I hadn't really seen much of previous episodes because I couldn't understand what was going on. I watched the finale because I wanted to know what it was all about.
Rather than Purgatory, I though they were in Limbo. The videos of them dying showed them as quite pathetic people. My impression was that Gene Hunt had been in a similar position, beaten to death and buried in a field, but had then been appointed to show that he could be what he really wanted to be and to provide others with the same opportunity. If they were willing to give it a go and succeeded then they went "to the pub". If they gave up without achieving that, they went to the other place down the in the lift.
I was a bit annoyed about Gene pointing the gun at Alex at the grave but I suppose if he isn't totally conscious of who he is that makes sense.
Did the Quatro really buy it or was it a stooge?
I cant understand how some people have any problem with understanding this ending?
For some people I guess you need a leap of faith.
Imagine;
We all live in the real world.
There is a heaven and hell.
If you lead a good life you go to heaven.
If you lead a bad life you go to hell.
If your life is neither good or bad or you commited suicide you go to Purgatory which is a place between heaven and hell where you can be judged.
Gene Hunt is the gategeeper of Heaven in Purgatory, he died in the real world and must have been given the role of gate keeper by someone from heaven, but he forgot about this as time passed.
Keats is the Devil or one of the Devils workers, his job is to persuade people stuck in pergatory to follow him to hell. But this must be done in a way that the people who follow him choose this with free will.
Gene`s job is to help Dead Police Officers from there bad past lifes and help them to enter heaven when they had redemmed themselves.
Sam Tyler died in the real world, he entered Purgatory which Gene had set into the 1970`s and lead a good life, when it was time he and Annie entered Heaven through the railway arms, Nelson (The Bar Keeper of the Railway Arms) was their guide or even God. Gene Hunt helped him on his way and the last thing he said to Sam was to get him a pint.
Ray, Shaz, and Chris and died also during previous decades and hadnt proved themselves yet to Gene untill tonight where they entered heaven also.
Alex also dies in the real world and tonight was granted her chance to enter heaven also.
Keats went back to his hell, awaiting the next encounter and chance to grab some souls.
Gene continues in Purgatory to help guide people into heaven and save tem from Keats.
But spare a thought for poor Viv who got 'taken' by the evil Keats
And also the female undercover cop from an earlier episode. It seems that Keats managed to tempt them both to betray the police force, and so he won their souls
Could someone help me with one question I have? If Gene Hunt was killed in 1953 how come he can construct worlds based on the 1970s and 80s?
I understand why the likes of Sam and Alex 'went back' to a time when they were young, but not how this coincides with Gene's self created limbo.
I thought that as we moved from the 70s to the 80s, it's possible that Gene's World started in the 50s and he's been moving on through time since then towards 2010 when is body is found, maybe?
More probably because they're Americans, who lap that sort of thing up...
More like they ended it so soon because no one was watching.
Before you get smug about it, realize that ashes to ashes is about as souless a copy of the original as the american life on mars series was. Thats the real problem.
Do we think Gene will finally get to leave purgatory/Fenchurch once his body is found in 2010?
I thought this. All the others died alone and were eventually found apart from him. Last night suggested that Gene is holding out for someone to find him in the field so he can finally claim his place at the Railway Arms. I guess that's how it ends, because they found his grave in 2010, this time he'll be free too.
The ending showed pretty clearly that Hunt was staying by choice and was about to set-to on yet another new arrival. He had the choice to go to the pub but didn't.
The ending showed pretty clearly that Hunt was staying by choice and was about to set-to on yet another new arrival. He had the choice to go to the pub but didn't.
Would that not be because he knows if he went to the pub then there would be no-one to save future souls from Keats?
well i thought i understood it all but then my mum asked me a question which i don't really know the answer to so i said "hmm just let me think about that one for a second" and ran to the internet heh heh
basically: if the railway arms is heaven, how come they used to drink there all the time in life on mars?!
Can anyone tell me what Jim Keats shouted when he stepped into the lift and Shaz said 'what did you say' and he replied 'nothing'. I have replayed my recording several times and I can't make it out.
well i thought i understood it all but then my mum asked me a question which i don't really know the answer to so i said "hmm just let me think about that one for a second" and ran to the internet heh heh
basically: if the railway arms is heaven, how come they used to drink there all the time in life on mars?!
