Bass
Nexus of the World
So, I just saw the last episode of this show.
It's one of the best shows I've ever seen.
The show is only 2 seasons of 8 episodes a piece (quite a bit for a British show) but there isn't a single bad episode.
The premise is this - a Manchester City detective, Sam Tyler, is in an accident - he's run down by a car.
And wakes up in 1973.
He hears voices and sounds that make it seem he's in a coma, but the world he's in is insanely detailed. Is he really back in 1973? Or in a coma? Or is he mad?
The show is a proper cop show. It's extremely well done, and works just as that, but the time travel element allows the show to generate even more levels of meaning into it.
The show is extremely capable of continually being surreal and bizarre enough, yet down-to-earth and realistic enough that you sincerely marriage each act in 1973 as a metaphor for Sam's condition in 2006 in a coma, but at no point go, "It's not real". You feel it's both. These characters are real, and they're figments of his imagination. This is a masterstroke because the show then becomes this; you get to a point where it doesn't matter if you think Sam is in a coma, but it's important what Sam thinks. Everything becomes symbolic without losing any palpability.
I'm not sure how the hell they did it, but did it they did.
As for the 'truth' of what's going on - it is revealed in the final episode of the second season, and the finale is so good that I have a proper lump in my throat and am listening to David Bowie's "Life on Mars" as I'm typing this. But not because of whether or not it's real, but because of what happens to Sam and the choices he makes. It's bittersweet - a painful joy.
The show is amazing. As a cop show, it works. As a surreal, symbolic "Twin Peaks" mystery show, it works. As a metaphor for death, it works. And as all three, it doesn't miss a beat.
One of the best shows I've ever seen.
It's one of the best shows I've ever seen.
The show is only 2 seasons of 8 episodes a piece (quite a bit for a British show) but there isn't a single bad episode.
The premise is this - a Manchester City detective, Sam Tyler, is in an accident - he's run down by a car.
And wakes up in 1973.
He hears voices and sounds that make it seem he's in a coma, but the world he's in is insanely detailed. Is he really back in 1973? Or in a coma? Or is he mad?
The show is a proper cop show. It's extremely well done, and works just as that, but the time travel element allows the show to generate even more levels of meaning into it.
The show is extremely capable of continually being surreal and bizarre enough, yet down-to-earth and realistic enough that you sincerely marriage each act in 1973 as a metaphor for Sam's condition in 2006 in a coma, but at no point go, "It's not real". You feel it's both. These characters are real, and they're figments of his imagination. This is a masterstroke because the show then becomes this; you get to a point where it doesn't matter if you think Sam is in a coma, but it's important what Sam thinks. Everything becomes symbolic without losing any palpability.
I'm not sure how the hell they did it, but did it they did.
As for the 'truth' of what's going on - it is revealed in the final episode of the second season, and the finale is so good that I have a proper lump in my throat and am listening to David Bowie's "Life on Mars" as I'm typing this. But not because of whether or not it's real, but because of what happens to Sam and the choices he makes. It's bittersweet - a painful joy.
The show is amazing. As a cop show, it works. As a surreal, symbolic "Twin Peaks" mystery show, it works. As a metaphor for death, it works. And as all three, it doesn't miss a beat.
One of the best shows I've ever seen.
