tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post2580170632869871738..comments2024-03-06T02:22:24.811-08:00Comments on The Culbin Trail: Ashes to Ashes, Final EpisodeI.J. Parnhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08933834936324859175noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-57188555613747350402014-04-12T17:25:43.012-07:002014-04-12T17:25:43.012-07:00Also, if Sam had not really woken up in 2006/7 he ...Also, if Sam had not really woken up in 2006/7 he could not have supplied the information to Alex that gave her prior knowledge of the existence of Gene Hunt, Ray Carling and Chris Skelton.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456424398403101875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-67568858356140590882014-04-12T17:24:54.251-07:002014-04-12T17:24:54.251-07:00Unlike Alex, Sam DID wake up for real, before retu...Unlike Alex, Sam DID wake up for real, before returning to "1973". <br /><br />We know this because Sam's file (in episode 1 of Ashes to Ashes) lists his death as a suicide, not a car accident.<br /><br />He had a car accident that put him close enough to death to have him enter Gene Hunt's world, he woke up from that, decided the Real World sucked and leaped off the roof of the station building to his death, returning him permanently to Gene Hunt's world.<br /><br />If he hadn't really woken up, the file held by Alex Drake before her shooting would not have listed him as "suicide".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456424398403101875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-11548251100035689422014-04-12T17:23:06.771-07:002014-04-12T17:23:06.771-07:00Unlike Alex, Sam DID wake up for real, before retu...Unlike Alex, Sam DID wake up for real, before returning to "1973". <br /><br />We know this because Sam's file (in episode 1 of Ashes to Ashes) lists his death as a suicide, not a car accident.<br /><br />He had a car accident that put him close enough to death to have him enter Gene Hunt's world, he woke up from that, decided the Real World sucked and leaped off the roof of the station building to his death, returning him permanently to Gene Hunt's world.<br /><br />If he hadn't really woken up, the file held by Alex Drake before her shooting would not have listed him as "suicide".Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16456424398403101875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-43343054036891531422013-05-26T02:01:30.102-07:002013-05-26T02:01:30.102-07:00Anon, I'd say there are two answers. Firstly,...Anon, I'd say there are two answers. Firstly, Evan was the man on the other end of the phone. Layton's life had gone downhill but it had nothing to do with the events in purgatory, in the same way that Sam Tyler didn’t make the gangster Tony Crane's life go downhill, he just created a logical reason why it had while in purgatory. <br /><br />Layton tried to improve his lot by blackmailing Evan and when Evan wouldn’t pay up, he kidnapped Alex's daughter and then shot Alex to teach Evan a lesson. There is a line at the end of episode 8, season 1 where young Alex is in Gene's office that suggests this is what happened, but it's not delivered very well making it look as if they'd explain more later on. But they didn't come back to it. In the end Layton wasn't important. He was just the reason Alex died, in the same way the driver who ran over Sam wasn't important, although many fans thought he would be.<br /><br />Secondly, the ending the makers were working towards changed each year. So there are inconsistencies and there are missed opportunities to foreshadow the ending and drop clues along the way that would have been made if the three years had been planned in advance. Layton was just another piece that got dropped between seasons. They are other oddities and for me the biggest missing piece was the time-travel element, as there is no logical reason why people had to go back in time beyond the fact it was fun dramatically.I.J. Parnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08933834936324859175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-57538412794641155172013-05-24T06:24:43.239-07:002013-05-24T06:24:43.239-07:00At first I thought the ending was perfect, but the...At first I thought the ending was perfect, but then I realised that the elephant in the room was never addressed. <br /><br />The entire reason she was in the coma was because of Layton. Layton spoke to someone on the phone and said that he had "a piece of your past" and knew "why her parents died". Layton feels maligned because he was a big cheese "back in the day" and Alex foiled all of that (as we find out in the show). <br /><br />The entire reason Layton targets Alex is because of her involvement in his past. If she actually does die and series 1-3 are all just a dream-sequence while she dies then how does Layton even know her??? Yes, he killed her parents but he wouldn't have a grudge against her unless she was involved in his past.<br /><br />So are we to believe that Alex actually died as a girl in the bomb blast and the entire show is all bollocks? Or did she really get shot, really did go back in time, really did antagonise Layton... and so the ending of Series 3 is all bollocks?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-85068818850057228132010-05-26T06:27:23.470-07:002010-05-26T06:27:23.470-07:00Anon, it does make sense and that's what conce...Anon, it does make sense and that's what concerned me too, although in a slightly different way as I hoped that Sam had in fact woken up to the real world and killed himself rather than woken up to a fantasy world. The fact that he didn't feel pain was to me not meant to be taken literally. I think he was just numb and uninvolved.