I thought the UK version was great, but I was left unsatisfied at the end regarding the “mystery.” Yeah, I know, it wasn’t the point, but I was really hoping for more. So I was really hoping the US version, which in principle would have corrected my objection, would survive and I could watch it on DVD down the road. Guess that’s not happening. I guess I should be glad I didn’t invest in it while it was on.
Well, there’s always the original.
And not to be “that guy”, but I seriously think you have not experienced Life on Mars before you’ve seen Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt.
Friends of ours did that, although we had watched Life On Mars before starting with Ashes to Ashes. Honestly, I’d say it depends on how much you think you want to see LOM. There are some spoilers to the ending of LOM in the first couple of episodes of AtoA, which may well compromise your enjoyment of LOM, particularly the way it’s resolved in the UK version which was a big surprise as far as I was concerned. The two shows do work fairly independently, but you may well find things out that you would wish you hadn’t known when you do come to watch LOM, in other words.
Plus, not that you asked, I adored LOM and yet only managed to get through the first four episodes of AtoA, but that was largely because the main character bugged the hell out of me, and also because I just missed a particular character from LOM (ooooops, nearly spoiled you by naming them!) YMMV of course - my friends who watched AtoA first prefer it to LOM.
And I agree completely with cactus waltz, Philip Glenister is really something else in that part - I can’t imagine anyone else even coming close!
Yes. The UK creators knew their end point – and that they’d have two seasons to get there – from the first episode. Not only did they feel safe from cancellation – they also knew that, even if the show was a roaring success (and it was pretty successful, hence the spin-off), they wouldn’t try to squeeze six more seasons out of it.
LurkMeister, I’d avoid Ashes to Ashes if you have any interest in the original series. Maybe catch a few minutes to see if you like the style of the show. But if you watch it from the start, a chuck of LoM will have been spoiled. And if you like Gene, you’ll definitely want to see more of him.
I definitely want to see the original series. I suppose I could just DVR “Ashes to Ashes” and not watch it until I get a chance to watch the original series. I notice that BBC America is running the final episode of the old series right before the premiere of the new series; maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll decide to re-run the original series again.
Wasn’t it on opposite of ER? That can’t have helped.
Exactly, but I had guessed from Day one (which is when I stopped watching) that this was a “It’s all just a dream” show, which I hate worse than no answers at all.
Nope, the night before. On right after “Lost” which is a pretty sweet spot, though it seems to be the kiss of death.
And I liked the show and am sad to see it go. But I almost always forgot it was on for some reason. I’d be ready to do something once “Lost” ended, see the ad and say “Oh shit, that’s on. I’d forgotten!” and then watch it.
Weird, I kept forgetting about a show I liked.
-Joe
I’ll miss it. Definitely seems a better endcap to Lost than the Unusuals. Maybe they could replace the 8pm Lost repeat instead… But I’m glad at least that they are letting the season ride out in order to give it time to end properly. Hope they wrap up things well…
anyone see last night’s? They’re really doing an interesting job of wrapping it up, IMO. Glad the network at least gave them advanced notice.
Still not convinced they’re going to wrap it up.
I’ve now seen two sources of info that say they are going to. One is the report cited above–but in that report, it appears to be the reporter drawing conclusions, not reporting information that was relayed to him. The other source is ABC’s blurb after the show last night saying “Just one more episode til the spectacular series finale that will explain everything!” But: “Explaining everything” is not the same thing as “wrapping everything up” and besides, that’s advertising, which is inherently untrustworthy.
I’ll be happy if they wrap it up, but I’m not counting on it.
By the way, from last nights episode:
"This gun isn’t loaded, is it?
Cracked me up.
That was cute. But I was a little surprised at the end of the episode. I’d become sort of fond of Ray.
In the next week’s preview they seemed to be fighting for their lives.
It would be interesting way to end the serious if Sam ends up saving Ray, which changes the future, putting him back in 2008/2009 time continuum.
I like to end the serious with a knock knock joke.
-FrL-
Thank you for that. The spelling portions of my brain have been firing out some very weird messages lately.
I like that Sam got to live out many a young boy’s dream–bangin’ the hot babysitter he had a crush on when he was a kid. Now THAT"S making good use of the time-travel theme.
Interesting episode tonight, but it felt kind of rushed at the end. So is Windy real, or a figment of Sam’s imagination?
Real, imho. She doesn’t have that shimmery effect when she talks, unlike the cop when he mentioned NIN and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Good episode last night. I sure hate to see this series come to an end–it could have gone some really interesting places, and now there just won’t be the chance. I found I really enjoyed Gretchen Moll’s performance in the series, too. I would have liked to see some more lighter stuff as Sam encountered 70s technology along with the 70s attitude.
In the first episode where the Irish gang was unloading boxes, did the boxes not say VCRs? Didn’t Sam start to call them VCRs, then cut himself off? Did they have consumer-level VCRs in 1973? Or 1974 if he’s been there that long.
I want to know more about the little robots.
Just damn it. I won’t be watching another ABC show, that’s for sure. Not after Pushing Daisies and now this.