Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 10 Graduation Day

The third season of Southland has come to an end, and all signs are pointing towards a likely renewal, which is nice because "Graduation Day" changes thing up a bit. At long last, Ben graduates from probationary status and will no longer be under the thumb of John Cooper. But the way in which this happens is very dramatic. After chasing down a suspect and nearly getting hurt badly with John lagging far behind, Ben snaps, giving John an ultimatum: either go to rehab or he'll be reported. John takes the rehab route in a very dramatic scene. There's a little twist at the end with the reveal that Ben and Sammy are partners now. Cool I guess...

Josie finds out about her son and Lydia, and is naturally irate. While Lydia does her best to apologize and Josie cools off after a bit, it remains unresolved whether they will stay partners. I hope they stay together since they have gotten a lot better together as the season progressed, and there is still plenty to explore between them.

Chickie says she's probably going to Metro, but does that mean she's leaving permanently? If she is, the episode doesn't give her a proper send off since the focus is on Dewey, who shows compassion for a hooker. After killing the pedestrian earlier in the season, maybe Dewey is trying to find a way to redeem himself.

I don't want to pile more shit on Sammy, but why isn't he trying to get custody? Tammi is insane! She'll probably bake the baby in the oven! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but her behavior is anything but normal and potentially dangerous.

Score: 9.3/10

Preview of Week 3/6/11 - 3/12/11

Breakout Kings - A&E, Sunday, March 6, 10:00pm ET

Read my review here. If you're not going to watch Shameless, you might as well watch Breakout Kings.

The Event - NBC, Monday, March 7 8:00pm ET

The Event returns with 2 new episodes. I hardly remember what happened last time, but it probably won't matter.


Stargate Universe - SYFY, Monday, March 7, 10:00pm ET

Stargate Universe has been cancelled, but we still get to see the final 10 episodes, thankfully not burned off on one night. On the other hand, I'm fully prepared to be underwhelmed.

Southland - TNT, Tuesday, March 8, 10:00pm ET

Ben is finally graduating (the first three season cover less than a year of time) and also must deal with John's continued decline due to drug use.

White Collar - USA, Tuesday, March 8, 10:00pm ET

After the revelation that Alex is somehow involved with Kate's death, the season finale this week should be interesting.

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 9 Failure Drill

With one episode left in the season, Southland is reaching a climax in its own way. There's no crazy cliffhanger or anything too imminent, but the tension is definitely building. Cooper's downward spiral, which has been one of the most visible ongoing plot, came hitting close to the bottom, as he lounges in the car while Ben struggles to complete his duties. However, he eventually comes to live and performs his job somewhat. Still, Ben is finally fed up with him, and delivers a stern warning.

Lydia probably should have waited for backup, but she charges in there by herself and kills the shooter. This incident will give her a needed boost, but she really shouldn't be confronting a crazed gunman with a automatic weapon. Also, Ochoa's son Rodrigo asks her out, which is weird.


Tammi finds Sammy when he's on the job to talk to him... yeah, I don't get where this is going.

Score: 8.7/10

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 8 Fixing a Hole

Even though it seems like the season's just begun, the third season is over in 2 weeks. As for the ratings, they're below last years', but given TNT's surprise renewal last year, it's too early to tell.

If Southland is renewed, there is still plenty of story to tell. Ben and John are going to reach a breaking point soon, with John continuing to take drugs and everyone warning Ben. The tension is high between them, but they still go ahead and do their jobs. While that partnership is fracturing, Lydia and Josie are working better each week, this week uncovering a lying, alcoholic witness.

Sammy dark spiral took a deep turn this week when he grabs the guy he believes to be Nate's killer and drives him to the desert to be shot. Sammy doesn't kill the gang member, because he's unwilling to kill someone in cold blood or believes the gang member was innocent, or a combination of the two. But this issue clearly is not resolved, and with Mariella moving away, Sammy will have plenty of time to dwell on his feelings. Great stuff from Shawn Hatosy again.

Score: 9.2/10

Review - Southland Season 2 Episode 7 Sideways

 The detectives are on the sidelines in "Sideways," so the bulk of the plot comes from the street cops, bolstered in the episode by Chickie and Dewey. There's lots of fun stuff in the episode--the lunch discussion, Cooper dragging the trailer onto the street--before Dewey kills a pedestrian during a pursuit. He just can't get a break, but who can?

Russell tells Lydia he sold the photos for $500K (damn!!), and not only that, tries to justify his actions. Lydia is flabbergasted, as she should be, and doesn't do anything immediately. If I were her, I'd turn him in as soon as possible, but is Lydia willing to burn all bridges between them if bridges still exist?

Sammy had a lot on his plate this week, having to pick Nate's killer from a lineup. He picks the wrong one, though, and is nearly inconsolable--until he finds himself crying in Tammi's arms. And Sammy also finds himself in a weird place with Mariella, Nate's widow. In a way, Sammy, through no fault of his own, has replaced Nate, which is a little creepy.

