Pop Vultures

Right now, I’m a wee bit jealous of those living in America. Starting tonight, they get to experience the second series of Life On Mars for the very first time.

It’s rare that I can look at a series of television and marvel at its perfection. U.S. shows, in particular, with their 22-episode seasons, usually have one or two weak links over the course of the year. Even so, I’d hold season 2 of Buffy up as an example of near perfection. So too with the second season of Deadwood (Oh, Al. I miss you.). Hell, I’d even say that the Kimberly-era Melrose Place achieved a transcendence that most soaps can only dream of. To this list, you can add eight of the most perfect episodes of television I’ve ever seen.

Season 1 of Life On Mars was damn good. It established the basic premise for the series, in which DCI Sam Tyler (John Simms) has a car accident in 2006 and manages to wake up in 1973. He, and the viewer, don’t know if he’s dreaming while in a coma, is going mad, or has actually traveled through time. The greatest mystery, however, is how he still manages to rock those 70s fashions.

As an American, I miss a whole layer of the show, not being familiar with British 70s cop shows. In the U.S., we got The Streets of San Francisco, and Michael Douglas wouldn’t quite fit into this world. Hell, Michael Douglas would have the snot beat out of him in this world. Because not only does Sam have to deal with his questionable mental state, he must do so while working as a cop in 1970s Manchester, under the watchful eye of DCI Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), one of the finest assholes ever committed to film. As Sam explains, he is “an overweight, over-the-hill, nicotine-stained, borderline-alcoholic homophobe with a superiority complex and an unhealthy obsession with male bonding.” Gene, of course, wonders why he “make[s] that sound like a bad thing.” It is the give-and-take between these two, the updated take on the buddy drama, that gives the show its life, while the mystery at the center of the story provides its brain. This is a fun, stylish and well-written show that consistently asks its viewers to think.

Season 1 dealt primarily with Sam’s attempt to return to the future while facing a few unresolved family issues. In other words, he doesn’t get a future until he settles the past, and it seems as if everything will be revealed once his daddy issues are resolved (obviously, it’s not, or else they’d be hard pressed to write a second season). It’s excellent drama, and well worth the purchase of the DVD set and a multi-region DVD player in order to watch in its entirety.

Season 2 really ups the game, shifting the focus away from the past and onto Sam’s present and the choices he must make in order to stay alive. It’s brilliant and compelling and I refuse to spoil it for you, so just watch the damn show already.

The two-hour premier of Life On Mars, season 2 airs on BBC America tonight at 8:00pm.