| Unreality Key: | Audial | Visual | Dream | Ambiguous |
| Information Key: | Reference | Slang | Music | Explanation |
In each episode, Sam hears and even sees things from 2006, where he may be lying comatose in a hospital. Often accompanying these flashes is a memory from 1973 as a four-year-old boy, of walking through the woods in fancy clothing and seeing a woman in a red dress. The significance of this memory is revealed in Episode Eight.
The first time Sam hears medical sounds is when he is still in 2006, immediately after he is hit by the car. We see him lying on the road, time almost frozen, and hear Life on Mars playing, Sam's hearbeat, and him being shocked with defibrillator paddles. Sam appears to have briefly died after the accident.
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A bizarre sideways shot of SAM lying in the road with the car in the background. There is a very loud heartbeat. SAM opens his eyes. There is a flash of bright light. His fingers twitch and his eyes slide shut again. There is a lot of noise in the background, among it, sirens and the floaty sound of Life on Mars playing. There's a flash of white light and a close-up on SAM's nose and closed eyes.VOICE
Charge to two hundred joules. Stand clear.There's another flash of white light. Now we see bright sunlight through the leaves of a wood, the beep of hospital machines and a voice, a young voice whispering "where are you", and Life on Mars. Then we see a pair of black shoes with large shiny buckles. A snapped twig, an arm in a black sleeve, a glimpse of something red and then another white flash. SAM's eyes open. There is a rhythmic beep in the background. Several more white flashes then-
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SAM sits up, open mouthed, wide-eyed, just as the chorus of Life on Mars kicks in, loudly. Slowly, he stands up. He is in a patch of wasteground,in front of a brick-built factory on a grey cloudy day. In front of him are several piles of rubbish, some of them smoking. It looks like something's recently been demolished.
Sam stumbles around 1973 and ends up at the station. After a rough first meeting with Gene Hunt, he sits alone, shell shocked. He tries to call a mobile number, possibly Maya's, but for obvious reasons the operator is unable to help him. When he hangs up, he hears the defibrillator again. The voice is of the emergency doctor trying to save his life.
She hangs up. SAM puts the phone down, and as he does, he hears the high-pitched whine of a defibrillator being charged, then a voice echoing in the distance, like on a loudspeaker. Suddenly the whine clears and he hears another voice, also echoey but a lot closer.
VOICE
Let's get a second line in. It's an emergency and cross-match blood down. He's slipping into unconsciousness. Sam? Can you hear me?SAM puts his hands over his ears, mystified. The noise stops. SAM takes his hands away. Its back to just the background office noise. SAM glances behind him, covered his ears again, then rubs his face, sighs and leans forward.
Later that day, Sam is brought to his new (horrendously decorated) flat. He falls asleep in front of the television. An Open University maths lecturer is on screen. While Sam is still sleeping, the lecturer begins to talk about Sam as if he was the 2006 doctor. This wakes Sam up and draws him to the set. The doctor tells someone that Sam is in a state of low responsiveness (a form of coma) due to severe cranial trauma and deep brain-stem bruising. However, he is not in a persistive vegetative state. He does move and murmur at times, and the doctor has hope he will recover. However, when the doctor tries to communicate with Sam, Sam is unable to reach him. We also learn Sam has private health insurance from BUPA.
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A close-up of the TV screen. A man with a beard is giving a lecture.LECTURER
In module 3, we noted that the collective pythagorian angles embedded in our X-to-N ratio could derived from the simple numenary "A" as the constant 10 and depicted thus. But what concerns us most is regulating his breathing. That is why we have to keep the endotrachial tube in place.Now we see SAM is sitting in one of the chairs in front of the TV, fast asleep.
LECTURER
I have to stress to you that Sam is in low responsiveness-
SAM opens his eyes at the sound of his name.
LECTURER
But is not in a persistant vegetative state although he has suffered a severe cranial trauma. But the Glasgow scale does put him at a deep level of coma.
SAM sits forward in the chair, mouth open, as the TV appears to be talking about him.
SAM
Hey! You're talking about me! I'm here, I can hear you, look at me, I'm here!
LECTURER
At times, however, he moves. Murmurs.
SAM drops to the floor and scrambles, on hands and knees, towards the TV. He puts both hands on the screen, as if he's trying to put them through it.
