Then the loud sound did seem to fade
February 13th, 2007Well, I shouldn’t have feared as much. Tonight’s opening episode was really quite good - the first ten minutes apart, which seemed to be a gross reduction of the characters almost into parody of themselves; however, if as I suspect that was just to remind us of who they were and perhaps to sum them up for any new viewers of the show, then it’s forgiveable.
Spoilerage follows…
Interesting how the show confronted the Grandfather paradox - after all if Sam really is a time-traveller then by putting away Crane in 1973 means 2006’s Sam would never have known of him. The apparent “explanation” at the end that Crane was actually an escaped mental patient in 2006 doesn’t quite square the circle - he may have been around to have his revenge, but the original reason for Sam’s pursuit (to stop Crane murdering his wife) still no longer exists, as he spent all the intervening time incarcerated rather than building a crime empire. That, and the mysterious phonecall he gets at the end, lend more to the credence Sam really is in a coma. But in that case, explain how 2006’s reality suddenly changes. Ack, my head hurts…
February 14th, 2007 at 09:06:53
One thing that struck me last night - does anybody else think that Life On Mars is one of those shows that is adversely affected by having well-known guest stars? Doctor Who can quite happily slot a whole parade of famous faces and it doesn’t distract from the show; Life On Mars thrives on all its supporting cast being… not anonymous as such, but not being burdened with audience preconceptions.
As good as last night’s show was, I kept being ever-so-slightly distracted by the fact that the bad guy was Marc Warren - even with his bizarre black hairdo. It took you slightly away from what I think is LOM’s biggest strength - that you can rarely predict the outcome of any episode - because you were thinking, “oooh, it’s that guy they get when Paul Bettany’s too expensive.”
In other news, I’ve decided that the explanation for everything is that Sam was actually killed in the car crash, and Gene Hunt is St. Peter, deciding if he gets into heaven. Hell, if Lost don’t want that twist, we’ll have it…
February 14th, 2007 at 13:25:26
Did you watch the next episode on BBC4? It too was very good. I’m really enjoying this series just as much as I did the last. Good job BBC!
February 14th, 2007 at 13:33:58
Don’t talk about the BBC4 episode! I haven’t seen it yet!
February 15th, 2007 at 01:50:17
I’d like to clarify my comment about Marc Warren being the guy they get when Paul Bettany’s too expensive. Those are (roughly) Warren’s own words; I think he’s a fantastic actor. But, nonetheless, one who looks and acts quite a lot like Paul Bettanny, only he gets paid less.
That is all. Oh, and I did love last night’s LOM episode; the well-known faces thing was only a slight distraction.