Review: GHTTB: LoM 2.7 and 2.8 (Finale)

The end grows nearer for the twisting tale of Sam Tyler.

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Seven
We begin our penultimate pair with an episode that gives Gene his just desserts as a character, putting him on the run and, as in 2.3, a more vulnerable character. However, more focus is given to Sam and his new colleague, acting DCI Frank Morgan.
     After witnessing the trial of crime-lord and briber Terry Haslam, Gene goes out on a drunken bender. Upon waking up in the morning, he rings Sam and tells him how he has woken up in Haslam's house, with his blood-soaked body lying opposite. Gene is arrested but escapes, as the evidence piles up against him. Sam eventually finds Gene, and together they work out the identity of their muderer - the man Terry Haslam was about to be convicted for assaulting.
     The episode often feels... empty, intangible. There isn't much to it; a basic run around with a few snarky remarks here or there. There's no tension, no doubt that Gene is 100% innocent all the way. In fact, it's more of an extended prequel to the finale.

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Eight (Finale)
"If you can feel, you're alive. If you don't feel, you're not."

Hour Sixteen, and the show needs a great finale of its two year journey, and for the journey of Sam Tyler. We knew this day would come. So, how does the episode tie up the loose ends left by the series? Well, to put it simply, very badly. Instead of putting all the pieces together to make a pretty picture, the episode prefers to carve the puzzle pieces into new shapes and then cry when they don't fit together any more.
     The main plot with the supporting cast had Gene lose all character development just for the sake of plot, putting his officers on the line in a risky sting operation featuring a train robbery. Sam was, as usual, averse to the idea, this time provoked by his newfound belief that Frank Morgan is in fact the surgeon operating on his brain. Working with Morgen, who tries to convince Sam that this is in fact 197 and that he went mad in the accident, Sam botches the sting and manage to wake up in the present. Worrying for his health, Sam sends off a psychologist's report to DI Alex Drake in London (Ashes to Ashes, here we come!) and then, upon realising that he can't feel his life, commits suicide. This somehow lets him arrive back in 1973, where he sorts out the robbers with a few gunshots and they all drive off into the sunset.
     The episode did absolutely eff all to bring the series to a hilt other than bringing the titular character back to the future, and it even reneged on that side of the bargain. It seems as if this episode was written some time back in Series One, because there is absoultely no character development present from previous episodes. Considering that Gene just got off a murder charge, is it really sane, even for him, to do something as stupid as here? No, it isn't. What a dissappointing end to an otherwise decent series.

Thanks.

P.S. Come on, you know me better than that. The GHTTB returns next week, with Ashes to Ashes!
    

Review: GHTTB: LoM 2.5 and 2.6

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Five

Sam sees signs of his condition everywhere.

 "I can just about handle you driving like a madman, and treating women like beanbags, but I'll say this only once Gene: STAY. OUT. OF CAMBERWICK GREEN."

Something like this had to happen sooner or later. In an artificial world scenario, there'll always be one episode so completely psychadelic and mad that it defies explanation. Very strangely, this doesn't hinder this episode's strength, which lies in its use of techniques like flashback and unreliable narration, ideas alien to the series.
     The episode's calling card was that Sam has been given an accidental overdose and has thus been down and out for a few days. While he's been asleep, Simon Lamb (Reese Dinsdale, terrific actor. He's always being sad and deppressed, though) has come in asking for the release of Graham Bathehurst, the boyfriend and suspected murderer of a girl murdered last year. His family has been kidnapped by an unknown figure making the demands, and the approaching deadline forces Sam to go over the case files from that time last year (through use of flashback). I won't spoil the ending for you, but it is very good and connects well with the rest of the episode.
     Finally, an episode where the police procedural takes precedent over the sci-fi but doesn't completely overshadow it. The two aspects compliment each other, make each other stronger and more potent. When Sam goes into a deeper coma because of new stimulants, you share his frustration and want to get back to the case. It seems a little strange that this episode is improved by Sam's rather backseat position, but that's maybe because our 1973 vs 2006 argument is getting a little tired. But no, because it's that argument, that drama, that fuels this episode and makes it the best episode of the series.