LECTURER
Has motor response as though caught up in some deep REM sleep from which he cannot wake.
The lecturer is coming closer to the camera. SAM's trying desperately to make him see him.
LECTURER
Well, this gives us some hope, despite the brain-stem bruising.
SAM (shouting)
Hey! Hey! I'm here! Look at me, does this look like low responsiveness to you?! I'm here!
The lecturer comes closer still.
LECTURER
Sam?
He snaps his fingers.
LECTURER
Sam?
SAM
I can hear you, I can hear you!
LECTURER
Sam Tyler?
SAM
Yeah, yeah!
Now the lecturer is so close to the camera that he's gone out of focus. SAM pats at ths screen, but the man inside it can't hear him. He starts to step back.
SAM
Wait! No! Wait, don't leave me, I'm in BUPA! Please don't leave me!
The screen goes dark, then lights up again with nothing but the test card.SAM
No! No, please, I'm here! Don't leave me here!Now he's crying, almost hysterical. He drapes himself over the TV.
SAM
Please! Please! Please don't leave me!CUT TO-
It seems to be early morning. SAM is now in bed. He hears noises and sits up. He sighs and lets his head drop.
In Episode Two, Sam and Gene are in conflict over a villain they have no evidence to hold. Sam releases him, and he goes on to shoot June, one of the women who works at the station. Sam returns to the station, upset, and hears voices coming from the radio.
In a significant change from the previous episode, 2006 Sam now appears to have been in a coma for an extended period. Instead of movements being a sign of hope, they're considered involuntary spasms. He's become dehydrated, possibly due to poor caretaking, possibly due to something else as they have already given him saline to counteract it. The doctor also comments, somewhat oddly, that Sam's mind is taking a long time to "adapt."
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SAM pushes open the double doors to the office and pauses there, leaning on then, arms out, with a sigh. He closes his eyes and lets his head drop.Immediately, hospital noises and disembodied voices.
VOICE
He moved!
VOICE
Probably an involuntary muscle spasm brought about by dehydration.
SAM looks up. The voices get a bit fainter. He backs away, into the office.
VOICE
-what course of action to take. These cases are very complex. The body takes time to adapt. But not nearly as much time as the mind. Take his blood chemistry.
VOICE
Yes, doctor.
VOICE
He was given saline yesterday. It should have taken effect by now.
SAM is now creeping up on a radio. The voices become fuzzy, then clear again.RADIO VOICE
Miss Johnson. Barbara. Won't you at least consider coming with me to Canterbury? You know how I feel about you.SAM switches the radio off.
Sam goes to Nelson's for a drink. While he is there, the power flickers, seemingly in response to his request for help. Nelson explains these as power cuts, which did occur in 1973. He also mentions the heat, which connects to the dehydrated state of 2006 Sam.
He looks to the ceiling.
SAM
Can I change it? I'll have 1988 please, quick as you like! I don't mind staying, if that's how it's gotta be, but please can I have a year that's AD, as opposed to BC!The lights and music flicker. SAM's surprised.
SAM
Game on.
They go back to normal.
NELSON
These cuts are getting worse, you know, man. Heat had better sort himself out.SAM sits down at the bar, rubbing his head. He sighs.
At the end of the episode, Sam visits June, who is in a coma herself. He smells urine, then hears the whine of a defibrillator. All down the hall the lights go out, one by one, and when the blackout reaches the room the door slam themselves shut and won't open. Sam hears the voices of nurses who say that Sam's life support has unexpectedly shut down. His catheter has come loose, and the urine shorted out the electrics. Everything is put back and turned back on, and 2006 Sam stabilizes again. A nurse says Sam has been left on his own for too long, implying neglect and long-term coma, without recent visitors. In a psychological interpretation of the voices, this could relate to Sam's abandonment issues. Other interpretations cast an ominous light on his 2006 condition.
Sam calls out for Gene to help him. He sees the memory of walking through the woods. The lights come back on, and Sam leaves the room, shaken.
While Nelson's earlier comment on the blackouts would explain the power outage in the hospital, it would not explain the doors closing and locking themselves. Interpreting as dream or delusion, the hallucination might have been triggered by the smell of urine from June's catheter; smell is the strongest memory trigger, and we know from later episodes that Sam's scent memory is particularly keen.
