Repetition in Life on Mars (plus general squeeing of course)

[soulstar]

So, the new series of LoM started this evening - I watched the second ep as well when it was shown on BBC4 - and I noticed something that struck me as interesting.  Because I'm a dork, and all that.  Also, I must remember to ask my brother if he noticed too, because he does take note of that sort of stuff - that's part of what his degree is all about.  Or perhaps this is only the kind of thing you'll spot if you're an obsessive fan who has watched the first season seventy billion times, and spent hours looking at screencaps and making icons, etc etc etc.

Anyway, my point is, I think lots of people commented last year that they seem to have a very specific way of framing shots on the show.  But from watching just the first episode of the second season, it seemed to me that they're not only framing shots the same way as last year... they're using the exact same set-ups.  If you took a screencap, you couldn't tell it from certain season 1 screencaps.  The actors are dressed the same, posed in the same way, standing or sitting in the same way in relation to one another.  It's downright spooky!  And then there are verbal repetitions from season 1 as well.  When Sam is talking to Eve in 2x01, he finds himself repeating Gene's line of "I'd never fit up anyone who didn't deserve it" from 1x02, and then in the trailer/ep 2x02, Gene repeats his "You are surrounded by armed bastards!" line from 1x03.  Also, within the episode Sam repeated the words that the mental patient had said to him about having visions.  I'll have to listen out and see if it's a trend that continues!

I do wonder if this is a really sneaky way of harking back to Sam's original idea right back in the first episode that he should walk out of the police station and just keep going until his brain stopped being able to make up new details.  Because it threw me while I was watching 2x01 - gave me just the tiniest moments of "hang on here, which episode am I watching?!" - and it was reinforced all the more in 2x02 when the visual repetitions from the first season seemed to continue.  Another subliminal way of questioning the reality of the 1973-verse, perhaps?  So, definitely something I'm going to watch out for over the rest of this season.  And try not to be too freaked out by, because, woah stoppitnow, dizzy! ;-)

Huh, check that out... did I actually make some meta observations that I got around to typing up and posting?  I think I might have done!

***

And now that I'm done with the somewhat serious thoughts.... OMG LIFE ON MARS OMG OMG OMG SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!11111111111111 ad infinitum.  Oh, damn, that was good.  Marc Warren, you delightfully slashy man, I love you, pls come again with your weird UST with Sam.  Gene/Sam 4evah, but that was hot.  Um... what was I going to say?  I think I'll have to be completely out of order, since watching the second ep as well has mixed my thoughts right up.

So, I loved loved loved the Sam's-a-nutter reveal /admission at the end... nicely tense, especially after having seen the grim way mental patients were treated back then.  Ouch.  But then, like Tony Crane said, they all already knew he wasn't right in the head.  And that is, after all, indisputable: whatever really is going on (hah, unless there's the other option that I've only just thought of but that I'm sure has come up: that he's a brainwashed 'sleeper' (although why he would be, I have no idea, but there's that mysterious phone call now) ... and even that applies), all is not right in poor Sammy's brainbox.  But he's managing to be mostly functional and a good copper along with it, so wheeee, of course Gene and the team stick by him.  Despite his extreme cracked-in-the-head-ness, he's one of them. :-)  "Our team."  ♥♥♥

Gene's mentor and boss, the Chief Superintendent... I liked him muchly.  And yum, he has one of those voices that just sound like really good hot chocolate with thick fresh whipped cream.  I also liked his appreciation of Sam's sarcasm over the joy of working with / for Gene.  Hee!  Yes Sam, you wake up singing with joy every morning because you work for Gene... except for the mornings he's just woken you by kicking your door in.  (Does he not have his own key by now?  Would that not be simpler and cheaper?)  Speaking of mornings, did Gene say towards the end that Sam looked no worse than he did "every Sunday morning"?  Because I'm pretty sure he did, and I squeed accordingly.  Mwahahahah!!

