By Mr. Sobell
So a newly-returned Vietnam veteran is found beaten to death in a park, and it looks like we're about to get ourselves a Very Special Episode about America turning its back on those who serve it. But then, it's discovered that the guy was beaten to death not because he was veteran but rather because he was gay, which is an entirely different Very Special Episode altogether. Did you like how Life on Mars threw you a curve ball like that? Or are you just put off by the Very Special Episode-ness of it all? Yeah, me too. Well, let's grit our teeth and get through this together, then.
Yeah, so like I said, a body turns up in a park, and since the deceased just got back from the 'Nam, the detectives quickly conclude who is responsible for this atrocity -- Hippies. Because if there's one group known for its proclivity toward violence and unchecked aggression, it's Moonbeam and Sunflower and all the other Merry Pranksters. Also, hippies ruin everything.
But while hippies will have to answer for many things before all is said and done -- horrible fashions, the brief popularity of the sitar, patchouli oil -- killing this particular guy wasn't one of them. No, there's another culprit on the loose here, which rapidly becomes clear as further investigation reveals that the deceased enjoyed the company of his fellow man more literally than figuratively.
This, of course, makes Carling -- gung ho about hunting down the perpetrator when there were hippie skulls to crack -- less enthused about brining the killer to justice. But then he gets a talking-to from Gene Hunt of all people, and while Gene may not like gays or hippies or anyone really, he likes murderers least of all. And after Sam and Annie use Detective Skelton as bait -- after all, what gay basher could resist Skelton's charms? -- they're able to capture a roving trio of Neanderthals who happen to have seen the Vietnam vet's unfortunate demise. Turns out he was done in by his commanding officer, who held quite firmly to the belief that what happens in Saigon stays in Saigon.
So what's Sam to do after laying down some 2008 enlightenment upon 1973 (tediously, I might add)? Why, track down the 1973 version of himself, of course, since the victim's family lived in the same neighborhood that Sam did briefly when he was just a youngster. And Sam does manage to see the younger him -- they clap eyes on each other at subway station outside a Knicks game. Which I find confusing, frankly -- I mean, isn't there a Time Travel Paradox that maintains one of them has to die now or that they have to battle each other in a knife fight or that Willis Reed ends up being Sam's father? That's just too heavy for me to think about right now.
Come back Thursday for our full recap, but discuss the show right now with other fans in our forums.