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Ashes to Ashes
So. I watched A2A s1 back when it came out, but wasn't overly impressed, so I didn't watch s2 or 3. Until last week, when I had some downtime and decided I wanted some mindless television to keep me entertained. So, I marathoned s2 and most of s3, up until 3x07--and I just saw the finale.
. . . sorry. I cannot quite take it seriously. So . . . Gene Hunt's Charon, guiding dead cops across the river
That said, they did do a good job of not being ashamed of their crack. The worst thing about shows is when they're afraid to go for the full-blown crack or cheese because they're worried they won't look high-brow anymore. House does this, never commits to anything, and it's not good. A2A didn't do that. Once they knew what they wanted, they went for it, and I have to count that in their favor.
Nice things:
- Gene Hunt and gang pulling up to the high noon confrontation to Michael Jackson's Beat it.
- Shaz and Chris getting back together. Yes, I ship it. They're cute together.
- Gene Hunt shopping around for a Mercedes. Oh Gene, you have no taste.
- NELSON. Omg I've missed Nelson.
Not-so-nice things:
- they did make Nelson into a "magical n*gro" character. So he's the pub owner of the afterworld heaven pub? Well, that's not stereotypical at all. I mean, in Life on Mars, I could see him as a self-created character--someone who plays towards a stereotype for his own protection. But like this, that explanation's out the window. Which did irk me.
- . . . that's it, really. That's the only thing that really bothered me. Apart from the fact, of course, that I still don't want this canon to have anything to do with Life on Mars. But hey, that's me personally, that's no critique of the show itself.
I did never manage to warm to Alex. Sorry, Alex. You're not my type. And I think if they wanted Keats as the persuasive devil figure, they should have cast someone who has a bit more appeal than that. Make the audience like him, make the audience actually question Gene Hunt. I mean, who actually liked Keats? He wasn't a character made out to like. He should have been. It would have made the story arc more interesting.
Ahaha the dude stumbling into the office at the end of the finale. That was a nice touch. I mean, I think they did do a good job of pulling it all together in the end, but of course there are still giant, gaping holes, because this finale is not what they set out to do when they started A2A. But, you know. Considering that, it worked quite well.
And now I think I will go and rewatch LoM. Because LoM is awesome.
comment on LJ
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From my point of view, Nelson was always rather mystical, always magically know exactly what Sam needed to hear at any given moment. So it made perfect sense to me that he was an "Angel," or "magical" or whatever you want to call him. I totally loved that.
I'm glad they implied that both Sam and Annie "went to the pub." I was sad in the beginning of the series that she was never mentioned and now I know (at least in my personal cannon) that they moved on together. (I know you didn't like her, but I did)
I agree that Shaz and Chris are cute together. I'm glad they moved on together too.
I thought that Ray's almost bi-polar way of flipping between being a completely worthless human being and making something of himself fit with him having committed suicide. He was both who he thought of himself as, and who he wanted to be.
As a mother I was very sad for Alex that she didn't get to go home to her little girl. It made perfect sense that she was dead too, and as Gene says, that's how the world works, but it still made me cry, because I wouldn't want to leave my baby behind.
I love Gene. And I love that he's become a self appointed Charon to police officers. It fits him. It makes him into the hero he professes himself to be. It makes him just as other worldly as the audience saw him to be in both show's first episodes. It worked for me. And I LOVED that he got some fresh meat at the end. Although, even with my BBC trained ears, I still have NO idea what Gene's last line was. It was just a tad too British. I'd appreciate a translation if anyone is so inclined.
You're right about the demonic Keats being completely unlikeable. He had a creepy vibe from day one. I wouldn't touch him with a 39 1/2 foot pole. And really, how obvious can you get? The elevator goes DOWN? And it goes down into something that SCREAMING? Right, that's not hell, not at all.
And as for the cheese, if I didn't like it I wouldn't watch this show or Doctor Who either. Cheese is fun. Although you didn't mention "Chariots of Fire." That was the crackiest of all the music they played. It was awesome. :)
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Yeah, he was. It's just that if he had been a "real" character--like Chris or Ray, and not an angel, or part of the heaven/hell structure--then you could assume that, being a bartender in the 70s, he took on that personality because society expected it of him. The way it is now, his mystical-ness was imposed on him externally. It's like how all God characters in movies always have to be black. Nelson's character in LoM was already a bit dodgy, but in A2A, rather than rehabilitating his status, they just made him more mystical. That's what bothered me.
I know you didn't like her, but I did
Oh, I didn't mind her. I just thought her character was a bit bland. She got pulled out when Sam needed a love interest, and at all other times was left to just be set dressing. Which is also why I couldn't really see the "true love" between her and Sam, because well, the only reason she was there was to be a love interest. I like relationships on shows to be a bit more developed than that.
The deaths of Ray, Chris and Shaz made sense, yeah. They built up Ray's suicidal tendencies in this season, probably on purpose. It worked well, though, yeah.
I did like the thing about Alex having to leave Molly behind. It made the decision harder for her, and that way, the happy ending wasn't cheap--there was a price Alex had to pay. A price, in that sense, always makes happy endings more genuine.
I have no clue what Gene said, either. I'd have to watch it again. ;)
And oh, I approve of the cheese. I don't mind cheese, if it's well done. I thought A2A was reasonably acceptably done, but not well. Mostly because it's so obvious that they cobbled the show concept together while they went along. It would have been better if they'd spent some more time developing the show before shooting and airing it.
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(Basically: We are about to have Words.)
