Life on Mars TV show - Need an answer

[NQAS]

I just finished watching the British tv show, Life on Mars (with John Simm).

I would have put money on the likelihood that Tyler was in a coma and that 1973 was a coma dream (if there is such a thing). How else would he have known about the different Miranda warning (British version thereof)? And computers and nanotechnology and better policing and forensics, etc.?

And yet. . . at the end of the series, I still don't know what year is real and what is the dream?

I think that the follow-up series, Ashes to Ashes, which I haven't watched yet, suggests/implies that 1973 is real. But without that show, what was I supposed to think about the end of Life on Mars?

Some other random thoughts. The DCI that showed up in the last two episodes was named Frank Morgan. Tyler saw him as his surgeon. Frank Morgan is the name of the actor who played The Wizard of Oz. So what? Or key clue?

Gene Hunt. So maybe it was a "hunt for genes" that was critical in saving Sam?

A point in favor of 1973 was his coma dream belief that Maya left him while he was in a coma. Who does something like that?

So, convince me. And I'm gonna start in on Ashes to Ashes shortly.

[Irish_Dem]

1. This is one of my all time favorite shows. (spoiler alert)

Brilliant series. Loved every minute of it. Funny, thought provoking, at times hilarious. Great characters.

My two cents: We are led to believe initially that the 1973 life is a lucid coma dream, occurring in the subconscious of Sam Tyler who is alive in 2006 and suffers a serious traumatic brain injury.

However, for me, as the show goes on, the detail, vividness, strong sense of reality of the "dream" made me wonder if Sam had entered a temporary afterlife or some sort of limbo land. A land hovering between life and death. Sam is going back and forth between life and death. Going back and forth between his old life in 2006 and his new life in 1973.

I saw the Maya leaving him issue as a point in favor of 1973 being reality. It is harsh, but a reality that a person would have to move on and leave a long time coma patient. Not many people could stop their life indefinitely for someone who is no longer among the active living. This would not come from Sam's subconscious or his dream, it comes from reality.

The final scene gives us the answer. After coming to full consciousness in 2006, recovered from his injury, Sam decides he cannot abide his life in 2006. He longs for his 1973 life and therefore commits suicide. He returns then to his new life in 1973. This is confirmation that 1973 had been the after life, the other side. Karma, reincarnation, etc.

Frank Morgan is like the Wizard of Oz. Both were dual characters, played the same two roles. One role was mundane, the other of puppet master. I will have to think more about the meaning of Gene Hunt....

I started watching Ashes to Ashes, but the first scene was so hokey, I stopped. Let me know what you think of it.

[unblock]

2. That's my basic interpretation as well, in the end, he chooses the blue pill.

I'll have to rewatch it at some point, I entirely missed the frank morgan / wizard of oz connection.

Great show indeed.

[Irish_Dem]

3. I am going to watch it again too. It is one of those rare shows I will watch more than once.

Yes he made an interesting choice. Initially police life in 1973 horrified and disgusted him. He kept trying to bring them up to 2006 standards. He tried so hard to return to 2006, but when he did succeed, he realized he was miserable. Life seemed sterile, meaningless, and empty. He had fallen in love with 1973 and could not bear to be parted. So back he went.

Yes I did not get all the Wizard of Oz references, so have to go back and look for them.
It is the same kind of story. Girl gets hit on the head, enters a new reality. Was it real or just a coma dream?
She tries so hard to get back to Kansas, but what will home be like after she has been to Oz?
Her experiences have transformed her.

[Irish_Dem]

6. I started watching it again. It is even better the second time around.

Picking up things I missed the first time.

[intrepidity]

4. Is it streaming somewhere? nt

[Irish_Dem]

5. I'm watching it again on Amazon Prime Video with a BritBox subscription.

I highly recommend it. Very entertaining. But not always politically correct.
It is even better watching it a second time. There are a lot of things I missed the first time viewing.

The BritBox monthly subscription is not that expensive. And you can easily watch the two seasons of the show in one month. Then cancel the subscription.

[Irish_Dem]

7. I just finished Ashes to Ashes...

It answers your question!
What an ending....wow.

[LessAspin]

8. Life on Mars (2008-2009)

I always thought the BBC version of House of Cards was far superior to the American version. Even before the Kevin Spacey stuff came out. I also acknowledge that the BBC Life on Mars is better than the ABC reboot.

That said I really liked the American one too...

As I looked this up it appears they made several changes after the original Pilot..

This was the best though (2006-2007):

[LessAspin]

9. Ghosts

Very interesting comparing these British shows to their American counterparts



Ghosts