"I don't believe in coincidences. I believe in the curlicue whimsy of fate. Everything is connected."
Ah, the '70s. Sniffing copies fresh from the mimeograph machine. "Soylent Green". Hippies. Trippy music. Spiritual enlightenment. Social rebellion. Finding ones' self.
As Sam Tyler and the detectives of the 125th Precinct walk through a park on their way to the crime scene, Ray grumbles about the hippies. Sam responds, “This counter culture ... will one day be looked upon as a time when politicized youth rebelled against the excesses of the Vietnam war, the excesses of corporate arrogance, and the excesses of racial intolerance."
His statement resonates in our 2008 world as much as is does in the 1973 world in which Sam finds himself. As the episode progresses we see that the more things change, the more they stay the same. This is an episode about intolerance, and about finding oneself.
The Crime
The victim in this episode is Robert Reeves Jr., a Vietnam veteran beaten to death in the park. He leaves behind a wife and child. The wife admits her husband had "re-entry" problems, now known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Sam and Ray also interview Reeves' war buddy, John Fisher, an uptown executive from a long line of veterans. Lt. Gene Hunt, who is a veteran of World War II based on his comments, is passionate about finding the perpetrator.
As the investigation proceeds, the team assumes that the death is another in a series of assaults against veterans, perpetrated by "The Unwelcoming Committee", a group of hippies who had avoided the war with educational deferments. But as they dig deeper, they discover a different type of intolerance at work.
After talking with the victim's son, Sam discovers a clue that lead him to a bar, where he discovers that the victim was homosexual who had "just found himself". The trail leads to "hooligans" in the park who "get drunk and beat up the queers" for sport. There are no politically correct terms in use here, and Sam's use of terminology commonly used today, such as "gay" and "gay-bashing", is scoffed at by Ray, Hunt, and the others. Even the more antiseptic term "homosexual" is said reluctantly, and with distaste.
Sam sets a trap for the hoodlums by sending the team's pretty boy, Chris, into the park as bait. Soon, three hoodlums jump him and begin to beat him badly before Sam and Annie jump in to make the arrest. While under interrogation, one of the hoodlums confesses to witnessing Reeves' murder and provides details that point to a perpetrator who is much closer to home -- and who is much more intolerant of the victim's lifestyle choice than he's willing to admit.
Sam's Puzzle
In this episode, Sam recognizes the park as one he played in as a kid. His hippie trippy neighbor, Windy, is dancing in the part. "Did you come here to find yourself, too?" she asks.
As Sam and Annie visit the victim's family, Sam shares memories of his father and his disappearance. The victim's family lives in the same neighborhood that Sam lived in as a child, and Sam suddenly realizes that his younger self would be in this timeframe. "I'm here, Annie. I have to find myself!" Indeed Sam goes in search of himself.
He catches a glimpse of his younger self and follows him into a stairwell, where he runs into his neighbor Windy, who leads him to a party. "I don’t believe in coincidences. I believe in the curlicue whimsy of fate. Everything is connected," she says.
Another glimpse of his younger self leads him to a room where a guru is expounding on the principals of enlightenment, "The future is a fever dream and now is all there is, and all there ism is now." Sam follows his visions and his memories to a dead end.
But just as Sam convinces himself that 2008 is an illusion and that 1973 is the reality, he catches a glimpse of his younger self -- and his father -- on the street.
The Performances
Jason O'Mara is making the role of Sam Tyler his own, giving off a distinctly different vibe than John Simm in the BBC original.
Kudos for the writers not making Lt. Hunt as big a jerk as he could have been in this episode, but instead showing us another facet of Hunt's personal code of honor. But Harvey Keitel gives an uneven performance in the role, at times lacking inflection or passion, almost as if he's reading cue cards. Is the tough man slipping, or is he intentionally adding a doddering dimension to his character? Frankly, Keitel may simply be too old for the role, and a NYC police detective would most likely have been forced into retirement -- or at least a desk job -- by his age.
The supporting characters get some dimensionality in this episode, as well. Anne Norris (Gretchen Moll) gets to show range as both a nurturing female cop and a skilled investigator, but still buckles under scrutiny when Tyler puts her on the spot in front of Hunt and the boys. Ray Carling (Michael Imperioli) gets a little edu-ma-cation, but whether it will stick is yet to be seen. And we see a little personality in Chris Skelton (Jonathan Murphy) before he gets a smack-down in the park.
“Life On Mars”, which airs on ABC on Thursdays at 10 pm ET., stars Jason O'Mara, Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, Gretchen Mol, and Lisa Bonet. The series follows Detective Sam Tyler, a modern-day NYPD detective who mysteriously finds himself in 1973 following a car accident.