...it's a wonderful show. ♥ One thing I love, love about these British shows - something I very rarely get from the US shows I watch - is the vulnerability of the main characters. And it might be coming out all wrong, since I only just finished season one three seconds ago, but - the fact that this is breaking Sam, into itty bitty little bits. That he wants to have his father back so bad he's ready to do anything - anything - to get it. Even after he knows that his father wasn't a very good man at all...
Actually, on the subject of Sam's dad - Vic strikes me as psychopath. Not just a crook, but an actual, certifiable psychopath. He seems to genuinely care about his family, but then again he was playing Sam like a fiddle - would've run rings around the entire police force if it wasn't for the fact that Gene is a suspicious bastard. He knew exactly how to appear as harmless as harmless can be, and how to say the things that would get to the people he could influence around him - in this case, Sam. So who knows how much of that "doing it for my family" thing was just another part of his act.
But the whole show! Is - eee~! ♥ I love well-made shows, and BBC sure knows all about that. I'm very impressed with how they created 1973 as a believable world. Not just costumes and props and everything, but - all of it, together, it's so real. And it's not exactly a place I'd want to visit, but I can't help but be fascinated by it when I watch the show!
And the characters are, of course, awesome. I already mentioned that I love the way John Simm is allowed to play Sam as a man about to shatter. When he first arrives, and he's so incredibly confused and disoriented and he thinks he's going mad - he owns the part, right from the very beginning. But then as the show goes on, and there is the creepiness and the way Sam hears things that - well, the only reason the coma theory makes sense is that we-the-audience got to see Sam in his 2006 life. And we know that he's talking about things like search engines and mobiles and whatnot - things that do exist in 2006, but that he wouldn't know about if he was just going nuts. Or would he?
Anyway! It's the way he plays that, with desperation varying from frantic to exhausted. And then he has to deal with the emotions he's been trying to suppress since he was four - the emotions and the memories and the way it all comes crashing down on him and you can see it tearing through him.
And then there's Gene! Who shouldn't be likable - I agree! But... how can you help it? When he's smart enough to realize that Sam does have a point, even when he's the high-and-mighty new kid on the block, and Gene listens. And Gene's methods... well, they work, don't they? Most of the time. To do a job that's not exactly easy on anyone, and when it goes badly... Gene doesn't do the woobie the way Sam does, but when things go horribly, horribly wrong it's not like he finds them amusing or anything. We just don't get to follow him home to his private break downs.
Plus, the relationship the two of them develop is just... it's such a weird "best rivals" sort of thing; their differences complementing each other, and when they're on the same side the bad guys don't stand a chance.
I also love Annie, who is brave and loyal and tough and everything without being the typical "tough chick" - she's not a part of the team, she's not one of the boys, but she's one of them. And like you said - Sam actually knows how to respect that, and take advantage of it. But the fact that she deals with the kind of crap she has to put up with every day, and never ever comes across as a victim - she is brilliant. ♥
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...it's a wonderful show. ♥ One thing I love, love about these British shows - something I very rarely get from the US shows I watch - is the vulnerability of the main characters. And it might be coming out all wrong, since I only just finished season one three seconds ago, but - the fact that this is breaking Sam, into itty bitty little bits. That he wants to have his father back so bad he's ready to do anything - anything - to get it. Even after he knows that his father wasn't a very good man at all...
Actually, on the subject of Sam's dad - Vic strikes me as psychopath. Not just a crook, but an actual, certifiable psychopath. He seems to genuinely care about his family, but then again he was playing Sam like a fiddle - would've run rings around the entire police force if it wasn't for the fact that Gene is a suspicious bastard. He knew exactly how to appear as harmless as harmless can be, and how to say the things that would get to the people he could influence around him - in this case, Sam. So who knows how much of that "doing it for my family" thing was just another part of his act.
But the whole show! Is - eee~! ♥ I love well-made shows, and BBC sure knows all about that. I'm very impressed with how they created 1973 as a believable world. Not just costumes and props and everything, but - all of it, together, it's so real. And it's not exactly a place I'd want to visit, but I can't help but be fascinated by it when I watch the show!
And the characters are, of course, awesome. I already mentioned that I love the way John Simm is allowed to play Sam as a man about to shatter. When he first arrives, and he's so incredibly confused and disoriented and he thinks he's going mad - he owns the part, right from the very beginning. But then as the show goes on, and there is the creepiness and the way Sam hears things that - well, the only reason the coma theory makes sense is that we-the-audience got to see Sam in his 2006 life. And we know that he's talking about things like search engines and mobiles and whatnot - things that do exist in 2006, but that he wouldn't know about if he was just going nuts. Or would he?
Anyway! It's the way he plays that, with desperation varying from frantic to exhausted. And then he has to deal with the emotions he's been trying to suppress since he was four - the emotions and the memories and the way it all comes crashing down on him and you can see it tearing through him.
And then there's Gene! Who shouldn't be likable - I agree! But... how can you help it? When he's smart enough to realize that Sam does have a point, even when he's the high-and-mighty new kid on the block, and Gene listens. And Gene's methods... well, they work, don't they? Most of the time. To do a job that's not exactly easy on anyone, and when it goes badly... Gene doesn't do the woobie the way Sam does, but when things go horribly, horribly wrong it's not like he finds them amusing or anything. We just don't get to follow him home to his private break downs.
Plus, the relationship the two of them develop is just... it's such a weird "best rivals" sort of thing; their differences complementing each other, and when they're on the same side the bad guys don't stand a chance.
I also love Annie, who is brave and loyal and tough and everything without being the typical "tough chick" - she's not a part of the team, she's not one of the boys, but she's one of them. And like you said - Sam actually knows how to respect that, and take advantage of it. But the fact that she deals with the kind of crap she has to put up with every day, and never ever comes across as a victim - she is brilliant. ♥
And I've got a soft spot for Chris, poor thing.
...so. Now for season 2! Yay~!