NOTE FOR HUNDREDS OF AMERICANS WHO FOUND THIS VIA GOOGLE: I'm talking about the British version of the show.
If the ending was that Sam never really awoke in 2007 at all (or did so only very briefly), and all that stuff in the 'present' was just a deeper stage of his coma (the clue being Nelson telling him 'if you feel, it's real' before Sam cuts his hand on a pen in the boardroom meeting, but doesn't notice), then Sam jumping off the building was just a way of getting from one bit of his coma to another. Not him in the real world trying to put himself in another coma to get back to the police in 1973 and keep his promise, which seemed a bit rubbish, and was what I thought had happened at first.
Apparently you can hear the flatlining on the radio, which means the end bit where the girl from the screen card turns off the telly signifies that Sam really is dead, The End.
The short version: Sam never left his hospital bed, and emerged from his coma only briefly, only to die when the operation to save him failed.
In conclusion: that was a Proper Ending, but the internet had to explain it to me. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, I read Turn of the Screw at university and never realised that the children died at the end, so I can be a bit of a durbrain.
I'm looking forward to the American version though, as I suspect they'll fold in the background story a bit better, rather than it just being an Seventies cop show with an occasional Spooky Phone Call. Someone suggested Noah Wyle bombing around Seventies Chicago in a Mustang with James Belushi, which sounds good to me.
UPDATE: according to the link to one of the series creators in the comments below, this is completely wrong. I don't care, my/the internet's ending is better.
IN OTHER NEWS: I'm restoring the old bits of the blog (that I deleted in a fit of pique, but saved first, because I didn't want to deny future generations MY GENIUS) which means that I can use the labels properly, but that anyone who uses a reader to keep up with this blog will think I had upped my productivity rate and gone back in time (LIKE SAM TYLERS!!!!!). But I have not.
IN OTHER OTHER NEWS: I hadn't seen Salvadore's song lyrics/diagrams before. They are great.
21 comments:
Oh. So does he just vanish then as they're driving merrily along?
But but but...
Then how can there be a sequel?
Well that's my understanding of it, although it could be the afterlife of course. There were a few loose endings flapping about - did Sam really alter the timeline with the Marc Warren character? - but you can't have everything.
I actually prefer the "everything was a coma and they lost him on the table" ending. As soon as I read that there was going to be a sequel, it pretty much confirmed that the 1973 world was the real one - thanks, whoever publicised that!
Anyway, who cares? I'm 'aving 'oops.
Sorry, Salv - my answer came before your comment for some reason.
Yes, that does put the sequel on wobbly ground, doesn't it? There were hints that Sam was in a coma AND back in time, but I'm not sure these were ever resolved.
Or there was a real Gene Hunt, who Sam had heard legends about in 2007, and constucted a fantasy version in his head, although apparently there are references to Sam's recordings in the new series.
They'll probably have a Blue Peter competition to sort it all out. In the meantime, a LOM/WHO crossover would be tops and skill, although I bet they'd do it wrong (i.e. not get me to write it).
I have only watched the last minutes of LOM - although I have read the reviews, etc., so I know a bit about the story - and thought that him returning the radio was quite significant, as if he chose to stay in 1973.
There is an interview here with the shows creator which explains what his thoughts about the finale are. It also explains the setup for the spinoff series. To be honest I was a little disappointed in both the finale explanation and the spinoff so be warned.
Coo, thanks for that. I'm quite happy with my ending, I think, even if it doesn't quite tie with what the creators reckoned happened.
But what do they know, hmm?
I do think LOM could have lived up to its potential more, but at least it did have a definitive ending. Not entirely sure I'll bother with Ashes to Ashes though.
The sequel is Gene Hunt with a new side kick 'sexy and intelligent' single mother who has an accident which throws her back 2 decades to 1981 !
Anyway all this talk about characters being in coma's etc. takes me back to the Green Wing series 2 and all the "is Mac still in a coma" type talk. Awww happy days.
I prefer to think he "got back" too late to save them and they're all happily dead together.
Ashes to Ashes doesn't sound much cop. Why not a sequel involving zombies being abused by DCI Hunt (soft, Southern, undead jessies etc etc), until he realises he is one and becomes enlightened etc etc etc..
I have to say that your ending was my preferred - it would have taken Sam months to get back to work only to return to the exact same point in 1973?? I like the deep coma and subconscious kicking in theory.
I will certainly be watching Ashes to Ashes if only to see if the BBC have read my mind and given Ray a footballer's perm and Chris some sexy New Romantic eyeliner. Oh, and the Quattro. Nice car.
Anyway, what the 'actual' ending was doesn't bother me so much. It was fluffy and happy and they drove off into the rainbow together. People need that sometimes.
I am three-quarters of the way through Turn of the Screw.
Oops.
Well, I mean the ending is open to interpretation, so I what I said wasn't necessarily, you know....
*runs away*
Salvadore Vincent said: As soon as I read that there was going to be a sequel, it pretty much confirmed that the 1973 world was the real one
Well, I disagree. And I like the loopiness of a different series set in a confirmed fiction (if that makes sense!)
Oh.
Right.
Really?
I have just watched it on Magic Catch Up Telly. I decided that Sam was *actually* time-travelling.
So if we go back to 1973 when we die, the question is - is 1973 Heaven or Hell?
Sorry, that did come over a bit officious, didn't it!
I wasn't born until 74, so I suppose 73 counts as hell...
The ending was cleverly left so we could interpret it ourselves. Maybe he did recover and then commit suicide. maybe that was just a dream (I often dream I've woken up). The writers kindly allow us leeway to make our own minds up rather than serving it cut and dried. Looking forward to the spin-off. Hunt is far too good a character and needs another airing. He far and away got the best throwaway lines.
Ooh - that was supposed to be my puzzled reaction to james's news about what LOM *really* meant.
But looking again it looks like I was being arsey with Sinister Sponge.
Sorry!
I like llewtrah's explanation because that means we're all right.
Finally watched it. I trust I'm not the only one to have remembered that "Frank Morgan" was the name of the actor who played the Wizard of Oz...
well i didnt see it but it sounds a bit... well....crap
but then again i never did like ambiguity, probibaly explains wht turn of the screw irritated me no end 'the tree is clearly annother metaphore for the sexuality of the ghost' pah!
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