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Six
"I could murder an Indian"
Toolbox

Episode Six takes a look at the birth of "immigrant culture" in Britain during the 1970s, a result of the Ugandan expulsion of Asians. In-universe this includes the father of Sam's 2006 girlfriend, Maya. As an episode examining prejudice it displays 1970s attitudes but doesn't say much about them, instead tying it in with the future storyline. It also tries to tackle the issue of heroin, bundling both in one go.
     Ugandan-Asian Depak Gandhi is shot, and found with Turkish heroin. Sam finds the victim's girlfriend Layla (a pre-Misfits Alex Reid). A prejudiced Gene goes round the local drug-dealer Rocket to find out more info, and after more heroin deaths employs local enforcer "Toolbox" (Ian Puleston-Davies, who's been in everything) to get info out of him. They "trace" it back to Depak's brother Ravi, who joint-owned the record store suspected of dealing out the heroin.
     After realising the Layla (real name Lesley Roy) is Maya's mother, Sam takes info from a skinhead about an antiques warehouse where the heroin is being stored. They raid the warehouse and Gene calls in Toolbox for further "investigation". When Sam and Annie try and get Ravi in safely, all three are knocked out by Toolbox's men. In the climax, it is revealed that Toolbox has been behind everything; the drugs, the shooting, and the racially motivated attacks.
The episode is very busy because of all the things it is try to do, an because of that it doesn't really manage to do any of them. It does, however, provide an interesting and thoughtful piece of entertainment, unfettered by any overt cultural references. It's very potent and concentrated, and comes off as a little over-serious for it. At the same time, Gene's flair for euphemistic similie and metaphor provide the reverse. Life On Mars is a study of contrast. Ultimately this episode provides at least an inspiration for thought about the issues at hand, but its mix of concentrated seriousness and thick, convaluted plot makes it something more than quiet Friday-night entertainment.

 Thanks.

Review: GHTTB: LoM 2.3 and 2.4

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Three 

Red? Or Yellow? Sam fights mental indecision.

Episode Three is quite a potent hour whose central theme runs constant throughout and never lets up, as well as pulling the nostalgia strings on a common terror of the Seventies. It's the first episode to really make us both connect with Sam and the opposite: the first episode to show us Sam's more fallible side. Protagonists are like scientific theories; they're only valid and correct if we can see them being falsified.
     Sam's "falsification" came when he misjudged a suspected IRA bomb attack that led a cocky Ray to end up in hospital. In the real world, the coma was beginning to alter Sam's sense of judgement and decision making skills - presenting him with exaggerated dilmemmas like choosing which wire to defuse a bomb with. His internal struggle actually overshadows (and compliments) the main plot of the episode, which sees Sam struggle with an Irish-hating Gene and a distrusting department. This sort of thing was what 1.2 was aiming for, and a second round has made the format much sharper.
     If there's anything negative I have to say, then it's that Ray's lack of sympathetic characterisation makes it more likely for the viewer to side with the over-confident Sam, who in the end turns out to be right that the bombers weren't IRA. It seems a tad pointless that in an episode showing our protagonist's weakness he is proven right anyway. Otherwise, the episode is very strong and a sign that Series Two knows what it's doing with its characters. Good character drama and a chilling callback to a more dangerous age.
    

 Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Four
 Gosh. Life On Mars dives into the other main Seventies preoccupation, with an episode designed to look at... crappy parties? The script is crude; a long line of sex jokes and cultural references, with the only connection to reality being a vague appearance by Sam's beloved Auntie Heather (Katherine Kelly, currently Becky in Coronation Street) who hasn't been mentioned before this episode and will never be mentioned again.
     A woman is found and Sam recognises her distinct perfume, identifying her as a Boudoir Lady (of which Sam's Aunt was). They get info from Boudoir lady Denise Williams (Georgia Taylor, currently playing insane doctor Ruth in Casualty) about the activities of local car-dealer Roger Twilling, who holds private sex-parties and "employs" the girls to hang out.
     After a lot of faffing about using Surveillance (cueing a barrage of future-related jokes), Sam and Annie infiltrate one of the parties as "Tony and Cherie Blair". After they bust the sex party, they discover that the real murderer is Roger's jealous wife Carol (played chillingly by Eva Pope, of Waterloo Road fame). The plot itself is basic crime-show fare, and the things that both help and hinder it are the character fuzz around it.
    Not the most awful episode in the series (no episode is truely awful, just a little dull) by far, but the entire plot's reliance on corny seventies nostalgia really isolates a lot of viewers from the party. On the positive, the "fuzz" as I call it is quite funny most of the time, even if it slowly dates as we edge ever further away from 2007.

