A Man. And His Blog.

And here we go. The series is getting uninteresting while investigating the murders, but as long as the writers go into the mythology of what is happening with Alex’ (Keeley Hawes) parents, how they died and why they died, I can’t stop watching. I don’t know what the writers have planned for the rest of this season and the rest of the series, when it comes to this story, but it almost looks like it is going to involve the government and some other conspiracies too. As if this story is actually bigger than it seems now.

The murder of the week was really not that interesting, and I couldn’t follow much of the actual investigation. Except when it involved Caroline (Amelia Bullmore) and her secret relationship with Evan (Stephen Campbell Moore). The whole part with Alex’ mother looked to me as if it was part of the ongoing mystery of the series, instead of the murder investigation of the episode. Furthermore, the writers could have brought the victim a bit closer to the story from the beginning. I didn’t even notice that the dead guy was a research worker in a nuclear plant, until the mysterious bearded guy with glasses told Gene (Philip Glenister) and Alex something of the body still being radioactive. Instead the case seemed to circle more around Caroline than the actual conclusion (blackmailing, rape). And yeah, the conclusion was really interesting, and here I would have wished that the writers would have gone into that – it would have been an emotional episode with the mystery-plot aside, where I finally could connect with the characters for once.

This time the Gene/Alex discussions were lame. But at least they are growing closer to each other. I loved the moment in the vault, when he was killing her with his eyes for shutting the vault door, followed by big eyes, when she was putting her clothes of, finalized by a very sweet moment with the two, when both were thinking that this was the end (until Alex realized she can’t die in her own imagination).

Other than that, the episode didn’t have much highlights. Ray (Dean Andrews) and Chris (Marshall Lancaster) exercising how to sneak up on people was funny, but it could have been a running gag in the episode; and all the girls in the station could have been more funnier too, instead of just Ray falling over his own feet. And Evan seems to be involved in the mythology, and not just Alex’ parents… 6.5/10

Ray and Chris are solving the case for Gene

While he's looking at some breasts

Another solid episode, and this time with an even more interesting case than before. During the beginning of the episode, I already had a feeling that Nina’s (Nicole Charles) story would be connected with the rape storyline, and even though the whole episode was kinda predictable, the series still has a great entertainment value.

The rape case seemed to be a bit boring at first. Like Alex (Keeley Hawes) and Gene (Philip Glenister), I couldn’t believe Trixie (Claire Rushbrook) one word. But at the end, everything was coming together, which I liked. But the middle part of the episode had its length with waiting for the answers, as well as not giving any new information about the case. Only the fact that Alex and Gene were fighting about the case made the episode memorable – like their argument on the street, when Alex told him the lie of her being a hooker in her past. I just loved Gene’s surprised face and the reaction of the team, just for Alex to destroy all of it and tell that it was a lie. The episode made some good points about the time in the 80s and how the police saw the streetworkers. But it remembered me too much of LIFE ON MARS, which is why I have to say that ASHES TO ASHES doesn’t really want to rely on something own, or on something more original.

The little undercover action on the yacht was cool though. How Alex in her cat costume danced with James-Bond-or-waiter Ray (Dean Andrews) was cool (his face was hilarious), but I would have wished to see more. Here the writers had a chance to bring some awesomeness into the episode with the characters on a costume party with hookers, but at the end there wasn’t much at all.

Other than that, the episode didn’t have much of anything else: not much of character development for the second-row characters; not much to tell, when it comes to the mythology arc (the appearance of Evan [Stephen Campbell Moore] in 1981 didn’t help much, and I’ve rolled with my eyes a bit, when he and Alex were coincidentally running into ech other); not many highlights to declare it an episode of interest.

Again a solid episode, but similar to the first season of LIFE UNEXPECTED, all solid episodes can’t help to make a season good and worth remembering. 7/10

Chris has the hots for gnomes

And Ray Bond has the hots for Alex-cat

Thanks to LIFE ON MARS, I actually don’t set up my expectations too high, which is why I love ASHES TO ASHES. This was a solid episode, and as long as the writers don’t go deep into the mythology of Alex (Keeley Hawes) being “one second away from life/death” and the death of her parents, the series could be a nice 80s crime drama.

