Life on Mars 2.07
The penultimate episode.
Say what you want, this episode used bits and pieces of Bernard Herrman's score for Citizen Kane. No idea what this is supposed to mean for the central mystery of what-is-going-on-with-Sam, of course, but there are several possibilities. We did the crucial childhood memory last season, so that can't be it; maybe the CK music is referring to the fact we start that movie with Kane's death, his last moments of life during which he utters this word? The falling snowglobe being the equivalent of Sam getting hit by a car in the pilot, and Sam indeed dying throughout the show? Hmmmm.
Anyway. Every cop or detective show has an episode where, sooner or later, the central character or his buddy gets framed for a crime. So now it was Gene's turn. It was fascinating to compare this with Sam's reaction to his father's case in the s1 finale, as the evidence against Victor Tyler kept piling up. Sam was in a panic then, absolutely insisting it couldn't be true. He's no in a panic now. He wants to believe in Gene's innocence, but he goes about it in a rational way.
It was pretty obvious from the start that Mr. Morgan from Hyde couldn't be the genuine article, and not just because he keeps using modern phrases - public relations, "hearts and minds". What I like is that he's not presented in such a way that makes the audience think the other characters are stupid. The fact he wanted Gene convicted: hmmmm. Am reminded of Normal Again where Buffy's doctor in the mental institution reality tells her she has to get rid of all her imaginary friends if she wants to become sane again. And now I dead a finale where Sam makes the choice not to do that (of course he does, what with the emphasis on trust and friendship in this episode), and we end as Normal Again does, with a shot of Sam in a coma for good after we seemingly saw him alright and fine with the gang of 1973...
Or, you know. Morgan & Co. could be forces of evil who want Sam to think they could wake him up/bring him back to the present but really are after a sinister purpose all their own.
This week's case: I saw On the Waterfront, too, and half way expected the boxer to say, in his final scene, "I coulda been a contender...." Well played, though.
Absolute highlight: Gene in the squirrel outfit, of course. Excuse me, the rat outfit.
Say what you want, this episode used bits and pieces of Bernard Herrman's score for Citizen Kane. No idea what this is supposed to mean for the central mystery of what-is-going-on-with-Sam, of course, but there are several possibilities. We did the crucial childhood memory last season, so that can't be it; maybe the CK music is referring to the fact we start that movie with Kane's death, his last moments of life during which he utters this word? The falling snowglobe being the equivalent of Sam getting hit by a car in the pilot, and Sam indeed dying throughout the show? Hmmmm.
Anyway. Every cop or detective show has an episode where, sooner or later, the central character or his buddy gets framed for a crime. So now it was Gene's turn. It was fascinating to compare this with Sam's reaction to his father's case in the s1 finale, as the evidence against Victor Tyler kept piling up. Sam was in a panic then, absolutely insisting it couldn't be true. He's no in a panic now. He wants to believe in Gene's innocence, but he goes about it in a rational way.
It was pretty obvious from the start that Mr. Morgan from Hyde couldn't be the genuine article, and not just because he keeps using modern phrases - public relations, "hearts and minds". What I like is that he's not presented in such a way that makes the audience think the other characters are stupid. The fact he wanted Gene convicted: hmmmm. Am reminded of Normal Again where Buffy's doctor in the mental institution reality tells her she has to get rid of all her imaginary friends if she wants to become sane again. And now I dead a finale where Sam makes the choice not to do that (of course he does, what with the emphasis on trust and friendship in this episode), and we end as Normal Again does, with a shot of Sam in a coma for good after we seemingly saw him alright and fine with the gang of 1973...
Or, you know. Morgan & Co. could be forces of evil who want Sam to think they could wake him up/bring him back to the present but really are after a sinister purpose all their own.
This week's case: I saw On the Waterfront, too, and half way expected the boxer to say, in his final scene, "I coulda been a contender...." Well played, though.
Absolute highlight: Gene in the squirrel outfit, of course. Excuse me, the rat outfit.