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It doesn't take a genius to see the writing on the wall. With an audience dwindling by the week, the best "Life On Mars" fans can realistically hope for is that the series will air all of its episodes and come to some sort of satisfying conclusion. This episode seemed to move in that direction, at least a little bit.

Here, a councilman is picked up, but he, like Sam, has come from the future: 2009 to be exact. But before Sam can learn much, the man is shot, in the middle of the precinct no less, and in his dying breath, reveals that he was killed because he found the way home.

After that, the procedural elements kick in as everyone tries to identify the shooter. This part of the episode is a bit overly simplistic. It was obvious who the shooter was, and it didn't take a Mensa scholar to realize that our deceased councilman's mistress was in the room the whole time.

Meanwhile Annie and Ray, in a bizarre pairing, do some investigating outside the precinct. She finds that the councilman kept a strange board of possible time travel scenarios, just like Sam. Annie then meets Ray's wife, does some undercover work, and in the end, saves Ray and Hunt's daughter Maria by knocking out the bad guy. Maybe it's just me, but I was never completely clear why he killed the councilman. But it really doesn't matter: though he got tantalizingly close to an answer, Sam remains stuck in 1973.

I was harsh in my review of last week's episode "Let All the Children Boogie," in large part, because it did not address Sam's displacement in time. I like "Life on Mars" much better when it deal with Sam's plight of being stuck in 1973; this episode

I enjoyed this episode a great deal, though it certainly had its share of flaws. When this series slips into procedural mode and ignores the overall premise, it becomes an average show at best. The cases are routinely predictable and the storylines range from overly simplistic to somewhat convoluted.

This series is trapped in a bizarre Catch 22 situation. Genre viewers long for more of the time travel elements and answers to the mystery of why Sam is stuck in 1973. However, the show risks alienating hardcore procedural fans if it focuses too much on its genre elements. It's a fine line that this show has, for the most part, walked very well: too bad so few have bothered to notice.

What Worked

The beginning of the episode was great: a police raid with "Ballroom Blitz" blaring.

It looks like the pointless story arc with Hunt's daughter Maria is over, for now at least. That storyline got old fast -- the writers were wise to put it on hold.

What Didn't Work

Dare I say it again: why in God's name do they continue to call Annie "No-Nuts?" It has nothing to do with any prudish political correctness on my part: it just sounds stupid.

I don't mind political messages when they are subtle. Showing the clip from President Obama's inauguration was fine: following it up with some garbage like 'it's a time of hope' was heavy handed politicking. Come on, leave overt political dogma to the news channels and political pundits and focus on getting Sam out of 1973.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

"Life On Mars" airs at 10:00 p.m. ET on Thursdays on ABC. It stars Jason O?Mara, Harvey Keitel, and Michael Imperioli. "Home Is Where You Hang Your Holster" was written by Meredith Averill, and directed by David Barrett.