Thanks.

Review: GHTTB:LoM 2.1 and 2.2

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode One

"Is this ringing any bells?"
Sam Tyler

Life On Mars returns with an interesting episode that throws us in at the deep end, examining what happens when the ideologies of Hunt and Tyler switch places. It also confronts a question no dout screamed at the television set several times during Series One: why doesn't Sam use his hindsight to catch criminals before they act? On the whole, it's also a lot more fortified and tangible than previously.
     Under the glare of the public eye, Gene and Sam investigate the murder/mugging of a man on a bus. Evidence leads them to casino-owner Tony Crane (Hustle's Marc Warren) whom Sam knows as a crime-lord murderer that Sam put away in the 90s, and whom he believes is torturing him by his bedside in 2006. While Gene is acting By-the-Book for the press, Sam is desperately driven by his conscience to try and find/manufature evidence that will get Crane sent down.
    It's not like it hasn't been done before, but the hindsight-induced characterisation flip between Sam and Gene still makes interesting television. Simm's acting is exemplary here; you can see his sheer desperation and also perhaps his loneliness. This is one of the first episodes, as far as I've seen so far in this marathon, that uses a lot of Chekov's guns to achieve its aims, e.g. Lunatics given no fair trial; Sam's invention, several decades early, of the "stinger" for stopping cars. It also kept very strong ties to the present day, a dynamic that I like. Often Mars feels slightly polarised between its Crime and Sci-Fi genres, and it's in episodes like this one that the two blend perfectly. There are also, finally, hints that Sam may be able to return to the future. A great start to the series.
 

Life On Mars, Series Two, Episode Two
"You don't have to play the clown. You're better than that."

After last week's straightforward tale, Episode Two presents us with a newfound complexity and potency. It also does some more to adress Police Corruption (at least before that topic becomes stale, which it will.) It also, unfortunately, begins to give credence to the Everyone Is Jesus In Purgatory ideas in the Ashes To Ashes finale. Shouldn't bother about that now though. On to the plot.
    Our main plot concerned the capture of "Dicky Fingers," a police witness stolen from under Sam's nose. Under the advice of honoured Superintendant Harry Woolf, Gene goes after gangster Arnold Malone, who tips them off about a bank job he's planned. Dicky, in interrogation, actually gives evidence against Woolf, claiming that he's a crime boss behind the scenes, to Gene's anger and Sam's surprise. Sam intends to take the accusations seriously but Gene, in his love of his Superintendant, tells Woolf everything. Woolf laughs it off, but overnight Fingers disappears. Sam stakes out Woolf but he lets Gene know, leading to some... drastic measures. Fingers is found dead and the evidence stacks up against the superintendant, as doubts start to creep into Gene's mind. They investigate and find firm evidence, after which they confront a gun-toting, desperate Woolf.
     The subplot in this episode covered Tyler's black superintendant, Glenn, who, having died in 2006, appears in 1973 as a young officer. Sam tries to persuade him that he shouldn't play on his skin colour just to survive in the racist world of the time, but is then disappointed when he ends up caught up in Woolf''s corruption. This subplot easily provides the best moment of the episode, in the downright inspirational speech Sam gives to a worrying Glenn.
     This episode is really about idols. Both leads find their idols, their inspirations on the police force, in a disappointing state: Gene with his treasured Superintendant Woolf, and Sam with the now youthened Glenn. It's a fable about how you should never model your life directly off someone elses, how independance is important. Not bad for a small-time crime show, in my opinion.

Thanks.

Review: GHTTB: LoM 1.7 and 1.8

To finish off Series One of the Bonanza, two very strong episodes.

