Cop dramas: They come and go, one right after the other. At least five new ones premiere every year (“Blue Bloods,” “The Good Guys,” “Rookie Blue,” “Memphis Beat” and “Detroit 1-8-7” come to mind for 2010), but few tend to stick around. Or worse, they fall prey to the solve-a-case-by-episode’s-end scenario each week — “C.S.I.”; “N.C.I.S.”, I’m looking at you. I mean, if people watch, why not deliver more of the same, I guess. I, though, prefer some originality to my cop dramas: “NYPD Blue“; “21 Jump Street“; “Hill Street Blues“; heck, even “Kojak.” And the most recent to join the ranks is TNT’s “Southland.”
“Southland” had a bit of a rough start when it first premiered back in April 2009 on NBC. The first season did well, prompting a renewal for a second season to start in September 2009. After being pushed to October to allow for better promotion, NBC eventually cancelled the show entirely, reasoning that its dark tone was not suitable for a 9 p.m. time slot. A month later, TNT came to the rescue and picked up all of season one and the six episodes (there were suppose to be 13) of season two that were completed. TNT rebroadcast season one and aired season two starting in January 2010.
What’s kept “Southland” alive to make it to a third season, which premiered Tuesday, is that it is a good ole beat ’em down, rough ’em up, chase ’em down cop show, mixed in with character-driven plots, smart cases and a gritty, raw look at life as a member of the LAPD. What also makes “Southland” original is it delves into the personalities and personal lives of the members of the department, not just the cases they come in contact with over the course of the season.
The direction of “Southland” is also spot on. We follow four pairs of officers/detectives solving different cases at the same time throughout the show. For this reason, the viewer can never get bored because there is always a different pair to keep up with.
In the season 3 opener, we follow Detectives Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy), who head up the Gang Unit and try to find the real reason two gang bangers were found dead in a park. Moretta and Bryant could have easily passed it off to obvious gang violence, but they dig deeper.
Detectives Lydia Adams (Regina King) and Josie Ochoa (Jenny Gago), who run the Robbery-Homicide Division, look into the case of a cleaning lady who turns up missing and is then found dead — beaten and stangled — in the rafters of the building she worked in.
Meanwhile, Officers John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and rookie Ben Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie) patrol the streets of Hollywood, where they end the day in a bloody shootout.
I can’t even single out one particular actor that is my favorite in the show. All command the screen in their own way. And you’ll recognize many of the faces: Alejando and Hatosy both had their turn at premium cable shows this last year with “True Blood” and “Dexter“; King and Cudlitz have been around the movie and television screens for a while now; and McKenzie was introduced to us a few years back as Ryan Atwood, the bad boy of the mega-teen hit “The O.C.” Also appearing, mostly throughout Season 1, is Tom Everett Scott as Detective Russell Clarke. Scott has been in a number of my favorite flicks, including “Boiler Room,” “Dead Man on Campus,” and most famously as Guy, aka “Shades,” in “That Thing You Do.” He adds the perfect amount of nice guy attitude to the mix.
The pace of “Southland” is right on key — slow enough for us to take everything in and not get lost in the character development, but fast enough to make all the cases riveting from start to finish. You’ll be glued to the TV in no time, and for that, I thank you TNT. You really do know drama.
*Season 3 began Tuesday and will continue with 12 more episodes. It airs at
10 p.m. on TNT.*
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