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JUNE's hospital bed.SAM
And the doctors say you're off the critical list now. You'll be out in plenty of time to enjoy that wedding of yours.He sniffs, then frowns.
SAM
Is that urine? I'll get someone.
Suddenly there's the high-pitched whine of a defibrillator being charged and down the corridor, segments turn black in sequence, each with a "closing" sort of noise. The lights go out and the doors to JUNE's room slam closed, just before the lights in there go out too. SAM goes to the door and pushes them, but they won't open.
SAM
Damnit. Hello? I can't open the door, can somebody help me?
The whine again and a very loud heartbeat.
SAM
Hello?
Then there's disembodied voices.
VOICE
What've you done?
VOICE
Nothing.
VOICE
Then why's his life support's shut down.
VOICE
It's not my fault.
SAM
My god. Who's that?
VOICE
Look. Here's his catheter. It's leaked down the bed.
SAM's panicking. There are flashes of bright light.
VOICE
It's gone into the electrics.
The hospital noises get louder.
SAM
Help me! Somebody open the door! I need to get out!
VOICE
He's in distress, get the doctor!
SAM
Help me!
VOICE
This is what happens when he's left on his own too long.
SAM
Please, somebody help me! Open the door.
VOICE
Hold on, Sam.
SAM spins around.
SAM
What? What?
VOICE
Let's get this back in for you.
He turns back to the door.
SAM
I need to get out, help me! Help! Gene!
SAM has an Unreality Flash. He sees a vision of woods, a hand on snapping twigs, heavy breathing, a pair of shiny shoes with big gold buckles, a glimpse of a red dress, a horrible scream, hears the disembodied hospital voices, then the doors open and SAM falls to the floor on his hands and knees, gasping as all the lights come back on. He hangs his head, tries to calm his breathing, sits up on his knees, panting.
At the start of Episode Three, Sam is in a jaunty mood. This is quickly disturbed by voices coming from the radio, reaching out to Sam. They tell Sam that his level of responsiveness is decreasing, and that they want him to keep fighting. Again in contrast to the previous episode, Sam is being monitored closely, not left on his own. He is also considered to be at a higher level of responsiveness, rather than a lost cause.
Either Sam's condition is in flux, or we are experiencing 2006 out of sequence.
He gets into the car, moves a newspaper to reveal GENE underneath it, asleep and puts one of the packets on his chest instead. He opens the other one - a burger. He's about to bite into it when he's stopped by a voice on the radio.
VOICE
Sam? Are you listening, Sam? I know you can hear me.SAM glances at the still sleeping GENE.
VOICE
We've been monitoring you closely.SAM picks up the phone.
SAM
S-say again, Alpha One?VOICE
We know you're still in there, Sam.SAM
Yeah, you're right, I'm here, I'm still here.VOICE
But your levels of responsiveness have decreased recently. You can't give up, Sam. Whatever life-blood is left in your veins, use it. You *must* keep fighting. Keep fighting, Sam.Now this voice is replaced by the more usual one.
PHYLLIS
870? 870! 870, come in, will you!
Phyllis is calling to direct them to a death at a nearby textile mill. When they arrive, Sam recognizes the location. In 2006, the mill has been converted to a set of flats, and Sam lives there. The murder itself takes place where his kitchen will be.
SAM has an Unreality Flash. A shiny silver minimalist kitchen, with a big splash of blood in the middle of it. He closes his eyes, then again several times as a photographer takes photos of the body, with a big bright flash.
SAM
Under my kitchen table. He's in my flat.
In Episode Four, Sam goes up against a local mobster named Warren. At his nightclub, Warren has bribe money slipped into Sam's pocket. Sam finds it later, at the pub, and is disturbed by this. He goes home to think. The television is on, playing a children's show featuring a sockpuppet. Suddenly the sockpuppet speaks to Sam in his mother's voice. This is 2006 Ruth, sitting by his bedside, in contrast to the young Ruth of 1973 Sam meets in this episode. This is also the first time we hear someone other than medical personnel speaking to or around 2006 Sam.