Life On Mars, Series One, Episode Seven

Regular readers may be aware that I'm not Chris Chibnall's biggest fan, particularly of the work that he's done for Doctor Who. Chibnall, however, made his name as a writer on Life on Mars, and this was his first contribution. How, then, does it stack up?
     Well, to my enormous relief, it is perhaps the strongest episode of the series so far, managing to meld tense drama and an enviable formula shakeup. It felt so refreshing not to have the usual state of affairs, something the Bonanza rarely does. It also provided everyone with excellent character moments and depth that they just haven't had up to now. Chibnall, not exactly an expert when it comes to character development, managed to in a single hour out-do six hours worth of material.
     The lineup manage to bust a flasher-turned-drug-dealer Billy Kembel, who Sam doesn't believe is a large-scale dealer - he wants to find the source of the drugs, and so requests that Kembel be held in overnight. Gene, tired and anxious to get a result, locks him in the same cell as a psychopath, entrusting Ray to get a result while he and Sam go to an Indian restaurant (it makes sense in context.) When the two return, they discover that Kembel is dead, and the team isn't talking.
     Sam takes this oppurtunity to try and escape the dreamworld, by running a personal enquiry into the death - hoping to "bring the walls crashing down". Along the way, Gene exploits his curiosity and gets Sam to really flush out the details, going so far as to ban him from the station just to make Sam rebel. Sam eventually discovers the truth - Ray, to get results from Kembel, gave him the overdose of Cocaine that led to his heart attack. He has firm evidence - a tape - and while Gene publically demotes Ray, he still isn't happy. When he goes to see the Superintendant, he simply laughs in Sam's face.
     Chibnall's masterpiece both exites and disappoints me. If only he could have produced something of this quality for Doctor Who, instead of writing such mush... . This was the most tense and, while not lighthearted, enjoyable episode so far this series. Well done.

Life on Mars, Series One, Episode Eight (Final)
 
Our first finale comes courtesy of long-time series co-producer and writer Matthew Graham, who I find is particularly good at writing for Sam - often at the expense of the other characters. This episode gave us a very interesting role change, with Gene sticking to the book while Sam felt forced to rely on his natural instincts, or, in this case, family values. It delivered on everything that the series promised and is perhaps the most memorable episode of the series simply in the way it wraps everything up.
     The team are chasing a pair of gangsters called the Norton Brothers, who are spreading crime throughout the city in an attempt to fill the power vacuum left by Steven Warren. Evidence leads them to find and arrest Vic Tyler, Sam's father who abandoned him that very year. Understandably awed, Sam goes out of his way to try and find Vic innocent and, in an attempt to get home, persuade him to stay home. Slowly the evidence mounts up, until it is revealed that Vic is the Norton Brothers - they were his charade, his cover. Despite Sam's attempts, Vic runs away, and Sam doesn't wake up.
     An aspect often used in the Bonanza are near-psychedelic dream sequences that drop subtle hints about characters and plot. In LoM Series One, the recurring element was of a girl in a red dress, blurredly running through a wood, and is fulfilled in this episode. While it works here, the sequences tend to get vaguer as time goes on.
     As an episode of Life On Mars, the finale was perfect in its structure and emotive punch. As a finale, it only very loosely tied up the ends from this series, leaving it wide open for a sequel. I suppose at this point the writers didn't expect to be renewed, and so had to make a compromise between tying everything up and leaving it on a cliffhanger.

That's it for Life On Mars Series One. Rejoin me in the New Year, when I take a look at the more developed Series Two.

Thanks.

Review: GHTTB: LoM 1.5 and 1.6

Another two episodes this week, with a similar set of themes.

Life on Mars, Series One, Episode Five
"This is how it starts!!" Sam Tyler


If I'm honest, I found it difficult to connect with the issues in this episode, which were surrounding the sport of Football, something particularly prevalent around the Manchester area due to its two world-famous teams. From a less biased standpoint, the episode's main problem is its longwindedness and how it tries (and fails) to spread what should be a simple plot into an hour. It has some good moments that really stand out, but ultimately it's a very forgettable experience.
     A Manchester United supporter has been murdered and it looks like the death will ignite violence between fans of United and City. In an effort to discover who would kill such a well-loved family man, Gene, Sam and Annie go undercover at the victim's local pub, before Sam strings together some clues and finds the two men responsible - United fans spoiling for a fight with the opposition.
     This episode also dove into Sam's history and in particular his father issues - his father was a travelling salesman who used to take him to the matches, but abandoned him and his mother in 1973. This really works in parallel with how Sam tries to help the son of the victim come to terms with his father's death and not be influenced by the football hooliganism surrounding him.
     1.5 has some interesting themes but at the end of the day it's too convaluted to stay memorable for long.

