4 out of 5

Creator: Ann Biderman

This covers up through season 5

Yes, it’s a police procedural.  Yes, it grabs from the school of Law and Order while mixing it with some HBO-style grit.  But Southland manages to stick out amongst its many, many peers by mostly sticking to the basics and respecting the viewer.  The handheld shooting style (of the initial 2.5 seasons, with creator Ann Biderman’s more direct involvement) and bleeped out swears seem to swing close to COPS territory sometimes, though as as we’re reminded through the writing, the perception of the police and the way they act when a camera is stuck in their face differ from the on-the-beat reality.  If there’s any ongoing theme to the show, it’s that – the wear and tear of the life and being human and interacting with other humans and yet you, with a badge, are trusted to carry yourself that much higher.  Season 1-3 bounce between more characters than 4 and 5, but mostly we’re anchored by “boot” (on training probation) officer Ben Sherman, tracking him through his first few years.  Similar to Breaking Bad, there seems to be a long-term goal of subverting our siding with Ben, who begins as a solid, honest cop, and slowly… Well.  That’s for you to discover.  The long-term plotting is one of the most satisfying aspects of the show, pieces that come into play 3, 4, 5 seasons in and you HAVE been thinking about them the whole time.  And this works because Southland also plays it fair – the cops and detectives make good and bad decisions, but none of them are “bad”, and there are no initial stupid plotlines about double-crosses or anything typically TV.  Some of this stuff happens after Biderman’s departure, but by that point the show has earned it.  So it’s not exactly jaw-dropping (except select moments), and it doesn’t wrench your moral guts out so much, but Southland never, at any point, feels unrealistic or pandering to me, making it one of the most compelling procedurals I’ve seen.