From Ruth's words, we can collect that this is the first time she has seen him since the accident. Some time has passed since then, possibly weeks, so what is to account for the delay? Ruth may have moved away from Manchester in her later years--interesting, given Sam's devotion to the city. She also says "don't leave us" and then later on "We'll always be here," implying there is someone else. Maya, perhaps? If so, this is the first indication we've seen that she's survived.
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SAM's bedsit. The TV is on, as usual. There is a presenter with a sort of sock puppet on the screen.PRESENTER
Come on children. Who wants to sing with Mister Socky?MISTER SOCKY
Everyone wants to sing with Mister Socky! And we will sing. Harris! Julia! Let's all sing.SAM sits down on the end of his bed and stares at the roll of money.
MISTER SOCKY
Wendy? Henry? Sam?Then its voice changes, to SAM's mum, RUTH's.
RUTH
Sam?
SAM looks up.
RUTH
What have they done to my beautiful boy?
SAM
Mum?
RUTH
Can you her me? Can you hear what I'm saying?
SAM comes and crouches in front of the TV, one hand on the screen.
RUTH
Sam... don't leave us.
SAM
Mum?The screen pulls back to the presenter. The puppet falls silent. SAM is struggling not to cry.
To bring Sam under his control, Warren sends a dancer named Joni to entrap him. She drugs him with LSD and has sex with him in order to blackmail him. Sam wakes up the next morning naked, handcuffed, and with a hell of a hangover.
At the station, he hears voices. They say his heart and brain fuctions are up, racing. However, this is not considered an ideal situation. A change of medications is said to be the cause, mirroring the LSD dosing. The medication is Pentobarbital (Nembutal), a barbiturate used for seizures and sedation. Unofficial uses include reduction of intracranial pressure in Reye's syndrome or traumatic brain injury, and induction of coma in cerebral ischemia patients. It is probably being used here to treat the severe cranial trauma and deep brain-stem bruising mentioned in Episode One. However, it is a sedative, so the correlation to LSD is not exact.
Sam hears the intro to Silver Machine, whose lyrics include: I just took a ride in a Silver Machine / And I'm still feeling mean; It flies out of a dream / It's antiseptically clean. These allude to the drugs, the hangover, the hallucinations, and the hospital, in that order.
SAM hears hospital noises.
DOCTOR
His brain functions and heart rate are all up.
SAM looks at RAY and CHRIS. The voice seems to be coming from CHRIS.
CHRIS/DOCTOR
Racing.
RAY/DOCTOR
It's what we'd expect from a change of medication to pentobarbitol. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
At the end of the episode, Sam is asleep in his flat when the television turns itself on. The voice of Sam's mother, Ruth, again speaks through the sockpuppet on screen.
This is the second time we have seen the television have a life of its own, apart from the Test Card Girl's appearances. It can turn itself on and change channels, even though Sam is not awake to experience it happening. This implies that even if Sam is hallucinating some of what he experiences, not everything is only happening in his mind (unless all of 1973 is in his mind, which would then encompass events he does not apparently experience).
There is little difference between 2006 Sam's condition in this ep and Episode Three. He is still in low responsiveness, but is being actively cared for and attended to. Various attempts are being made to heal and reach him.
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SAM's bedsit. The photo is on the mantelpiece. SAM is lying on his bed. He closes his eyes and falls asleep.Behind him, the TV comes on. Roger Whittaker is on there, singing I Don't Believe In If Anymore. It goes fuzzy and the sock puppet appears, speaking with RUTH's voice.
RUTH
Sleep well, darling. Mum's here. We'll always be here. One day, you'll wake up and I'll still be here. I love you.
The screen fuzzes.
In Episode Five, Sam, Gene, and Annie go undercover in a bar to solve the murder of a football fan. As the evening wears on, Sam feels worn down by events and steps outside for some air. He briefly hears hospital noises, but they fade away after a few seconds.
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Outside the pub. SAM takes a deep breath, tipping his head back, breathing in the cold night air - and hears hospital noises. He covers his ears. They don't go away. He closes his eyes and moves his hands. When his ears are uncovered, noise drifts out from inside the pub. He covers them again, and hears muffled voices. He uncovers them and opens his eyes.
