"Life On Mars" Finale: Didn't See That One Coming

I’ve been pretty hard on ABC over the years, so when it does something right, I guess it would only be fair to give it some props.

And last night, it did something right by allowing “Life On Mars” to actually complete its story. In all honesty, it was the network itself that made cancelling “Mars” necessary by moving it all over the schedule. But they did the right thing and gave the writers enough warning to allow them to script an actual ending. And they actually allowed it to be aired in its regular timeslot.

That having been said, I’m not sure the right thing in this case constitutes a good thing because the ending was one of the most surreal things I think I have ever seen on television…

Warning: If you have not seen the series finale of “Life On Mars,” stop reading now…

In a huge rewrite of the ending of the British show it was based on, it was revealed that Sam (Jason O’Mara) was actually on the planet Mars in the year 2025. Sam and all of the other people in his 70s past were actually traveling to Mars for a mission and he was just experiencing the life created for him by a simulation program during his travels. He had chosen the life of a 2008 homicide detective but some kind of glitch in the program changed it to a cop in the 70s.

I can’t believe anyone saw that one coming…

There were some fun moments of closure in the 70s for the fans including Annie getting promoted to detective and loosing her “no nuts” nickname and Sam realizing she was the woman for him, which left Lisa Bonet completely out in the cold (She did not appear in the episode.). And when we saw Sam and Annie (who was a colonel) on Mars, we got the impression that he planned on making the same realization in the present.

But, Mars? Really?

Well, you’ve got to give them points for creativity…

And hey, at least “Mars” fans can say they know how it ended. “Dirty Sexy Money” fans still can’t say that…

Photo Credit: Eric Liebowitz/ABC