(no subject)
So, like, I haven't posted in ages. As usual. Haven't had much time for reading and commenting, either, so don't think I'm ignoring people, just been stupidly busy.
I've wanted to post, actually, but there's been stupid amounts of stuff happening on the RL front, and I'm just not quite ready to put that all out there just yet. But it sort of feels like I should mention it before I start writing about frivolous fandomy stuff.
But... I'll post something later about it. Deal?
So, back on the frivolous fandomy stuff, I'm a huge Life on Mars fan from way back (er, around 2007?), and I've been LOVING Ashes to Ashes, recently, as well. I'm both dreadfully sad and excruciatingly excited that tomorrow is the FINAL EPISODE EVER IN THAT WHOLE UNIVERSE. And I totally need to talk about it, okay?
.
Seriously, this season has felt more and more like it's actually Life on Mars series 5, and frankly I'm loving it.
I have a few theories about what's going on, but can I just say, first up, that if the whole "seeing stars" thing means that they're actually IN SPACE AND ON THEIR WAY TO MARS (GET IT, LIFE ON *MARS*?!? *VOMIT*), like in the American version, I WILL BE MOST DISPLEASED, PLZKTHX. Er, just getting that out there. :)
Actually, from here, it looks like it's all going to resolve quite satisfactorily. I'm not sure I want a surprise ending. Life on Mars was - I think - pretty much the best ending to a television series that I've ever seen. It was (in some ways) surprising, and left things ambiguous, but it still fit so perfectly with the tone and the character, and felt like a natural progression - a real ending.
So I wasn't too impressed when Ashes to Ashes started. I like ambiguity, and I didn't necessarily want that 70s/80s world to become some sort of objective place that people could visit. I liked Sam, and I tell you, it's taken me almost the whole 3 series to warm to Alex. But I like the universe, and I like the concept, and I'm intrigued. And now I want to know why she can go there too, if it was all in Sam's head.
And I think it needs a different ending to Life on Mars, but it needs one that makes sense, that was there all along, and that casts the whole thing in a slightly different light, maybe, but doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the story and universe.
So, my theory is that Gene is that dead policeman who's been haunting Alex (or, at the very least, was maybe his boss, or something), and he's the one keeping them all there, in an attempt to - I don't even know - create some sort of alternate reality where he can still be a policeman?
And that doesn't answer any of the more fundamental metaphysical questions about the universe (ilke, er, HOW he does it), but it would definitely satisfy me on a character level.
And then the others (Chris, Ray, Shaz) could all be dead in the "real world" (the future, or whatever) - or maybe they're like Alex or Sam - but have forgotten "reality". But clearly there's something more there. They've all come across situations that have traumatised them more than you'd expect - Shaz with the serial killer, Ray with the fire, and Chris with the police whistle thing last week. And they're all seeing stars.
Still vaguely baffled about them hearing Nelson's (the bartender from Life on Mars) voice, though, and I have no damn idea who or what Keats is. Not to mention whether he really knows who Gene is, and why he keeps being there when police officers die (and possibly causing it in the first place). And what's with the religious thing? Is that important? But it seems clear that his "job" is to try and woo people away from Gene, which will help them break out of that world somehow? Gah, what the hell?
OK, so now I totally just want to know how it ends.
And I like that it's ending in a different show, so that LoM can keep its ambiguous ending separate from whatever happens in this show, if it wants to.
But yeah... is Sam dead? Is that dude from the other week really Sam? And if not - if it's all how Gene described it, that he helped Sam fake his own death and then never saw him again - why were Gene and Chris and Ray saying odd things like "if she knew who he really was, she'd go off her head", or whatever? Gah!
But yeah, I've clung to all the little mentions (and appearances - maybe - um -- srsly, wtf is going on!?) of Sam in this series, and even though I know it's just not going to happen, I so want an appearance in the finale (though that silhouette of him in the trailer is just too similar to John Simm for it to be actually him... *sigh*)
Also, wah, Viv! *sob* He was really getting to be one of my favourites (and I know it was intentional to up the emotional punch, but still. That hurt. Especially Gene's line about how the first thing Viv said to him was "all northerners look alike". Omg. So sad!)
OK, I'm done. *sigh*
There might be flailing tomorrow, but I've got a pile of freelance stuff to do over the weekend, so it might be delayed a bit. But flailing there will be!
OK END OF ASHES TO ASHES SPOILERS. IT'S SAFE TO KEEP READING NOW YOU GUYS.
