gonzai | Life on Mars (UK) Finale

After more or less marathoning the UK Life On Mars, I was more than anxious to see the series finale last night. And wound up more than a little disappointed.

I had more problems with this conclusion than I ever had with Quantum Leap or St Elsewhere or any of the other classic finale letdowns. Very bummed.

Problem No. 1: The whole episode felt very disjointed, rushed, slapped together at the last minute. Now, had the show been cancelled late in production, this would make sense. But they had decided early on this would be the end, so there doesn’t seem to be any valid reason for the mess.

Problem No. 2: Characterization. Both Sam and Gene seemed to have their characters exponentially amplified in the last episode. Gene’s an even bigger blowhard/arrogant arse than usual, and I’m sorry, but I just can’t buy any lead cop deliberately endangering his team and having no backup, training or plan – not even Gene would do that. As for Sam, last show he’s believing in Gene and helping him, etc but this show he suddenly hates him? And home or no, Sam is way too trusting of Morgan and willing to do what he’s told. Since when does Sam do what he’s told?

Problem No. 3: Timeline issues. Obviously the whole show is one big timeline issue, but there are things here that make no sense. If Morgan is still at CID, then only a day or so has passed since the previous episode. But the characters’ behavior makes it seem like weeks have passed. Sam returns to the future, but where’s Maya? If Sam really is in 1973, how does he know so much about the future, and knows it accurately?

Problem No. 4: Just the overall plot. I’ll ‘fess up to liking closure, which this episode did not have, but would making sense have been too much to ask? Was Sam really in 1973? Was that reality? Or was 2006 the reality? How does jumping off a building change anything? And so on and so forth.