IMHO, the writers ended it as well as they could: a majority of the 1973 tensions were resolved in a reasonable matter, and the central mystery of how he traveled back in time was wrapped up in a way that’s believable within the constraints of the story. Given the cancellation, this was one of those rare times when the old “it was all a dream” plot (one of my most hated plot lines) actually worked.
I’ll be sad to see this one go - I had grown to like it.
I noticed at the beginning it said “Special Guest Star – Lisa Bonet.” Lisa Bonet played Sam’s 2008 girlfriend/fiancee in the first episode. So I was expecting it to somehow end back in 2008. Imagine my surprise.
I wonder, though – was that put in there purposely to throw us off the track? Or did she film some scenes for the episode that were later edited out?
Or, I suppose, was she in the episode and I completely missed her?
Colonel Norris is much hotter as a brunette. I liked the main story resolution, even if the end was a little trippy.
Yes! As an end to the series, it was terrible, but as an April Fool’s joke, it was awesome.
That threw me off, too. I didn’t see her anywhere in this episode.
Maybe she was in the that scene that flashed a bunch of different scenes? Could it simply be Bonet was contracted for one more episode, and they threw in the credit only to fulfill it?
I pretty much agree. Making Gene his father was really stretching it for no real reason, I thought.
While I recognize it wasn’t a masterpiece, I liked the show well enough, and it kept me interested, which is more than I can say for most network TV. I’ll have to track down the UK version now.
I watched this one, despite not having followed it. I would have been OK with the apparent ending where he kissed Gretchen Mol. But then…[spoiler]Now that’s evidence of an overly literal mind.
And clearly the writer of that final scene is not a science person nor science fiction person. And that’s annoying, because when you get into speculation on solar system exploration, that’s something I know a little about.
I decided to allow the quick communication as artistic licensejust time compression, that’s fine.
“Genetic DNA”? Huh?
In 26 years, we’re going to have that level of psyche manipulation? As if. And a 37-year-old POTUS?[/spoiler]But then the leather loafer at the end made it somehow sort of OK.
Here a show has to be a real stinker to get cancelled mid-season. Nearly all will be allowed to limp to their conclusion.
Can’t imagine what Americans will make of the British LoM. It’s so heavily dependent upon the viewer recognising various British 1970s cultural references. AtA was a rather weaker spinoff, thanks in part to the feeble central character and also the fact that the 1980s aren’t sufficiently far away to make a greater cultural contrast to today.
So how did they end it then? I can’t tell from people’s posts. Can someone explain or point me to somewhere that does?
Let’s not worry that I haven’t seen a single episode of the US version and am never likely to!
As for Lisa Bonet’s name on the credits, we heard her voice in Sam’s head once. So if she had a spoken line, that would explain her name in the credits.
My friend Will, who writes for various online entertainment mags, ran into Michael Imperioli at the Comic-Con in NYC in February. At that point the rumors had already started flying about LOM being canceled, but there was nothing official from ABC. When Will asked him about the show being canceled, Imperioli told him, “All I know is that I gotta be at work in the morning.” This was in mid-February.
So they filmed the conclusion, we figure, about three of four weeks ago. I thought given that time constraint, the writers did a good job of tying it all together to maintain an internal consistency. But that still doesn’t explain the instantaneous communications between Earth and Mars orbit.
Charley, Sam and the rest of the 125th were really travelers to the first manned mission to Mars. They had to be placed in a type of suspended animation for the trip, so were given ‘dreams’ along the way. (Ray’s was that he was the only man with a penis on an island of 200 women). Sam was supposed to be a cop in 2008 (this takes place, I would guess, 30 or 40 years from our time) but a glitch during the trip made him go back to 1973, and mixed everything up for him.
Annie Norris was the commander of the mission, Sam, ray & Chris were crew members, as was Gene, who we see is really Sam’s dad (did y’all notice the snake tattoo on his left hand?) And the last scene was a foot stepping onto the surface of Mars, but instead of a boot on the foot, it was Gene’s right white loafer.
It was also clear that much of that episode was filmed with a different ending (or a continuation) in mind. I’d like to know what the writers’ original intent was, if the show was renewed and extended for a few more seasons.
Having seen both the UK and US versions, I thought the UK ending was better, and could easily have worked for last night’s show.
Still, I give the writers points for trying to come up with their own ending, and it was kind of cute, if a little nonsensical.
Exactly. They could have given us a cop-out a la Quantum Leap! Hell, some planned endings don’t get resolved this well; virtually all prime time TV is the figment of an autistic boy’s imagination, anyone?
No kidding. I’m not sure about Jason O’Mara’s salary, but Harvey Keitel, Gretchen Mol and Michael Imperioli couldn’t have come cheap.
It was a good show, and I liked it and would have gone on watching it for a long time. But I also hate it when they drag out a mystery endlessly. So perhaps this was for the best.
I was sad to see it end but I didn’t mind the futuristic ending. Granted the communication between Mars and Earth was all wrong, but okay, they have subspace radio in 27 years. Fine. I thought the scene in 2010 with Sam reading to an elderly Annie was a nice touch and could have provided an ending (provided he then left to meet up with his new wife, her younger, nearly identical daughter).
Could somebody spoil the end of the UK version?
I missed the finale last night but a coworker told me it was “deep”. I replied, as long as they don’t make it a dream, I’ll be OK with it. :rolleyes:
Sean Factotum, thanks, and … really? Really? wow, that’s just… wow
Did anyone see that coming? I mean, was it reasonable in view of what had come before? I always felt like the UK ending was entirely reasonable in the mythos of the show, and it was always one of the possible endings people had speculated about. But space missions? Where did that come from? Not just the title, surely?
I’m seriously amazed at that - it’s just bizarre. (You’re serious? this isn’t just an April Fool’s thing?) I usually like to check out the US - UK versions when they get translated, but I reallly don’t think I can bring myself to do it. It’s just not the same show, surely.
I never thought of that - I was thinking more along the lines of ‘period piece’, but we’ll pretend I meant that.
-Joe
One of the ideas was “coma” and one of them was “drug trip”. The actual answer fir them both.
-Joe
Once I finally gave it a chance, I ended up really liking this show and thought it was a fine finale. Sure it felt a little rushed, but it had to be; at least it was allowed an ending. I enjoyed Ray’s “living on a rock” bit. I think I’ll miss Annie most of all.