Life On Mars: Life Is A Rock [series finale]
By fred | April 2, 2009
(S01E17) Well, here we are. I was never really able to decide whether or not I liked this show, for the longest time I could see the quality that went into it, but I couldn’t like it, because it was never fully about what I wanted it to be – Sam’s condition – and too much of yet another cop-dram (set in 1973). Came a time where I knew I didn’t like it, it was just not what I wanted it to be, I didn’t care for just another procedural, but the show had been canceled and producers said there would be answers given in the end, so I kept watching.
All leading to this day, the series finale, the very ending of the show and the resolution of Sam’s mysterious travel in time. And in the end, all I can say is that I’m glad it’s over, I’m really glad it is, and I think ABC made the right decision. Even though it’s clear that the writers/producers clearly knew where they were going and had the ending down long ago, it’s better it didn’t last.
They had that ending long ago, obviously. Not because we saw those flying mini-robots from day one and they actually meant something, but because it appeared to me as if they had that ending written when they started, knowing that all they needed to end the series was to write en episode a few minutes shorter, and put that at the end – because it could have followed any episode.
Despite the obvious many daddy issues that went down this episode, it didn’t matter much. This was yet another episode, and then the end of the series. As far as the episode is concerned, it was pretty much the same as before, even with Windy and the phone calls and everything. Still had things that didn’t made sense or weren’t very believable, like how Sam’s mom came in and when she referred to Detective Luke Skywalker, and was told they didn’t know him, she didn’t insist.
Or how amazingly enough, nobody said anything about Mrs Tyler’s son, Sam, being missing. You know, like “Your son’s name is Sam Tyler? Hey, just like spaceman over there!” Anyways, since what we all cared about was the ending, let’s go at it. It was pretty much the coma explanation, only with a twist where the writers took the name of the show very literally.
It wasn’t just a coma, or a dream, but one created on purpose for “Sam.” Because that’s what it was, it explains many things the same way : didn’t have to make sense, as it was all fake; and it was Sam’s mind working things out, like – obviously – his father issues for instance. Only here’s the twist : it’s not real. Not 1973, and not even 2008. Reality is quite different, the year is 2035, the place is Mars.
A few things annoyed me about this ending : For starter, way too many happy endings, it’s like it was pouring happy endings all over the place. The case, Annie getting promoted Detective, Sam seeing his self back in 2008 and by Annie’s bed as he told her he would, and then Sam deciding he’d much rather stay with a young Annie and there he goes to kiss her. But none of this mattered, because it wasn’t real.
Not 1973, not 2008, and none of the characters. Ray, Gene, Annie, or even Sam himself, none of them exists, or ever existed, not anywhere. It was a coma, a dream, a virtual reality, call it as you want, the result is the same. And seriously, thank God it was only 17 episodes, because I can’t imagine investing dozens of hours for years into characters, only to find out it was all a stupid prank, April Fools Joke! (But still with happy endings, and “Sam” making peace with his real father…)
I like the concept of mindfucks, but it doesn’t really work when the last twist reveals that nothing was real, at all, and that comes after years and years of me investing in the story and its characters, and trying to make sense out of something that is eventually all explained by a simple “it was fake, a dream, that’s why it doesn’t make sense… Gotcha!”
Given how this “twist” – which isn’t that believable, I mean “Major Tom” (also known to us as Gene Hunt) might be a little old for a space travel, and doesn’t even explain everything, like the guy Sam met again this week or the one Annie met a few weeks back, the one found by that other time traveler… – was the producers’ idea from the start, probably written if not shot since day one, I think it’s a blessing the show got canceled soon enough that fans won’t get really pissed over it.
Seems to me like they thought of this twist which, at first, might look like a cool idea, because they’re really all on Mars and there’s all those things we can put back into the show, but if you really think about it you should realize it’s not so cool after all. In fact, it’s not cool at all, it just ruins everything. I’m still glad we got an ending, way too many series end without even one, and at least here we got one, the one producers wanted to make, even if it wasn’t a good/satisfying one…
What did everybody else think?
Posted in Reviews
Shows: Life On Mars
I’m from England and loved the original BBC series and I was debating on getting the US ones on DVD when they come out. But yeah the ending alone sounds ridiculous. Doesn’t sound like it can touch the brilliance of the British version.