My interpretation is that in LOM, Gene hadn't remembered all of this, his role etc, so that to him was just a pub. He didn't know it was heaven. I assume Sam worked it out, or Nelson eventually told him, then he was able to move on. I think it's just a case of Gene not remembering.
well i thought i understood it all but then my mum asked me a question which i don't really know the answer to so i said "hmm just let me think about that one for a second" and ran to the internet heh heh
basically: if the railway arms is heaven, how come they used to drink there all the time in life on mars?!
Obviously it is up to interpretation, but the characters have to accept their own deaths before they can move on and into heaven. TRA in Manchester and TRA in London, are obviously different buildings, so it could be that the latter was symbolic only. They chose to picture the gateway to heaven as a pub (for some a pub that they know and love), because a policeman's local has an especial significance for them.
Can anyone tell me what Jim Keats shouted when he stepped into the lift and Shaz said 'what did you say' and he replied 'nothing'. I have replayed my recording several times and I can't make it out.
Shaz say's "what was that?"
When Keats shouted "Get in" you heard a scream from below and it was the scream Shaz was referring to.
I dont think Gene has been appointed anything except by himself. If you remember back to the farm where he was telling Alex about how he died, he explained that he was a new copper and was under a more experienced officers wing, and while that officer was boozing on the job and not looking after him he went to the farm himself and was killed. I think (imo) Gene could go into the Railway Arms to pass over but wont because he doesnt want to not be there for any new souls that end up in his office/police station. I dont think he's there to protect them all from Keats either so much as people have to make up their own minds to go with him plus, if Gene were protecting souls from Keats, wouldnt that mean he'd remember more about being in purgatory/limbo than he does?
just my opinion i thought it was a great ending and personally i hope they dont make another series! it would ruin what the shows been about
I wonder how many viewers will argue with his explanation like they did about the ending of Life on Mars. Made me smile at the time that people were saying he was wrong.
I only watched the last two episodes as after the first series of Ashes to Ashes Alex got on my nerves so much I couldn't stand to watch any more. I managed to grit my teeth just so I could find out how it would end and must admit I liked the end of Ashes to Ashes more than the end of Life on Mars, though ultimately they're both very sad.
I never really got into LOM (*gasp*) or A2A but did stick with this series. Don't really like tough men cop shows but the acting and characters were good and I do love the Twilight Zone strand of the series.
The finale was terrific I thought and made sense of a lot of it after I sat in shock and thought about it for a time! Very sad but - thank goodness - not disappointingly a let-down at the end!
I think it's probable that Sam's Dad did kill Annie. Although she was already "dead" when Sam met her, he had come from the future so there is no reason to believe Annie hadnt come from a short way into the future too. And even though Sam stopped the attack in his limbo world, he wasnt able to actually change reality, just as Alex wasnt able to with her parents.
But where was there any connection with Sam's Dad and Annie?
Well, dead since the start of this series. She did come out of her coma didn't she in ep 1 before slipping back into "1983"?
A fairly satisfactory ending, which just about held an LoM and A2A narrative together. I think!
A2A was a very different series though to LoM - with LoM there were clues, the guessing game and the "will he, won't he get back" issue every week. A2A was just 3 series of The Gene Hunt Show, milking the formula as far as they could, before bringing the curtain down at a time of their choosing.
Nobody really needed to watch all 24 episodes of A2A to "get" that ending, really.
I'd agree with all that. As I said a few pages back, for anyone who's seen none of it, I'd recommend seeing all of Life on Mars, then Ashes' first episode and then the finale, in order to 'get' it. In addition to that, which I didn't say before, if they want to go back and fill in a few blanks they can see eps 2, 3 and 7 of this series and any other ep of A2A to see a rather bog-standard cop show.
Brilliant series - after the padding of series 2, this brought A2A back on par with the first couple of episodes of LOM - A drama that makes you think long after the (c) BBC MMX caption has faded off the screen. If this doesn't hoover up an next years BAFTA Tv awards, then there is something wrong.