Score: 8.9/10

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 6 Cop Or Not

Last week's episode, surprisingly, did not have much on Nate's death, instead focusing on Cooper. This week's episode, "Cop Or Not," does, however, using Sammy's first day back as a springboard. Sammy must be questioning himself as a cop, knowing he could have shot the people who were attacking them, and he spends most of the episode in reflection when not chasing down gang members.

The main plot follows a Hollywood star who is probably a killer. With paparazzi swarming, the situation gets out of hand and the star shoots himself. Only afterwards does more evidence show up, pointing to someone else.

Is it correct to assume it was Russell who sold the photos? After all, he had motive and means, but would he betray Lydia like that?

Score: 8.8/10

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 5 The Winds

Although I'm disappointed we didn't get to see more of the fallout after Nate's death, "The Winds" is strengthened by the focus on only Lydia and Josie, and Ben and Cooper. There's plenty of great scenes between Lydia and Josie as they grapple over a rape case which turns out to be a hoax, and obviously Michael Cudlitz is incredible as he first gives a resounding denouncement to his father's potential release, and then completely breaks down in the desert.

Score: 8.9/10

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 4 Code 4

I'm really busy this week, so very short reviews only.

Looking back, there were definite signs that Nate would die. Kevin Alejandro had joined True Blood, Cooper talks about Ben getting people killed, and we see Nate say goodbye to his wife. But the nature of television is that people rarely, rarely die. It's weird that Nate and Sammy would get in a situation where they're surrounded and without help, but the result is just utter shock and emotion.

Score: 9.1/10

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 3 Discretion

Three episodes into the new season and things are really heating up. As always, "Discretion" juggles three separate plots and the characters' lives get a bit more complicated.

There was no Tammi this week, but she changes the lock so Sammy can't get in his ownand she refuses to take a paternity test until the baby is born. It's not the least bit surprising, but it lets us hate Tammi that much more. Unfortunately for Sammy, when he tries to recover his possession from his house, he and Nate are briefly detained by cops and embarrassed.

So far, Josie hasn't contributed much, but she acts like a meter for Lydia, constantly poking her to see what's up. Josie surmises that Lydia is always taking care of Russell (basically telling him what to do), much like a mother would, and when Russell asks for a loan, bailing him out this time would further contribute to their weird relationship. Lydia doesn't give him money in the end, which means that Josie was telling some of the truth, or at least Lydia believes it is.

The final scene, while emotionally resonant, is very ambiguous. Is Ben's mother saying that she offered to have sex to pay off debts, then cried rape once Ben came? Or did David Morgan ask her first? Does it matter in the grand scheme? In any case we know there was sex, violence, and some form of criminality, however it ultimately went down.

Score: 9.1/10

Review – Southland Season 3 Episode 2 Punching Water

While "Punching Water" has the gritty plot, a lot of the character stuff is just annoying. Tammi and Dewey have been around since the first season and they haven't changed one bit, staying as the characters who cause trouble for other characters

With Tammi, it’s an “are you kidding me?” moment when we learn some other guy got her pregnant, but then again, she’s proven time and time again that she’s crazy and just a load of trouble. Hopefully Sammy ditches her this time. The writers have gone down this road time and time again--what more are they looking for?

Similarly, I was miffed right from the beginning when Dewey shows up. For Pete’s sake, get rid of him already! He also acts like an idiot, rarely does good police work, and is annoying as how. How could stay on the police force with his record and behavior, and why are the writers keeping him?

Sally, the woman in the convertible from last week, is like the official police chaser and takes photos with all the cops she’s been with. However bad that may sound, Ben has absolutely no problem with that for the time being. 

Score: 8.5/10

Review - Southland Season 3 Episode 1 Let It Snow

Southland is back for a third season, and it's pretty much the same show it was last season even with a lower budget. "Let It Snow" features three solid plot, a huge shootout for Ben and Cooper, a gritty rape/murder case for Lydia and her quirky new partner, and the murder of rapists for the rest of the detectives Sammy and Nate (who I don't really care about).

The show is still consistent in portraying Los Angeles, crime, police officers, detectives, work and personal lives into one fluid episode, and as long as that keeps happening, I'll tune in each week.

Score: 9.0/10

Preview of Week 1/02/11 - 1/08/11

The Closer - TNT, Monday, January 3, 9:00pm ET

The second to last season finale of the series is here. Will there be anything to propel the show towards an endgame?

Caprica - Syfy, Tuesday, January 4, 6:00pm ET

If you feel the need to watch 5 hours of television, Syfy has your answer--a marathon burn off of Caprica.

Southland - TNT, Tuesday, January 4, 10:00pm ET

Southland is back!? We'll see how the budget cuts will effect the third season of arguably the best crime drama on television.

