Life on Mars: Things to Do in New York When You Think You're Dead

(S01E05) "Have you died and gone to moron heaven?" - Gene Hunt

What we had here, my friends, was a real theological episode. There were lots of references to angels, miracles, prayer and the question of whether or not Sam is dead. If so, is he in purgatory or hell or heaven? Does that explain his predicament? And is the old gray beard a vagrant or a heavenly messenger?

Overall, what I really thought made the show percolate was the teaming up of Sam and Clams. "Clams" we learn is Fletcher Bellow, Sam's mentor, and he pops up in the middle of a potentially explosive riot, with African-Americans going after Puerto Ricans when a little girl plummets from a rooftop at the hands -- or so it seems -- of Angel Ramirez.

Clams is from another precinct, the 86th, and before you can say, "They call me Mr. Tibbs," he and Sam are working the case. For the first time, it seemed that Sam enjoyed being on the job. He wasn't fighting Gene and company as usual. The chemistry between Sam and Clams was reminiscent of 1970s TV shows, Starsky and Hutch or Streets of San Francisco or Kojak.

There was a big guest star in the episode -- Whoopi Goldberg guesting as Brother Lovebutter, a deejay who was like the Wizard, talking over the radio and manipulating the black community. Whoopi was good, if not as memorable as her appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Of course, they left the door open for her to return for future episodes.

Funniest scene was when the BLA, Black Liberation Army, captured Clams and Sam and held them for hostage. When Sam picked up that the leader was into rhyme, Sam was forced to prove how cool he was. Thinking of any rap, he pulled out of his memory Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice Baby." In 2008, he would have been mocked. In 1973, he achieved a relative level of cool. At least enough not to get shot.

The rooftop showdown reminded me of a John Woo movie, everyone holding a gun on each other. When Gene said they had to have justice, then shot two times -- but they didn't show it -- you kind of knew it was a set up. Gene's a hard ass, but he's not a killer. He gave the order to draw first, saying, "It's not assassination; it's an option." Hunt is a complicated character, but, like I said, not a killer.

I loved how Ray refers to priests as "penguinis," and Father Tim came full circle. When Sam appeared at the funeral, it did seem for a minute that it could have been Sam in the coffin, especially since he saw that newspaper clipping. The funeral, including the encounter with the gray beard -- who was holding Keisha's hand as if taking her to heaven -- was enough to get Sam to try prayer again. Cutting from his prayer now as a man to his prayer as a boy asking God to bring his father back home, was a nice touch.