Interested to read in the Guardian piece with the creator, that in the early storyboarding of the last episode Sam and not Nelson was supposed to come out of The Railway Arms, but the dropped it because it would have mugged Drake's last moments before finding peace 'upstairs'.
Also to clear something up. Alex died at 9.06 at the start of the first episode of this series, but it took until the final meeting with Keates outside the pub to make her realise that she wasn't going back again - and only the apperance of Molly's scarfe made her safe in the knowledge that she was being well looked after so she could 'let go' of Hunt and his world and move on.
Comments
Rather than Purgatory, I though they were in Limbo. The videos of them dying showed them as quite pathetic people. My impression was that Gene Hunt had been in a similar position, beaten to death and buried in a field, but had then been appointed to show that he could be what he really wanted to be and to provide others with the same opportunity. If they were willing to give it a go and succeeded then they went "to the pub". If they gave up without achieving that, they went to the other place down the in the lift.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/may/21/ashes-to-ashes-final-episode
so now we know.
I was a bit annoyed about Gene pointing the gun at Alex at the grave but I suppose if he isn't totally conscious of who he is that makes sense.
Did the Quatro really buy it or was it a stooge?
Perfect
And also the female undercover cop from an earlier episode. It seems that Keats managed to tempt them both to betray the police force, and so he won their souls
I understand why the likes of Sam and Alex 'went back' to a time when they were young, but not how this coincides with Gene's self created limbo.
More like they ended it so soon because no one was watching.
Before you get smug about it, realize that ashes to ashes is about as souless a copy of the original as the american life on mars series was. Thats the real problem.
I thought this. All the others died alone and were eventually found apart from him. Last night suggested that Gene is holding out for someone to find him in the field so he can finally claim his place at the Railway Arms. I guess that's how it ends, because they found his grave in 2010, this time he'll be free too.
Would that not be because he knows if he went to the pub then there would be no-one to save future souls from Keats?
basically: if the railway arms is heaven, how come they used to drink there all the time in life on mars?!
My interpretation is that in LOM, Gene hadn't remembered all of this, his role etc, so that to him was just a pub. He didn't know it was heaven. I assume Sam worked it out, or Nelson eventually told him, then he was able to move on. I think it's just a case of Gene not remembering.
Obviously it is up to interpretation, but the characters have to accept their own deaths before they can move on and into heaven. TRA in Manchester and TRA in London, are obviously different buildings, so it could be that the latter was symbolic only. They chose to picture the gateway to heaven as a pub (for some a pub that they know and love), because a policeman's local has an especial significance for them.
But it has left me feeling rather dazzed about where we all are now... I mean... is this the real world or are we in A2A / LOM...Am I dead.....
Oh crap!
X:eek:
Shaz say's "what was that?"
When Keats shouted "Get in" you heard a scream from below and it was the scream Shaz was referring to.
Did the criminals even exist?
just my opinion
I wonder how many viewers will argue with his explanation like they did about the ending of Life on Mars. Made me smile at the time that people were saying he was wrong.
I only watched the last two episodes as after the first series of Ashes to Ashes Alex got on my nerves so much I couldn't stand to watch any more. I managed to grit my teeth
The finale was terrific I thought and made sense of a lot of it after I sat in shock and thought about it for a time! Very sad but - thank goodness - not disappointingly a let-down at the end!
But where was there any connection with Sam's Dad and Annie?
I'd agree with all that. As I said a few pages back, for anyone who's seen none of it, I'd recommend seeing all of Life on Mars, then Ashes' first episode and then the finale, in order to 'get' it. In addition to that, which I didn't say before, if they want to go back and fill in a few blanks they can see eps 2, 3 and 7 of this series and any other ep of A2A to see a rather bog-standard cop show.
Interested to read in the Guardian piece with the creator, that in the early storyboarding of the last episode Sam and not Nelson was supposed to come out of The Railway Arms, but the dropped it because it would have mugged Drake's last moments before finding peace 'upstairs'.
Also to clear something up. Alex died at 9.06 at the start of the first episode of this series, but it took until the final meeting with Keates outside the pub to make her realise that she wasn't going back again - and only the apperance of Molly's scarfe made her safe in the knowledge that she was being well looked after so she could 'let go' of Hunt and his world and move on.