Great shows you haven't seen: Southland

This poster perfectly represents Southland, a dark gritty cop drama that pulls no punches. I, like many people, am sick of the 5000 cop shows on television. Each year a bunch get cancelled and are replaced by new ones. Let's look at CBS' dramas

• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000–present)
• NCIS (2003–present)
• Criminal Minds (2005–present)
• The Mentalist (2008–present)
• NCIS: Los Angeles (2009–present)
• The Good Wife (2009–present)
• Hawaii Five-0 (2010–present)
• Blue Bloods (2010–present)
• Unforgettable (2011–present)
• Person of Interest (2011–present)
• Elementary (2012–present)
• Under the Dome (2013-present)

With the exception of Under the Dome, Person of Interest, The good Wife, all of these are cop dramas. Some deal with police consultants, the FBI, or special units,  but they all follow the same formula of solving crimes each week. CBS recently cancelled 3 other cop dramas, Vegas, Golden Boy, and CSI: New York.


Anyways, enough about CBS. This was an NBC show...at first. Southland was different because it wasn't just about the crimes. It was about the people. The characters had backstories and a life outside of the job. The police work itself was just as interesting. We saw these cops deal with truly horrible people and sometimes more sympathetic characters and it varied each week. We saw drug dealers, gang members, rapists, thieves, methheads, psychos, and sometimes just assholes.

 

One thing that separates Southland from other cop shows is how gritty it is. There's no fluff. People get shot. They die. It's not taken lightly. It's not just escapist entertainment. My heart skips a beat watching the intense action sequences. Many real life officers have praised the show for its realism. The show also shows 3 different kinds of cops. Lydia Adams (Regina King) and Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott) mainly focus on rape and murder cases in LA suburbs. Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy) and Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro) focus on gang related crimes. John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and his rookie partner Ben Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie) are patrol officers and encounter a bit of everything.

Southland first began with a 7 episode season on NBC. It suffered from low ratings throughout its short run but was eventually renewed for a 2nd season. Before the 2nd season premiere, NBC decided to cancel it. However, episodes had already been filmed so TNT bought the episodes, giving Southland a short 6 episode 2nd season. TNT saw potential in the show, so they renewed it for a 3rd season and gave Southland the chance it deserved.

 

 Unlike some shows, Southland only got better with each season. Characters became more developed so their storylines become more interesting, at times happy, other times tragic. All of the actors are great. Regina King, Benjamin Mckenzie, Shawn Hatosy, and Kevin Alejandro, Anthony Ruvivar, Lucy Liu, and Gerald McRaney are are among the many actors giving worthy performances, but it's Michael Cudlitz as John Cooper who stands out the most.

 Michael Cudlitz' performance mirrors the TV greats like James Gandolfini, Michael Chiklis, and Bryan Cranston. John Cooper is easily one of the best written characters in TV history. He's likable but flawed in the most believable ways. I can't get into details because it's best to see them unfold yourself. I don't want to spoil anything. However, there are few characters like John Cooper. Cudlitz should have won an Emmy by now but instead he never got an entire nomination over Southland's 5 year run.

I know I've been mainly focusing on the serious gritty feel of Southland, but it's not afraid to inject humor in when appropriate. Often times humor comes from the crazy people that the patrol officers encounter. One episode has a  guy at a tattoo parlor call the cops because the tattoo artist accidentally tattooed "Dennis" on his back instead of Denise. 

or the uterus scene

Southland was cancelled by TNT after the 5th season but fortunately managed to produce 43 episodes of near perfection. Southland has emotional weight that most cop shows lack as we see storylines develop each episode and we see that things don't always end happily. Being a cop can be a thankless job, with crazy civilians, dangerous criminals, and incompetent fellow cops. You can never truly know the feeling of being a cop just by watching TV, but I almost felt like I did. Southland was seen by few but will be remembered by all who saw it as one of the greatest television dramas ever made.