ON TO THE DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS!
And I've been watching the new Doctor Who, as well.
It's really feeling a bit like they're going to reboot the whole universe. It would be so easy for them to "unwrite" all of RTD's era, and all of Torchwood and all of the stuff that made me love the show in the first place.
It probably goes without saying that I will be extremely sad if this happens.
I mean, I really like this new Doctor. He's endearing, nerdy and kind of cute, and there's more than a little bit of "Tennant" about the way he talks (especially earlier on in the series). But I kind of feel like he's lacking... motivation? Like, there's no deep dark thing that's driving him on, as far as I can see, or at least not one as dramatic as Nine's or Ten's. And even though I like Amy, too (she's adorable), and Rory, I'm just not feeling the strong feelings about them either way.
But I find it really, really hard to connect with Moffat's characters in general. I think he's an amazing writer. He writes the most clever stories, with perfect plot twists that wrap up without a loose thread to be seen, and he writes witty, sharp dialogue, and can twist the mood of a scene in an instant with astounding precision. But. I just don't connect with his writing. I like most of the episodes he wrote during RTD's time (though the library ones lost me a bit), but the only ones I rewatch are the Empty Child and Doctor Dances (mainly for Jack, and because it's an awesome story with Nine, and there just aren't enough of those, and did I mention WW2, and a happy ending, which became quite thin on the ground after Nine left), but I did rather like his characters in that - especially Nancy.
But I'm struggling. Maybe it's the lack of RTD-style melodrama. Maybe I'm just a simpleton who wants to watch an overly dramatic soap opera with time travel and pretty men in suits. Who knows? *cough* But I kind of miss RTD's - not sentimentality, per se, but I kind of feel like - as sloppy as some of his plotting was - there's some core of emotional realness that draws me to his characters. Where for me Moffat's characters feel a bit more like (often endearing and very useful, granted) plot devices. I don't know. YMMV, etc. But I just had to get that out of my system.
It just feels like a completely different show, I guess, and I think it'll need to win me back all over again. *sigh*
Also, plz don't unwrite Torchwood. *wants it back now, I don't care*
Also, I watched Desperate Housewives for teh Barrowman, and oh god that's several hours of my life that I'm never getting back. Ugh.
In conclusion, I should probably watch less TV. :)
I've wanted to post, actually, but there's been stupid amounts of stuff happening on the RL front, and I'm just not quite ready to put that all out there just yet. But it sort of feels like I should mention it before I start writing about frivolous fandomy stuff.
But... I'll post something later about it. Deal?
So, back on the frivolous fandomy stuff, I'm a huge Life on Mars fan from way back (er, around 2007?), and I've been LOVING Ashes to Ashes, recently, as well. I'm both dreadfully sad and excruciatingly excited that tomorrow is the FINAL EPISODE EVER IN THAT WHOLE UNIVERSE. And I totally need to talk about it, okay?
.
Seriously, this season has felt more and more like it's actually Life on Mars series 5, and frankly I'm loving it.
I have a few theories about what's going on, but can I just say, first up, that if the whole "seeing stars" thing means that they're actually IN SPACE AND ON THEIR WAY TO MARS (GET IT, LIFE ON *MARS*?!? *VOMIT*), like in the American version, I WILL BE MOST DISPLEASED, PLZKTHX. Er, just getting that out there. :)
Actually, from here, it looks like it's all going to resolve quite satisfactorily. I'm not sure I want a surprise ending. Life on Mars was - I think - pretty much the best ending to a television series that I've ever seen. It was (in some ways) surprising, and left things ambiguous, but it still fit so perfectly with the tone and the character, and felt like a natural progression - a real ending.
So I wasn't too impressed when Ashes to Ashes started. I like ambiguity, and I didn't necessarily want that 70s/80s world to become some sort of objective place that people could visit. I liked Sam, and I tell you, it's taken me almost the whole 3 series to warm to Alex. But I like the universe, and I like the concept, and I'm intrigued. And now I want to know why she can go there too, if it was all in Sam's head.
And I think it needs a different ending to Life on Mars, but it needs one that makes sense, that was there all along, and that casts the whole thing in a slightly different light, maybe, but doesn't fundamentally change the nature of the story and universe.
So, my theory is that Gene is that dead policeman who's been haunting Alex (or, at the very least, was maybe his boss, or something), and he's the one keeping them all there, in an attempt to - I don't even know - create some sort of alternate reality where he can still be a policeman?
