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Ashes to Ashes
The reason why I hesitated watching it in the first place where two or rather three fold. I had and still have issues with the Life on Mars finale; moreover, I thought the second season in general, while not being bad, was noticable weaker than the first one and showed the writing staff losing interest in their main character while falling in love a tad too much in love with Gene Hunt; and thirdly, the premise of Ashes to Ashes as described basically sounded like a remake, only with the early 80s instead of 1973 and a female police officer to have het UST instead of slash UST. However, some people on my flst whose judgment I value seemed to like it, and when the entertainment program of the flight to Bali had the first two episodes, I was curious enough to watch. Now I've seen all eight episodes, and must say not only did I like it but I liked it more than the second season of Life on Mars, even discounting my finale issues. Which doesn't mean it's perfect. Gene has a speech in the Ashes to Ashes season finale which is one of these eye-rolling examples of the "pompous superior shows up just so Our Hero can show/tell him what's what" motif so beloved by show runners. (No, I didn't even like it when Joss did it with Buffy and the Watcher's council in season 5, and he's a far better writer.) But that's one scene, not a blemish of the whole season. The characterisation of Gene in general is one I'm happy with; the heroic introduction shot from the pilot is also full of irony, and the writing for him in general is full of affection but not uncritical or glorifying, larger-than-life personality notwithstanding.
Alex, I take it, had her detractors, expecially in the early episodes, but I like her, especially that she isn't written as a female Sam Tyler and doesn't have the same dilemma. (Alex doesn't wonder whether or not what she experiences is real; she's convinced and absolutely sure it's not, but can't help starting to feel for and interact with everyone anyway.) Moreover, by giving her a little daughter to return to, the creators seem to have gone out of their way to make sure Alex won't have a "god, 2007/8 is so dull, I wanna get back to the 70s!" reaction later. The coupling of Alex and her daughter in the present, and Alex and her mother in the past is also dramatically very efficient. As for the mystery/revelation at the end: of course there is a parallel to Sam and his father - this show has it in for fathers - but what I find intriguing is that by giving Gene the saviour/protector role of child!Alex (which provides an alternate explanation of why she ended up in 1981 - she did in fact have surpressed memories of Gene and the police station), Ashes to Ashes does what Life on Mars also did in the first but not the second season, posit Gene as a good father figure as opposed to the biological father revealed as bad. In a show that makes the UST between its leads textual, that's interestingly messed up, and also foreshadowed by adult Alex flirting with and feeling attracted to the younger version of her godfather (who as it turns out slept with her mother; this is reaching Renaissance proportions). Moving away from the incest, Gene looks more like a psychopomp for dying police officers than ever.
Ray and Chris got more narrative room here than on LoM, and Shaz, replacing Annie as the sweet and kind WPC in the team, is extremely likeable. (Also, with Alex and Shaz as regulars and Caroline as a semi-regular character, plus Alex' daughter Molly as not always present but very much thought of, we have four important female roles to balance the blokeishness. It's appreciated.) I'm not sure I buy Gene would have been able to take his sidekicks with him after being transferred to the capital, but I can see why they moved the location to London; it just fits more with the early 80s.
Lastly: you know how in shows, movies and films most of the time male characters are allowed one night stands without being characterized in negative ways, but heroic female characters don't have sex unless they're either seriously in love or evilly tricked? This show doesn't do that. Sadly, this is still worth mentioning. Makes me almost forgive the obnoxious "let's show it to the man" speech alluded to above.
