How good was the 'Ashes To Ashes' finale?

"First Sam Tyler, and now you. Why do I always attract all the liars and weirdoes?"

Cheer up Gene Hunt. Apart from being a mentalist magnet, you're also responsible for dragging this eagerly-awaited season finale out of its predictable and formulaic comfort zone to ensure it remained very watchable indeed. A very effective final twist, with the legendary Hunt mug plastered all over the walls of a hospital (a bit like the MRSA bug) also made us yearn for next season to reach our screens imminently. It wasn't all plain sailing though, and at times the episode threatened to go down faster than Linda Lovelace in a Huntism.

Recent episodes have done a great job in heightening our excitement over the ongoing Martin Summers story arc, especially when he killed his younger self and framed Alex Drake. Yet the pay-off in the finale is somewhat stale and unrewarding as, in typical stock villain fashion, he reveals his true motivation and bites the bullet immediately afterwards. A far more revelatory demise - concerning Drake's state of being rather than police corruption - was hoped for.

Having said that, Drake herself had reverted to the all-knowing, smug aspect of her character that surfaced occasionally during the first season. Rambling on about figures from the future to her bemused (if fictional!) colleagues while punching Gene in the face only served to diminish one's yearning for her to have a happy ending. The episode also failed to sustain the tension established by the opening scene, when Alex discovered that her present self has just 15 hours left to fend off a brain infection. Plastering hospital readings on random 1982 paraphernalia wasn't sufficient development of the premise.

Fortunately, the trials and titillations of Gene Hunt more than made up for those flaws as well as the stale 'crime of the week' scenario involving a bullion robbery. Who didn't feel a heap of sympathy when he rebuffed the crooked flirtations of Jenette by stating that beautiful women never pay him such attention? Or when he listened to Drake's tape recording and felt a huge sense of betrayal? Philip Glenister was superb in bringing out the inner sorrow of the character, whose wisecracks serve to mask the wounded, tortured soul lurking deep inside.

There were plenty of laughs throughout the episode too, with Ray's meal of deep fried willy the undoubted highlight. "What you having for lunch? Meat and two veg?" quipped the serially underused Viv to the embarrassed alpha male wannabe. Shaz turning up in her wedding dress to save her terminally awkward hubby Chris from a shooting was a true crowd pleasing moment, while Gene's unique Jackanory takeover was a devilish and hilarious treat. "Shut your gob! Or I'll come round your home and stamp on all your toys," ranted the new narrator of the much-loved children's show, prompting Alex to fittingly quip - "Another childhood memory ruined!" Cracking stuff.

Despite struggling to muster much interest with the self-contained crime plot and failing to round off the Summers intrigue in fine style, Ashes To Ashes still managed to leave us on a high. Put that down to the legendary Gene Hunt, regular chuckles, and an ending that showed genuine progression by returning Alex to the present while opening the door to further adventures for her and the freshly pixelated Hunt. Could it just be that the Gene Genie might seep through into the present day? Or would the lack of David Bowie hits in recent years cause too many problems for retitling the show? The mind boggles...

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