Life, "Evil... and his Brother Ziggy": She ain't heavy, she's his brother

Spoilers for last night's "Life" coming up just as soon as I enjoy some days-old deer stew...

Time for a new ad campaign: "Life: The year's funniest police procedural!"

This show has always had a comic side, thanks to its leading man (and now thanks to Donal Logue), but the last couple of episodes have been especially, almost refreshingly silly, highlighted by the mistaken identity business with Tidwell's call to the hotel, and then the awkward dinner where Ted tried to serve Indian (as in South Asian) food to an Indian (as in Native American) person, who then had to witness various bits of Crews family strife.

And yet, none of the laugh moments in any way undermined the show's usual Zen cool, whether it was Crews and William Atherton(*) chatting on his swank rooftop lounge or Crews staring down a gang of angry locals in the middle of the desert.

(*) I should have started this last week, but I make a vow that from now until whenever Atherton's guest stint on this show is done, I will include one random exchange from an Atherton '80s movie in my "Life" reviews. This week, courtesy of the underappreciated "Real Genius," with Atherton as Prof. Hathaway and Tom Swerdlow as Bodie:

Bodie: He said he didn't feel like it. And I said, "You'd better!" And he said, "Or what?" And I said, "Or else you're gonna be in trouble." And he said, "Jam it."
Professor Hathaway: That's a wonderful story, Bodie. I noticed you've stopped stuttering.
Bodie: I've been giving myself shock treatments.
Professor Hathaway: Up the voltage.

I do have to keep reminding myself that the Tidwell/Reese scenes (like the one pictured above) aren't supposed to be Tidwell fantasies, but that subplot has become worth it if solely for Crews' reaction to it, like him ferreting out Reese's "indulgence" using nothing but the powers of the taxi cab.

We have two more episodes until the show goes on a Christmas-through-January hiatus, but after worrying about much of the season, the last few episodes have been very satisfying.

What did everybody else think?