With only three episodes left, things continue to run at a snail’s pace with this show to bring us to the finale. There’s little that could have been done, though, since these episodes were likely shot before the word came down from on-high that the show was not getting a renewal. I just today realized that the finale episode will air on April 1st. Hopefully that’s just a coincidence and we’re not going to be in for a big joke when this all comes down … that is, unless the joke is: “haha, we’re not canceled and this isn’t the end!” Actually, that would kinda suck too.
It’s tough to come up with a theory that sticks, based on all of the “evidence” thrown at us these past 14 episodes. The latest clue seems to point toward this all having to do with space travel.
First let me point out the cover of The Saturday Evening Post that Sam’s holding, pictured above. I get that this is a fictional show, but that cover never existed in 1973. There was one similar, though, which featured the Space Shuttle. Did Sam change the future or was this just thrown in for the story’s sake and means nothing other than Sam believing it was Annie on the cover?
Speaking of Sam believing it was Annie on the cover, couldn’t it have simply been the dead flight attendant — sorry, “stewardess” — that they were investigating the entire episode? I mean, hell, the stewardess’s roommates were fooled into thinking Annie was her, so why wouldn’t Sam be fooled the other way? Sorry, but the roommates not picking up on Annie was eye-rollingly stupid. Not even a mention that she looked a little off?
As for the new theory presented, if you were to read into what we saw in this episode, then I’m wondering if the title of this show, Life on Mars, is actually referring to space and not the Bowie song playing when Sam was hit/woke up. Could it be that everything Sam’s experiencing is a virtual-reality scenario gone bad, one he was put in to endure a long journey through space? That’s not an entirely new premise — Battlestar Galactica‘s Ron Moore has a new show coming soon, Virtuality, that has a very similar idea. Could it be that Sam was put into a virtual 2008 for a long space journey, then something went wrong and caused him to start experiencing a 1973 virtual world? And now the powers-that-be — The Aries Project — are trying to snap Sam out of it?
It won’t be much longer before we find out everything, but will it ultimately be worth the wait?
Clacked by Keith McDuffee 
on Mar 12, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
I think you’re over-thinking it. I assumed that the big reveal at the end was that the dead flight attendant had been drawn on the cover of the magazine that Sam used to carry with him when he was playing make-believe as a boy. This could explain why Sam seemed to make a connection with Annie right away (subconsciously recognizing Annie and instantly being comfortable with her), OR I suppose it could mean Sam’s unconscious mind made Annie up based on that old memory if he’s in a coma or in some other altered state. Either way it’s not really Annie on the cover.
All I have to say is that with only 3 episodes left, they’d better hurry up and get those two together dammit.
I also think he’s in a dream state.
All I can say is “wow”. I believe the writers were giving clues to this ending all along, but I never made the connection. Your perception, and the accuracy with which you foresaw what Sam is experiencing, is impressive.
damn you called it