2 posts tagged “life on mars”

I finished up Life on Mars and I had lots and lots of thoughts. Good thoughts! I also have, for the first time in decades, thoughts on Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who.

Life on Mars
I. Just. Had. A. Thought. Period. The end of Life on Mars reminded me of the end of the fourth season of Farscape when John decides to leave Earth forever, despite spending so much time trying to get back. Very reminiscent.

And a little like the fourth season of Lost, how the Six get off the island, but Jack needs to get back. In fact, I dare say this is a fairly common theme on second thought, but I bloody loved the way Life on Mars pulled it off. It's just blowing my mind right now.

When I described the Life on Mars finale, my sister immediately thought about the Sopranos and the letdown many people felt. I was one of those viewers, but the ending of Life on Mars seemed to have some sort of conclusion, Sam was happy.

Now, did he or didn't he? Die, I mean. He jumped off the roof, he's back in  1973, and kisses Annie, jumps into Hunt's car, then the radio catches onto the real world where we hear the doctor say he's losing Sam. The car drives away and the creepy girl walks by, looks at the camera, and turns off the "tv". I kinda see that as Sam dying, she represented the balance between reality and the coma world, and by shutting off the link, it means that world ends. That or Sam's in a permanent coma and we, the viewer and the outside world, are cut off forever. Doesn't mean that Sam's dead, which is interesting.

The whole concept of what's real and what isn't really blows my mind. We saw the "real" world and how it wasn't as exciting or fun or meaningful for Sam as the coma one, and he chose to live a "lie" rather than walk through 2006. Any show that promotes delusions over reality is OK with me!

And I know there's a spin off in the 80's, I'm not sure how that fits into my plot. Maybe somehow Sam did travel back in time, parallel universe? and someone else ends up there in similar circumstances. Doesn't matter, I'm not going to watch it. The whole premise seems kind of shoddy, I don't buy it.

Battlestar Galctica 4.11
I actually have thoughts. Last week I thought that episode was a complete crap fest full of dumb decisions and obnoxious characters (Lamkin's insane? Lee's President? Tigh's in charge? There's a Cylon-Cylon baby?) A number of people assumed these things would play out during the next few episodes, but it looks like nothing from 4.10 will actually matter at all based on this episode. I'm guessing next week will pick up with Roslin and Adama coming back, so everything will return to pre-4.10 status... What a waste of an episode.

I mean, why couldn't this episode have been last week. This is the second time something's happened and the show's taken us away from the action for a week. Last time it was the big Cylon-Cylon showdown, this time it was the Cylon jump. But that aside, the episode still had some weak elements, but much better than last week. Still not up to BSG standards.

Anyways, my favorite moment from the episode, easily: Three to Roslin on the final five:

Three: You mean you don't know you're one of them? *music crescendos, then stops abruptly*

*Three laughs*
*my heart races, I laugh*

Well, there goes my Roslin is a Cylon theory. Bugger, it would have been a terrific surprise and plot twist. But now that they've gone with the fake out, it's not going to happen.

I kept wanting Billy to show up in Roslin's visions. I kind of want him to be the final Cylon. But I'm thinking it may be Cally, since we've seen that maybe Cylon-Cylon babies can happen, no one is ruled out. Hell, Helo could be a toaster. Maybe Dualla, they really haven't given her anything to do.

Doctor Who 4.09
Well, this is one of the rare instances where I liked the second part more than the first part of the multi-parter. It's like a theme with me that I fall head over heels with the first episode, but by the second I'm somewhat let down. In this case, I was a little disappointed by the first episode, but this was back to great.

For a Steven Moffat episode, it was not his strongest. But hey, the man's written some of the best episodes of the entire run of the show, so I'll cut him some slack.

This was a really sucky episode for the Doctor and Donna. The Doctor had to deal with River Song, who was someone ridiculously special to future him, and Donna had to deal with getting married, falling in love, and ending up missing the real him by *this much*. Ugh, why do you do this Mr. Moffat? I know it would be redic to have a random tagalong for Donna, but can't someone be happy? Especially since I'm pretty sure she's going to die... Boo, why did Donna have to bring up the River Song's awkwardness upon meeting Donna... At least she's not dumb.

I can say the only moment when I jumped was when Miss Evangelista removed her veil to her mangled face. I wish I had more moments, maybe if the Vashta Nerada were not this invisible swarm, maybe if they were somewhat corporeal, that would have flipped me out. I dunno, I could have used some visual fear.

