Life on Mars 2.1 and 2.2
Something awaiting when I came back from Venice: a great import from Britain. So, the Mancunian cops are back.
I must say, though, the first episode had a bit too much Sturm und Drang. Not to mention that the first series did the "Sam and Gene switch positions/Sam might die in 2006" already, and better, in the finale, no less. Speaking of the first season finale, I was a bit annoyed that there weren't any references, neither in 2.1 and 2.2, and there were plenty of opportunities where they would have made a lot of sense. For one thing, saving Annie in the finale proved to Sam he can indeed change the past he remembers (as his father killed her in his memories), for another, shouldn't Gene remind him of his behaviour when the whole "by the book" topic comes up? There is a similar emotional disconnect between episode 2.1 and 2.2; moreover, I remain disturbed by the solution of 2.1 and I'm not sure I'm meant to by the show. We the audience know that Sam does indeed know Tony is going to kill Eve and a lot of other people, and yes, him going to extremes in order to prevent that from happening makes sense. But Gene & Co. don't know that. They do know Sam has occasionally acted very irrationally. (Most recently re: Victor Tyler.) So, using the possibility to lock Tony up as insane when he repeats Sam's accusation to them doesn't signal "yay, murder prevented! buddies rally behind Sam!" as much as it does those many cases when inconvenient people, often women, were locked up as insane to get them out of the way.
Add to that that a hugely interesting ethical dilemma is barely scratched at and otherwise ignored - do you have the right to punish someone for a crime he hasn't yet committed? they probably didn't want to do Minority Report, but I'd have liked to see Sam think about this - and I'm left with Annie's promotion as the best thing about the episode.
2.2, on the other hand, felt like wearing comfortable slippers again. It was written by Chris Chibnall, which reminds me both that I liked his episode on Life on Mars last season and that his Torchwood episodes were, shall we say, not exactly the best that show has to offer, which is unfortunate, since he's the Torchwood headwriter. Considering he's really good at writing the Life on Mars ensemble, I wonder whether he's one of the types that just do better with other people's characters and in a subordinate position? Anyway. 2.2 was about mentors and protegés, which Chibnall wasn't exactly subtle about, as is his wont, but as opposed to his Torchwood eps the point was made in a very entertaining and genuinenly touching way. I could have told you Sam would end up inspiring the younger version of his old hero and that Gene's old hero would end up having taken corruption too far, but neither hero came across as a cliché or one dimensional. The episode went to some lengths to make Harry Wolf likeable, so we knew what Gene saw in him, and to make young Vimes, err, Sam's old hero (sorry, that plot just irresistably reminded me of Night Watch) someone who originally copes the Sammy Davis Junior way, i.e. making all the "black" jokes himself before the white boys can make them, instead of being the cop version of Martin Luther King right from the start.
Most importantly, the interaction between Sam and Gene was fabulous again, and our mystery of the season - last season's was the context for those few images Sam saw during his accident, which we only could place in the finale - is genuinenly intriguing. So, is the person in "Hyde" (seeing it spelled out that way as opposed to Hide, I immediately thought of Dr. Jekyll, of course) Sam can talk to on the phone someone in 2006, 1973, or both at the same time? (Bilis Manger! Argh, Torchwood won't leave me alone....) Hmm.....
In other news, I feel underprivileged again for not being able to read the newest AXM and shall dive into the fanfiction goodness written while I was gone instead. Apparantly, Valentine's week became Emma Frost fanfiction week. Yay! (Also, am proud to have started this trend by posting on Monday.)
I must say, though, the first episode had a bit too much Sturm und Drang. Not to mention that the first series did the "Sam and Gene switch positions/Sam might die in 2006" already, and better, in the finale, no less. Speaking of the first season finale, I was a bit annoyed that there weren't any references, neither in 2.1 and 2.2, and there were plenty of opportunities where they would have made a lot of sense. For one thing, saving Annie in the finale proved to Sam he can indeed change the past he remembers (as his father killed her in his memories), for another, shouldn't Gene remind him of his behaviour when the whole "by the book" topic comes up? There is a similar emotional disconnect between episode 2.1 and 2.2; moreover, I remain disturbed by the solution of 2.1 and I'm not sure I'm meant to by the show. We the audience know that Sam does indeed know Tony is going to kill Eve and a lot of other people, and yes, him going to extremes in order to prevent that from happening makes sense. But Gene & Co. don't know that. They do know Sam has occasionally acted very irrationally. (Most recently re: Victor Tyler.) So, using the possibility to lock Tony up as insane when he repeats Sam's accusation to them doesn't signal "yay, murder prevented! buddies rally behind Sam!" as much as it does those many cases when inconvenient people, often women, were locked up as insane to get them out of the way.
Add to that that a hugely interesting ethical dilemma is barely scratched at and otherwise ignored - do you have the right to punish someone for a crime he hasn't yet committed? they probably didn't want to do Minority Report, but I'd have liked to see Sam think about this - and I'm left with Annie's promotion as the best thing about the episode.
2.2, on the other hand, felt like wearing comfortable slippers again. It was written by Chris Chibnall, which reminds me both that I liked his episode on Life on Mars last season and that his Torchwood episodes were, shall we say, not exactly the best that show has to offer, which is unfortunate, since he's the Torchwood headwriter. Considering he's really good at writing the Life on Mars ensemble, I wonder whether he's one of the types that just do better with other people's characters and in a subordinate position? Anyway. 2.2 was about mentors and protegés, which Chibnall wasn't exactly subtle about, as is his wont, but as opposed to his Torchwood eps the point was made in a very entertaining and genuinenly touching way. I could have told you Sam would end up inspiring the younger version of his old hero and that Gene's old hero would end up having taken corruption too far, but neither hero came across as a cliché or one dimensional. The episode went to some lengths to make Harry Wolf likeable, so we knew what Gene saw in him, and to make young Vimes, err, Sam's old hero (sorry, that plot just irresistably reminded me of Night Watch) someone who originally copes the Sammy Davis Junior way, i.e. making all the "black" jokes himself before the white boys can make them, instead of being the cop version of Martin Luther King right from the start.
Most importantly, the interaction between Sam and Gene was fabulous again, and our mystery of the season - last season's was the context for those few images Sam saw during his accident, which we only could place in the finale - is genuinenly intriguing. So, is the person in "Hyde" (seeing it spelled out that way as opposed to Hide, I immediately thought of Dr. Jekyll, of course) Sam can talk to on the phone someone in 2006, 1973, or both at the same time? (Bilis Manger! Argh, Torchwood won't leave me alone....) Hmm.....
In other news, I feel underprivileged again for not being able to read the newest AXM and shall dive into the fanfiction goodness written while I was gone instead. Apparantly, Valentine's week became Emma Frost fanfiction week. Yay! (Also, am proud to have started this trend by posting on Monday.)