that man an acting award.
Damn, that elevator scene nearly killed me. It was going down. Down! I was damn near screaming as I was watching “WHEN YOU ARE DEAD DO NOT STEP IN A LIFT GOING DOWN!” during that scene (I wondered whether Chris and Shaz would go help Gene, but that Ray would choose to go with Keats, choosing to go to Hell for killing somebody maybe also committing suicide- I would have loved that happening as much as I liked the ending we got).
Thinking about it, I do have another quibble, which was that we never got to see the trio leave Keats and Keat's reaction. I think I would have enjoyed that more than the inevitable Chris and Ray save the day in the nick of time scene.
Finally, the goodbye. I've covered my thoughts on Alex (really, I want to say more about Alex in this episode, but it was like she wasn't much of an entity at all in this episode).
Loved how it tied into Life on Mars through Nelson, the pub and the song itself. Love, loved, loved the trio bickering as they entered, and Shaz shipping Ray/Chris just after she and Chris got back together. They really are an OT3 and I loved the writers recognising that.
And the prefect way to enter the show, Gene about to break in a new cop that's wandered in. Because the afterlife goes on.
Okay three points that don't fit in but also should be mentioned:
1. Annie closure! We got Annie closure! Thank you show. That was what I wanted.
2. You've got to give the franchise an award for having an 100% fatality rate of series regulars, beating even Blackadder Goes Forth.
3. Finally: Rest in Peace Quattro.