V - ABC, Tuesday, January 4, 10:00pm ET

ABC renewed V last year despite waning ratings. We'll see if the writers can come up with something more interesting to bring in viewers.

Legend of the Seeker canceled; Southland renewed

Stories
Southland
Legend of the Seeker 

It's a bittersweet day for me. I like both shows, but no one can have everything. Honestly, I would have preferred if Legend of the Seeker was renewed instead of the other way around.

The guy who runs the Syfy Twitter account tweeted the message "Legend of the Seeker fans, we considered LOTS seriously, but for a variety of reasons, we unfortunately had to pass on the show." My response: "LOTS is too fantasy-oriented for a network that loves wrestling?"

Whatever.

Edit:

Some guy posted a comment saying it's not over. I'm guessing it's some TSCC-like gibberish. If more proof was needed, look at tweets from Bridget Regan and Mike Sussman.

Review - Southland Season 2 Episode 6 Maximum Deployment

Barring a certifiable miracle, this was the last episode of Southland, and it did not disappoint. For a series finale, "Maximum Deployment" wrapped up no ongoing storyline and seemed like just another episode, a fine way to go out considering the understated tone of the show.

"Maximum Deployment" refers to the entire police department coming out in force to catch a rapist impersonating a cop. Ben, John, and Chickie ride in one squad car, creating a hotbed of tension. Earlier, John had called Chickie a bad cop and wants her off the streets. John is taking all kinds of drugs to cope with his back pain, and while he's not Dewey yet, both Ben and Chickie recognize a problem. After lifting a car to save someone trapped underneath, John's back puts him out of commission. Chickie confronts Ben and tells him not to make the same mistake she did with Dewey by ignoring the problems. The episode ends with a nerve-wracking 3 minutes. I kept staring at the clock, knowing it would be the probably last scene of the series. Chickie sees the car the fake cop rapist had been using and calls it in. Then, alone, she takes out her gun and flashlight and pokes around, eventually confronting the rapist. By taking him down, she reaffirms, at least to herself, that she does belong on the street.

Russ is back in the office, and Lydia's new partner, Ray, is nowhere to be seen. The high turnover of new characters is kind of annoying, but it's the last episode, so I shouldn't be complaining. They solve a gruesome double homicide involving family members looking for money, but Russ isn't up to it. He has those physical ailments related to being shot, but he also may not have it mentally to cope with the situations he would face.

I've never been a fan of Sal or his family drama, so his idiotic daughter and family mess following the revelation he is cheating on his wife, Susan, made me more mad than anything else.

There are plenty of storylines to continue if TNT were to renew the show. It's a real shame NBC let the show go.

Score: 9.2/10

Preview of Week 04/04/10 - 04/10/10

Chuck - NBC, Monday, April 5, 8:00pm ET

This episode marks the initial season finale of the 13 episode order. Since NBC increased the order to 19, there will be more episodes after a one week break, but I'm sure there will be a resolution to the Shaw storyline, which unfortunately did not turn out as well as I hoped.

Lost - ABC, Tuesday, April 6, 9:00pm ET

Last week, Damon Lindelof tweeted "In one week, the conversation is going to change." Does this mean we'll finally get a clue what the flash-sideways are about? It's a Desmond episode, so we may learn why he is the package as well.

Law & Order: Criminal Intent - USA, Tuesday April 6, 10:00pm ET

The original Law & Order has undergone many personnel changes, but this episode marks the end of Goren and Earnes who have been on the show since the beginning. The show will survive, but I doubt it will be the same.


Southland - TNT, Tuesday, April 6, 10:00pm ET

This is probably be the last episode of the series unless the ratings are huge. Just watch it.

Criminal Minds - CBS, Wednesday, April 7, 9:00pm ET

CBS has done backdoor pilots for all the spin-offs in the past decade, and they proved to be huge successes. They will try again, this time with Criminal Minds. Forest Witaker will be the star of the spin-off, an indication CBS has high expectations for the show. I'm not a fan of the idea of a CM spin-off, but we'll see.

Bones - Fox, Thursday, April 8, 9:00pm ET

The 100th episode brings Brennan and Booth back to the very beginning where they meet for the first time. It also means Zack will be back. We miss you, Eric Millegan.

Review - Southland Season 2 Episode 5 What Makes Sammy Run?

The decision to focus on Lydia and Ben this season made for tighter storytelling and more focus. Many of the character in the ensemble were mostly left alone, and I was fine with that since I didn't care about them in the first place. Lydia was absent in "What Makes Sammy Run?" and Ben was shown a few times doing patrol work.