Alex, I take it, had her detractors, expecially in the early episodes, but I like her, especially that she isn't written as a female Sam Tyler and doesn't have the same dilemma. (Alex doesn't wonder whether or not what she experiences is real; she's convinced and absolutely sure it's not, but can't help starting to feel for and interact with everyone anyway.) Moreover, by giving her a little daughter to return to, the creators seem to have gone out of their way to make sure Alex won't have a "god, 2007/8 is so dull, I wanna get back to the 70s!" reaction later. The coupling of Alex and her daughter in the present, and Alex and her mother in the past is also dramatically very efficient. As for the mystery/revelation at the end: of course there is a parallel to Sam and his father - this show has it in for fathers - but what I find intriguing is that by giving Gene the saviour/protector role of child!Alex (which provides an alternate explanation of why she ended up in 1981 - she did in fact have surpressed memories of Gene and the police station), Ashes to Ashes does what Life on Mars also did in the first but not the second season, posit Gene as a good father figure as opposed to the biological father revealed as bad. In a show that makes the UST between its leads textual, that's interestingly messed up, and also foreshadowed by adult Alex flirting with and feeling attracted to the younger version of her godfather (who as it turns out slept with her mother; this is reaching Renaissance proportions). Moving away from the incest, Gene looks more like a psychopomp for dying police officers than ever.
Ray and Chris got more narrative room here than on LoM, and Shaz, replacing Annie as the sweet and kind WPC in the team, is extremely likeable. (Also, with Alex and Shaz as regulars and Caroline as a semi-regular character, plus Alex' daughter Molly as not always present but very much thought of, we have four important female roles to balance the blokeishness. It's appreciated.) I'm not sure I buy Gene would have been able to take his sidekicks with him after being transferred to the capital, but I can see why they moved the location to London; it just fits more with the early 80s.
Lastly: you know how in shows, movies and films most of the time male characters are allowed one night stands without being characterized in negative ways, but heroic female characters don't have sex unless they're either seriously in love or evilly tricked? This show doesn't do that. Sadly, this is still worth mentioning. Makes me almost forgive the obnoxious "let's show it to the man" speech alluded to above.
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I was so expecting that episode to have the 'evilly tricked' twist and I was thrilled and impressed when they didn't go there. ...Which is depressing, really.
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Gene's finale speech I still find yucky, you can say that in other episodes we see the downside of that attitude but certain right-wing political press TV reviewers and web blogs were going "PREACH IT, DUDE!" the following day.
And yes to the messed-up Electral stuff between Alex and Gene.
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Reactions from right-wing political press TV reviewers: yuck indeed. I mean, the episode before we see the downside of Gene's attitude pretty graphically when he encourages Chris to beat Hollis (not sure about the name?) into a pulp, which the narrative definitely condemns, but within the finale, it's presented as unchallenged, complete with emotive music.
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But as you say, people on my friend's list say good things. Means I've got to slot it in now...
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Ah, that's an explanation that never occurred to me.
I actually saw it in a completely different light. It made me see the whole series in a 'religious' light. Imagine Gene as the seriously flawed fallen guardian angel seeking redemption. Visualise his presence in her mind/life as a deliberate act by a divine being. Gene has no knowledge of who/what he is, except for that moment when he says "I'll always be there for you".
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Ray and Chris got more narrative room here than on LoM, and Shaz, replacing Annie as the sweet and kind WPC in the team, is extremely likeable.
I liked the fact we got to know the other characters a bit better and didn't have quite the intense focus that LoM did on the relationship between Gene and Sam. Although the men still had their moments of unbearable blokishness Shaz felt like much more of an accepted part of the team than Annie did, which highlighted the (very) gradual improvement in the status of women police officers between 1973 and 1981.
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Yes, there was more of an ensemble feel to it. And very true about Shaz.
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Also, it reminds me of what you said re: Between the Lines, i.e. that cop shows usually present Interior Investigations as either corrupt or powermad bureaucrats who don't really understand people in the field, etc., and that therefore Between the Lines was unusual in its very premise.
Did Matthew Graham et al. say anything about their use of Lord Scarman?
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It was a great set of episodes - I'm really looking forward to more.