Life on Mars, Series One, Episode Six 
"Nobody dies today."

A much more tense scenario, our obligatory Hostage Situation episode really pulled out all the stops in terms of emotional drama, with the hostage cut-off point corresponding to Sam's loss of Life Support. It had a bit of unneccesary baggage around the edges, but 1.6 kept its main focus well and didn't stray too far, while advancing the characters of Sam and Gene.
     Sam hears in his dreams that the doctors have found no signs of Brain Activity and so are planning to shut off his Life Support at 2:00. Back in 1973, and a hostage situation has arisn at the offices of a local newspaper where the hostage taker promises that "someone dies at 2." Sam is of course intrigued, and using 2006 police procedure manages to accidentally get him and Gene captured within the offices. The Hostage Taker is Reg, The Janitor, an unappreciated ex-soldier who feels like a coward after not killing anyone in Korea. Luckily, the Armed Ops save them at 2.00, as in the real world Sam's mother notices him smiling and stops the pull.
     Much more developed and driven than previous episodes, this episode really knows what it's doing with the material. There isn't any hesitation or filler - everything counts, and there are strong bonds between what's happening in the dream and what's happening in the real world.

Thanks.

P.S. For some reason I don't seem to be enjoying these reviews as much as I should, and thus my lack of posting. Also, this week's Super Sunday has had to be cancelled after unforseen circumstances made it impossible for me to write it. 

Review: GHTTB:LoM 1.3 and 1.4

A bumper review this week, as I won't have time next week. In fact, its a lot more interesting to review two at once for me because I no longer have to see each one in isolation.

Life On Mars, Series One, Episode Three

"Could be a gang. Could be a gang of trained eagles, ninjas for all we know." Sam Tyler

The problem with a police procedural drama is that unlike most Monster-A-Week type shows, the actual case has to be as intriguing and compelling as the show's main drama. This episode especially achieved that, while holding onto a firm number of themes to do with loyalty and sacrifice. It also provides the series' first real surprise twist, although it became the predictable shoot-out near the end, to my chagrin.
     The main case this week was of a death in a textiles factory - the same building where Sam lives in 2006. Most of the evidence (and Gene's gut feeling) pointed to angry unionists trying to kill who they saw as a traitor. Gene picks on one particular friend of the victim who had fought with him that night, Ted Bannister, while Sam demands firm evidence and doesn't believe the old and overweight suspect could have done it. Having heard from his doctors (and from another few subliminal sources) that he needs to keep fighting, he accepts a bet from Gene to prove him innocent.
     After a long-winded inquiry where it seemed all the evidence pointed towards Ted being the killer, he reluctantly confesses to murder to save his factory and its workers from being shut down. On a final visit to the factory, Sam notes that the belts on the machine the victim was working on are brand-new, and deduces that they snapped, launching out and killing the victim. Bannister went back to try and clean up, to save his factory. Meanwhile, it turns out Bannister's son is involved in another subplot, an armed robbery of the factory.
     This episode was about Sam's fight against the past - the fight to enforce his modern techniques, the fight to save Ted Bannister (and the others, due to the inevitability of the plight of the factory workers) and the fight against death in the real world. Sam/Gene dysfunction is the richest goldmine this series has for its first few episodes, and there's a fine display of it here. Instead of being more of the same drama, though, the main case lends its own qualities. Police Procedural at its finest.

