llywela | "Man in medical need of Scotch." (Reply)

Excerpt and link:
It is pouring with rain, and Dean is on the phone to Ellen, frantic. Sam has gone missing. Again. I said last week that Dean should put a collar and leash on him. Now I'm thinking a homing device might be more appropriate – one of those little chip things they put under the skin for beloved pets, maybe. I love the editing on this scene, all jerky and stop-start, reflecting Dean's intensely panic-stricken state of mind. "I swear, it's like looking for my dad all over again, I'm losing my mind here."

Fifty-three seconds into the episode and Dean's already losing his mind. Yup, we're in for a roller-coaster ride this week.

"If it's the last thing I do, I'm going to save you."

And I'm pretty sure this one now takes the record as the longest recap to date. Why is it that some work out so much longer than others? No idea. I just have so much more to say about some than others! Not sure I like the banner, but it was the best I could come up with, so it'll have to do.

Life on Mars
Woot! Life on Mars is back, and it felt like it had never been away. Apart from the bit where my friend from next door was still futzing around on my computer the whole time it was on, so I couldn't follow the plot properly and had to watch again this morning. But still. Fabulous.

The coma angle is being played harder than ever, with Sam's medical state seeming to progress to a point where he is becoming more 'aware' in some respects of what is going on around him in the 'real world', and that in turn feeds back into his 1973 life.

The theme of this episode was teamwork and Sam's need to recognise the value of the people around him – whether they are real or imaginary he needs them. He began the episode convinced he was fighting for justice alone, as usual – that's what he always thinks, believing himself to be hindered rather than helped by his colleagues, lacking as they do any semblance of modern training or protocol. And sitting alongside this was the usual conflict between Sam and Gene, starting out on familiar ground. Gene wants to cut corners in order to achieve a fast result; Sam is determined to do things by the book.

But, in order for Sam to get to a point where he can finally see the value of the people he's working with, the traditional stances taken by both him and Gene had to be reversed. With the Chief Super and media breathing down his neck, Gene adopted Sam's by-the-book approach and made it his own, while Sam, in direct contrast, started behaving in ever more maverick fashion, cutting corners in the exact way he's always despaired of in his colleagues, and even going so far as to try to fit up the suspect.

Why? Everything ties back to Sam's state of mind and his modern-day condition. He begins the episode with a 'vision' of his comatose self endangered by a criminal he believed he had put away, and that feeds back into his 1973 life, spinning him out of control the moment he sees a chance to save his own future self – and others along the way – by putting that same criminal away for life at an earlier date. His increasing desperation to achieve this causes him to lose all focus, and draws concern and suspicion from those around him, who have no way of understanding what he's going through. They've always known him to be a little unhinged, but put up with it because they can also see that he's a good copper.

The medical symptoms from Sam's coma have never before had such a dramatic effect on his 1973 self, but then again, his life has rarely been quite so directly threatened in his hospital bed as it appeared to be in this episode. That the coma is becoming more interactive has to be a positive sign, perhaps, in terms of his likelihood of recovering and waking up. But it's still likely to be some way off. What was fascinating, though, was the phone call he had at the end, which sounded like one of his doctors speaking, aware that he could hear and communicating directly with him, rather than talking at him, and yet still so surreal. That phone call was traceable, with a Hyde phone number – almost definitely a sign that Sam's coma is becoming lighter.

The tiny details in this show are always a delight. The bus on which the initial murder took place was travelling to Hyde. The random lunatic at the beginning, who struck such a cord with Sam – well aware that he comes across in similar fashion himself at times – providing him with the inspiration for his eventual solution to the Tony Crane problem. His introduction of the Stinger early in the episode, throwaway moment as it was, being put to life-saving use by Annie later on.

Marc Warren really impressed me as the villain of the piece – he's developing into such a good character actor. I've seen him in a lot of different shows now, and he's convinced as comprehensively different characters every time. Not bad going.

Fantastic to have this show back .

Rome
Wahey for Rome starting to really find its feet again at last. This was a really strong episode, a definite return to form, after a couple of weaker offerings. It's all about the politics. The new political factions are really solidifying now, and beginning to manoeuvre around one another like a three- or four-way chess game played on an international stage. And that was what was so fabulous about Rome last season – the politics, and the fact that the politics were all about people. We're getting back to that again now.

I find myself increasingly fond of Cicero this season. That probably means he's going to die soon.

I'm getting used to the new Octavian now, although I find myself increasingly pondering on a theme of autistic tendencies whenever he's on-screen. He really does come across as mildly autistic at times – brilliant, but with little or no understanding of the true meaning of social interaction, and powerful enough for that not to matter, for that to be dangerous. I said last week that my sketchy knowledge of this historical period suggested he and Antony would be reconciled, and here we saw it happen. While Octavian returned to Rome in search of the glory he believed to be his by right – and started to show signs of just how dangerous he will become – Antony and his new beard remained well and truly dug in out in the Cisalpine Gaul, building up and consolidating a power base.

Meanwhile, out in the east, Brutus and Cassius have acquired a truly impressive army with which to march on Rome, thus forcing the reconciliation of Octavian and Antony, who will now join forces to meet this threat. The differences between Octavian and Antony remain as wide as ever, but on the subject of Brutus and Cassius they think with more or less one mind. And thus they unite to deal with a mutual enemy, but sooner or later they will find themselves in opposition once more.

And, therefore, when that happens, Vorenus and Pullo will also find themselves in opposition once more, being sworn to two such different leaders. For now, though, they are reunited and presenting a happy united front, even though there are deep differences between them, still. Regarding the little Vorenii, I can see both sides of the argument. For Vorenus to publicly declare what had happened to his children was cruel – there's no doubt they'd have been happier and more comfortable if he'd done as Pullo suggested and taken them far away where no one knew them or had any reason to suspect their murky past. But, on the other hand, Vorenus already knows from painful experience that those kinds of secrets always come out in the end. Better, perhaps, to make a clean breast of it and try to move forward.

Vorenus in this episode reminded me so much of his first season self it was almost painful – it was so much like the days he was trying to build bridges with Niobe after their long separation, only this time the bridges he seeks to build are with the children, who have every reason to hate him. He was all awkward and hopeful and sweet and shy, and yet at the same time wields absolute power over them. Not an easy situation for anyone. The repercussions of Niobe's outed-secret and Vorenus' reaction to it are going to be felt for a very, very long time.