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A word in your shell like pal, makes absolutely no grammatical sense to me. Not at all.
Thanks so much for the translation. I appreciate it. :)
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(It's probably just a Manchester thing xD Wrong part of the country for me)
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I particularly liked that Gene was unaware of his role/purpose and, indeed, of his death. I also liked that Alex had to face the loss of Molly (as well as of Gene) at the end.
Sure, there were plenty of plot holes, and it would have been great if both series had been planned as a whole rather than made up as they went, but I think the writers managed to make something worth watching. Series 1 of A2A was pretty much a waste of time—a repeat of LoM but with a female lead. Series 2 and 3, on the other hand, were darker and much more compelling. I really cared about the characters, particularly Gene, and found watching those videos with them devastating.
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Yes, this. I can still keep it that way in my head, but I agree, they didn't do too badly with wrapping up the loose ends in the actual show.
I also liked that Alex had to face the loss of Molly (as well as of Gene) at the end.
Yep, that made the ending, while still cheesy, a bit classier than it would have been without.
I really started to warm up to Chris and Ray. They were always little more than set dressing to me, but in A2A s2 and 3, they kind of stepped up and became their own characters. I really liked that. Same with Shaz, if you want to compare her to Annie--she actually developed a personality in the end.
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I guess it depends on how your comeing at it. Gene is definitely some sort of Psychopomp but I don't think Charon is quite right. Because he's not the one making them cross (hi keats), or even facilitating it (thats nelson) Gene is just. IDK. Getting them ready for it.
Although we do both ship Shaz and Chris XD They where so cute. I also found her growing friendship with Ray quite touching.
(I see Nelson as Saint Peter. Not literally but he does fit the part perfectly. He even says to Sam in the first episode 'I decide who comes in here.' In essence he's the gatekeeper...which may be problematic in and of itself. I'm not sure. But then Gene, Keats and Nelson are all the representation of a power in there own way.)
I liked Alex! And I did buy some of what Keats was saying but then I never really cared for gene so I might have wanted to believe it xD I thought he was a guy who *thought* he was doing the right thing and would stop at nothing to get it done. Bit like gene himself.
But yeah, then they made him creepy.
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It was just a throwaway comment, nothing that I'd deducted from careful analysis of the text. ;) No, Gene doesn't make them cross. Actually, he sort of stops them from crossing--he wants to keep them in his world, because he's sad and lonely. *pats Gene*
But yeah, then they made him creepy.
Yeah, he was alright-ish in the beginning--you kind of felt as if they were at least trying to make him sympathetic, even if they didn't quite manage, at least not for me--but any later sympathy Alex or any of the other characters showed towards him felt forced, because he was just not a sympathetic character.
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Plus s3 of Ashes to Ashes is apparently what would have been s3 of LOM had they gone for another series with that.
Either way, so very shiny and brought me much joy :D Especially because it didn't just turn out to be 'and then I woke up and it was all a dream/simulation programmed into my head while I head off to Mars'
Good times!
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I thought the A2A finale was very nicely done on an emotional level. If you look at it from any other level, it's a bit shaky, but hey, it worked, so I'm not complaining. Too much. ;)
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...And that's all I can think to say really. XD
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Your reaction, I reads it! Also, it sounds like they must have pulled it off rather well, and in keeping with the character of the rest of the seasons—the synopses I read made me go "...Oh, Lord, the cheese. The black-and-white choosing sides after death. Meh."
I still will likely never watch A2A, for shallow personal reasons. LoM was so damned good, and so closed and complete (and I'm really glad they didn't get to do further seasons with LoM, and were forced, it sounds like, to write the ending they did) that I still have that fan-ridiculous desire to keep it...safe, in my head, a story-moment that's just its own.
Also, my sister just made me marathon three episodes of Dollhouse. It was her birthday, so I humored her. Also, the show is really not that bed. Well, the show is not that great. It's very standard Whedon, pretty superficial, but the concept fun. And there is femslash potential screaming to be realized, between Sierra and Echo.
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Oh, it was cheesy and black-and-white, but it was also true to the characters, so it worked. It played very much at the whole old-school western thing Gene Hunt likes to play at anyway. He's the sheriff of his patch, and he has high noon confrontations, and stuff. Yay!
A2A is not a show that, imo, needs to be watched. It's an okay show, better than I expected it to be when they started airing it, but it's not something you have to watch or you'll miss out.
As for Dollhouse, I actually liked the pilot and the first episode. Not loved them, but they were all right. I might watch some more and see if I continue to like it.
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Then I will continue watching Dollhouse, instead, for unknowable reasons. I think the twists will all be fairly predictable (considering the premise makes it so any and everyone on the show could be an Active, so you start suspecting everyone of being an Active immediately, which means I'll probably be right about at least a few of them actually being Actives, just because I think everyone is), but there's this odd compulsion to watch, in a show that you know will try to pull predictable twists, to see if it will indeed pull them.
I suspect I'll be marathoning it weekends with my sister.
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Hmmm - it hadn't actually sunk in for me that this means Alex has 'died' - I thought that she could still choose to go back, but I suppose not? The music was awesome in this season, I loved it. I thought the ending was satisfying and I also liked that they just played it out without flinching. But I personally would have loved to have seen Sam again. I quite liked Alex, but I agree about Keats - he was so utterly repulsive that there was never that much of a question that he was the bad guy. It would have been interesting to have someone as much as or even more sympathetic than Gene in the role.
I also want to watch LoM again. But I'm so behind on everything!