This is an attempt to round up my thoughts and ideas about the finale of Ashes to Ashes.I never write these because I'm useless at reviewing shows but this time I seriously need to sort out some of this. It's a mishmash of ideas made from notes I scrawled whilst rewatching, so I'm sorry if it doesn't make much sense!
5 years comes to an end...hours of my days have been invested in a show that has become, for a lot of people, more than just television. I had expected to feel like I usually do after an A2A episode; hyper, overexcited, sad...but this time, it's taken hours to even start sinking in. I rewatched for a second time, and already the pieces seem to fit better, and I liked it more. I think the more times I see it, the more I'll love it. Just like we were told. And BAFTA had better sort themselves out, and be presenting awards to cast and crew next year for Series 3.
Because this show deserves awards.
I only have 2 negatives:
1. I wish it had been a 2 hour slot, so we could see cut scenes, and been given more time.
2. I wish the Galex episode 7 scene had been just a few seconds longer. I don't want more from this episode, just a bit more out of that one.
The episode started without the titles. Just a black screen... and Alex waking up on her desk at CID, like we've seen her do so many times before. And I was already upset.
The It's A Knockout scene was even more disturbing on a big screen. It was tinged with doom, not humour. I didn't notice the black weathervanes and scarecrows in the background of the course when I was watching it on YouTube. There's quite a few red balloons out there too.
"The truth will set me free..." and that teasing shot of 'Sam Tyler'.
The music for this episode was wonderful...as usual. We started with Tainted Love ~ Soft Cell, which I thought was an amazing beginning, real Ashes greatness :)
And back in what looks like the same location we first saw Alex in episode 1. Although I'm not sure if that was meant to be, or just because I spend a lot of time looking at screenshots of that place (which I think, from Spooks audio commentaries is behind the Kudos offices, in Bermondsey.)
"Those two should get a room, or kill each other ~"
"This place is mine. You lot belong to me."
"I take you very seriously, Gene..."
Ray holding his neck when he hears the military salute played in the corridor. The confusion on his face here. Dean Andrews = Wow.
A screwdriver on Shaz's chair, which she flings into the bar, just like she flung it away from her earlier on this series when a workman in CID left it on her desk. Finally, clues fitting together.
In the Air Tonight is a song that always gives me shivers.
"I believed in you. More than that..."
Gene pointing a gun at her.
6620.
Gene Hunt is dead.
Keeley's single tear was heartbreaking. Devastation. Gene looked like he never had before, helpless, broken....This is where those two together just create something amazing on screen, both of them are incredible actors and manage to bring more to their characters with every episode. Really wonderful. To all Keeley's critics from Series 1, or now...can you really still back up your criticism of her performance?
Keats coming out of the shadows in the farmhouse. Really beautiful lighting here, wonderful cinematography, as ever.
"Do I mean nothing to you, Gene?"
"I only wanted to get back to my little girl..."
Keeley & Phil break my heart...again.
And then they return to CID, with Club Tropicana ~ Wham, and Keats. Smirking. Prov0cative.
The clock is on 9:06 when they find the jewels at Vicky Park.
The tapes - this scene felt a little rushed, but as I said at the top, this could be down to shots being cut out for timing reasons. But here, we got to see Dean, Marshall and Montserrat at their best too. And their best, really is some of the most moving performances I've seen on TV. Beautiful. Chris trys to stop Shaz seeing the tape, and then we hear Wonderwall - Oasis (which was released in 1995) and realise where Shaz fits into all this. Her reaction to seeing her death was another moment of tears for me...
Then, Danny Mays has his (rather terrifying) moment... Ashes to Ashes has had its share of dark moments, but I think seeing Keats standing on a table in CID with a sky of stars above him, screaming insanely, is probably going to haunt me for a while...
Alex's whispered "Get up...Get up..." to Gene
"Go to hell."
"All right..."
The flashbacks to episode 1. That car. Those boots. And you.
