Gene Hunt, the young cop, and a significant shift in theory
I'm not ready to give up my "Gene Hunt is Saint Michael the Archangel, the patron saint of police" theory just yet. But here are some interesting lines linking Gene to the young cop we see haunting Alex:
"I've been working these streets since I was nineteen, and I'm telling you they're safer now than they've been in a generation." - Life on Mars 1x04
"I'm gonna nick him for every outstanding murder in the division, including the Maple Lane poisonings of 1883!" - Life on Mars 1x02
"D'you remember...young copper, ready to put the world to rights? All spic and span, very proud? You remember that? Hold onto that thought...it's a good 'un." - Ashes to Ashes 2x08
Interesting, yeah? If "these streets" = the copper's limbo, then Gene has been working them since he was nineteen...about the same age as our young ghost!boy. The second line gives a nod to the Guv being from a much earlier time period than everyone else, as the young copper's uniform suggests; and the third line is what Gene says to Martin Summers - who has previously killed his own 'younger self' - as Summers dies in his arms.
So, going with the idea that Gene is the young cop, it suddenly puts the whole series into a very different light. Because ever since Life on Mars, I've been working on the assumption that Gene Hunt is the one who helps dead or dying coppers resolve their lives and move on to whatever comes next...but what if he's the one who really needs help?
I'm starting to think that Gene Hunt is the one 'dreaming' this place, not Sam or Alex...or at the very least, he's 'dreaming' it with their assistance.
Current theory: Gene Hunt is a young cop who was killed when he was nineteen. His 'kingdom' - the copper's limbo - was either created by his death, or sustained by it to the degree that if he lets go and moves on, it will collapse and die with no one left to maintain it, thereby killing all the other souls within it: Chris, Ray, Viv, Shaz, etc. That's why, as Keats intriguingly said, Gene can't leave: too many souls depend on him.
As for his 'kingdom', Gene can't possibly know how the world changed after his death, and that's where officers like Sam and Alex come in: their memories and experiences provide the building blocks for Gene's kingdom to grow and change to reflect the world outside. That's why the copper's limbo is always in the past: it's literally made up of memories. Both Sam and Alex - and Martin Summers, on the BBC website - keep saying things like, "my mind couldn't possibly imagine this much detail!", and they're right: their minds alone couldn't create a whole world of such intricate detail...but the minds of a whole squad of officers? Might just be able to pull it off.
(Note: I like this theory much better than the "Gene's in a coma and everyone else is a figment of his imagination, and the dead cop is the younger version of himself that he killed just like Summers did" idea, mainly because a) I want all the other characters to be real in and of themselves, and b) the writers would only be repeating themselves by pasting Summers's story onto Gene's, which would just be lame.)
So, Gene Hunt is the axis mundi around which this entire kingdom, the copper's limbo, a communal collective unconscious, revolves. If he dies or moves on, the bubble is burst and everyone dies. Gene and his kingdom attract other officers as they fall in the line of duty, thereby creating an odd (but efficient) sort of self-perpetuating afterlife ecosystem. It remains to be seen whether this is ultimately good or bad, though: whether Gene is providing a service to good cops who would otherwise be dead and have no chance to resolve their lives, or whether he's keeping everyone imprisoned with him in the copper's limbo just to soothe his own loneliness (I certainly think that's what happened with Sam Tyler, since he was there for so long).
As for Sam and Alex, I think their job is to try to persuade the Guv to let go and move on. I think Sam probably tried to do this once he figured out what the copper's limbo really was, and when he failed, he "went into the light" first in the hopes that the Guv would follow him. And when that didn't happen, Alex was brought in.
(Personal crackpot theory of crackiness: Keats is really Sam in disguise, trying to "free" the Guv from the prison of the copper's limbo in the only way he can now - the gentle approach didn't work; so now the kid gloves are coming off. But I digress.)
Some outside fodder for the "Gene is really dreaming this, with help from the others" theory:
1. This picture, which seems to feature a dreaming man who will 'rise from the ashes' (and who bears a striking resemblance to a young Gene Hunt).
2. Endymion. One of the most famous poems by John Keats (familiar last name, yes?). In the Greek myth, Endymion was a young shepherd who was granted immortality, but cursed to spend it in a state of perpetual sleep. I'm sure Gene thinks of himself as CID's 'shepherd' when he's not thinking of himself as the sheriff, so for me the comparison fits.
Note: one particular line in that poem really makes me smile:
After them appear’d,
Up-followed by a multitude that rear’d
Their voices to the clouds, a fair wrought car
Translation: Holy shit, here comes the Quattro! :)
3. High Noon. Lots of parallels between the Guv's favourite movie and A2A: his team abandoning/betraying him, with only one person (Alex or Sam) standing with him at the end. If the Ashes finale doesn't actually feature some version of the Guv throwing his badge on the ground and stomping off in disgust, I will be very surprised.
4. One line in The Last Temptation of Christ: "Let him die in a dream. But let him live his life."
Right now, I reckon the 'bittersweet ending' we've been promised is the unearthing of young Gene Hunt's body, and his finally being properly laid to rest. One of the mourners or medical examiners might even remark that he was just a kid, and wonder what he would have made of his life if he'd had the chance. Which, of course, they'll wonder...but we'll know. :)
"My name is Gene Hunt. I was murdered, and I woke up in 1883."
Right now I can't really decide if I actually want to hear a line like that in the finale. Because it would be brilliant and bring the whole thing full circle, but it would also break my heart into about a gazillion pieces.
Oh, and just in case anyone's still doubting whether Gene's the one who's dreaming all this? Here's the very last line of Life on Mars; the last thing we ever hear Sam Tyler say to him (emphasis mine):
"You're not above the law, you know, Guv."
"What are you on about, Tyler? I AM the law!"
"Yeah...in your dreams."
Q
crossposted to my journal