At the start of Episode Six, Sam walks into the station to find the place trashed after Ray's birthday party--he wasn't invited. He hears the phone ringing in Gene's office and goes to answer it, but when he gets there he finds the phone cord has been cut. He answers the phone to hear 2006 Ruth speaking. She says the doctors are going to unplug his life support system (which we know from Episode Two he will die without) because of negligible brain activity. She says they will unplug him at 2pm.
He goes through into GENE's empty office, where the phone is ringing. He picks up the severed end of the cord and looks at it in surprise, before picking the dead yet ringing phone up.
VOICE
Sam? Darling?
SAM
Mum.
RUTH
I've let you down. I know you can't hear me, but it doesn't make this any easier.
SAM
I can hear you, Mum.
RUTH
They showed me a scan of your brain. They look for these... patches of colour, and there's nothing, Sam.
SAM
For God's sake, Mum, get better doctors.
RUTH
Negligible brain activity. That's what they call it.
SAM
Get better doctors, get better scanners!
RUTH
You're breathing, but it's an illusion of life. I know you've already gone somewhere else now.
SAM
Oh god. Don't say it.
RUTH
I've given my consent to turn off your... to turn it off.
SAM
No, Mum, no! No!
RUTH
It'll be this afternoon. Two o'clock. Sleep tight, darling. I'll put this back on for you, shall I, anyway?
"What a Wonderful World" creeps in. SAM is almost in tears. He slams the receiver down and all the noise stops.SAM
I'm alive!He throws the entire broken phone to the floor in fury.
There is a hostage situation at the local newspaper. Sam manages to get Annie in under the guise of a nurse, in order to care for an injured hostage. As she leaves with the gunman, Reg, Sam hears a voice ordering the withdrawl of his feeding tube. Symbolically, this ties Annie to nourishment.
REG takes ANNIE into the office.
SAM
Reg? Reg?He goes back inside and locks the door. SAM suddenly hears hospital noises and disembodied voices.
VOICE
You can withdraw the feeding tube now.
He closes his eyes.
VOICE
We'll disconnect at two.He looks to his left and sees a phone lying on a desk nearby.
The next time, Sam goes in himself. Again he hears voices, this time ordering the removal of his catheter. Another bit of life support is stripped away as he walks into the hostage situation.
He unlocks the door and goes inside.
SAM
Reg, I'm inside.He hears hospital noises and disembodied voices. This really isn't the best time for that sort of thing.
VOICE
We'll remove his catheter.
VOICE
Call the nurse.SAM tries a door. Now he's through the first door, he's not certain where to go. Then he sees REG, with ANNIE at gunpoint, further up the corridor.
At the end of the episode, everyone is celebrating in Nelson's pub. An unusual-looking red phone rings, and only Sam can hear it. He answers it to hear 2006 Ruth telling the doctors that she's refusing to let Sam be taken off life support after all. She says she saw him smile at 2pm, the same time Sam smiles at gunpoint.
A red Trimphone starts ringing on the bar. No one even notices, except SAM. He looks at it, sees no one else hearing it, goes and picks it up. His mother's voice answers.
RUTH
I'm telling you for the last time, I don't care what your machine says! I'm leaving him on! You say you can't detect anything, but I know what I saw! At two o'clock, on the dot, I saw Sam smile!
In the pub, SAM smiles at this.
RUTH
I saw him smile!
Her voice vanishes.OPERATOR
Operator, can I connect you? Hello?SAM
I was just connected.OPERATOR
Hello?SAM puts the phone down.
In Episode Seven, Gene invites Sam out to dinner. Sam picks the restaurant: a curry place in Rusholme. When the arrive, Sam looks through the window and experiences a bright flash of light, and a doctor's voice asking if he is responding. The bright light reveals the reflection of modern Rusholme, complete with neon signs, traffic, and Britney Spears music. After a few seconds, the light fades and 1973 Rusholme returns to the fore.
He looks through the window, into a kitchen. There's a flickering fluorescent light above his head and it triggers another Unreality Flash, with hospital noises and a siren. In an extreme close-up of his eye, we see the reflection of Rusholme in 2006.
DOCTOR (in Unreality Flash)
Is he responding?
SAM squeezes his eyes shut, and opens them. The Flash apparently hurts. In the window, he can now see the reflection of 2006 Rusholme and hear Toxic, by Britney Spears and a mobile phone. SAM puts a hand up to the window, then spins around, hearing an ambulance siren and makes for the other side of the road, the Flash now over.GENE
Where the hell are you going?SAM stops in the middle of the road and turns back towards GENE, confused and lost.