Hmm, what else?  Gene and Sam quoting each other was fabulous - Sam with the line about not fitting anyone up who didn't deserve it was especially cute when he realised half way through exactly what he was saying and where he'd heard it before.  Although Gene "I can't believe I just said that!" after he'd declared they weren't bringing Crane (?) in for questioning because they didn't have any evidence was also great.  Rubbing off each other, are we? (Double entendre completely intentional)  And... well, pretty much every other second that Gene and Sam spent on-screen together made me happy.  Them fighting the goons together (double punch!) was great, but the helping each other up and away afterwards, especially Gene's concern when Sam collapsed outside the building where Crane was going to have them chucked off the roof... *g*

I won't comment on Sam's visions / dreams, because I have no fecking clue.  Although I do think that we might come back to the "having visions" thing, because Nelson had said that Sam needed to look to the people around him... which I thought meant he was supposed to go and talk to the mental patient guy.  Which he didn't.  Or maybe I just completely read that wrong.

Anyway, just like last year, it really managed to hold my attention the entire way through with the absolute perfect mix of drama and action and wtf and slash, mwahah!  Perfect for me, anyhow.  When Sam was going off on one deciding to bust into Crane's club without a warrant or even telling Gene, it gave me just a little bit of stomach-clenchy tension (and the Guv is there anyway to back him up, yay!), as it did at the end when Sam told them all that he's from the future.  Also, despite my Sam/Gene shipping, I loved the Sam/Annie interaction in this ep, and I think she's going to make a kickass "WDC".

Yup, this show pretty much fills my little heart with fannish joy, both on the character love and shipper level.  It's all good as far as I'm concerned.

I may have more to say when I can watch it again.  Happily, I've had a call from the aerial man about coming to fit the TV point, so hopefully by next week, I'll be able to video it to watch again at my leisure.  Don't ask me why I can just about get the telly tuned in but not the video, but I'm just thankful I've got that much since I had no signal at all to start with.  It's taken much dragging around of the telly, addition of extension leads, and precarious balancing of the booster aerial to get this much.  But anyway.  Shutting up now!
(Why yes, I am listening to my unofficial complete LoM S1 music soundtrack.  Wheeeee!)

Comments

[legoline.livejournal.com]

*covers eyes* I'm not looking, I'm not looking - but I'm almost caught up with season one, yay!

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

Yaaaay, I'm glad to hear it! Do you like it? Do you love it beyond all possible reason?? ;-) Aren't Sam and Gene in the top 3 best partnerships ever? They're another one where you can love the love, whether you slash them or not, I think.

(And dude, one of these days there should be a fandom in which there is not a major character called Sam, because I'm getting sooooo confused, especially since the show I watch beforehand also has a Sam who was having a main plot point this week [TV announcer: Next, Sam is having trouble blah blah blah... then at 9, Sam is having trouble blah blah blah!].)

Anyway, let me know what you think of S1 so far. Fave eps? Anything making you go wtf because it's so obscurely 70's (northern) England? I always wonder if there are little things I miss out on in American shows because little cultural references just slide on by, so I also sort of wonder if part of the reason that I love Who and LoM so fiercely is because of their Britishness. But then we have my other current huge love of SGA... but that has the John-Rodney dynamic, just like LoM has the Gene-Sam one. Yet of course in both shows, I love tons of other things about them, including the other characters. So. How about you?

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Do you love it beyond all possible reason??

I do, I do! I just finished watching the first season - oh my, oh my! (And am currently trying to get hold of 2x01 :-p )

And dude, one of these days there should be a fandom in which there is not a major character called Sam,

You're telling ME? *cough*Supernatural*cough*


I also sort of wonder if part of the reason that I love Who and LoM so fiercely is because of their Britishness.

Oh, me too. I really love Britain and all things British. When I was in school everyone wanted desperately to go to the US, and I was always the weirdo saying "I think Britain's cooler!" Francine told me I'm a Brit at heart so... :-p I generally prefer British films and tv shows over US ones. (of course there are exceptions to the rule).

Okay, so I LOVE Life On Mars, I'm so glad I finally saw it - it was driving me nuts everyone kept gushing about it and I hadn't seen it :-P I love how the "episode plot" always resembles the "bigger plot" with him possibly being in a coma. And oh, I LOVE the acting. I mean, it's so good, especially John Simm. My fave character would be him, I guess - and I like Chris. And Annie, though she reminds me of someone and I can't figure out who...

Hmmm, episodes, they were all so good... I loved the one with Warren, and the corrupt "coppers", and the one with the bloke who overdosed on cocaiine in the cell best, I think - but really, they were all good.

*is complete pullde of guh*

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

I do, I do! I just finished watching the first season - oh my, oh my!

