Life On Mars Episode Guide

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This is an episode list for the US version of the television show Life on Mars. This is a US remake of the BBC show also entitled Life on Mars.
Originally 13 episodes were commissioned for the first season after the first failed pilot. ABC announced on November 20, 2008 that 4 more episodes had been commissioned, bringing the total number of episodes for the first season to 17. The first season went on hiatus over Christmas after the seventh episode The Man Who Sold the World, with a cliffhanger ending. When the series returned, the episode concluding the cliffhanger (the eighth episode, The Dark Side of the Mook) was aired second, after Take A Look At The Lawmen (chronologically the ninth episode).
On March 2, 2009, it was announced that ABC would not be ordering a second season, cancelling the series. The decision was made early in order to give the producers enough time to wrap up the show's storyline. The final episode (and series finale) aired on April 1, 2009.

# Title Director Writers Premier Date
Unaired Pilot "Hit and Run" Thomas Schlamme David E. Kelley & Stu Moss Unaired pilot
After an accident, detective Sam Tyler inexplicably finds himself back in 1972, where he must help solve a murder that is eerily similar to a case he was investigating in 2007. Although unaired by ABC, this pilot was leaked onto the Internet in June 2008. Apart from Jason O'Mara, the primary actors were all recast, and the setting was changed from Los Angeles to New York City. 
1 "Out Here in the Fields" Gary Fleder Josh Appelbaum & André Nemec & Scott Rosenberg October 9, 2008
After an accident, NYPD detective Sam Tyler inexplicably finds himself back in 1973, where he must help solve a murder that is eerily similar to a case he was investigating in 2008. 
2 "The Real Adventures of the Unreal Sam Tyler" Michael Katleman Bryan Oh October 16, 2008
Sam is in 1973. 2008 only exists as flashes of Sam's memory, assisted by a mysterious robot. A suspect in a series of deadly armed robberies of check cashing stores, Trent, is picked up but let loose for lack of evidence. Trent then attempts another robbery, gets killed by Hunt, but not before Trent shoots June the precinct secretary, at the scene. When a witness states that Trent was escorted by uniformed police going into the store being robbed, it becomes a corruption issue. It turns out June was connected to Trent, and this is how the case gets solved. 
3 "My Maharishi is Bigger Than Your Maharishi" Michael Pressman Tracy McMillan October 23, 2008
When a decorated Vietnam War vet is beaten to death, Sam's precinct is pushed to the brink to find his killers, but not everyone may be happy with the results they find. 
4 "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadows?" Alex Zakrzewski David Wilcox October 30, 2008
Sam busts a guy for accosting his mother, only to find out he's a loan shark and she's into him for a thousand dollars. When his mother doesn't want to prosecute, she, unknowingly, leads Sam down a road that puts him on the outs with Annie. 
5 "Things to do in New York When You Think You're Dead" Michael Katleman Sonny Postiglione November 6, 2008
Sam partners up with Fletcher, his future police mentor, in 1973 to find a Puerto Rican man accused of throwing a black girl off the roof of a building--a case that has the black community up in arms and demanding retribution. Guest stars Whoopi Goldberg. 
6 "Tuesday's Dead" Daniel Minahan Adele Lim November 13, 2008
After a wild Christmas party at the precinct, Sam receives a wild phone call that states he has until two o'clock to pull out of his coma before the doctor will pull the plug, just as his watch commander walks in with a hostage situation at a local hospital where the terrorists demands a dangerous operation be performed on the guy's brother. 

ABC Description: Sam Tyler finds it difficult to separate a life-and-death hostage situation taking place at County Hospital from his own strange circumstances. Stressed about a phone call where he seems to hear his mother's voice -- in 2008 -- begging him to wake up, he and the rest of the squad are ordered to diffuse a potentially explosive face-off in which a crazed gunman is trying to force a doctor to reverse a dangerous operation on the renegade's brother. Sam, Ray, Annie and Lt. Hunt are all targeted in the madman's cross hairs, but as Sam and the 1-2-5 attempt to resolve the confrontation, he suddenly realizes that the clock ticking on the gunman's demands parallels another deadline that could spell the end of Sam Tyler, on "Life on Mars,
7 "The Man Who Sold the World" Darnell Martin Meredith Averill & Phil M. Rosenberg November 20, 2008
While investigating a child's kidnapping, Sam discovers some disturbing information about his father, as well as the real reason he disappeared for good on the day of Sam's fourth birthday party. 


