Life on Mars (TV Series) Episode #2.8 (2007) User Reviews

You can't go home again

[aegoss · 10/10 · 3 April 2008]

"The past is another country," as I think L P Hartley put it, "they do things differently there." And in the end the past turns off the television, which is us. Of course it is unrealistic, it always was.

I don't know what the writers' intention was, but "Life on Mars" emerges as a mirror on our world, letting us see the present from the past, and the past from the present, comparing the moralities of then and now without judgement.

But that is far from all, so many aspects have emerged that it would take a thesis to do them justice. "Salvation" perhaps is one. Is Sam to be saved? What does he have to do, make what sacrifice, perform what ritual? And in the end is it salvation or damnation he is being offered? Up until well into the last episode I was seeing Frank Morgan as the saviour-surgeon, but the mask began to slip. Then comes the bright light. Is this the light of day, or is it that light often reported by people who have had near death experiences? Sam emerges into a joyless future, only Frank Morgan seems happy, smug even. Sam's mum is strangely subdued, "You always keep your promises," she says.

The wrongness of it all weighs on Sam, and when, in a dreary and pointless meeting, he cuts his finger and feels nothing, the words of Nelson the barman come back to him - if you feel, then you are alive. Sam now recognises that the "home" he has been taken to is the "home" of the grave, the prior visit to the graveyard is no coincidence. Sam chooses life, by dying in the land of the dead.

There are many hidden gems in this series, many threads to the tapestry. It is in the end a fantasy, in which not much makes sense. But unlike so many tightly logical police procedurals, it provides food for the soul. I loved it.

"What are you the narrator?"

[MattBrady099 · 9/10 · 21 March 2015]

Sam Tyler: "I'm bloody sick of 1973".

Annie: "Don't worry it will be 1974 soon".

Well this is the closing of Life on Mars as a series and to me it ended on a good and a happy note that I'm totally fine with. Don't worry I won't spoil anything in this review, but without spoiling anything we must talk about Season 2 and it's season finale.

John Simm once again brings another excellent performance as Sam Tyler. He brought so much weight and likability to his character that at one point I totally forgot that John Simm was in the episodes, I only saw Sam Tyler and nothing else. Great work John Simm.

Philip Glenister as Gene Hunt is probably my favorite character of all time. Gene always have a sick but funny sense of humor and good comebacks to those who insult him. I got to give Philip Glenister a big well done for playing this character. Always making me laugh, always making me think about his actions and always...keeping my watching.

The directing and the writing has well was really good with each episodes. All of it was well done and I can clearly see the time and effort put into each different episodes.

For problems I only have one little problem: Season 2 isn't has good as the first season and that's it, yeah not such a big problem but I don't think it's on the same level as the first season but season 2 is still a solid season.

A topsy turvy finale

[studioAT · 9/10 · 11 August 2017]

The finale of 'Life on Mars' had an awful lot to do, but manages to cram a lot in, be suitably dramatic, while keeping the audience guessing until the very end.

John Simm again shines in his role, and as an audience we totally follow Sam's turmoil, as he tries to work out what is real, and what is not. The lovely Liz White also has some heartfelt moments too.

It's a very good episode, perhaps a little overly complicated at times, but it rounds off what has been an thoroughly enjoyable second series and show overall.

Season Two: Another strong season and a great conclusion as it bows out on a high (major spoilers obviously)

[bob the moo · 19 April 2007]

Sam is still living in 1970's Manchester and working as a police officer as part of Gene Hunt's unit. Still unable to wake from what he assume is a terrible dream caused perhaps by a coma, Sam has continued to "live" one day at a time and make the best of it while still trying to work out how to get back home. His colleagues are starting to pick up some of his modern methods of crime investigation and he has settled in better than at first (even if his attitudes still rankle with Hunt's more direct methods).

I was a little narked by this series at the end of season one because I felt that it had so obviously bailed out of the logical ending and instead delivered a "plan B" that gave it a second season. For those that have not seen it, the final five minutes of the last episode felt like they had been replaced and it didn't really work with what had gone before it. That said I did comment at the time that I enjoyed the series as a whole and that time would tell if the messy conclusion was worth it or if it had sold out to ratings. I was therefore cheered by the announcement that season two would be the final season – news that confirmed that the plan wasn't to milk the audience for as long as they would watch. They deserve credit for this, particularly in a time where networks are reluctant to let any ratings winner go until it starts to fail (J3sus – just look at Lost if you doubt me, I have never seen a show play for time as much as that one!).

The better news was that the show starts season two as strong as it was in the first season, with the same characters and same approach. My feelings towards the stories had changed a little bit because at times the connection to the coma seemed an afterthought, while at others it seemed too much of any one episode. However after the first few episodes this stopped bothering me and I found myself getting into the stories as I had in the first season. The plots are solid as before and are delivered with a good understanding of what the series is about. It uses the period setting well, creating humour but never making fun of it. Meanwhile the crime plots are mostly good enough to be delivered without relying too heavily on the gimmick of Sam being from "the future".

The pressure was on it though to build to a conclusion that would satisfy the fans – if it was a copout or an anticlimax then it would sour the series as a whole, so it needed to be right. Ahead of the last episode the Radio Times did a big feature on theories about whether Sam is indeed "in a coma", "mad" or "back in time" but I don't think anyone really doubted that he was anything other than in a coma in the present day, so the matter of the conclusion was less about what the score was and more about tying it neatly up and bringing closure. Or at least that is what I assumed but somehow the final hour managed to flip all that on its head to create a mystery where I thought there wasn't one. In doing so it produces a final series of twists that is at once a "happy" ending that allows the characters to continue but yet also deeply sad and enigmatic as Sam retreats into a world of memory and embraces it in favour of real life. It is a clever piece of writing that I found deeply satisfying for what it was and was yet another example of why this series has sat above the level of just being another cop show. I'm sure some will hate it but you can't please all the people etc, you can only do your best which I think this did.

As with the first season, Simm was strong in the lead, carrying the "real" story in his head convincingly and making that work even when the scripts made it difficult to keep it in focus. Of course Glenister continued to dominate with his great big character that never really gets much deeper than the 1970's stereotype he plays so well. I'm not sure what other than the refreshing lack of Political Correctness in him has made him such an icon of sorts but he is good at what he does here. Support continues to be good from White, Andrews, Lancaster and others but the show is rarely stronger than when it is Simm and Glenister coming up against one another.

Overall then a strong second series that will please fans no end. It still isn't perfect but it is head and shoulders above most other primetime police shows in terms of quality and consistency. Oh, and my worries about it not ending at the end of season one were blown away by a very strong ending that manages to achieve several things that I thought would be mutually exclusive all at the same time and do it in a way that is grown up and satisfying. Great way to bow out – always leave the wanting more.

If you can feel, then you're alive.

[GraXXoR · 10/10 · 12 June 2022]

Wow. If that statement is anything to go by then we should all be very much alive by the end of this episode, for the feels are real here.

An epic yet still suitably unsettling end to one of the most original series of the day that had me once again bawling my eyes out like a babe.

Simm and Glenister are the real stars here and turn a show that was already more than decent into something that still shines brightly a decade and a half later.