Life On Mars S2E2 (Contains episode spoilers)

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I have to say, I think this is the best Life On Mars episode yet. Partly because it doesn't overly focus on events surrounding Sam being stuck in the past. Except for the newspaper switch about 7 or 8 minutes in, and then the phonecall near the end. Instead it was a much more physiological and character based episode, which I don't think we get to see enough of. Especially not for Gene, not that properly explores his character like this did.

The episode starts off simply, Sam, Chris and Ray are moving Dickie Fingers, a safe cracker from prison back to the station to ask more questions about a few robberies he was involved in. A van gives chase, and a gang of armed men run the police car off the road (not that Chris's driving did them any favours) and the men take Dickie.

Arnold Malone is their number one suspect for robberies that have being happening in the area for years. However Malone tips them off about the next robbery.

Another plot is that one of the first black police officers is transferred to the station - And he also happens to be Sam's mentor. Sam due to a little time shifting or whatever the writers want to call it, knows Glenn Fletcher is dead back in the present, but is surprised to see him back working along side him. But is even more surprised how weak and scared of challenging ideas he is, so sets about trying to give Glenn some back bone and be the first to change how people treat Black officers and racism in general - So pushes him to be the man Sam learnt from when he first became an officer.

Back with Dickie Fingers they find him red handed and question him. But Dickie instead of dropping Malone in it, points the finger at Superintendent Harry Woolf, the officer who happens to be presiding over the case and has been trying to get Malone sent down for years. Not to mention the fact that he's Gene's mentor...

As I said before I really did like this episode, I thought the dynamic between Sam and his will-be mentor and being disappointed, mirrored with Gene and his past mentor and still being disappointed was very well done, and the showdown scene as it were with all four was just brilliantly done.

I especially loved the camera angles as Gene's arm shook with holding the gun, and Sam was stood in the background, watching seeing what he would do. Because in a way I think Gene and Sam kind of mentor each other and are great friends, as the final scene in the pub helped to show.

There was a bit of humour in the episode, mostly from Annie and Chris - Such as Annie half threatening to shoot Gene after being refused gun training, and Chris forgetting whether they were staking out a Post Office or a bank.

However it was still a mostly character based episode and touched on both police corruption and racism within the force, but in a way that didn't seem too trivial.

I think my favourite moment for me was at the end when Gene said that even after everything Woolf had done, he would still stand by him when he died of cancer in a few months. It would have been all too easy for Gene to just hate him and walk away, which he would have being doing really had he let Woolf escape, but he proved he was a better man by not letting him get away with it, and proving it again by sticking with Woolf to the end.

Life On Mars isn't on next week so the next review for it will be in two weeks time.