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OMG I hated her doing that. She was a 2008 girl shagging a Thatcherite wanker, it showed her as incredibly shallow and - plus, as he was a suspect - BAD AT HER JOB. I didn't respect guys who slept with female suspects, and I sure as hell didn't respect her after she slept with a male one. I mean, compare 2007 Sam not sleeping with Joani (well, voluntarily, at any rate) with Alex being so eager to shag random Thatcherite wanker that she turns up to work late the next morning - nice going, love! That's the way to set an example! Urgh.
Fundamentally, I saw Alex as a self-righteous bitch, which really pissed me off as I was determined to like her. I also found her obsession with her mother suspect, and it was only her relationship with Molly that saved her from utter loathing on my part. Not even Gene liking her could endear her to me. Phoey.
And you know what? I'm still watching S2. Damnit.
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Thirdly, about her mother: honestly, how is this more suspect or less understandable than Sam's obsession with his father? The woman had died when she was very young and she had never known her as a person beyond those early childhood memories. And now here she is, and not an idealized figure on a pedestal, nor a villain, either, but someone real.
Fourthly, I liked Alex in general. I liked that her relationships with Chris and Ray were different from Sam's, I liked that she was both manipulative and ruthless enough to push the right button when it came to getting her suspect's boyfriend to become her informer and to make Ray distract the suspect but reverted to a an emotional child when faced with her mother, I liked that while she was attracted to Gene she had just enough self preservation not to let it go further even though she thinks he's her fantasy, I liked her relationship with Shaz, I liked that she never stops wanting to return to her daughter. I liked Alex. More than second season Sam whom I'm still massively ticked off with, and definitely as much, if not more than Gene, who really should have clued into the downside of his type of policing after all the first season of Life on Mars when Ray and Co. got someone killed because they were following his role model but in 1981 is still encouraging his subordinates to beat people into a bloody pulp if revenge is on the menu and then holds speeches about how liberal softies don't get it the next episode.
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Ah, no, I didn't care about that one way or the other. But the Thatcherite really pissed me off.
Secondly, with the earlier one night stand, Alex has just arrived in this world and is absolutely convinced it's all in her head, that it is her fantasy, as opposed to Sam, who after the pilot was at least half convinced it might be real.
And her fantasy is to have sex with a Thatcherite? That doesn't make it any better! I know all about 'your kink is not my kink but your kink is ok', but wanting to shag a fascist asshole who is busy evicting people is just yucky. Also, wasn't she the one who gave that kid the idea of bombing people? And it didn't even cross her mind, she didn't even feel a twinge over that. God, I hated her in that episode, I liked her before then, but that episode really made me hate her. She hit all of my guaranteed squicks in a character.
Thirdly, about her mother: honestly, how is this more suspect or less understandable than Sam's obsession with his father?
Oh, I didn't like that either - so at least I'm consistent!
I liked that her relationships with Chris and Ray were different from Sam's,
I did like that, and I liked her relationship with Shaz. What I didn't like - and there's no softer way of putting it - is her. She just gets me spitting mad, I'm sorry, but I so wanted to like her, and was so frustrated when I didn't. :( :(
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Also, adorable Shaz is very likeable indeed, and Chris and Ray having a more significant place in the story much appreciated.
Re :your issues with the LoM finale .I had some as well.This ending left me with mixed feelings. My reading was that Sam just woke up after the surgery and it seemed that he was fine but it wasn't and he got into coma again and was drawn to 1973 and his friends there. But there was something seriously missing in any case and I thought the version of Sam's choice ( if it was one?)on the roof didn't fit with what we learned from the character during both seasons.I was kinda surprised and a bit unsatisfied with it ( although I'm on a general level all about fantasy realms over real world, or the child part in me is, strongly..yet in this case it wasn't the best route )
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Can't wait to hear what you make of the second season!
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I'm rather eager to start watching s.2. And I'm happy with these series that got two, three seasons. There are exceptions of course but often I think that everything that matters should be told during the time of four seasons at best. After that, there's always the risk of the writers going in circles and even damaging the characters sometimes.