OMG, I know. And I've just seen your post that you've now seen 2x01 - isn't it STILL made of awesome? Joy!!!!! Oh, the angst and the confusion and the Sam/Gene (or Sam-Gene) dynamic, and the fabulousness of the old fashioned police drama as seen through Sam's 21st Century eyes. Bweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

You're telling ME? *cough*Supernatural*cough*

Exactly what I was thinking of! Well, alongside Stargate, Lord of the Rings, etc etc...

I was always the weirdo saying "I think Britain's cooler!"

We totally are! ;-) Hee!

I love how the "episode plot" always resembles the "bigger plot" with him possibly being in a coma.

Yes, everything always ties in so beautifully. That's part of why I don't entirely mind that they're not doing more episodes after this season: because if they can at least give us 16 hours of amazingly high quality telly, then that's something to be very happy over.

John Simm is incredible... but are you telling me you haven't developed an inexplicable but unshakable love for Gene and the fabulous Philip Glenister as well? I identify with Sam much more, of course - not just being in the same generation and the viewing the "70's world" in a similar way, but also with the freaky-head thing. Part of the joy of bipolar for me has been what I like to refer to as "reality issues" ;-) with my surroundings. So yeah, it really feels to me as if any resolution could turn out to be true: coma, insanity, some mysterious as-yet unknown factor!

So Sam is probably my favourite too, but he and Gene are so closely tied together: the way they learn to work together, then trust each other and look out for each other. And Gene truely is awesome, don't you think? He's the Guv! He's eloquently blunt, and he outwardly comes over as all physical reaction when really his big ole brain is always at work and he and Sam almost always end up on the same page at the same time, however they got there.

Annie is lovely too - can't help you with who she might remind you of, mind you. Hmm. I also think Phyllis rules. That woman takes no crap. Mwahah! :-)

And yes, I think the Warren ep was *just* about my favourite, because it was a major turning point for Gene and Sam, but I love all of them for many many reasons. The overdose ep I found pretty harrowing actually, because it was fairly heavy on Sam having the visions and almost being "outed" as a nutter by Ray. And yet I adore it beyond everything else because it has a scene in it that was incredibly similar to a scene I'd written in a fanfic I was doing at the time!! Obviously it meant re-writing that part of the (still unfinished) fic, but seeing something that I'd imagined playing out on screen was pure joy. Also, the last episode was just... I don't know, a tour de force in everything that LoM is, I think. *happy sigh*

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Exactly what I was thinking of! Well, alongside Stargate, Lord of the Rings, etc etc...


I was wondering, do you still want to read my fanfic? Would you still like a rough outline/introduction? :-)

And Gene truely is awesome, don't you think?

Actually I'd like to punch him in the face every now and then,but he has his moments and he sort of growing on me :-) A lot of characters have to grow on me first, and often it's a very slow process...*lol* It took me four seasons until I got to like Rygel on Farscape :-)

Annie is lovely too - can't help you with who she might remind you of, mind you.

I've figued it out - she reminds me of Carol from Growing Pains, which was my fave show when I was younger, hehe. Oh yes, Phyllis is great. Actually - I'm in the process of writing a children's sci-fi novel and one of my main characters is called Phyllis O_O

And yet I adore it beyond everything else because it has a scene in it that was incredibly similar to a scene I'd written in a fanfic I was doing at the time

That happened to me with SPN - I wrote a post-seaso finale fanfic and then the first episode of the next season had a very similar scene O_O

Oh, I also really oved the Manchester United/Manchester City episode. I live in an area not unlike the Manchester one, and football is a big issue over here, too. Now, the fans don't actually hate each other but yes, you tend to get funny looks when you state which team you support in the wrong company *laughs*

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, that one too! I'd forgotten it - I think that was one of the first, along with the camera looking up at the group of them from the ground, which seemed familiar as well.

(Hands that do dishes are as soft as your face, with miiiiild greeeeeeeen Fai-ry Liquid!)

PS- I love your icon. :-)

[ionaonie.livejournal.com]

Just so you know, I am now singing 'with miiiiiild greeeeeeeeeen Fai-ry Liquid'...which is just slightly better or worse (I can't decide) than money, money, money.

