Episode 12 of Life On Mars defies expectations again when a case that protagonist Sam Tyler worked in 2008 surfaces in 1973. While the episode gives the audience more character development, Life On Mars mythology is left more or less out.

When the U.S. version of Life On Mars hit the airwaves last fall, I pessimistically anticipated the show would lapse into some kind of ‘gimmick of the week’ pattern, similar to Star Trek‘s oft-derided ‘Alien Civilization of the Week’ or other genre shows’ ‘monster of the week.’  A few early Life On Mars episodes focused on connecting protagonist Sam Tyler’s 2008 life as detective with his 1973 life in the 125 precinct.  I fully expected the show to regularly return to a pattern of Sam using his recall of some random 2008 crime scene detail, or maybe his enlightened 21st century crime fighting methods, to solve 1973 crimes.

This ’21st century insight of the week’ device has not turned up that often in Life On Mars, but did so in ”The Simple Secret of the Note in Us All” in a sophisticated way that contributed more to the development of Life On Mars characters.  When a colorful but notoriously cranky newspaper columnist turns up dead, the 125 detectives are overwhelmed by leads–apparently, this columnist had crossed up everyone in New York with his poison pen at some time or another, including 125 supremo Gene Hunt.

The murder of a high profile journalist brings such high-level pressure down on the 125 squad that Serious Authority Figure Actor and Former Ultra-Long Shot Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson arrives on the scene to lay some Serious Authority Figure gravitas down on Gene’s 125 detective crew.  Thompson, playing a District Attorney or Police Chief or Inspector General or some other such heretofore unseen uber-boss figure, is keen to have the murder investigation go quickly and according to procedure, because police misconduct was part of the murdered columnist’s beat.  Gene Hunt was even a subject of the columnist’s scrutiny, underscoring the need for the 125 to extra special care of this case–and revealing more about Gene’s checkered past, and rocky relations with the media.

Of course, the investigation does not go by the numbers, because Sam recognizes a figure seemingly tangentially connected to the case as the perp in a particularly heinous case he worked in 2008.  As Sam recognizes the striking similarities between the 1973 columnist murder and his 2008 case, he becomes increasingly unhinged–and unprofessional.

Here’s where episode 12 jumps the tracks and misses an opportunity to show the audience more about Sam Tyler’s 2008 life.

Sam’s impulsive behavior in this episode is inconsistent with his behavior in past episodes, where he repeatedly showed a conscientious, even persnickety, devotion to procedural details.  But throughout episode 12, Sam violates restraining orders, disobeys his superiors, and even gets kicked off the case.  The audience gets that the 2008 case really disturbed Sam–but why? Additionally, there are hints that Sam had his own problematic relations with the press over his 2008 case–why? What happened?

Obviously, there are parallels between Gene’s 1973 and Sam’s 2008 problematic press relations, which could have been better developed and engendered more audience empathy for the uncharacteristically unhinged Sam .  Instead, Sam engages increasingly erratic–and narratively inconsistent–behavior.

Annie gets another moment in the sun, conveniently securing a last-minute warrant and saving 125′s bacon.  Ray, however, shows cowardly neglect when he withholds until the last minute evidence that would corroborate Sam’s half-cocked assertions about the columnist murder.

Music again reinforced the period atmosphere.  The Moody Blues’ epic, operatic “Isn’t Life Strange” stood out as a particularly fitting background note to the episode.

And about that mythology. . . where the &@#$ was it? We have become accustomed in his second half of the season for at least a weekly hit off the mythology crack pipe, but episode 12 left the audience cold turkey.  What gives, Life On Mars show runners?

The lack of mythology and a stammering attempt at showing Sam on professional fire really detracted from an episode with otherwise excellent potential.  This episode gets a respectable 3.75 Harvey Keitel Fists of Fury.  There have been better, but it could have been much, much worse