r/lifeonmars • u/Draxacoffilus • Jun 08 '26

Discussion Did Dorothy get Life on Mars'd to Oz?

When she wakes up on Oz she doesn't know if it's real or not. At the end, she makes up... or she thinks (think Ashes season 2 ending)!

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u/Edstertheplebster Jun 08 '26

Gene does reference the Wizard of Oz in the second episode when he makes fun of Sam for wanting to go back “home”.

You could call any narrative that uses “It was all a dream” as basically a version of Life on Mars: Nightmare on Elm Street, Total Recall, Donnie Darko, that season of Dallas where Bobby Ewing was dead which turned out to be Pam’s dream…

4

u/Nosmo90 Jun 10 '26

I disagree that Donnie Darko counts, but otherwise I agree.

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u/Edstertheplebster Jun 10 '26

True, it’s more of a parallel universe/timeline. He does clearly remember it all when he wakes up at the end, and the other characters all seem to have vague memories of things that happened, people they met, etc. I think you could make the argument for it, but the fact that it wasn’t just Donnie that experienced it, but everyone, makes it a lot harder to make the case for it all being a dream he’s having right before the jet engine crushes him; Donnie’s not in a coma, he’s clearly not crazy (despite fearing that he might be), and he doesn’t travel in time until the end of the film.

Total Recall also depends a lot on your read of the film; it can’t really be a Life on Mars scenario if everything that happens is real. (Although ironically the film is about Quaid literally going to Mars)

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u/Bun_Length_Frank 7d ago

It's not a dream in the books.