EasterCon and Life on Mars/A2A musings

[royalmarriage]

Whether you celebrate Easter as a Christian festival, a Pagan festival, a chance to eat lots of chocolate eggs, something else, or a combination of the above, Happy Easter!

EasterCon continues to be enjoyable - this morning I went to the Easter morning service, followed by the Bad Blake's 7 Slash panel (huge fun and much laughter all round) and a discussion that started off as "Is Sam Tyler really the Master" but ended up being a pretty general discussion on Doctor Who, Life on Mars, Torchwood, and some random Primeval (which I must watch 'cos I get the impression I'd really enjoy it).

Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes thought - So, in LoM it was clearly-ish established that Sam was in a coma and not really in 1973. In Ashes to Ashes it's assumed from the outset that Alex is in a coma as a result of getting shot.

What if the assumption is wrong? I just sort of feel that if is it all an imaginary construct in Alex's head then a.) it removes any dramatic interest (because for one thing we know how it's going to resolve), b.) it removes any character interest, and c.) it doesn't quite make sense, because there's stuff that's happening that I'm not sure Alex would create in her head (if she knows Sam is dead in 2007 or wherever she comes from, then why did she create the whole "he drowned but the body wasn't found" scenario?). What if it's actually not Alex's coma/imaginary construct? What if it's her daughter's (a plausible suggestion, although I can't see it happening) or the gunman's from the first episode, or Gene's, or even Sam's? What do we make of the whole issue where every scene in LoM was from Sam's PoV, whereas in A2A there are chunks that aren't from Alex's PoV, or even where Alex isn't present?

Help. I'm thinking.

Debating whether to buy a Beeblebear.

Next weekend Sarah and I will be visiting her family (and of course our new nephew). Weekend after that the new Doctor Who starts - much yayness. Sadly the househunting has stalled a bit, as we still need to someone to put down an offer on Sarah's house before we can put down an offer on anywhere in Letchworth.

Is it me or has Google's front page changed?

Oh well - off for K-9 agility. Should be fun!

David.

Comments

[sunlightdances.livejournal.com]

I quite agree. She's constructed the idea that Sam lived for seven more years after suicide, in this mystery world. She hasn't realised that she has invented this concept, and had it told to her through a character, and it might not be real at all. I think that it would be great if it was someone else's dream or idea. :)

[sunlightdances.livejournal.com]

Then again, I just enjoy watching it!

LoM/A2A

[pinkamethyst.livejournal.com]

A few thoughts:

1. The scenario in Ashes to Ashes is the same as Life om Mars, in that Alex is also in a coma and thus the entire world is a figment of her imagination because she has unresolved issues from that time period. This is clearly the assumption that the scriptwriters intend us to come to, since Alex's unresolved issues also relate to her parents, and she too is experiencing moments of 'reality', as Sam did. However, like you said, there are scenes in Ashes to Ashes where Alex is not present, nor do the scenes relate to her in any way, so the coma explanation seems unlikely.

2. 1981 is real, which implies that 'now' is the fictional world for Alex. That seems fairly unlikely, as it would require Alex to 'imagine' the future with great accuracy. That, or she is a Time Lord and has gone back in time.

3. The whole series is from someone else's POV, but that would need to be someone who was always in the scene. So the only people I can think of are Gene Hunt, Evan the Godfather or the gunman. *shrugs* However, if we assume that Alex is correct and Gene was simply a figment of Sam's imagination, it's hard to see how it could be him in the coma. I think it could be Evan, given that he is an integral part of Alex's life from 1981 to the present day. But possibly I'm just hoping for that because I lurve Stephen Campbell Moore like you wouldn't believe. ;) Alex's kid is a possibility, because there's the gunshot right at the beginning, isn't there, yet no one is hurt? Maybe she is shot then, and everything from that point is her imagination.

Dunno. My dad and I have been discussing theories for a while, but have come up with nothing new. Also, we're just annoyed at Alex for being a waste of space, so. *rolleyes*

Re: LoM/A2A

[davidbrider.livejournal.com]

The whole series is from someone else's POV, but that would need to be someone who was always in the scene.

On that basis, I give you possibly the one good thing about last night's ep - Gene: "I'm everywhere."

Erm...*wonders where this is going...*

David.

Re: LoM/A2A

[pinkamethyst.livejournal.com]

Could be interesting, if it turns out this is all in Gene's imagination. Or that he is God.

[r-scribbles.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, from my experience of A2A's scripts so far, I think that the mosy likely explanation for the whole thing will be that the writers haven't properly thought it through. I have a horrible feeling that, like the outcome of the induvidual episodes themselves, the solution to the story arc as a whole will be the most obvious and easy way out, and yet at the same time have lots of glaring plot holes and loose ends. I'm prepared to be proved wrong, but I doubt that I will. I doubt, for example, that elements such as the scenes without Alex will be explained, or the odd lines Shaz has come out with (I was sure the most recent eppie was going to reveal that she was much shadier than she seems, but no), or the hints that Sam might still be about or it could be Molly's fantasy after all.

This whole series, in my opinion, has been a good premise, well acted and directed, wholly let down by lazy, patchy, paper thin writing.