Spaced: Ends Rewatch

March 15, 2015 6:51 PM - Season 1, Episode 7

Tim is ecstatic when his ex-girlfriend Sarah decides she wants him back; Daisy is less so, causing tension in the flat.

Mike has an interview at the T.A. (Territorial Army) to determine whether he should be allowed back in following The Eurodisney Incident; Daisy flaps her hands at the typewriter to produce some sellable articles, with the help of the tune to "Murder, She Wrote". And Brian and Twist go to a museum to view white canvases, er - art. Well that's like a date, innit? Marsha finally discloses just what transpired between her and Brian (and some duty-free Grappa).

References for this episode, with links, can be found at Fried Gold.

Trivia

• "In the closing scene where Tim and Daisy are dancing in the pub, the band playing is fronted by Simon Pegg's real dad." (imdb)
• "The opening of this episode was originally intended to feature Tim having a conversation with a fictional character. Originally, this was intended to be Lara Croft, the heroine of the 'Tomb Raider' video game series, but the writers were not granted clearance to use the character. The scene was reworked to feature FBI agent Dana Scully of the TV show The X-Files (1993) and the producers had even considered approaching Gillian Anderson, (Dana Scully), to fill the role, but the scene was eventually filmed with a lookalike. Writer and star Jessica Hynes was going to dub the voice of Scully, but the scene was cut and never completed." (imdb)

Originally aired November 5, 1999.

Tim: "Life just isn't like the movies, is it? You know, we're constantly led to believe in resolution, in the re-establishment of the ideal status quo and it's just not true. Happy endings are a myth designed to make us feel better about the fact that life is a thankless struggle. (band starts to play) Do you want to dance?"
Daisy: "Do you know what? I think I do."

posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (8 comments total)

I love Brian's line in this one: "I see all my ex-girlfriends. Well, not so much see as... watch."

And how did I never notice Tim and Mike walking into the apartment holding hands???
posted by mochapickle at 7:37 PM on March 15, 2015

They hold hands a few times now, just fleeting moments. The full "carrying the bride over the threshold" was their most pronounced display of deep friendly affection.

And the Murder She Wrote montage made me so happy. And it kept going!
posted by filthy light thief at 7:59 PM on March 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

I think this has one of the sweetest endings, with Tim's speech and bitter realization; then the way Daisy says, "Do you know what? I think I do." Then the conversation about sharing porn.

There's just a hint that there may be romance down the road (with the rhyming poem Tim's composing, where he refuses to see that "Daisy" would fit perfectly) - but for now they are solidly friends and it's such a nice ending with them dancing together. THE FEELS.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 8:35 PM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yup, it's such a lovely, sweet and low key end to series one. The thing I've always liked about Spaced is how warm it feels. Watching an episode always feels like coming home, there's such affection between the cast, everyone is having a good time making a sitcom. It's a show that feels cult, in that you imagine no-one else is watching it but you, delighting in the antics of these weirdos in a flat in London.
posted by Cannon Fodder at 12:59 AM on March 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

Daisy: She's gonna look really good, to remind him of how much he likes her, and say things like "I'm just I'm really confused."

In the commentary, Simon points out the way Jessica says "confused" in this scene as an example of one of her little touches of genius. Jessica Hynes is so good at those kinds of moments. See also in Black Books (Season 2 Ep 5 - Hello Sun) where she plays Fran's organic-living, yoga-nut friend and the little laugh she gives after she says "I'll rustle us up some naughty rice cakes". Actually her whole performance in that episode. Love her.
posted by billiebee at 7:27 AM on March 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

More comments from the DVD commentary:

• The skate video was either called (or from somebody nicknamed) Unibomber
• Akira was the first movie Jessica Hynes saw with her serious boyfriend, and Simon Pegg thought he saw it on the same night, elsewhere
• Jessica's mum went out with a Marxist named Tunde Aragundade
• The doorbell siren sound came from a "fruit machine" in a pub
• Edgar Wright said that Nick Frost looked like "a narc at a Christmas party" when he was in his suit and glasses
• And there was only pair of yellow glasses, so when you saw Nick and the interviewer wearing them at the same time, Nick's pair was some other glasses with yellow film
• Apparently the sandwich box bit was used a lot elsewhere after this, and they take credit for it
• (On re-watching, I actually did a minor spit-take on Mike's dumb look at the end of his interview)
• During the verbal fight, Simon did a weird little crab-like side-step thing, and in the commentary he said "Can I act, or am I a sea fish, er crustacean?"
• I think it was Edgar who said Daisy had done "A lot of nice procrastination" in the show
• After Edgar commented on some more of his panning during monologs, Simon told viewers to look out for "Edgar Wright's big book of direction," which made me smile
• The comment "the fifth elephant" was a bit of synchronicity with Terry Pratchett's book of the same name, and they said neither party was informed or influenced by the other, then someone challenged Pterry to sue them for the use of the phrase, which made me sad given this bit of poor timing.
• Movie reference: The Shining for both Daisy staying there for ever and ever and ever, plus the "all work and no play"-like revenge doodles that Daisy comes across
• The old lady dancing was bogling (which is a thing) needed a guide, so she watched someone do it behind the camera
• Murder She Wrote themesong: The international sound of typing
• Brian had a bad back, but he can really do a backflip
• Simon's dad's band is called The JB Quartet
• Simon and Jessica are honestly embarrassed while dancing, because they're in front of a hundred people (?!)
• Mark Heap shows off his juggling skills with the paintbrush flip

posted by filthy light thief at 8:18 AM on March 17, 2015

The doorbell siren sound came from a "fruit machine" in a pub

Oh, hee! Nice catch. I'll have to go back and listen. They use fruit machine sounds in all three Cornetto films.
posted by mochapickle at 9:00 AM on March 17, 2015

Tim: What's her problem?
Mike (while idly flipping through a magazine): Maybe she's just worried about you stumbling blindly into a doomed relationship, getting badly hurt again, while at the same time losing this place and the friendship you've built up over the past six months. Clearly means a lot to her because if it didn't, she wouldn't be so bothered about your emotional well being.
Tim: Get in the car, you big ape.

Mike does a great job placing the emphasis on particular words in his speech.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 11:12 PM on March 22, 2015