I spent 17 hours watching Life on Mars.
Things I could have done in those 17 hours:
- Written 25,000 words of a novel
- Given birth
- Designed a car
- Learned to fly
After watching the finale, I feel a little more dead inside.
I wanted to like Life on Mars. I really did. After taking forever to watch the British version (the first time I tried to watch, I got the episode where he’s sick – the first episode of season 2 I think – and it was so very confusing without watching season 1) and being a mix of excited and full of dread that they were doing an American remake, I felt sure that we would get a great new show.
I worried the British version wouldn’t translate well, but when I saw who was going to be in the show – Michael Imperioli, Jason O’Mara, Gretchen Mol and Harvey Keitel… (Harvey Keitel for pete’s sake!!!!) I was sure this was a can’t miss cast. In fact, the first episode was brilliant – not exactly a copy, full of action, great first song, Lisa Bonet… I watched the premiere 3 times, cringed every time Jason O’Mara’s Sam Tyler got hit by the car, and it gave me the British Life on Mars feeling.
What is the British Life on Mars feeling? It’s the feeling that’s just slightly off. It starts with the brilliant opening sequence where John Simm’s Sam Tyler is hit – hard as hell – by a car in 2006 and he wakes up in 1973. Brings new meaning to hitting someone to next Tuesday. Anyway, every time I saw Sam Tyler being hit that hard, I always felt like I was in for something. As the show progressed, the conflict between Sam and the rest of his team was almost palpable. His obsession to follow the correct procedures was so different from their down and dirty tactics that Sam wasn’t just fighting the bad guys, but the perception of his co-workers. Sam consistently did what was necessary to continue being the cop he was trained to be. His quest to get home became our quest. His confusion was our confusion. We felt it because it was written so well.
After that first episode, Life on Mars (US) started going downhill. Sam Tyler didn’t have any direction, any consistent factor that forced him to be on opposite ends of the same side as his fellow detectives. His reasons for being antagonistic towards his the other members of his team didn’t exist. He was not in 2006 and somehow it was their fault. John Simm’s Sam Tyler wanted rules to be followed and his team didn’t care about rules, causing that very real conflict that Life on Mars (US) was missing. Sure, there were conflicts and fights, but not the kind of emotional conflict that made you enjoy the ending of the British series all the more.
Speaking of endings… How godawful was that ending? A frakkin’ spaceship? They were in stasis? Harvey Keitel was his dad??? I was hoping that somehow the ending would make up for all the bad moments and justify all the good moments. The ending simply proved what I thought since episode 3: this show as a colossal waste of my time. Usually, when I think something isn’t worth it by the 3rd episode, I stop watching, but the residual love of the British series kept me going, even when they screwed up the father storyline (he shot Sam because he believed Sam was his son? WTF?), even when they had Lisa Bonet saying goodbye in that crazy television scene?, even when little Mars rovers kept crawling out of his eyes, I stayed for love of John Simm’s Sam Tyler. Never again! British shows I love, I will not give American remakes special treatment because you were great. From now on, they get the same treatment as every other American series.
Did anybody like that ending? If you did, you need to come justify yourself, because I don’t know if you can actually be a fan of television if you liked the way Life on Mars (US) concluded. Just saying, cause it sucked.