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

Well, so am I, and I have been ever since I saw the trailer with it in. But you know, when I'd just seen the trailer, I was convinced that little scene was one of Sam's fantasy vision ones - PCs all wearing coloured marigolds, and the CID singing the fairy liquid song? CRACK! God, I love this show. :-D

(Just to prove I'm incredibly sad, every time I see a "Fudge" in a shop, and especially if I buy one, I'm compelled to sing the 'Finger of Fudge' song. Out loud. In fact, I've been finding that my brain has stored a bizarre number of chocolate and chocolate biscuit related jingles from my childhood. I'm not sure what that's about...)

[incy.livejournal.com]

I thought series 2 had no time gap from series two, hence the same clothes, cars, etc. I suspect with the scenes there are only a limited number of locations. And if they are trying to reinforce the 70's feel. Mind you you never see an 1930's semi detached houses...

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

Oh absolutely, I agree there - it's still 1973, and I seem to remember hearing that there wasn't a time gap (or I suppose only as was usual between the episodes last year). And I really like that the wardrobes are realistically limited. I don't know Manchester well, so I can't judge about the houses: they don't match up with this area, though they do a bit more with where I lived in Hull.

But it was more the angles that scenes were shot from, and where the actors were within the frame of those shots, posture combined with set dressing and costume, if you see what I mean. Obviously, if it's just the one actor then there are only a limited number of ways they could sit in a chair, or whatever, but once you bring a few of them in, then lining them up in a copy of a shot that we've seen before seems premeditated / deliberate. Or, um, they've run out of new and interesting ways to do things.

Or perhaps I've just spent way too much time... ah... appreciating the manly charms of Philip Glenister and John Simm. ;-)

[ionaonie.livejournal.com]

I knew I could rely on you to have a major Squee! Hehe.

I loved it. Totally loved it. Gene's 'I can't believe I just said that' was hilarious just for the amount of disgust in his voice.

You didn't imagine the 'sunday morning' line. It made me go huh? And then laugh.

And the double punch was love. I was all like 'yeah!'

The moment Gene asked Sam to find him a new WDC I knew it was going to be Annie and laughed very much at the end. She'll be able to handle all of them, they don't stand a chance.

Gene's comment to Annie about Nancy Drew not being able to do better made me go 'Awww'. That was so sweet in a male chauvanistic kind of way.

Of course, I have no idea about same shots and same lines as season 1 because I missed so much of it but I'm going to take your word on it. It's all just adding to the mystery. I really can't wait to see what the conclusion is.

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

*completely innocent* I can't think where I gave you that impression. Hee!

Oh, wasn't it the most fabulous thing? It actually didn't occur to me until afterwards, but it could not have lived up to the awesomeness of last year. There was no question from the very beginning, with Gene kicking in Sam's door, though. Oh, so much love!

Gene's 'I can't believe I just said that' was hilarious just for the amount of disgust in his voice.

Yes! And he and Sam arguing about the way that which ever way one of them went, the other would immediately go the other. And then arguing again as they're about to be shoved off the top of the building! Snark = love!

You didn't imagine the 'sunday morning' line.

Now I need to read all the fic about what they get up to every Saturday night! ;-) Oh yeahhh. (Now I really need to get back to writing all the LoM fic I had on the go last year *cough*)

She'll be able to handle all of them, they don't stand a chance.

It's true, they're all totally pwned. Mwahahah! Annie was great in this ep, with her getting down and doing the nitty gritty detective work that needed to be sorted out while Sam and Gene were off doing their own thing. Also, bless, she nearly got a kiss from Sam, but all the slashers reached through their TV sets and hoiked him away it wasn't to be! And yes, the Nancy Drew comments were sweet in an as-sweet-as-Gene-gets way. It's a step up from previous acknowledgements, and another way that he and Sam have had an effect on one another. Not that I think Gene dismissed Annie in S1....

... but since you haven't seen all of that, perhaps you need to do so to judge, hmmm? Just like with the shots? Email me: soulstar at soulstar.co.uk

I can't wait to see the conclusion either, but... damn, I wish it could go on for longer!

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

'and what do they call this thing, the singer?'

'The stinger. They invented it to stop cars... huh, guess I've just invented it.'

In conclusion SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

[soulstar.livejournal.com]

Stringer! Stinger! Whatever. *g*

I would say that "SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" just about sums it up. Maybe a shade of "OMG W0000000000000000000000T!!!1!" in there too. *nod*