Life on Mars Analysis - Series One, Episode Four

We begin the episode with a dream sequence. Fittingly, little more is surreal to the show than usual: Sam’s walking through 1973, down his old street, hearing his mum call out to him, with the world around him in slow motion. Considering one of the underlying themes of the series is exploring what we think of as ‘real’ and what’s not, having a dream that is, on the surface, close to Sam’s current ‘reality’ is a wonderful way to begin the ep, especially when Sam wakes up,  1973 is clearly more real than the dream. It’s only in the details, with people in the street and time running normally, but it works.

One thing I love about this episode is how much it tells us of Sam’s family life without resorting to flashbacks, still sticking to Sam’s perspective in a linear way. We’re given a perfect picture of what Sam’s life is like through conversations with his mother and through Sam’s reactions. We learn that when he was 4 years old his dad wasn’t around much, that money was tight with his family, and even as a kid he dreamed of being a copper.

Which fits in perfectly with Sam finding out that his department is bent. Now, what I love – and I mean, absolutely fucking love – is how we find it out. We don’t see the coppers as suddenly revealed to be evil bastards, willing to get away with anything if they can for their own benefit. We instead see them believe that it’s not only a natural part of their lives, it’s a necessity. Gene justifying that Warren may be bent, but he at least makes sure that no sex crimes happen and always lets the police know when new criminals are in town almost sounds perfectly reasonable.

Not to Sam, though – his idea of the perfect, incorruptible copper hasn’t changed since he was 4 years old, a fact that’s clear when he wants to prove to his mum that he isn’t a bent copper. How Sam’s personal life connects with his professional life (not to mention his psychological one, too) in this episode is handled really beautifully, as he tries to prove to himself that he’s not a dirty copper, making it very clear to everyone, including Gene and Warren, that he won’t let them make him 1 per cent corrupt, if he can help it.

Of course, Sam being Sam, all he really does is practically paint himself as a massive target to Warren. I think many of us could see where it was heading when Warren’s girl Joni asks Sam for help, but again, this is something that reflects Sam’s mentality – when he was 4, he wanted to be a decent and honest cop, and that’s exactly what he became. Sometimes, we have to wonder just how grown up Sam really is. So I think only Sam was really surprised when (after a rather nightmarish and surreal sequence that’s less of a sex scene and more a rape,) he wakes ups the next morning handcuffed to the bed and looking like a prat in front of Hunt (and unfortunately, Annie). It doesn’t get any easier at the station, with not only everyone making jokes at Sam’s expense, but Sam suffering another moment of trippy insanity when he hears Ray and Chris speaking with doctor’s voices, not only providing a ‘real world’ explanation for how the LSD got into Sam’s system, but also making you wonder how much damage doctors can do to your mind when they’re trying to ‘help’.

However, Sam still has to make himself look more like a complete prat, so of course when he defends his decision of taking Joni home because Warren was going to rape her and Sam was the only person she trusted, Gene not only boldly defends both his station and his officers, but also makes it clear to Sam (in every politically incorrect term there is in the UK) that Joni’s boss is in fact homosexual. Once Sam finally learns this, he finally starts to learn how much of an idiot he’s made himself look. To matters worse, his relationship with Annie stops at being “just friends”, which considering how obvious these two were practically made for each other, really comes at a bit of blow.

But Sam continues to fight against the inevitable, first by gaining a small victory to himself by telling his mother that he’s not a bent cop, (even if she doesn’t really understand why,) and by telling Joni that he doesn’t live in fear like she does – he’s alive. He may or may not be in a coma, but he’s not afraid of what Gene’s world or what his condition will throw at him.

And it seems that Sam’s luck is finally changing, when his words reach Joni and she burns the negatives of the rather compromising photos between her and Sam. But it comes at a price, and that price is her life, something Ray makes all too clear to Sam. And, whether Sam did the right thing or not, Ray is right: if Sam hadn’t fought back, Joni wouldn’t have been killed. It leads to first to a moment of sheer power, as the tensions between Sam and Ray that have been slowly building since the day Sam arrived in 1973 explode into a fight, and then to a much quieter, but much more important moment: Gene telling Sam a bit, just a little bit, of his past. Of how even he used to have dreams of becoming an honest cop, of how he got his senior officer arrested (something that Sam hasn’t tried to do with Gene, oddly enough), and how he took his first backhander and felt like shit for it. It’s a nice moment between the two that shows a little bit more to Hunt than we had seen previously without making him look like a right nancy.

And so, Sam finally goes for one last shot of glory, only this time, he does it with Gene. Not only that, but he uses one of Gene’s methods to do it: lock the henchman in a giant fridge! The scene of Sam and Gene talking while the crook is banging on the door behind them is sheer comic gold. And, after so  much bad luck, humiliation and tragedy thrown at him, Sam finally arrests Warren and is greeted with applause from everyone. In just one hour, Sam goes from a downward spiral, just because of sticking to his morals, to coming back fighting as a hero, and man, does it feel good.

This is another of my many favourite eps, truly exploring how we view what right and wrong really are, as well as the price a man can pay for being “right”. It also explores how a man can be a true hero if he continually has every chance to do the “wrong thing” for the right reasons and turn it down, no matter what cost to his life or his dignity, and sometimes, just sometimes, it may just pay off. The final shot, of Sam sleeping peacefully while his mum tells him she’ll always be there for him, is a wonderful way to end such a great episode.