Ted Anthony of the AP wrote a good article about how (and why) the finale for “Life On Mars” rubbed some people the wrong way. AP is tightening its restrictions on blogs quoting their content, so I’ll just link to the piece and move on. (It’s a good read.) By the way, there are “Life On Mars” spoilers ahead.
Anthony compares the “LOM” finale to that of “The Sopranos” and describes both as the kind of open-ended television that American audiences don’t like. This is one point I don’t necessarily agree with. The ending from “LOM” did come from out of nowhere, but I thought it buttoned things up pretty well. It explained why he was back in 1973 and why all those weird things were happening around him. Throughout the season, I was hoping that the creators would find a way for Sam and Annie to be together in the future, in the past, whatever, but I wasn’t expecting it to be in the year 2035.
Sure, Annie isn’t really Annie, but in the final scene it was obvious that there was (or there will be) something going on between the two astronauts. Maybe she didn’t know it yet, but he clearly developed feelings for 1973 Annie and I think that relationship will progress in 2035. The astronauts aren’t exactly the same as their characters in 1973, but that final scene proved that their personalities are similar, which is why I believe that “Sam” and “Annie” will eventually be together.
I did some research about the UK version of the show and discovered that the US ending was a big departure. Had our version ended the same way, I think there would be more of an uproar about how the conclusion wasn’t satisfying enough.
Again, I applaud ABC and the “LOM” creators for coming to a quick decision about the fate of the series and giving the loyal viewers a sense of closure. Some were unhappy to discover that the 1973 characters were just that — characters. But this is television, people. Aside from reality TV (or at least some of it), these are all characters. I’m just happy that Annie, Gene, Ray and Chris exist in some form in Sam’s present.
It was a fun ride while it lasted.
