Jesus-Christ — I can’t think of many shows that had more depressing, desperate finales.

Life on Mars was a slow burn; I could see from the very first episode that it was an interesting, well-written show, but it’s also very clearly using the underlying (and underplayed) mystery as just an excuse to make a show about 1970s Manchester cops from a modern-day perspective. And, while that’s very interesting per se, it’s just not something I’m very passionate about (and I do wonder how differently I would have reacted to the show if it had been taking place in France — but then, there’s no way French television would be able to produce something so good in my lifetime).

The second season, however, managed to play with the character development in unexpected ways (or, rather, predictable but unexpectedly successful and well done) and embraced a bit more the Abre los ojos-iness of the whole story, culminating in a gripping finale that justifies the existence of the show, and of British television.

Unless I’m just projecting a lot. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea for me to watch that?