SAM
I thought I saw...
They go inside and eat dinner. Then Sam hears the radio play music by Pulp, a modern band and one of his favorites. The doctor's voice appears again, this time explaining that both the music and the earlier lights are part of a battery of sensory tests, designed to stimulate his brain and help him out of his coma. 2006 Sam appears to be in a higher level of sensory awareness here than he has been since Episode One, particularly after his low ebb in Episode Six, where the doctors were more interested in letting him die than reviving him.
We hear that Gene does not hear the same thing Sam does, but instead normal 1973 music. This gives weight to the theory that 1973 has reality apart from Sam, as there are events occurring which he is not directly experiencing. Pulp fades into static, and Gene hauls Sam out of the restaurant before he makes even more of a spectacle of himself.
The radio goes fuzzy. SAM glances at it.
SAM
What's wrong with that radio?GENE
Sounds alright to me.SAM looks at it suspiciously, then the fuzz clears to Disco 2000 by Pulp. Sam stares at it - he can't believe his ears.
SAM
That's Pulp.GENE
Tastes like spinach.The music changes as we cut between the two. To GENE, it sounds like seventies music which I don't recognise, but SAM hears Pulp.
SAM
That's Pulp. I saw them play the Nynex, 96.
The radio changes again. It's another Flash.
DOCTOR'S VOICE
The way Sam responds to these sensory tests will be crucial.
SAM leaps to his feet, his eyes glued to the radio.GENE
I haven't finished yet.DOCTOR'S VOICE
Sam.
SAM
They said my name on the radio.GENE
What, you got a dedication?SAM goes over to the radio. People are staring.
DOCTOR'S VOICE
Sam.
SAM
You must have heard that!GENE looks around, then puts his fork down, exasperated.
GENE
Right.He stands up and grabs SAM's jacket, announces to the restaurant in general.
GENE
Should be getting back. See if Billy Kemble's coughed.SAM is fiddling with the radio, pressing every button with an incredible single-mindedness. GENE pays, then tries to coax his DI outside.
GENE
Sam, c'mon. C'mon. C'mon.He pulls him by the sleeve. SAM gives the radio one last look and goes with him.
A small-time drug dealer dies under mysterious circumstances while Sam and Gene are at dinner. Sam suspects foul play, and Gene publicly challenges him to find any evidence of wrongdoing. Sam goes to the bathroom to clear his head, and suddenly tastes tabasco sauce on his tongue. The taste becomes intertolerable, and he vomits into the sink. However, he hears a doctor saying that there was no discernable reaction in 2006 Sam. The doctor then directly addresses Sam, saying that they have not seen any response yet to the tests.
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The toilets again. SAM's bent over one of the sinks, pouring handfuls of water over his head. He looks at himself in the mirror and rubs his eyes. Then he realises something. He licks his hand a couple of times.
SAM
That's tabasco!
He leans back down to the sink and is sick, then there's another Unreality Flash. The woods, buckled shoes, a red figure, then he looks up at the mirror.
DOCTOR'S VOICE
There's no discernible reaction.
SAM turns around, evidently convinced there's someone in the toilets with him. Behind him, we can see at least four reflections of him in all the mirrors. There's the sound of a breathing machine.
DOCTOR'S VOICE
Sam.
We see the reflections look at each other as SAM looks wildly around the room. Lots of voices are echoing his name now.
SAM
Who's there?
DOCTOR'S VOICE
We need some response to these tests.
SAM
What tests?
He looks in the cubicle.
SAM
I'm here. I can hear you.
DOCTOR'S VOICE
Sam has to help us. Sam.
SAM
What?!
Then he freaks completely, screaming at the ceiling.
SAM
Get me out of here!The door open and RAY comes in just in time to witness this little performance. SAM spins around. RAY just shakes his head.
Sam discovers the truth about what happened due to a tape recording Chris made of the interview. He takes the tape home with him to try to decide what to do with it: destroy it, or turn it in as evidence that might well destroy the department. While he is pondering this, the television changes channels by itself, switching to an Open University lecture. The lecturer speaks as doctor again, this time saying that the sensory tests have had some kind of result, and that Sam is at a turning point. However, we do not find out what those results are.