How nostalgic.
And how to make me cry? The realisation it really was the end, was beginning to hit. Hard.
But it's all OK, because Gene Hunt knows how to make me laugh...
"My real name is Nigel Perkins...No I'm joking. It's Gene Hunt."
Keats presses a red down button to call the lift.
And we hear screaming.
"Are you armed bastards?"
A broken team, maybe. But it's back in business.
Then comes the scene that really, really ended me being sane.
Beat It begins to play, and just like series 1, the team are hiding behind barrels. But so much has changed since then. And the Quattro comes down the runway....
Shaz is amazingly calm.
Gene is himself "Ich bin bloody nicked!"
The QUATTRO :'( Vangelis plays.
"He bloody killed my Quattro..."
"I'm arresting you for murdering my car, you dyke-digging tosspot."
This really is the end of Ashes then.
"Pub."
Chris & Shaz. Finally back together.
"I'm amazed you two never tied the knot..."
Even here, we still have some great A2A dialogue.
"No, it isn't true!"
"My baby..."
Keeley...is there any need to make me a mess again? :'(
We got our Galex kiss, and it's definitely bittersweet.
And with that DI Alex Drake is gone. And I already miss her. I've loved Alex right from the start. I don't know if that was the goodbye she deserved, but I guess that's life. Or death.
Life on Mars plays. Haunting.
"See you around, Bolly-Kecks."
Keats is terrifying. Again. Stop growling please!
And so the end has come, Heroes is playing, as was predicted, and they each get their little moment. Like an obituary.
DC Shaz Granger.
The It's A Knockout scene was even more disturbing on a big screen. It was tinged with doom, not humour. I didn't notice the black weathervanes and scarecrows in the background of the course when I was watching it on YouTube. There's quite a few red balloons out there too.
"The truth will set me free..." and that teasing shot of 'Sam Tyler'.
The music for this episode was wonderful...as usual. We started with Tainted Love ~ Soft Cell, which I thought was an amazing beginning, real Ashes greatness :)
And back in what looks like the same location we first saw Alex in episode 1. Although I'm not sure if that was meant to be, or just because I spend a lot of time looking at screenshots of that place (which I think, from Spooks audio commentaries is behind the Kudos offices, in Bermondsey.)
"Those two should get a room, or kill each other ~"
"This place is mine. You lot belong to me."
"I take you very seriously, Gene..."
Ray holding his neck when he hears the military salute played in the corridor. The confusion on his face here. Dean Andrews = Wow.
A screwdriver on Shaz's chair, which she flings into the bar, just like she flung it away from her earlier on this series when a workman in CID left it on her desk. Finally, clues fitting together.
In the Air Tonight is a song that always gives me shivers.
"I believed in you. More than that..."
Gene pointing a gun at her.
6620.
Gene Hunt is dead.
Keeley's single tear was heartbreaking. Devastation. Gene looked like he never had before, helpless, broken....This is where those two together just create something amazing on screen, both of them are incredible actors and manage to bring more to their characters with every episode. Really wonderful. To all Keeley's critics from Series 1, or now...can you really still back up your criticism of her performance?
Keats coming out of the shadows in the farmhouse. Really beautiful lighting here, wonderful cinematography, as ever.
"Do I mean nothing to you, Gene?"
"I only wanted to get back to my little girl..."
Keeley & Phil break my heart...again.
And then they return to CID, with Club Tropicana ~ Wham, and Keats. Smirking. Prov0cative.
The clock is on 9:06 when they find the jewels at Vicky Park.
The tapes - this scene felt a little rushed, but as I said at the top, this could be down to shots being cut out for timing reasons. But here, we got to see Dean, Marshall and Montserrat at their best too. And their best, really is some of the most moving performances I've seen on TV. Beautiful. Chris trys to stop Shaz seeing the tape, and then we hear Wonderwall - Oasis (which was released in 1995) and realise where Shaz fits into all this. Her reaction to seeing her death was another moment of tears for me...