Thoughts on River, so there was no altering of timelines occurred, so does that mean we'll see River again? Maybe in one of the specials next year, or maybe in the first series Steven Moffat runs, maybe he had the idea for her as a companion... Nevertheless, he's definitely set River up in the timeline before Ten regenerates, and after some period of time in which he ages. Now someone argued with me that River referred to the Doctor looking young purely in his eyes, but I also think she referred to his physical aging as well. It was a little ambiguous, maybe in case Steven needed to pull out this little trick earlier than he planned. Or he could just dump the River plots, and whenever Ten regenerates, it'll be assumed the River thing occurred off camera.

Spoilers! How noble of the Doctor and Donna not to look. I half expected someone to come at the end and just take it, all creepy like. But nope, the end just led into a trailer for "Midnight", which makes sense. The Doctor and Donna deserve a vacation planet after the badness of this episode. And after next week, "Turn Left" and ROSE!! ZOMG YES! Hopefully Rose will show up at the end of "Midnight", which will be nice.

Tomorrow's the WWDC, World Wide Developers Conference, and the rumor mill is saying there will be a new iPhone. I've been looking into new phones with Verizon, but I can't do it. Every phone I just compare to the iPhone, and I think it's time I just accept that there is no iPhone killer, any touch screen device won't hold a candle to the standard set by Apple. Since I've got my job, I'll be paying for the service and everything, no more phones from Mommy and Daddy... It'll be expensive, and I might chicken out...

One of the first things I thought when I heard about the US version of Life on Mars was, "I gotta watch the English version." So the other day I finished up the first series, and it was amazing. John Simm <33 . But it also got me thinking: Will this work in the US? Well, there are a few factors that play a part in the success in these translations.

One is how relateable is it? Well, a show about a man transported back to the 70's? That could work in the US. It would actually be interesting to see the US thirty years ago and how someone would react to that. One of the things about The Office is that it can be adapted to any culture because it relies so heavily on the office dynamic. The US verion of The Office worked because it developed its own style and voice and stopped trying to be a carbon copy. If Life On Mars defines itself using a US culture and maybe a different plot, it has a shot. If they carbon copy the UK's plot, that could be tiring and open itself up to criticism and comparisons. If I'm constantly comparing the US and UK versions of The Office without any identical plots, imagine how critical I'll be with identical plots.

The next factor is casting, the cast needs to stand out and be different. I know the translation will keep all the characters from the UK one, but if the writers can add their own editorial touches on them, it'll have a shot. I keep bringing up the US Office because it's a rare instance where a UK show has successfully morphed into a wonderful US program. The Office developed background characters that were never really touched upon in the UK. If Life on Mars devotes time to the personal lives of the background players, it will not only fill up some of the 20 hours in the season, but it will also add something new.

This leads me into the most important factor: longevity. Well, Life on Mars doesn't quite have that. The UK show only had two series, and one of the most powerful parts of the first series was the frustration. Watching it, I just wanted him to wake up, like on the verge of yelling at the TV. But the brilliant thing was Sam felt it, too. He was just losing it, being so close to consciousness, then having it slip away. The viewers were right there with him. I'm downloading the second series right now, but I'm guessing this'll happen through the second series and it'll maybe end with him waking up. *ps, don't tell me how it ends, I'm just speculating* Now, the major problem with UK to US mutations is the length. For some reason US viewers love 20-24 episodes of a show, at least on the major networks. The UK has a powerful belief in less in more. Some shows run for two series, 16 episodes total, and end on a high note, not overstaying its welcome. I loved that about The Office and I'm loving that about the UK Life On Mars. Imagine five seasons, 22 episodes a piece, of Sam Tyler wanting to wake up. That'll get old, annoying and won't work. So the show pretty much has an expiration date, which is never good. Personally, this is my biggest concern, because the first season of the US one will contain more episodes than the entire run of the UK show. If the writers don't head in a different direction, the show will have some serious problems in the long run.

OK, on a side note, I'm kind of excited for Secret Diary of a Call Girl to air on Showtime. I know I watched it and was completely weirded out by nekked, whore Billie Piper, but I saw a huge billboard in NYC advertising it and I was just, "ZOMG BILLIE PIPER." I wonder if she'll do any press for the premiere? I'd kind of love it if Billie were on some late night show, I'd kind of die. Before I didn't think about press for the UK import, but a big billboard with that show and Weeds is a pricey investment. Showtime must have a lot of faith in the show.