<br /><br />But it is possible to answer the Alex problem (just!) if you start from the idea that Alex went into a coma before Ashes started. The opening ten minutes of season 1 was filmed oddly with reflections (followed by Alice in Wonderland references) suggesting that she was in a fantasy world at that time, which Layton forced her to leave by killing her in the way that Sam left that fantasy world. Season 3 also started with reflections exactly like the opening shots of season 1, further adding weight to season 1 starting in the same fantasy world, and the final episode started with Molly being reflected and her mole moving from cheek to cheek. <br /><br />In other words there were three worlds: Gene's past world, the present day fantasy world, and the present day. Only the opening minutes of Mars and the shot of a dead Alex happened in the real world. End of LOM and the start of Ashes seasons 1 and 3 happening in the present day fantasy world, and the rest in the past world.<br /><br />Er, I'll shut up now as I'm in danger of confusing myself!I.J. Parnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08933834936324859175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-82993042760504360492010-05-26T05:40:11.204-07:002010-05-26T05:40:11.204-07:00I agree it was a decent ending and the only thorn ...I agree it was a decent ending and the only thorn that annoys me is the end of LOM. Sam "recovers", then details his experiences which were recorded and Alex reads up on them k, straightforward. However, when Sam recovered it seemed to be a dream inside a dream similar to Alex's in S3E1 and the fact that he could not "feel" the pain during the meeting (I think his pen broke and he started bleeding) indicated that he was supposedly in the wrong world and he belonged back with Gene and the gang. But he was in his own reality as that is where he left the information that Alex read up on. If this makes any sense :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-24892870318560140852010-05-23T06:00:20.611-07:002010-05-23T06:00:20.611-07:00You're right, Nigel, about it being surreal. T...You're right, Nigel, about it being surreal. That's something I hadn't appreciated until you mentioned it, which shows how skilfully the series cast its spell. It was probably up there with The Prisoner (original version!) and Twin Peaks for weird final episodes, and yet it never once felt weird. <br /><br />Anon, as regards Alex being dead, I think that's right as the trip to the Railway Arms appeared to be the afterlife. Although I'll admit on watching it I did think that when she went inside there'd then be a cut to her waking up. When it didn’t happen it put the final nail in her coffin.<br /><br />Ray, on Sam, perhaps when I watch it again I might feel differently as it was ambiguous, but I think on balance the implication is that the Ashes ending changed the Mars ending. For series 3 Alex was forgetting about real life, as Sam is supposed to have done, and yet she didn’t kill herself to return to Gene's world. But she did see her own body, presumably dead, in hospital. That implies that she didn’t really wake up (although Gene and co appearing on tv screens probably confirmed that earlier) and if she didn’t really wake up, it's a short step to saying that Sam didn't either. It might then follow that they had a different journey than Ray, Chris and Shaz had because they didn't die instantly whereas Alex and Sam lingered and as you say Gene could never accept death. Alex and Sam probably died prior to having a real life fantasy that was a last attempt to hold on to their mortality. But that's probably overthinking something that was meant to work on an emotional level, which it did.I.J. Parnhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08933834936324859175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-62061169413971154292010-05-22T17:40:18.009-07:002010-05-22T17:40:18.009-07:00If memory serves me right at the end of 'Life ...If memory serves me right at the end of 'Life On Mars' Sam Tyler recovers and then commits suicide by jumping from the roof of a tower block. He returns to help out Gene Hunt and gang who were in the middle of a shoot out on a train.<br />Alex Drake in 'Ashes' recovers then has a relapse and dies - this may only be because she wasn't admitted to Holby City where patients usually die under the knife.<br />So, I think that both endings do tie together and Gene could never accept his own death - only invite others down the pub.Rayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18154296143024548830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-52532878929744201832010-05-22T15:41:43.901-07:002010-05-22T15:41:43.901-07:00I love this show soo much, i can't belive she ...I love this show soo much, i can't belive she died at the begging of series 3, i did think the ghost of gene haunting her her was gene but i thought he was in a coma not dead, i loved seeing how ray,chris and shaz saw there death. I only realized alex died from reading this, i wish she had stayed with him and it continued with them two together but it didn't and i think it was right. I haven't seen alot of LOM and am going to watch the whole series LOM A2A will be missed D :Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3965782603800207970.post-78726148391038402062010-05-22T09:00:35.340-07:002010-05-22T09:00:35.340-07:00Precisely! :-)
For me it was the writer's ski...Precisely! :-)<br /><br />For me it was the writer's skill which shone through. Despite having done the ending once after series two of LOM, they revived it and made it plausible once more.<br /><br />I think we knew Keats was Death or a Demon well before the end and the actor's acting was superb as he looked and acted more like a gargoil (OK, I've never seen a gargoil acting but I know you know what I mean!) with every scene. The fact Gene never reacted to either Sam or Alex's strange behaviours, nor to Keats wild threats, shows - in retrospect - that he knew all along who Keats was.<br /><br />Yes, a throughly rewarding and correct ending. To see Glenister's acting as Alex uncovered the buried corpse was superb. Everyone gave their all and at the end the plot came together and finally made sense.<br /><br />How long will we have to wait until we get such quality on the "telly" again?Nigelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08910822486096427326noreply@blogger.com