Then, Danny Mays has his (rather terrifying) moment... Ashes to Ashes has had its share of dark moments, but I think seeing Keats standing on a table in CID with a sky of stars above him, screaming insanely, is probably going to haunt me for a while...
Alex's whispered "Get up...Get up..." to Gene
"Go to hell."
"All right..."
The flashbacks to episode 1. That car. Those boots. And you.
How nostalgic.
And how to make me cry? The realisation it really was the end, was beginning to hit. Hard.
But it's all OK, because Gene Hunt knows how to make me laugh...
"My real name is Nigel Perkins...No I'm joking. It's Gene Hunt."
Keats presses a red down button to call the lift.
And we hear screaming.
"Are you armed bastards?"
A broken team, maybe. But it's back in business.
Then comes the scene that really, really ended me being sane.
Beat It begins to play, and just like series 1, the team are hiding behind barrels. But so much has changed since then. And the Quattro comes down the runway....
Shaz is amazingly calm.
Gene is himself "Ich bin bloody nicked!"
The QUATTRO :'( Vangelis plays.
"He bloody killed my Quattro..."
"I'm arresting you for murdering my car, you dyke-digging tosspot."
This really is the end of Ashes then.
"Pub."
Chris & Shaz. Finally back together.
"I'm amazed you two never tied the knot..."
Even here, we still have some great A2A dialogue.
"No, it isn't true!"
"My baby..."
Keeley...is there any need to make me a mess again? :'(
We got our Galex kiss, and it's definitely bittersweet.
And with that DI Alex Drake is gone. And I already miss her. I've loved Alex right from the start. I don't know if that was the goodbye she deserved, but I guess that's life. Or death.
Life on Mars plays. Haunting.
"See you around, Bolly-Kecks."
Keats is terrifying. Again. Stop growling please!
And so the end has come, Heroes is playing, as was predicted, and they each get their little moment. Like an obituary.
DC Shaz Granger.
So Gene Hunt will continue, even if he is driving a Mercedes rather than our beloved Quattro.
------
The whole episode was not for people who've never seen the series before. It's not the sort of show that explains itself...they're all dead, back in time, sort of. It needed constant, hour long, brain power. Not even nearly light Friday night entertainment. But emotional, moving, and powerful.
After the first watch, I sat, frozen on the sofa (while the BBC talked over the credits!) in total shock. Never has a TV show affected me so much, never have I felt so involved with the characters and the whole world. And I probably never will again. I'm not sure that anything will quite live up to it. And there'll definitely never be another Guv.
The colourful, many layered characters that seemed so full of life, never were.
Of course I have unanswered questions - about Evan, about Leyton, about Life on Mars. But I've come to realise how beautiful, brave and RIGHT this ending is. It's not something that was come up with quickly, to finish the series. It was planned in extreme detail, with a trail of clues and false leads for us to discover. It would have been easy for the writers to leave us with Alex waking up, Molly in her arms. But this is more real. This is more fitting for the whole A2A story. It's been some journey.
"We make a good team, Bolly. Posh totty and a bit of rough."
After the first watch, I sat, frozen on the sofa (while the BBC talked over the credits!) in total shock. Never has a TV show affected me so much, never have I felt so involved with the characters and the whole world. And I probably never will again. I'm not sure that anything will quite live up to it. And there'll definitely never be another Guv.
The colourful, many layered characters that seemed so full of life, never were.
Of course I have unanswered questions - about Evan, about Leyton, about Life on Mars. But I've come to realise how beautiful, brave and RIGHT this ending is. It's not something that was come up with quickly, to finish the series. It was planned in extreme detail, with a trail of clues and false leads for us to discover. It would have been easy for the writers to leave us with Alex waking up, Molly in her arms. But this is more real. This is more fitting for the whole A2A story. It's been some journey.
"We make a good team, Bolly. Posh totty and a bit of rough."
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