MovieChat Forums > The Second Coming (2003) Discussion > Ending is a significant flaw...

Ending is a significant flaw...

posted 18 years ago by yojimboy
12 replies | jump to latest

I was very intrigued by this show as soon as I heard about it during a documentary about the author. I mail-ordered the DVD and enjoyed it up until the end. Here's the problem I have with the ending: Davies doesn't put any imagination into portraying what a world without religion would be like. The events of the story are shown to be Earth changing, and we are told that everyone sensed the moment that God died, and so no one believes in God anymore and so mankind is supposed to take responsibility for himself. But the only glimpse we get of this future is a fairly banal conversation in a supermarket parking lot... Lame. Davies stresses throughout this philosophical thriller that the events are Earth-shaking, yet the aftermath which is shown is complete and utter status quo. What a miserable let-down! He should have put some imagination into this element of the show and at least given us some tiny tidbits of original thought about what such a future might be like, and why he argues for it with his drama. But nothing. Zip. Nada. Pfft.

[–] ThePlagueOfLosers 18 years ago

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0353104/board/thread/12144311?d=17115193#17115193

This is an insane, freakish, wanton, erratic, inconsistent galaxy; it's a frivolous galaxy.

[–] luke_bannon 18 years ago

He does leave it pretty open, with Judy asking Johnny if what she did was right and him not being able to answer. Basically it's up to the viewers to decide if it was a good thing or not. I still liked the show despite the ending myself.

ThE MaStER wOuLd NoT ApPrOvE- Torgo

[–] iantimmy123 18 years ago

My life would be no different without religion and as the UK is not religious compared to a lot of other countries I think the majority of the population would be unaffected majorly. Other countries may be different. I'd like to see what would happen to the Vatican. Or maybe people who have faith just wouldn't believe it and that's why nothing has changed as far as we can see

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] badgerking10 17 years ago

SPOILER

The slightly disappointing ending was my only problem with this too... The scene where she's feeding him the poisoned food was so powerful that the ending seemed like a total anticlimax... iantimmy123 - the UK is indeed a fairly unreligious country... In fact, I've heard it called the least religious country in the world. [And, as far as I'm concerned, it could still do with being even less religious.] But, surely killing God - if that's how we're going to describe it - would have a significant effect even here... If not, what's the point..? Significantly better..? Significantly worse..? I don't know. But, I definitely wanted to see a radically different world... Did Russell T Davies - a hard-core atheist - want us to discern some deep and meaningful message from the fact that things were chugging along much the same as they were before..? Anyway... Otherwise, this was a fascinating and powerful drama.

I just got done taming a wild honeymoon stallion for you guys.

[–] new_rose85 17 years ago

I thought the ending was so cold. It was like everybody was in shock or denial. I found it genuinely terrifying. And therefore fitting. Not everything needs to end in a climax. All that was left was humanity in all its mundanity and inability to find something better. The horror of there being nothing else to live for but living was too huge.

[–] eggwhip1 17 years ago

i cant remember exactly... but i thought that the ending was set a few years after the murder of god... because leslie sharpe's character has children showing that time has passed.

the difficulty of trying to show a world without god is that no-one has any idea of what that would be like.

as a member of the audience you can question and explore for yourself what happened in the time between the murder of god and the supermarket scene.

could it be that people's behaviour changed completely because it was only a beleief in a final judgement that made them toe the line? or does the realistion come to some people that there is no god to rescue the souls of the persecuted and give them an eternal happy afterlife; and so these people start becoming more charitable etc?

these are only hypotheticals.

russel t davis does give a clue at the end when the cashier asks if leslie sharpe's caracter wants to keep her bonus points or give them to charity. thios doesnt happen in britain... you just automatically keeps points you earn for shopping at a certain shop. that for me was interesting as i think it shows that davis feels that without a belief in god and heaven people start feeling more responsible for those less fortunate than themselves. i cant imagine any of the major supermarkets in england right now deciding that people dont have to redeem bonus points in their stores but can in fact give them to charity. i just cant see it happening right now.

And also; who wold you show the death of god having an impact on? atheists theists or agnostics? christians, jews, muslims or another religion? would you show buddhists being unaffected? would you shows individuals? former church worshippers? families? how to get a satisfactory overview of a world without god? i think if davis tried to get a full overview then people would complain that he didnt do it in a satisfactory way.

Also, this t.v show had some controversy surrounding it when it came out in england. Possible a full length depiction of a world without god would have prevented it from being aired. And davis had a limited ammount of screentime considering that it was shown in 2 tv episodes of maybe 45 minutes each. He mentions this in the directors commentary that the lack of time to show everything he wanted to led to some things being cut from both script and in the final editing process.

in case you hadnt noticed- i really liked the ending. sometimes i feel that the endings of things make an audience member have to think about stuff and fill in gaps too much; but with this i was glad that i was given the opportunity to completely imagine the repurcussions of the death of god.

thanks for reading
amy

[–] neilb7897 17 years ago

I disagree entirely. The ending is perfect! Notice that the first shot of 'the godless world', (bar the interview scenes) in the supermarket is bloom-lit, unnaturally bright, hyper-real. Everything is different, we have to look at the world in a different light. The fact that the listless lost soul Johnny was able to take control of his life, 'lose weight', even acknowledge that 'bit of Stephen Baxter' that had changed him, suggests that the world is a very different place from the one we had seen moments ago.

Also, more obvious, as has been noted by a previous poster, is the fact that Judith doesn't ask for her reward points to be given to charity, she is automatically given the option by the automaton-style checkout girl. Even the corporate giants like Sainsburys or Asda or whoever the hell runs that particular supermarket have acknowledged the responsibility that they owe this new world. We don't need to see churches and synagogues and mosques being demolished because that wasn't what the 'Third Testament' was meant to be about. It was about humanity taking responsibility, growing up, earning our scientific credentials.

"I am sure that Mr Lucas is doing it only for artistic reasons." JK Rowling on Star Wars prequels.

[–] thelzzrdking 17 years ago

the end is entirely appropriate. it's God's final sacrifice for the sake of free will. it's a story about religion and humanism. and what's left after the death of God? it isn't utopia. it's humans. just standing around in a grocery parking lot taking responsibility for who we are and what we do. honestly, what more would you expect?

[–] different-drummer 17 years ago

if people are still driving to out-of-town supermarkets to do their shopping, the devil is still at work.

[–] DementiaX 15 years ago

I liked the ending cuz it gives you a glimpse of the godless world (you see ppl taking some control over their lives) but it doesnt give you the full picture.
So the viewers are free to make their own conclusions about it.
It gives you the opportunity to think about this new notion, instead of handing everything to you on a silver platter.