And that doesn't answer any of the more fundamental metaphysical questions about the universe (ilke, er, HOW he does it), but it would definitely satisfy me on a character level.
And then the others (Chris, Ray, Shaz) could all be dead in the "real world" (the future, or whatever) - or maybe they're like Alex or Sam - but have forgotten "reality". But clearly there's something more there. They've all come across situations that have traumatised them more than you'd expect - Shaz with the serial killer, Ray with the fire, and Chris with the police whistle thing last week. And they're all seeing stars.
Still vaguely baffled about them hearing Nelson's (the bartender from Life on Mars) voice, though, and I have no damn idea who or what Keats is. Not to mention whether he really knows who Gene is, and why he keeps being there when police officers die (and possibly causing it in the first place). And what's with the religious thing? Is that important? But it seems clear that his "job" is to try and woo people away from Gene, which will help them break out of that world somehow? Gah, what the hell?
OK, so now I totally just want to know how it ends.
And I like that it's ending in a different show, so that LoM can keep its ambiguous ending separate from whatever happens in this show, if it wants to.
But yeah... is Sam dead? Is that dude from the other week really Sam? And if not - if it's all how Gene described it, that he helped Sam fake his own death and then never saw him again - why were Gene and Chris and Ray saying odd things like "if she knew who he really was, she'd go off her head", or whatever? Gah!
But yeah, I've clung to all the little mentions (and appearances - maybe - um -- srsly, wtf is going on!?) of Sam in this series, and even though I know it's just not going to happen, I so want an appearance in the finale (though that silhouette of him in the trailer is just too similar to John Simm for it to be actually him... *sigh*)
Also, wah, Viv! *sob* He was really getting to be one of my favourites (and I know it was intentional to up the emotional punch, but still. That hurt. Especially Gene's line about how the first thing Viv said to him was "all northerners look alike". Omg. So sad!)
OK, I'm done. *sigh*
There might be flailing tomorrow, but I've got a pile of freelance stuff to do over the weekend, so it might be delayed a bit. But flailing there will be!
OK END OF ASHES TO ASHES SPOILERS. IT'S SAFE TO KEEP READING NOW YOU GUYS.
ON TO THE DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS!
And I've been watching the new Doctor Who, as well.
It's really feeling a bit like they're going to reboot the whole universe. It would be so easy for them to "unwrite" all of RTD's era, and all of Torchwood and all of the stuff that made me love the show in the first place.
It probably goes without saying that I will be extremely sad if this happens.
I mean, I really like this new Doctor. He's endearing, nerdy and kind of cute, and there's more than a little bit of "Tennant" about the way he talks (especially earlier on in the series). But I kind of feel like he's lacking... motivation? Like, there's no deep dark thing that's driving him on, as far as I can see, or at least not one as dramatic as Nine's or Ten's. And even though I like Amy, too (she's adorable), and Rory, I'm just not feeling the strong feelings about them either way.
But I find it really, really hard to connect with Moffat's characters in general. I think he's an amazing writer. He writes the most clever stories, with perfect plot twists that wrap up without a loose thread to be seen, and he writes witty, sharp dialogue, and can twist the mood of a scene in an instant with astounding precision. But. I just don't connect with his writing. I like most of the episodes he wrote during RTD's time (though the library ones lost me a bit), but the only ones I rewatch are the Empty Child and Doctor Dances (mainly for Jack, and because it's an awesome story with Nine, and there just aren't enough of those, and did I mention WW2, and a happy ending, which became quite thin on the ground after Nine left), but I did rather like his characters in that - especially Nancy.
But I'm struggling. Maybe it's the lack of RTD-style melodrama. Maybe I'm just a simpleton who wants to watch an overly dramatic soap opera with time travel and pretty men in suits. Who knows? *cough* But I kind of miss RTD's - not sentimentality, per se, but I kind of feel like - as sloppy as some of his plotting was - there's some core of emotional realness that draws me to his characters. Where for me Moffat's characters feel a bit more like (often endearing and very useful, granted) plot devices. I don't know. YMMV, etc. But I just had to get that out of my system.
It just feels like a completely different show, I guess, and I think it'll need to win me back all over again. *sigh*
Also, plz don't unwrite Torchwood. *wants it back now, I don't care*
Also, I watched Desperate Housewives for teh Barrowman, and oh god that's several hours of my life that I'm never getting back. Ugh.
In conclusion, I should probably watch less TV. :)