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SAM in his flat, turning the tape over in his hands. The TV is on in the background. He presses the tape to his forehead, then jumps as the TV changes channel on its own to the Open University programme, then back again, then back again.
LECTURER
And the answer to the problem is... clearer than we might think.
SAM gets up and goes over to the TV.
LECTURER
Responses to sensory tests vary from patient to patient. This could be a turning point. Sam?
SAM
Yes?
The LECTURER comes closer to the camera, snapping his fingers.
LECTURER
Sam?
SAM
Yes? Yes?
He comes closer to the TV, hitting the top of it.
SAM
I can hear you! Help me!
He hits it again. The LECTURER is now so close to the camera that he's out of focus.
SAM
Tell me what to do! Is it this?
He waves the tape at the screen. The LECTURER moves back.
SAM
Is it this?The LECTURER points at his blackboard.
LECTURER
This tells us that the probable outcome is X, but only if Y is constant.SAM
What- what does that mean?LECTURER
Well, let's work it through from the start.SAM
No, no, what the hell does that mean? What does that mean? What the hell does that mean?He's getting frantic. The TV begins jumping channels again and goes static as SAM hits it in the time-honoured method of repairing electric equipment, trying to get it back, before switching it off. He's left alone in the dark. He turns away from the TV to sit on the floor, rubbing his eyes and looking utterly miserable
In Episode Eight, a lead on a new gang lands Sam's father into the middle of an investigation. To say that Sam deals badly with this would be an understatement. His father disappeared when he was four, abandoning him and Ruth, so he now believes he must to everything in his power to keep Vic Tyler with his family, no matter what the cost. After interviewing Vic, Sam goes out into the hall. We see him remembering when Ruth told him his father was gone, and more of the memory of young Sam walking in the woods. Then the radio changes over to channel 2006, and a doctor says Sam's condition is looking much better. He could be waking up. A result of the turning point in Episode Seven, after the sensory tests?
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SAM out in the corridor, leaning against the little drawers. Another Flash. It's RUTH again.RUTH
Daddy's gone away, Sam. He didn't want to, but he had to. But he loves us.The woods again, the buckled shoes,
RUTH
And you'll see him again.Back to reality.
SAM
Why did you leave us, Dad? Where did you go?A flash of VIC with a Thunderbird 2 toy. Back to reality again. SAM hears a radio. Someone is commentating on a horse race. SAM walks towards the radio and as he does, the words change.
RADIO
-and we've seen a marked improvement in Sam's condition. There's no doubt about that as we watch his vital signs begin to stabilise. We've recorded a significant increase in brain activity recently, a crucial step towards regaining consciousness. And as they close into the final furlong-The radio goes back to the horse commentary. SAM reaches up to switch it off, just as ANNIE puts a hand on his shoulder.
They use Vic as bait to catch the Morton Brothers, but he ends up in the middle of a massacre. He sneaks out while Sam and Gene are arguing over him. Sam goes to his childhood home and waits for Vic, certain that he will come back. Vic does, and Sam convinces him to stay with his family. After Vic leaves, Sam hears voices saying his 2006 self is moving, and to prepare a team for his awakening. But just as the sounds of waking begin to build, they abruptly stop, leaving Sam still stranded. He then gets another flash of the woods memory.
VIC
I'll stay with them.He lets go of SAM's hand and leaves. SAM grins, then hears hospital noises. As usual, he puts his hands over his ears, uncovers them and then covers them again.
SAM
That's it, I've done it. I've done it, he's staying. That's it, wakey-wakey!
He snaps his fingers and hits himself on the head.
VOICE
Doctor - he moved.
SAM
Too right he moved! He's sorted it all out in his head and now he's coming home!
VOICE
Get the team in here.
SAM
Yeah, get 'em in, get 'em in, get 'em all in. Gather round for the big waking up! Come on, gather round, game on! I'm gonna kiss every one of you beautiful people!
The machine noises are getting faster.
SAM
Assume the position!
He closes his eyes. And then there's silence. SAM looks shocked. He puts his hands over his ears, but the noises have gone.SAM
No. No! No!He sinks back into the chair, still covering and uncovering his ears, trying to make himself hear the noises.
