Ashes to Ashes

[teyla]

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 Manchester Styx into the afterworld? Okay then.

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

Comments

[teyla]

Nelson was always rather mystical
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.