Sam's Dad

Official ABC Description: When the baby of a prominent family is kidnapped for ransom, Sam Tyler is shocked to discover that his own father, Vic Tyler, may be involved. Sam was only four when his father abruptly skipped town under mysterious circumstances back in 1973. Was he sent back in time to stop his father from leaving his family? Vic agrees to cooperate with the squad in order to retrieve the missing baby, but the deeper Sam gets into his father's world, the closer he gets to uncovering some dark, sordid truths, compelling him to face long suppressed childhood memories. His discovery culminates in a shattering face-off, after which Sam will never be the same, on "Life on Mars,"
8 "The Dark Side of the Mook" Brad Turner Sonny Postiglione & David Wilcox February 4, 2009
A mysterious phone call from a tipster leads Det. Sam Tyler to a headless body. A severed head is delivered to the precinct at the same time, thus leading to the discovery of a series of gruesome decapitations that might involve Det. Carling's brother, Eddie. The detectives are interviewed by someone tied to Aries Project. This episode was originally broadcast after Take a Look at the Lawmen. 
9 "Take a Look at the Lawmen" Rick Rosenthal Bryan Oh & Tracy McMillan January 28, 2009
A long standing competition between Lt. Hunt and the 125 and Anthony Nunzio and the 144 heats up as both investigate a bank robbery by the Russian mob. Meanwhile, Sam has a liaison in the file room, unaware of the woman's true identity. This episode was originally broadcast before the Dark Side of the Mook. 
10 "Let All the Children Boogie" Michael Katleman Phil M. Rosenberg February 11, 2009
When rock star Sebastian Grace (Cheyenne Jackson) receives a death threat, Sam and Chris are sent to provide him with police protection. Chris later accompanies Sebastian and one of his groupies, Rocket Girl, to wait for UFOs in the New Jersey Meadowlands, but Sebastian is arrested for murder when Rocket Girl disappears. Sam also has to try and cover up his fling with Maria before Gene figures out who his partner in the file room was. 
11 "Home is Where You Hang Your Holster" David Barrett Meredith Averill February 18, 2009
A city councilman who is arrested and brought into the 125th on prostitution charges privately reveals to Sam that he's from 2009 and knows the way home, but he is murdered in the middle of the precinct house before Sam can find out the secret. Hunt locks down the squad house to investigate the murder. Ray and Annie were both out of the house at the time and are sent out to investigate leads on the outside, but squabble over how much authority a policewoman should be given in investigating a crime. 

 


Ray and his wife
12 "The Simple Secret of the Note in Us All" Jean de Segonzac Becky Hartman Edwards & Adele Lim February 25, 2009
The squad tries to solve the murder of a newspaper columnist. After learning that the columnist had visited a gallery owned by Tony Crane, a man whom Sam has arrested in the 2000s for a very similar crime, Sam becomes an advocate for the 1973-style vigilante policing he's usually fighting against, while the media glare has Hunt uncharacteristically insistent on a strictly by-the-book investigation. The rest of the precinct believe the murderer is a restaurant chef. 
13 "Revenge of Broken Jaw" Stephen T. Kay David Wilcox & Meredith Averill March 4, 2009
While the squad tries to find a place to watch the Muhammad Ali-Ken Norton rematch, student radicals from the Weather Underground target the police with bomb threats, and it becomes all too personal to Lt. Hunt, who loses several close friends in the incendiary aftermath. As the investigation heats up, Sam, Annie and Hunt uncover mysterious connections to one of the students and a political science professor. The bomb threats continue as Hunt, suspiciously secretive, attempts to discover the professor's possible connection to the Weather Underground's dead leader; is the motivation politics or revenge, and do the Weathermen have the right target? With the 1-2-5 walking a dangerous tightrope to discover the target of the next bomb, the case takes a totally unforeseen but deadly turn. 
14 "Coffee, Tea, or Annie" David Petrarca Adele Lim & Bryan Oh March 11, 2009
When a Pan Atlantic air hostess turns up dead, Annie volunteers for a dangerous undercover mission posing as the murdered woman to help solve the second in a possible series of brutal homicides. Then, after an unlikely suspect is uncovered, an invitation to a lurid swingers' party leads to an evening full of sensational surprises -- not just for Annie and Sam (who attend as a couple) but Lieutenant Hunt also, who arrives with a special guest to mix it up. Juicy sexual escapades bring the swingers' party to a fever pitch, but will the murderer be revealed? Finally, Annie confronts Hunt with the courage of her convictions about her future at the 1-2-5. 
15 "All the Young Dudes" Darnell Martin Sonny Postiglione & Tracy McMillan March 18, 2009
When Sam poses as a streetwise tough to infiltrate a vicious New York City gang suspected of truck hijackings, he’s pushed to the limit not to blow his cover, and he reveals a much darker side. A bare-knuckled fist fight with a gang member, a late-night deal to buy a truckload of stolen VCRs and even time behind bars at his own precinct are all necessary elements of Sam’s scam. But can he keep up the ruse when he’s told to shoot a bound-and-gagged woman? And his attraction to the gang leader’s sister also seems to be part of a recipe for disaster. 
16 "Everyone Knows It's Windy" Alex Zakrzewski Mike Flynn March 25, 2009
Following the shooting of Ray and Chris, crime fighting gets extremely personal at the 125th Precinct. When the shooter is then murdered outside a neighborhood bar, both sides of the law suspect Sam of murder, leaving him to question his own innocence. With the evidence stacking up against him, Sam must rely on his friends at the precinct to bend the rules as he tenaciously searches for the real killer. 
17 "Life is a Rock" Michael Katleman Scott Rosenberg April 1, 2009
Sam's past, present and future all confront him in the series finale when a mysterious caller offers him a chance to return to 2008; all he needs to do is complete three tasks, but a confusing set of circumstances inside and out of the 1-2-5 makes him think twice about whether he even wants to go back. When love, death, promise, hope, fear and mystery converge, will Sam decide to stay in 1973 or return to the future? At the end of the episode, the final truth about Sam's life is revealed, possibly stranger than anyone expected...