The main character of the episode, as the title suggests, was Sammy, a good hearted guy with an freakishly annoying wife. In the episode we see his wife again act crazy, which I have no sympathy for since Sammy married her and puts up with her crap, and Casper. The troubled teen is very smart, but the culture he's in holds him down. Sammy tries to help him, they go to a movie, and eat lunch. But in the end, when Sammy's gone, there's nothing to protect Casper. He's beaten up while riding his bike and retaliates in the only way he knows how--with a gun. Sammy rushes to Casper in anguish, but it's too late. All Sammy can do is buy books for the now incarcerated Casper.

The Trinny Day wasn't a particularly big part of the show, so I didn't care much for the resolution. I loved seeing Wood Harris though.

I thought the cross promotion for Where the Wild Things Are was pretty funny, because it was about 6 months too late and airing on TNT, a subsidiary of Time Warner.

Score: 8.8/10

Review - Southland Season 2 Episode 4 The Runner

If the series doesn't get picked up, for more episodes, there's just two episodes left after this. I haven't had time to review Southland due to the 7+ other shows on the same night and it's only going to get worse when V returns. I've thoroughly enjoyed all four episodes this season, and while the series doesn't reinvent the police procedural as some would claim, it does provide a unique perspective that no other police procedural has.

Ben and John visit Dewey in rehab, and what they see isn't pretty. It's pretty much the same Dewey except he's sober. Instead of a drunk Dewey who's loud and obnoxious, there's a clean Dewey who's loud and obnoxious. I hated him drunk and I think I may hate him even more now. Later, they go to a funeral for John's friend. We meet his ex-wife and learn that his friend was also gay, but they ignored each other at the gay bar.

Lydia and her new partner, Ray Suarez (Clifton Collins, Jr), the replacement of Cordero, find an female body with a few bullet holes. Her ID indicates that she is named Nicole and a student at SULA, probably a combination of UCLA, USC, and CSU LA. She was a track star and her parents had high hopes for her to win in the Olympics. We see the dark side of school athletics programs. Her ex-boyfriend, a football player, is shielded from every angle and is allowed to get away with anything. As long as he performs on the field, the school administration gives him a free pass. Nicole was also into drugs, something her father adamantly denies. Ultimately, Lydia catches a drug dealer who Nicole had been stealing drugs from. He only wanted to shoot her legs to stop her from running but missed. After seeing what happened to this girl, Lydia calls her mother to thank her for all the things she did. There was a bigger issue: Regina King's arms. They're huge!!

Score: 9.3/10

Review - Southland Season 2 Episode 1 Phase Three

I don't really like the show, and with all the other shows I have to watch on Tuesdays, I probably won't be reviewing it each week. I know there's plenty of critical acclaim for the show, but Southland simply isn't interesting. The focus of the show is on the characters, and with the ensemble cast, all the characters must work. Unfortunately, none of the characters have much in terms of backstory or personality. The crimes aren't enough to carry the show. The result is a show with style over substance.

There were two main plots this week. With Russ shot (the jump from him lying listlessly after being shot to being in the hospital was disappointing), Lydia's new partner is Rene Cordero, an annoying guy played by Amaury Nolasco of Prison Break. They track down a missing man. The investigation leads to Alan Gaylord who is caught after a foot chase, but the old man is dead.

Chickie is assigned a new partner after the video of Dewey driving crazily leaked to the media. They get in trouble after her new partner almost shoots a driver. They are mobbed by a bunch of blacks, and are rescued by Ben and Cooper. Meanwhile, Ben is in Phase 3 of his training. Yay...

Score: 8.8/10

Preview of Week 02/28/10 - 03/06/10

Chuck - NBC, Monday, March 1, 8:00pm ET

Last time it aired, it caused outrage among some fans. So will shippers be happy? From what I've read, they'll be angrier than ever. Let's hope the ratings hold up.

Southland - TNT, Tuesday, March 2, 10:00pm ET

In the vein of Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, Southland was given a quick renewal by NBC. Ratings continued to plunge, and after pushing back the season premiere, NBC decided to cancel the show altogether. That can be blamed on Leno who took the 10 PM slot, which was perfectly suited for Southland. TNT bought all episodes, and will air the six episodes made. If--and I highly doubt this will happen--the ratings are high enough, the show will get picked up.

Parenthood, NBC, Tuesday, March 2, 10:00pm ET

If the show is anything like the movie, Parenthood is like Modern Family with real issues. There's no Steve Martin, but there's also no Keanu Reeves (who actually wasn't that terrible).

The Office, NBC, Thursday, March 4, 9:00pm ET

The baby is finally here. The season has been pretty boring, and Jim and Pam have been part of the problem. Will a baby help improve the season?

Burn Notice, USA, Thursday, March 4, 10:00pm ET

The third season finale is finally here. Who will the mysterious and deadly Simon be? Not that I care much, but the spy business subplot is always heavily pushed near the end of seasons, so it's worth watching. I'm expecting the third go-around to be similar to the first two, so I have a hard time anticipating anything.