Lle Llywela

End of series, and man, that was fantastic. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a British made series so much (oh yeah, that would be Doctor Who)

I'm glad the second series was commissioned from the start - with a concept like this they would need to have, in order to keep the ongoing story arc tight.

That last episode was so fantastic. Poor Sam was so desperate to help his dad, to take away his own traumatic but buried childhood memories, and yet the doubts about Vic's innocence were there from the start. Not just a weak man, but a genuine wrong-un, and the audience was always just that step ahead of Sam - just enough to be yelling "Sam! Don't do it!" at the TV. But Vic was just so good at acting innocent, and we could still see the little boy Sam inside the grown-up Sam, so desperate to hold on to that childhood belief in his dad as a hero. And he absolutely could not win - the only way he could change history was by making things worse for his mum and his four-year-old self, and he just couldn't do it.

At least he had enough sense left to unload the gun before he let Vic have it.

I loved so much that the flashes of the woods that he's had all the way through turned out to be so significant in this episode. And Annie was in that memory. So has he constructed this entire fantasy around that long-buried childhood memory? How good of a look did he get at her back then, anyway? Maybe it's more that the whole 1973 world has been made up by his brain in order to get him to face up to the fact he saw his dad beat up a female copper.

Amazed at how easily Gene took him back into the fold at the end, after everything that had happened between them in that episode. He physically fought - and beat - his boss, and then pulled a gun on him! He allowed a murder suspect to escape. And then they all just head down to the pub together as if nothing had happened? I guess disciplinary matters weren't so strictly enforced back then. Or perhaps more that Sam's subconscious needed it to be brushed under the carpet in order to continue. Depends whether you subscribe to the 'coma' or 'time travel' theory. Me, I'm a coma theorist. *G*

Annie finally telling Sam he needs help was a good scene, and not before time. From her point of view he has so frequently come across as a complete lunatic, and she's been incredibly supportive and tolerant, but she's getting seriously worried about him now.

The Sam-Gene double act never fails to amuse. Gene's 'big fish' speech was hilarious, especially with Sam's deadpan response.
"See, a big fish has gone and we don't want all the smaller fish trying to climb the ladder."
"That's a very mixed metaphor."

As a character I've found throughout the series that I prefer Gene, because he's so much more fun than the frequently holier-than-thou Sam. But my sympathy for Sam was back full force in this episode. He just couldn't win, and his desperation was so painfully obvious.

There are paradoxes inherent in the entire thing - like, is Sam's presence changing or reinforcing history? But on the other hand, if the whole thing is an eleborate fantasy constructed by his unconscious mind while in a coma, both can be true because none of it is real.

Episode four...In many ways it is your bog-standard 70s cop show (which appeals to me anyway), but with that wonderful twist to make it extra-special.

Poor Sam. The show plays such cruel tricks on him, showing him his mother and then taking her away again.

Would corruption in the police force be so easily countered? I'm not convinced - but then again, was it really? All that happened was that Hunt decided to turn his back on back-handers. I'm increasingly fond of Hunt, and not just because I like Philip Glenister as an actor - he's a great character. Can seem one-dimensional at first glance, but we're also getting glimpses of greater complexity beneath the surface, as well.

I'm fond of young Annie as well. "I've decided I'm going to be a really good friend to you, Sam. Because with the enemies you're making, you're going to need all the friends you can get."

And as for the arrest of the big crime boss Warren...there'd better be some fallout in future episodes...

My office this morning is a tropical 34 degrees, which would be nice if I was on the beach in a bikini, but isn't so comfortable for working. I've asked them to turn it down a bit, which inevitably means that over the next hour or two the temperature will plumet by about 20 degrees and we'll end up sitting here in coats and scarves shivering. Would be nice if they could fix it!

Kids behaved themselves pretty well on the bus to and from club last night, which is always good. And in between minibus trips - while they were actually in club - I enjoyed a cuppa at my mum's house and was made a fuss of by my Calico cat.

Calico will be 17 later this year, and is definitely becoming increasingly odd with age. She has always been the cat of very little brain, but the brainlessness is increasing exponentially with age, it seems. At the moment, she is very unsettled because she can't find a new Spot that she is happy with. And Cali has to have a Spot to fix herself to, where she can sleep all day every day; trouble is that she likes to change Spots on a fairly regular basis, and there is nothing quite so pathetic as a Calico who can't find a Spot she is happy with. When I'm there, she tends to revert to the ground state Spot of my lap, which makes it hard to me to stand up, or do anything in fact. And because I can't sit with her on my lap all day every day when I'm visiting, if I'm not sitting holding her, she wanders around acting distressed because she doesn't know where to sit, trying out all kinds of ridiculous Spots for size and ultimately settling on none of them. She's driving my mum mad at the moment, so hopefully she'll find a Spot she's happy with soon!

I am officially in love with the Beeb's new drama, Life on Mars, and would like to say a huge thanks to Sue for writing up a precis of the first episode last week, to give me the flavour, and to Janet for sending me a copy of it just in time for me to watch episodes one and two as a double-bill last night. Fantastic!

( Life on Mars waffle under the cut )