Memoirs of an English Major

“I’m everywhere, Bolly. I was needed and I was there” - Gene Hunt

    It’s no secret that I love Life on Mars and it’s spin off Ashes to Ashes. Next to Monty Python, it’s now one of my top UK television programs.  And with the last episode of Ashes to Ashes series one already well in the books, I felt it was about time I wrote about the show in what may be my most intensive writing week ever. From Monday to Thursday, I will write on and about the show in a variety of fashion, not only because I feel the series is deep enough for the task, but also to challenge myself to get back into a research mode of writing, one I haven’t done in quite some time now. This is all leading up to a paper I plan to work on, complete with due date, sources, and all the things that can go into a academic paper, minus the college class tied to it. Tomorrow, I will go into more detail on the challenge itself. For the most part, I will try to stay far from reveling the plot, but it will help to have watched the show. For now, the post.

    I’m a huge fan of Gene Hunt. Honestly, I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the whole hard nose policing he practices, or possible his flare for language. Whatever the reason, he’s one of the few characters that I can’t quite fit into a specific place, even more so after the finale of Ashes to Ashes. Allow me to elaborate

   At the beginning of Life on Mars, I figured that Mr. Hunt was pretty much an excuse for the writers to say what everyone would love to say and do in this PC world. By setting it up in 1973, it allowed for Gene to pretty much say what ever he wanted and not seem offensive. It was a brilliant idea and possible the most refreshing things I watched that year. Most of these views were held for Gene until the last episode of the first season of Ashes to Ashes which made me question as to what Gene Hunt actually is.

   At the end of Life on Mars, Gene was nothing more than just a segment of Sam’s mind and may have represented the person he always wanted to be. It seemed to be wrapped up pretty neatly until Ashes to Ashes, where I have taken a re look at the character and am in the belief that Gene is something more of a spiritual guardian or angel. I’m not quite sure where he fits in this aspects, but I do believe that he is more than simply an character that exists in both Alex Drake’s and Sam Tyler’s mind. It’s something I plan to look at once again in depth, once I am prepared to write a post or paper with a little more aspects of the show. This is simply a thought I had. If anyone is a fan of the show and has any thoughts on this, feel free to comment. I know it’s a bit of a strange post, even for me, but it is something worth discussing even if simply for the ramifications of a character like Gene Hunt being something of a guardian angel.

   Tomorrow’s post will contain spoilers of both shows, so if you have yet to watch it, be warned. Today was simply a test of if it was possible to write on the subject without talking about the plot points.