It was hilarious to see how Alex tries to live in her imagination. The scene where she laughed about the dog being blown up, just after Gene (Philip Glenister) told he would attach some junk to their genitalia was genius, and Gene and Alex’ discussions about whatever they were just talking about were always hilarious. Like the talk they’ve had in the elevator, before Alex met Danny Moore (Rupert Graves), or the whole “stamp the arse” thing – the series really has its hilarious moments, and right now I’m loving it for them. But of course the writers had to bring in Caroline (Amelia Bullmore) into the story. I already found it to be a bad idea, when Sam once met his mother in LIFE ON MARS, and I still don’t believe it is a good idea for Alex to meet her mother, later maybe even her father. Sure, her parents are part of the mystery, but I don’t need meet-and-greets with time-traveling (actually half dead) daughter and mother.

I loved the emotional moment of the episode. Though it was only shown at the end, when George (Stephen Wight) blew himself up, but the couple of seconds, where nobody could believe what was actually happening just now were great, and I wouldn’t mind if the series is mixing drama and comedy a bit more often throughout the next episodes.

The other characters need a bit more screentime though. At the moments, it’s a Gene/Alex show, but the others still stay behind the two. It was good to deepen the relationship between Shaz (Montserrat Lombard) and Chris (Marshall Lancaster) a bit, but the fact that the party was the only scene where the writers had the chance to deepen the characters was lame.

Solid episode. I’m having my fun. 7.5/10

Gene must love baseball bats by now

And breasts he likes too...

I wondered if this series would be more my cup of tea than LIFE ON MARS was. After reading the script to this episode, I was actually hoping to be entertained. And after watching the first episode, my expectations were fulfilled. What LIFE ON MARS couldn’t do, because of its mystery, ASHES TO ASHES is able to do: bringing Gene Hunt into the focus of the series, and bringing in the comedy.

I liked the premiere. Since the world is already known to me, and to heroine Alex (Keeley Hawes), it is not hard to get into the series’ premise. The writers don’t need to rely on a big mystery plot in the series (which doesn’t mean that the writers don’t do it without mystery), and instead they finally have the chance to let the characters play out. Alex and Gene (Philip Glenister) have chemistry from the first second of screentime together, and I already like how they react to each other. While Alex knows that this is just the fantasy of her imagination, she still doesn’t give up in “trash-talking” Gene, and Gene starts to think that he can nail Alex (I loved the pertinent remark of it in the script, something like “two thoughts are in Gene: he has to shag this woman; he never will”).

The story for the premiere was alright. Like in LIFE ON MARS, the first episode deals with the person, who brought Sam/Alex into coma. And of course the story had to be closed before the ending of the episode, which isn’t bad at all. I loved some of the subtle stand-alone stories in LIFE ON MARS, and I am confident that I will like them here too. But Arthur (Sean Harris) could have been more of a villain, instead of just such a “shitty” one. Maybe the episode could have been better with Arthur more in the focus of the thrill, but yet again, the series obviously wants to live off its humor.

The humor was great. The interactions between Gene and Alex were great, and I hope that the other team members have something to do as well throughout the series. Chris (Marshall Lancaster) already got some character development between the two series, so I hope the writers didn’t stop there.

Other than that, the mystery plot kinda reminded me of INCEPTION (again). In addition, the ashes clown (Andrew Clover, thanks to the script I actually know how it’s called) could bring the creepy moments into the show, like during the first season of LIFE ON MARS, and it seems like the writers are bringing Alex’ daughter Molly (Grace Vance) into her dreams, which could give them the chance to give Molly an own “storyline” during Alex’ dreams – which would be great.

Solid premiere; I didn’t expect much, but was entertained throughout. 7.5/10

There's a chess board above Alex Drake

Introducing: London's A team