SAM
No.There's another Flash. The woods, the shoes, the black-sleeved arm, the red dress, a horrible scream and then SAM snaps back to reality, gasping. He leans his head back, in absolute despair.
SAM
I thought I'd done it. I thought he was gonna stay. It's gonna happen all over again.
Sam goes to the wedding reception he remembers from his childhood as the last place he saw his father. He sees Vic and Ruth there, and his four-year-old self. Annie is there undercover, wearing the same red dress she wore at The Warren in Episode Four. When Vic takes off into the woods, Annie follows him. Sam tells his younger self to stay put and follows in his remembered footsteps. Annie is the woman he saw in his memory, and the memory ends with Vic beating Annie up. Sam interferes this time around, and confronts Vic, again asking him to stay. After some exchange of gunpoint with Vic, Sam, and Gene, there is another chase through the woods that ends with Sam and Vic alone together. Sam has the only gun. Vic says he'll stay as Sam requests, but only if Sam gives him the gun.
Sam hears more waking up noises, people encouraging him on. He gives Vic the gun; Vic points it at Sam's head and pulls the trigger. But apparently Sam still had some sense left to him, because he'd emptied the gun of bullets first. The voices stop.
SAM
But you have to stay, together with your family, the way it was supposed to be.VIC
I'll need to feel safe if I stay, Sam.He holds out his hand.
VIC
Please. Give me the gun. I'll stay if you give me the gun.SAM looks down at the gun, then up at his father, then he hears a disembodied voice.
VOICE 1
Come on, Sam.
VOICE 2
He's waking up.
He hears hospital noises and looks up.
VIC (softly)
You're so close. You can do it, Sam.
VOICE 2
Come on, Sam, come on.Looking at VIC, SAM slowly hands him the gun. VIC looks at it, looks at SAM, then points it at SAM's head and pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. SAM closes his eyes, pained and horrified. Vic drops the gun down to his side with a sigh.
SAM
I had to know.He opens his other hand and lets the bullets fall into the grass.
SAM
I had to be sure.
Sam starts to arrest Vic, but Vic plays the guilt card, to manipulate Sam into letting him go. When Sam realizes what will happen, he hears the hospital noises again. A voice says 2006 Sam moved again. Sam lets Vic escape, effectively repeating history.
He holds his hands out to SAM.
VIC
Slap on the cuffs. Are you gonna tell my Ruth and little Sammie what I am? Or do you want them to read about it in the papers? Or find out that daddy's a crook from the kids in the playground.The hospital noises come back. SAM's eyes are full of tears.
VIC
You'll ruin their lives.VOICE
He moved.SAM glances upwards.
VIC
How badly do you want this, DI Tyler?SAM (tearful and hardly able to speak)
I just want you to stay.VIC
Can't stay. Not with Ruth and little Sam. If I stay, it's in prison.SAM groans.
SAM
Oh my god! How can- how can I-He yells at the sky.
SAM
This is not fair! I can't win!VIC just stares at him. SAM forces back tears.
VIC
What're you gonna do, Sam?SAM sighs heavily and swallows. His voice comes out as a whisper.
SAM
Go. Get out of here.SAM sinks to the floor, his hand over his eyes as VIC leaves. Finally, he stands up.
The question of chronology of the hospital hallucinations has been raised. Some have hypothesized that Sam is experiencing 2006 out of sequence, possibly in reverse. However, on close examination, this does not hold up. Sam is experiencing 2006 in order, but his condition is not static; it starts with the accident and initial attempts to wake him (Ep 1), then dips down to low responsiveness (Ep 2). His mother arrives (Ep 3). The doctors try some things to improve his condition (Ep 3-Ep 4), but do not hold great hope for Sam, and almost convince Ruth to pull the plug (Ep 6). However, at the last minute she changes her mind. She may, as Sam suggests, have had Sam moved to a facility better equipped to care for coma patients. There is a renewed and more advanced attempt to reach him with sensory tests (Ep 7) that ends with a remark about this being a turning point. And in fact, Sam almost wakes up (Ep 8), but for reasons unknown ultimately cannot, despite his improved condition.
We can expect further changes to his condition to be revealed in season two.