Review: GHTTB:LoM 1.2

"Are they all like this in Hyde? It must be a bloody dangerous place." Gene Hunt.

Second episodes, as I've said previously, are the clincher. They have to live up to the promises of the pilot fairly quickly without giving the game away. This Life on Mars 1.2 did, with a fairly simplistic crime that none-the-less provided adequate drama behind-the-scenes as Sam and Gene wrestled each other's policing styles. It also blended in a lot of problems that Sam faces because of 1970s attitudes in Policing and Medicine...
     The group manage to hunt down Kim Trent, a known burglar who's been attacking many places across Manchester. However, there isn't cohesive evidence and Gene wants to fake it. Following his modern policing morals, he lets Trent go. When a cleaner at the police station is then killed in one of Trent's burglaries, he and Gene are forced to try and meld their styles of policing to find firm evidence and convict Trent for life.
     The crime itself wasn't very interesting in its scale or concept; the episode rather carried itself off of the emotional ride faced by Gene and Sam's dysfunction. This was interesting to watch, with our relative hindsight as the viewer - do we support Sam's by-the-book approach, or Gene's passionate need for justice? It also made the ending all the jucier, as both sides worked their magic: Gene used his methods to track down and rescue Sam and the witness, able to beat up the suspects along the way, and then the witness was able to give viable evidence.
     The episode also incuded many hallmarks of the GHTTB on the whole; Sam hearing people in the Real World, being haunted by a TV character and making modern pop-culture references. These are what make the series what it is and early on they're used quite well.
     To finish, this episode delivered on its promise of 1970s action as well as exploiting the superb acting of Simm and Glennister to give an entertaining experience. It didn't have many particluarly exciting concepts, but its dramatic potential made up for it.

Thanks.