What did you think ?

Happy ? Disappointed ?

Quite often when they finally resolve shows like this you end up disappointed or thinking was that it ? but I was quite satisfied with the ending. Great use of Life on Mars at full blast with Sam on the roof top at the end and it was only when I was thinking about it afterwards that it occured to me that its not often that a mainstrean show like that ends with the lead character killing themselves ... and it was a happy ending. :o :lol:

I thought it was a fantastic end to the series, and really, probably, the only way it could possibly have ended.

I'd been very concerned prior to the finale airing that it would never be able to live up to just how great the rest of the series had been. I was extremely relieved last night to find that they'd closed the series very, very well IMO.

I read an article by one of the writers/producers in which they said that the original ending they'd written had Sam waking up and staying in 2007, but they came to realise that it just didn't feel right, and I must admit, when he actually woke up last night in the finale I had the same feeling. It's a very brave decision to effectively kill off the show's lead character, but I have to admit, I don't really think I could think of a way I'd rather the show had ended.

I'm not usually much for British drama but Life on Mars is up there with the best of them.

Ditto to all of the above :thumbsup: Watched it last night and, whilst sad that it's the end of it, I can't think of a better ending.

It kept us guessing right up til the end, throwing in the option that Sam was, in fact, an undercover cop suffering from amnesia :unsure:

And I loved the soundtrack that accompanied the final part :thumbsup:

I enjoyed it, but I was a little disappointed that it turned out that everything HAD been just in Sam's head. I also really didn't like that Gene was being equated with Cancer <_<

Glad he ended up going back though :thumbsup:

A poor finale to a great series My reading of it was he awakes from his coma only to jump off a roof to to put himself into another coma to go back to a world he hates with people he doesn't like apart from Annie who isn't real anyway. In doing do leaving all his real family and friends forever these people were all he has talked for two seasons and how he had to see them again and he gives all up because he's board in a meeting.

I think you've missed the point. He's not jumping off of the building to put himself back into a coma per se. He's realised that as much as he didn't feel a part of his imaginary world, he no longer fits in with reality either, and while there were things about his 1973 reality that he didn't like there was at least something there that he cared about.

One of the things he was earlier told was that you know you're alive because you can feel it. Note his sterile demeanor after he'd woken up, even when he was speaking to his mother, which culminated in him realising that he was no more happy after he'd woken up than he was beforehand, in fact less so, he had absolutely NOTHING here.

His pondering on the rooftop wasn't about whether or not he'd try and put himself back into a coma so much as it was about him accepting that he no longer fit into normal modern-day society and instead permanently opted out. Again, note how calm Sam was when he'd gotten into Gene's car and heard over the radio that he was slipping away. He knew he was about to die, he'd already come to terms with it and accepted it, but by that point he was truly where he wanted to be, with the (imaginary) people he wanted to be around. In the end he obviously figured that he'd rather spend a few hours there than years in a bland reality where he couldn't feel anything about anything.

I thought it was a fantastic ending to what's been a great series. They obviously weren't going to please everyone, but judging from the general reaction it seems to have gone down quite well, and as I said earlier, this ending was their best bet at appeasing most people as it's so wide open to interpretation on so many levels. Despite what the writers have since said, there's a popular argument at the moment that the entire 'waking up' sequence was still in Sam's head. That view's supported slightly. We've seen Sam suffer in his 1973 reality whenever there's been external trauma of somekind on his real body in the hospital. Think about when he was administered an overdose of his drugs, think about when the guy got into the hospital to try and kill him. There were also things in the first season as well. All of those made Sam suffer in his 70s reality, yet here, when he was 'slipping away', nothing. He was still fine. So perhaps all of the 'waking up' sequence wasn't real, it was another figment of his imagination. It's even conceivable that the entire 'amnesia' red herring was correct, and that Sam's 'waking up' and not being able to feel anything tipped him off that it was all in his head all along.

Great series, fantastic finale. IMO.

James you are quite right I did over simplify the ending some what and as you say missed the point. I was in bad mood when I wrote that so perhaps didn't give the credit it's deserved. Morgan almost had me convinced Sam really was in the 70s it was gripping to watch Sam come apart while in the cemetery. In fact my brother is still arguing with me that Sam is the 70s and the whole modern day thing was in his head. If that were the case Gene and his team wouldn't be in a job as they were all facing that sack thats why I the ending doesn't work for and just too much evidence that Sam was in a coma. The more I think about it I realise just powerful the ending is as when he jumped he had no way of knowing wether he would be able go back to the 70s or if the fall would kill him it was a leap of faith in a way.

The thing about Gene, and the investigation of them, Morgan blew it. Even if he'd built a credible case against them, with Sam's help, there was no way he'd ever be able to make it now. Morgan was prepared to let the whole gang die just to prove a point and nail a final nail into Gene's coffin. Sam knew that, and would undoubtedly testify to such. Hence, Morgan's credibility was destroyed whilst Gene and the rest came out of it unscathed, at least in terms of their reputations.

Personally, I think you're right about the coma. The writers have said that the 'waking up' bit was all real, but again, it doesn't really matter, it's whatever works for you. It's open to interpretation so the ending can be viewed in pretty much whichever manner you think best.

I've seen it again a couple of times since, once with the other half, and once with my brother, and you're right, if anything, it just becomes more powerful.

Can't wait for the new series now :thumbsup: Only a year to wait......:(

Former Star Trek star Colm Meaney is in final talks to co-star opposite Jason O'Mara in Life on Mars, the pilot remake of the British time-travel series that David E. Kelley is preparing for ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter

Well this one's just become eminently more watchable.....

Chief O'Brien and Sam Tyler? Whatever next? :lol: