SPARTACUS: Gods of Blood and Sand

After having watched the first episode of the prequel to SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND, I realized that I had never blogged about it, and am now correcting my oversight; indeed oversight is the correct word, as I think a number of people unfairly overlook this show, which is has been called, a little unfairly in my mind, a 'guilty pleasure.'

I understand the impulse to label STARZ original series, SPARTACUS, as a 'guilty pleasure', as it's very uncompromising in it's vision and it's commitment to it's extreme content; quite frankly, SPARTACUS is not for the prudish or the weak kneed. The the only thing more graphic than the sex is the violence, as blood gushes forth, thick and viscus, like something from a the most graphic of graphic novels. Heads are severed, stomachs are disemboweled, limbs are rendered from body, all to cheers. Similarly, pelvises thrust, breasts are bared, and penises are erect and eager. Not for the faint of heart indeed. But that's what makes it so good.

SPARTACUS isn't there to coddle you; this is an explicitly adult show for a mature audience; so why should it be afraid to feature adult content? While not historically accurate, SPARTACUS is set during the one of the most decadent, hedonistic, era's of recorded history, where society endulged in visceral pleasures of blood and sex without taboo or judgment. SPARTACUS' goal, as a series, isn't to be historically accurate, but more to give you an idea of what it was like to be experience such tactile, forbidden, pleasures. To live vicariously through the spectacle of combat, and the pleasures of guilt free, anonymous, sex. And that inevitably, in our stuck up, prudish, society with it's weird, buttoned up, relationship with sex and violence (strangely more with sex than violence), makes people feel guilty. Thus, the show is labeled a guilty pleasure, as critics gloss over what makes the show compelling; character and drama.

SPARTACUS is a very character driven show, populated by a colorful cast of complex and memorable characters, played to great effect with obvious pleasure and gusto by a skilled cast of actors. Spartacus, a noble warrior betrayed and enslaved, lives with the tragic loss of his wife, and finds release and purpose in the deadly Gladitorial games, which brings great fortune to the scheming, ambitious, owner of his Ludus, Batiatus, who has designs on rising above his station and seizing political power, spurred on by his duplicitous wife, Lucretia, who is torn by her love of her husband, and her lust for his current champion, Crixus. Crixus, for this part, has an contentious relationship with Spartacus, who he resents for his designs on taking his place as champion. And that's just the core cast.

Among the supporting players are equally compelling characters; Spartacus best friend, Varro, a thrill seeking gambler who paid his way INTO the Ludus, Ashur, a former Gladiator who becomes the scheming right hand of Batiatus (he's actually my favorite character, because he reminds me of Starscream; a remarkably intelligent coward with a cockroach like knack for survival, and an eye for opportunity), Doctore, former champion turned maker of champions, and steadfast ally of Crixis, and finally, and most interestingly, Ilithyia, the wife of Spartacus sworn enemy, the Roman soldier that sold out his people to slavery and genocide, Claudius Glaber; Ilithyia is a spoiled rotten temptress who lurks around the Ludus as a guest of Lucretia, engineering horrific tortures for the hated Spartacus, while none to subtly taking catty digs at Lucretia, who plays her like a violin, manipulating the ignorant and hateful young socialite.

SPARTACUS is equal parts comic book action and operatic drama; an action soap opera for adults. Characters scheme, betray, back stab, manipulate, threaten, and sometimes literally fuck with, each other, in a tornado of drama, all framed by some of the most over the top, beautiful and horrifyingly violent action you've seen this side of 300. In one particularly bitchy scheme, Lucretia, to protect her vested interest in the horse-like cock of Crixus, tricks Ilithyia into sating her burning lust with her hated enemy, Spartacus, as they make sensual love while wearing masks and covered in gold, only to have Ilithyia's social rival walk in on them, threatening to tell all of Rome about her illicit activities. In a fit of insane rage and embarrassment, Ilithyia snaps, and beats her rivals brains out against the hard marble edge of the pool, spilling blood and grey matter all over the floor as she caves her skull in. And that's not even the WORST thing that happens in the show... but it is the most shocking, as you never see it coming.

And that's really SPARTACUS greatest strength; it's unpredictability! It's a show that keeps you on the edge of your seat with surprise revelations and plot twists, as secrets are slowly revealed. Nothing is sacred and the stakes are high; every character is at risk of losing his life at any time; and it all comes to a head in a final kill crazy rampage at the end, in which every subplot is neatly tied up, and everyone gets their rightful comeuppance.

After strong first season, I'm entirely excited by the prospect of the prequel show SPARTACUS: GODS OF THE ARENA, which goes aback about five years to show the rise of Batiatus (portrayed by the shockingly excellent John Hannah) to control of his father's Ludus, building on the mythology hinted at in the first season of BLOOD AND SAND. The prequel promises to show the training and rise of Crixis as champion of the Ludus, the transition of Doctore from champion to trainer of champions, and the fall of Ashur, who had ambitions to become a Gladiator and instead is rendered lame by fate. All of this revolves around the current champion, the humble yet charming Gadicus, who is unaware of the terrible fate that hangs over his head, like the Sword of Damocles.

I expect great things, and I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

SPARTACUS is a pleasure yes, but hardly a guilty one. It's not high art, but neither does it aspire to be, instead embracing it's crass, visceral, nature and providing shout inducing thrills (I cry out "OH SHIT!" at never beheading or disemboweling), and compelling drama, all supported by a colorful cast of complex and compelling characters. It's not high art, but it does promise to show you something you've ever seen on TV before... an unapologetically, uncompromisingly, adult show.

JUSTIFIED: A Good Excuse to Watch Timothy Olephant Being Generally Awesome...

I don't have cable. That seems to shock a lot of people, but over the last few years, my viewing habits have changed; I'm just to busy to keep to TV's immutable schedule, and beyond that... there is just not that much I want to watch anymore. Most of what's on Television fails to do the only two things I require of it: interest me, or entertain me. Thankfully I have doting parents with a PVR and a DVD recorder, so I can request the very few things that do succeed in accomplishing one or both of those goals.

Which brings me to JUSTIFIED, an FX original series showcasing one of my favorite actors doing what he does best; playing the baddest Sheriff in a bad town!

JUSTIFIED follows the life of Raylan Givens, a US Marshall who is forced to return to his hometown of Harlan, Kentucky, after he kills a drug dealer, in what he describes as a 'Justified' shooting in Florida. Returning to Harlan seriously complicates Deputy Marshall Given's life as he worked really hard to get OUT of Harlan, and away from his past, which inevitably comes back to haunt him.

Now, while I enjoy the show, it's not high art; but neither is it aspiring to be. This isn't DEADWOOD or THE SOPRANOS. There's not much subtext to the show, nor does it aspire to impart some sort of wisdom or message through an overarching theme. Quite frankly, the only thing that separates this from it's formulaic Network equivalent, is better writing, acting, and the well timed use of my two favorite words; 'shit' and 'fuck.' JUSTIFIED is a mostly by the book police procedural; every week there is some kind of crime, which Marshall Given's investigates, and solves by the end of the episode. No, JUSTIFIED isn't aspiring to be high art; it's aspiring to be a solidly entertaining and compelling television drama.

Unlike most Network police procedurals, though, there is continuity and subplots that career through each episode, and a over arching plot that is followed through on throughout the season, involving a family that is basically a redneck mafia, who, despite their lowbrow command of the English language and stereotypically hillbilly-ish appearance, are experts at squeaking by the law.

The show is set in the deep South, but unlike most things set in the south by a Southern creator, there is no romanticism, of good ol' boys playing banjo's on the porch and tipping their hats as the Southern Belle's sashay on by. Harlan County is portrayed as something of a crime ridden cesspool; a powder keg ready to explode as races, religions, and feuding families clash and confront each other. White Power pricks spout off about blowing up Synagogues, and how their favorite past time is beating up any person of color that they come in contact with. One of the shows recurring 'villain's' goes to jail and 'finds the Lord', only to use the Word to justify his criminal activities and build a cult of loyal followers around himself as he makes moves to take over his Father's lucrative drug trade, and possibly rape his dead brother's widow. The bad guys are bad, and there's plenty of them to go around in Harlan County. Which is why I think the show works so well for me.

JUSTIFIED, to me, is basically an attempt to modernize the classic Western paradigm and bring it to the 20th Century. It's morality is mostly black and white; there's no mistaking your white hats from your black hats, and they carry on the tradition of the family of criminals that seek revenge on the Sheriff that stands as the only law in town. Raylen Given's justice, from his perspective, is just as clear cut; he'll never shot a man in cold blood, but he has no problem out-drawing any sonbitch that draws on him first, and will sleep just as soundly at night.

That's not to say that show is entirely clear cut, black and white though; which is were the modernization of the Western paradigm comes in. In our modern, gray shaded world, there's no room for a man whose morality is so clearly defined as good VS bad; there are consequences for even a so called 'justified' shooting, and it's also unclear as to just HOW justified Raylen was.

Raylan Given's is a complex and textured character. Calm and collected on the surface, superficially he comes across as a man of unwavering moral fiber, and a clear and concise code of conduct, who follows the letter of the law. But underneath that upright exterior is a boiling cauldron of repressed rage. As his past is slowly revealed, you begin to realize that his motivations in becoming a US Marshall are probably not entirely pure, but rather borne out of spite and petty hatred for his career criminal of a Father, and his apparent disdain for his own perceived destiny to follow in those footsteps.

Timothy Olephant is quite masterful at playing this kind of character; Raylan Given's could almost be considered a descendant of Seth Bullock, his breakthrough character from DEADWOOD (still my favorite TV show of all time, even after FIVE viewings). His instincts are fantastic, and he manages to be both charming and frightening on cue. Raylan Given's is a conflicted and sometimes violent man, who often loses patience with the very system he professes to believe in, often taking the Law into his own hands, bypassing the proper channels to threaten, bully, and beat anyone that crosses him or his, while struggling against the Authority that he serves. His judgment, while often logical and concise, is fallible, and easily compromised by his emotions.

Despite all his various failings, though, Marshall Given's is not an unsympathetic or unlikable character. He's charming, quick witted, and funny (I enjoy those Southern expressions, like a retard farting in a bathtub, I do!). He has an utter disdain for any sort of racial or religious intolerance, or any other kind of general ignorance, and is often frustrated by the ignorance of the people in his hometown, but at the same time, sympathetic, as he knows how easy it is to be trapped by that same blissful ignorance in a small town.

JUSTIFIED isn't the greatest thing to ever be on TV, but it far better than most of the crap that gets on the air, and, really, it's mostly just a vehicle for a good actor and rising star to do what he does best. You're really just watching the show to watch Timothy Olephant be a Southern Bad-Ass, because he's so damned GOOD at it, and, frankly, that's all you can really ask for.

JUSTIFIED is smart, well produced, entertainment, starring one of my favorite actors, doing what he does best; keeping me interested and entertained.

STARGATE UNIVERSE: The First Time I've Ever Liked STARGATE...

I just started watching STARGATE UNIVERSE, after having seen the first half of the first season on DVD really cheap at BMV, and... it's actually surprisingly good... sort of like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA before they dropped the ball. Lots of hard science and conflicting personalities, plus it's just a gorgeous looking show. The art direction and effects are fantastic. The cast is pretty good too; Robert Carlyle is fucking amazing!

This is the first time I've ever liked anything involving STARGATE. I barely remember the first movie; I watched it when I was in highschool, but I've always sort of found everything involving STARGATE sort of disappointing on some level; like it was lacking something. I think it's the whole thing with the aliens using human bodies... I hate human aliens. It's part of why I can't watch any STAR TREK after the original. There's something so bullshit about cheating the aliens in science fiction to keep the budget down. That's probably not a good reason to not like a show, but it always stuck in my craw and kept me from getting into both the movie and the show that followed... but apparently it didn't affect anyone else enjoyment of the show, because it's been on for 10 FUCKING YEARS. @_@

So I've been avoiding this show for 10 years. I've tried watching it a few times, tried watching different series, such as ATLANTIS (which was even more bullshit to me than before... something about the shows attempt to integrate humor into the premise really felt insincere, out of place, and completely off-putting to me... like it disarmed the seriousness of the show), but it still never caught on with me.

STARGATE UNIVERSE, however, fixed all the problems I've had with the franchise; it's smart, serious, sci-fi drama. The science is hard, and the drama is engaging. Characters are complex and there's conflict. It's all the shit I want in my science fiction entertainment!

STARGATE UNIVERSE starts off fresh; you don't need the 10+ years of continuity to get into it; just a general refresher of the basic premise; Humans find ancient alien technology which allows for instantaneous travel over intergalactic distances. The US military creates a special corp. charged with exploring the gates and uncovering the secrets of the technology, as humanity takes it's first small steps into the greater universe.

UNIVERSE takes place years after the initial discovery of the gates; humans have made first contact with many other species, both hostile and benevolent, and have mastered certain aspects of the technology. Interplanetary travel via conventional means is now a reality, and other planets have been colonized. The SG Project now has one final mystery to solve; the dialing of the Ancients final legacy, a Nine Chevron code, it's destination unknown.

While attempting to dial the code, the SG project is attacked by alien hostiles, and all personnel are forced to evacuate through the Stargate; only to find themselves stranded on a massive alien ship many thousands of light years from Earth, and traveling further away with incredible speed. The ship is heavily damaged, and resources are limited. They have no way home.

You can imagine how this would be a great McGuffin for generating drama. Add into the mix a diverse cast of complex characters; military and civilian personal clashing over control, secrets and intrigue, hidden agendas and relationships, constant pressure and danger... there's always something happening!

I think my favorite character in the show has to be Robert Carlyle's; Doctor Nicolas Rush. Rush is a great character, neither hero nor villian, saint nor sinner, he's a brilliant scientist struggling to wrap his head around technology so advanced even he can barely comprehend it; and this irks him, especially given all the pressure being put on him by his superiors within the project and financiers demanding success. Rush, to me, is like a duck; he attempt to project a calm, cool, and in control, demeanor of knowledge and confidence, but underneath he's furiously thrashing around, just barely able to comprehend the advanced alien technology.

At the same time he's social awkward and isolated by his intelligence; he's constantly frustrated by everyone else relative lack of intelligence, and has no idea how to relate to anyone else on a social level; especially given that most all of the other characters blame him as the cause of their bleak situation. Rush isn't without concern for his fellow man, but he sees everything in terms of logic and probability; he has a stubborn refusal to waste time on anything that he deems as having no chance of success; even if the attempt will at least comfort his fellow exiles. He doesn't believe in the abstract concepts of hope or faith; he's a man of absolutes; scientific fact and quantifiable results. This makes it easy to misjudge his motives; is he only doing things that will ensure his own survival, or does he have genuine concern for the community of the ship?

The clouding of his motives isn't helped by his obsession with the study of the alien technology and the deciphering of it's secrets, which he puts above both social grace and even human life, which leads to a surprise twist in the season finale; and really, the only logical way to end the season; I'm surprised he didn't see it coming.

STARGATE UNIVERSE is a truly pleasant surprise in a TV season otherwise lacking completely in anything of interest for me (part of why I haven't had cable in almost a year...), and coming from a franchise that has never held any interest for me. Don't let the fact that it's another installment in one of the longest running SCI-FI franchises in North American television; they give you all you need to know in the first episode, and by the time everything gets going, all of that is irrelevant anyways; it's a whole new Universe.

HEROES: I've Been Burned Before...

Yeah, I know... HEROES sucks. No, really, I understand this. I really liked the first season, I was totally onboard with the idea of a dramatic "what if it was real" show about people with powers, because that's the kind of stuff I like, being the kind of nerd I am. When it started the show WAS good. Then they blew it in the end. Then they blew it again in the second season. Then they blew it again in the third. And then, just as shit was starting to look up at the end of the third season... they blew it AGAIN! I'm not stupid. I don't wear fanboy blinders and just continue to watch out of habit and make excuses and rationalizations; they fucked it up. But that doesn't mean I don't want it to stop trying to be better.

I liked HEROES once, because once it was good, and I'd like to think it can be again, and, looking at this trailer, it seems like steps are being taken to fix what has definately been broken: A smaller cast, a unifying theme, ramped back powers, and a central villian in the form of Robert Knoeper, who is an actor I really like. I really like the idea of the secret war, and in this case, the contrast between the regulars, whose central theme is that they want to be normal, and the new villians, who have embraced their sideshow freakiness. But that's what I said about the trailer for season 3.

Make no mistake, HEROES has a lot to bounce back from; possibly moreso than any other TV show I've ever followed. They've alienated fans twice with lame duck, cliched, and sometimes just SENSELESS, storyarcs, and publically admitted that they've fucked up (which is pretty unprecidented in Hollywood to cop to your mistakes instead of trying to spin them), so how to they get the audiences trust back? Easy: STOP FUMBLING THE BALL AT THE FUCKING GOAL LINE! Except for BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (which I have more to say on in another post), HEROES is possibly televisions greatest cocktease, constantly building up to some huge, epic, satisfying, ending and then completely fucking it up in either a desperate attempt to maintain the status quo, or because they just have no fucking clue what to do. Go in with a plan and fucking STICK TO IT. And don't pussy out in the season finale. If shit is supposed to blow up, BLOW IT THE FUCK UP! If someone needs to die, KILL THEM. Stop jerking us around and do your fucking job: ENTERTAIN ME.

This is the last time.

PARANOIA AGENT: Satoshi Kon... WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD!?!

I have to give it to ADULT SWIM... they sure know how to cut a trailer.

I'm actually a little ashamed to admit that, despite being a huge fan of Satoshi Kon's works (all of which I own now... he's the only director who's movies I will sit through subtitled). PERFECT BLUE, MILLENIUM ACTRESS, TOKYO GODFATHERS, and most recently, PAPRIKA... all of them are probably among some of the greatest examples of why you should RESPECT anime as a valid and mature storytelling medium. And Satoshi Kon is one of those rare directors that can use this medium to do more than just make a movie... he makes elevates it to ART.

See... one of the things that's always struck me about Satoshi Kon's films is that they don't actually need to be animated. Especially TOKYO GODFATHERS, which didn't even have Kon's usual themes of fantasy, unreality, and psychology; there is nothing in that movie that could not have been done in reality. So why animate it? Or any of his films? Almost all of them could just as easily have been done live action, especially in this new age of digital filmaking. Animation is a long, hard, and expensive process by comparison. So why go through the trouble to animate stories that have more in common with low budget indie character studies than high budget escapist fantasy?

Because it's art. Satoshi Kon is a genius not just because he's a master storyteller, but because he's a master animator, who understands how to portray, with either subtlety or exaggeration, the full range of human expression. His observation of motion and emotion is, frankly, astounding, and brings something to his storytelling that an actor might not be able to. That he is an animator means that he doesn't have to direct an unreliable human actor and rely on their performance to get across what he he sees so clearly in his head... he can create what is in his imagination far more clearly and more gracefully than you could ever achieve in reality.

But I digress... the real reason I'm here is to talk about PARANOIA AGENT, which is an interesting experiment for Satoshi Kon; a 13 episode TV show.

PARANOIA AGENT is a series of episodic character studies about people under extreme emotional duress, with a serialized plot in the background connecting everything together, which allows for a more decompressed story arc told through what amounts to a series of short films.

Feeling the pressure of deadlines and peer pressure within her office, designer Tsukiko Sagi walks down a dark and lonely street on her way home. Her paranoia mounts as the darkness begins to close in, and she imagines she's being followed. She runs and falls, relieved that it was only her imagination... only to be attacked from behind by an elementary student wearing in-line roller skates, and carrying a bent, golden baseball bat. This is how the urban myth of violent attacker, Shonen Bat (Bat Boy, or Li'l Slugger in the dub) is born.

The series follows the investigation into the Shonen Bat attacks, as he appears to be attacking people seeming at random, with only a thin thread connecting them. People secret lives and daily pressures are examined, as Shonen Bat's attacks become more prolific and his power grows as he feeds on the paranoia and dark thoughts of society, until he is finally too powerful to be denied.

PARANOIA AGENT is apparently a mish-mash of unused idea's that Satoshi Kon failed to find a place for in his other movies, and investigates some of the same themes; losing oneself in fantasy, multiple personalities at war with each other, abstract idea's becoming reality, the darkness that resides deep within the human heart (the one episode about the child that finds out her father has a secret camera in her room was ESPECIALLY dark)... betrayal, lose, regret, sadness, suicide, insanity, time travel, reality and unreality... there is nowhere Satoshi Kon won't go, and nothing he won't touch.

That's not to say there isn't humor... PARANOIA AGENT is a surprisingly balanced series and can even be considered a black comedy at times. One of my particularly favorite episodes is one about three people that meet on a Suicide BBS and arrange to meet in person so they can all die together. One is an old man, called "Fuyubachi", one is a younger man, called "Zebra", and the last, which is a shock to the other two, is an eight year old girl, called "Kamome." Despite the premise of the story, it's actually one of the more ridiculous, offbeat, and heartwarming episodes, as the two older characters, quite responsibly, try to dodge Kamome, all the while trying to commit suicide themselves (quite incompetently), without involving her. In the end they're brought together even as they try to die. Another element that I like about this episode, which also factors into Satoshi Kon's other works, is his willingness to have homosexual characters and not portray them as offensive stereotypes or comic relief, but as real characters (it's hinted that Zebra is gay, and if you know anything about Japanese society and their treatment of homosexuals, it helps in understand why he'd probably want to commit suicide).

In terms of animation, PARANOIA AGENT probably could not look any better. The art direction, character designs, and animation (expect for one episode, which was more along the lines of what you average TV animation looks like), are all top notch, demonstrating Satoshi Kon's ability to manipulate the atmosphere of an animated show and create an oppressive feeling of paranoia and psyhological terror (particularly in the third episode, about the woman with dissociative personality disorder, which terrifying on an almost Hitchock-ian level). This, combined with the visionary music of Susumu Hirasawa, also creates one of the best anime openings I've ever seen seen... something is simultaneously upbeat and disturbing.

PARANOIA AGENT is what I love about anime... that it has the ability to do things that are challenging and unafraid of tackling themes that would give others pause, but all done in a way that's totally engaging and entertaining... done in a way that draws you in and captures your imagination, creating a immersive world of fantasy. And Satoshi Kon is someone what creates stories about the dangers of immersing yourself in fantasy and escapism... the irony of which is not lost on one who indulges himself regularly in fantasy and escapism.

LIFE ON MARS: Currently, My Favorite Thing.

My friend and former roomate Kiza (aka Andrew) burned the first and second series of LIFE ON MARS, a BBC produced cop show starring the fantastic John Simms, for me, and I'm currently in fucking LOVE with it.

LIFE ON MARS is about a 2006 Police Officer named Sam Tyler, a serious and brilliant DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) in Manchester, who is hit by a car after finding out his ex-girlfriend and partner may have been murdered by a suspect he failed to keep in custody due to a lack of evidence. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the same place but 33 years in the past, in 1973. Disoriented, he finds identification and transfer papers in his car confirming his existence in 1973 as Sam Tyler, a new DI (Detective Inspector) having just transfered to Manchester from Hyde, and is immediately put onto his first case, which bears an eerie resemblance to the case he was investigating 33 years in the future, but is having trouble concentrating due to disembodied voices, mysterious phonecalls, and BBC puppets talking to him and informing him that he's simply in a coma and everything that's happening is not real. So, with a young girls life on the line, as well as his ex-girlfriends in the future, he must solve a crime in the past. Is he in a coma, a time traveler, or just mad?

LIFE ON MARS is, to me, just more proof that the British just make better TV than we do in NORTH AMERICA. The show is original, smart, immersive, and incredibly well produced... really, it's even just a pleasure to LOOK at it, it's so well directed and filmed.

I think the thing I like about the show is that it's not limited to just one genre, like so many things are these days. It's a procedural crime drama/action/sci-fi, so you can never really get bored of it, because you never have any idea what will come next. The immersive part is in the way the show strings you along with the B story of just what is happening to Sam; you're never given any sort of definitive confirmation as to what his status is (comatose/time traveler/mad), so you're always trying to figure it out with the clues you're given, which come in drips and drabs.

Episodes of LIFE ON MARS range from the more standard STARSKY AND HUTCH style action/cop show, to the more abstract and sci-fi oriented episodes where his actions in the past affect the future (such as one where he's beset upon by a nemesis from the future, in the past), or episodes where Sam is affected by people in the future messing with him in his coma (one of my favorite episodes raises the stakes by putting a ticking clock on Sam's hostage negotiation, with the threat of being taken off life support in the future), meeting people that he has a personal connection to in the future (his mom, his father, his aunt, his girlfriends mother, HIMSELF).

There are a number of other aspects to the show that fascinate me as well, such as how Sam's being a present day police officer is both an advantage and handicap. On the one hand, he's able apply future knowledge and practices such as profiling, forensics, hostage negotiation, etc, but has to deal with hard headed and stubborn 1970's style by the balls tough guy cops, that just have no patience for proper procedure. Sam is a straight shotting, by the book, Police Officer in a station filled with shoot first, ask questions later, 1970's cops. I also appreciate how the show contrasts the two time periods and doesn't shy away from serious contemporary issues, like sexism, racism, abuse... societies ills that persist throughout time.

Another aspect of LIFE ON MARS that really impresses me is how they use music, both the score and the soundtrack... especially in the scene featured in the above Youtube clip, which is what sold me completely on the show; the transition of Sam from present to past set to David Bowie's LIFE ON MARS, an audio pun that I'm quite sure was intended. The songs are all well chosen, of the times, and full of deeper meaning.

The cast is amazing. John Simms especially, but everyone in this ensemble is incredibly impressive, particularly Philip Glenister, who plays the show secondary lead, DCI Gene Hunt, who serves as foil, nemesis, and comic relief... he's the polar opposite of Sam Tyler, a gruff, rough, abrasive, sexist, racist, by the balls bastard with a drinking problem, who may or may not be entirely crooked, he believes in justice, but is so jaded he doesn't bother letting things like "evidence" or sometimes even "innocence", get in his way... he just smashes down doors and arrests whoever is standing closest to the problem. Like most of the characters in the show, he also seems to represent some part of Sam's personality. I think he's something like sames Ego, the way he wishes he could be, combined with how he viewed things when he was a child in 1973; Gene Hunt represents what the 4 year old Sam thought a cop would be, which also explains why DCI Hunt also has childlike qualities, such as never wanting to admit he's wrong, constant arguing, and acting contrary to anything Sam says just to spite him.

LIFE ON MARS is just a brilliant, layered, and multifaceted viewing experience which combines everything I loved about 70's/80's action oriented police dramas with modern procedural police dramas, wrapped in a layer of science fiction to keep things from ever getting pedestrian or boring... you literally never know what will happen or who the culprit is until the final seconds of the show; there are red herrings, bluffs, and double blinds every step of the way, even as the stakes are raised by the actions of those in the future affecting those in the past, with an even greater mystery surrounding it all: is Sam Tyler in a coma, a time traveler, or just mad?

Watch it.

On a related note... there is a fucking HORRIBLE looking Americanized remake of LIFE ON MARS by ABC that you should TOTALLY avoid watching... I cannot stress enough how fucking sheite this looks. It's fucking abominable. When will people learn that you can't just take something that's good, copy it line for line with shittier actors (COLM MEANEY!?! COME ON! Are you fucking kidding me!?!) and a shittier director who no passion for the project or any sort of concept of how to make it work, and expect it to be good. This show DESERVES to bomb huge, as I totally expect it will.

On a much brighter note... LIFE ON MARS has a second life in the form of ASHES TO ASHES, a sort of sequel which follows basically the same premise with the same characters, but in 1981, with a different lead, this time a female... it looks pretty good, even if it is sort of just rehashing what's already been done... I'll watch at least a few episodes to see if it's got juice. I sort of like how they use music to connect the show shows by having this show also named after a David Bowie song, and even featuring the same creepy clown from the ASHES TO ASHES video as a character.