Life On Mars, Series One, Episode Four

"Slipped you a mickey, tied you up and bounced on your ding-a-ling!" Gene Hunt

Woah! A much more frantic and fast-paced episode than last week, Episode Four takes a mixture of series mythology (if you can call it that) and a decent storyline, one that would pop up in different forms throughtout the Gene Hunt Time Travel Bonanza - Police Corruption.
     The main plot surrounded landlord Steven Warren, who owned a large group of estates, and informed the police of troublemakers in exchange for criminal immunity and the occasional bribe. When Sam learns of this practice he is disgusted, and openly refuses Warren's money. Warren then sets Sam up in a Honey trap, luring him with the scared dancer Joni Mitchell. When Sam;s words of advice actually persuade Mitchell to try an escape she is killed, spurring Gene to finally stop taking bribes and to finally breakdown Warren's regime.
     A strong subplot involved Sam tracking down his troubled Mother, introducing himself as Sam Bolan (after Mark Bolan, lead singer in T-Rex). Unable to reveal his true identity, he wrestles with his maternal goodwill and his common sense. This provides a chance to really develop the depths of Sam's problems and his character, as he adapts to face the troubles always faced by a time-traveller.
     I enjoyed this episode mainly because it managed to portray a larger range of themes. It had messages against corruption and against standing back while bad things happen. It jumped rapidly between elation, melancholy and anger, culminating in a triumphant and well-earned finale. A rare commodity in Life on Mars, this episode also saw some background development for Gene, who shows he actually does have a more sensitive side.
      This episode's mood changes may be jarring, but they ultimately work as a fast-paced transition between the general dysfunction between Sam and the rest of the department towards more cooperative attitudes. It's a rite-of-passage, a sign that at this half-way point in the series, Life on Mars knows exactly where it's going.

Thanks.
      

Review: GHTTB:LoM 1.2

"Are they all like this in Hyde? It must be a bloody dangerous place." Gene Hunt.

Second episodes, as I've said previously, are the clincher. They have to live up to the promises of the pilot fairly quickly without giving the game away. This Life on Mars 1.2 did, with a fairly simplistic crime that none-the-less provided adequate drama behind-the-scenes as Sam and Gene wrestled each other's policing styles. It also blended in a lot of problems that Sam faces because of 1970s attitudes in Policing and Medicine...
     The group manage to hunt down Kim Trent, a known burglar who's been attacking many places across Manchester. However, there isn't cohesive evidence and Gene wants to fake it. Following his modern policing morals, he lets Trent go. When a cleaner at the police station is then killed in one of Trent's burglaries, he and Gene are forced to try and meld their styles of policing to find firm evidence and convict Trent for life.
     The crime itself wasn't very interesting in its scale or concept; the episode rather carried itself off of the emotional ride faced by Gene and Sam's dysfunction. This was interesting to watch, with our relative hindsight as the viewer - do we support Sam's by-the-book approach, or Gene's passionate need for justice? It also made the ending all the jucier, as both sides worked their magic: Gene used his methods to track down and rescue Sam and the witness, able to beat up the suspects along the way, and then the witness was able to give viable evidence.
     The episode also incuded many hallmarks of the GHTTB on the whole; Sam hearing people in the Real World, being haunted by a TV character and making modern pop-culture references. These are what make the series what it is and early on they're used quite well.
     To finish, this episode delivered on its promise of 1970s action as well as exploiting the superb acting of Simm and Glennister to give an entertaining experience. It didn't have many particluarly exciting concepts, but its dramatic potential made up for it.

Thanks.

Review: GHTTB: LoM, 1.1

Life on Mars: Series One, Episode One

I've often spoken about how it's important to set up your stall cohesively but quickly. The only thing that Life on Mars has going for it is the nostalgic richness of the 1970s environment, and so the first five or so minutes in the present really fail to catch one's immediate interest...
     It's only when work-obsessed DCI Sam Tyler gets knocked down in a car crash that the story really starts to unfold. You see, Tyler happens to wake up in 1973 to a soundtrack of David Bowie, demoted to DI and forced to work with the much more instinctive DCI Gene Hunt. Hunt is a loudmouthed, misogynist bigot, and he's captured the heart of the nation.
    As an opener, LoM's first episode does wonders to get you in the mood for some 70s police prodecure, as well as stamping down its strange style. Only Sam is particularly well characterised at this point, with the others merely empty shells of their particular character trait.
     Of note (of course), is the soundtrack, which is an excuse on its own to watch the show. A mix of some of the best songs of the 1970s (however unchronological) gives the show a great atmosphere. Adding to this are the nostalgic flares all over the place, and, at least for me, the recognisable places in Manchester where the series was filmed.
     Overall, the pilot shows us the ropes of the series, and gives basic outlines of its characters. It firmly lays down the cutesy, nostalgic atmosphere, while having a gritty murder to get along with. It is a little unnerving to see Sam go on mad rants as he tries to wake himself up, but that's part of the series and it would seem odd without it.

Thanks.