Re: Life on Mars - care to explain?

DannyT wrote:
michael adams wrote:
"MattLB" <mattlb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1176385195.444016.149900@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Apr 12, 10:14 am, "michael adams" <mjadam...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
He only dreamed he'd committed suicide. He's now back in the coma.

He only regained consciousness for around 20 seconds.

We never actually saw him get out of the bed, just walk fully
clothed out of "Hyde" ward.

I thought the same thing. It's a very abrupt change from him in bed
with tubes in his nose and people like his Mum around him, to him
fully dressed and all alone. You'd think his Mum would still be
around to give him a lift home. It could have been weeks later I
suppose.

That very coincidence points to
the fact that he only dreamed he got out of the bed and resumed his
2006 life, if only temporarily.

Unfortunately the writer says he *was* back doing his normal life in
2006

I'm not arguing for the sake of it but do you have a reference\link
for that actual specific claim, please ? Such that it can't be
open to any other possible interpretation ?

The info is taken from an interview with writer and co-creator Matthew
Graham.
As I remarked in an earlier post to you, I'm convinced that the
writers wouldn't have chosen to have Sam wake up and then take his
own life, had it not been for the fact that he *had* to wake up and
pass on the details of his coma to someone else so that 'Ashes to
Ashes' could happen.
Had LoM remained a standalone project Sam could have remained
comatose, perhaps waking up for a brief moment, taking in 2007 and
deciding that 1973 was preferable. This is as you suggest and I agree
with you.
To have him top himself, for the same reason that people top
themselves every day (an inability to cope with life / retreating
into an idealised fantasy existence), is an odd resolution and leaves
a sour taste in the mouth. Yes, he gets the girl, but at what cost?
What about his poor mum who has stood by his bed every day for
months? This dilemma wouldn't have happened had he remained in a
coma. He could still have done the 'Vanilla Sky' leap of faith but it
would have been virtual, not real.
Here's the writer:

?But I?d always intended for him to wake up.

?When it actually came to writing him waking up, I just couldn?t bear
him staying in 2007. I just couldn?t stand it. It was horrible, even
writing him waking up. I thought, ?Oh God, I hate this, I don?t want
him here.?
?And so, originally, we were going to end it on him waking up, but
literally having him find some kind of resolution.

?I think we were going to have a scene where he went into a modern
pub and the landlord was trying to kick some guys out ? and they were
just giving the landlord a load of gyp.

?And the landlord pushes one of the guys and the guy says, ?Hey mate,
you touch me and I can sue you for assault.'

?Sam just watches this moment and then imagines Gene Hunt bursting
into the pub, beating the crap out of these guys.

?The idea was going to be that Sam had brought a little of Gene?s
methodology into the modern world.

?It was all very intellectual and fine, but it was just so cold and I
suddenly realised I didn?t care. I just wanted him to go back.

?So we all got together, talked about it and then we came up with
this idea of having them trapped in the tunnel and having him say to
Annie, ?I promise I?ll be back for you,? and playing it that way.

?But it was a tough one, because we had to persuade the BBC that the
main character of this hit show should commit suicide ? they asked
some questions about it. There was a certain reservation, initially,
because, obviously, Sam has a big following.?

The ?false ending? where Sam jumps got a huge round of applause when
the final episode was premiered at BAFTA in London last week. ?That
amazed me, that people saw it as such a positive act.

http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/ianwylie/2007/04/life_on_mars_the_answers.html

After reading the interview, what do you think?

Sorry, I forgot to mention above - the actor John Simm is also quoted as
saying that he was always under the impression that Sam never wakes up, that
2007 in the final episode is another coma-induced dream and that he played
those sequences in a slightly spaced-out way to portray that.

This is mentioned in several blogs but I can't find an original source.
However, when the episode was shot 'Ashes to Ashes' would not have been
commissioned, so I take it Simm was playing his role as directed and as
written - Sam never woke up.

The new interpretation of him actually awakening in the final episode was to
facilitate the set up to 'Ashes to Ashes'.


.

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