S05E10:It can be tough watching an episode that might be a series' last. There are no guarantees in the television industry, but these days it feels like networks and studios generally give shows more of a heads up than they used to; you usually know when you're going out. Officially, we don't yet know Southland's fate. The ratings in this fifth season weren't very good, but TNT can't help but like having such a critically beloved show on its roster and all of the network's other winter shows pretty much tanked as well. However, three of the four series stars have booked pilot gigs, and Ben McKenzie's is even with a Warner Bros. Show, the same studio that owns Southland. Things aren't looking good.As a result, I imagine that there might be fans of the show who didn't particularly like 'Reckoning,' the Season 5 finale.
From Emmy Award winners John Wells, Ann Biderman and Chris Chulack comes a raw and authentic look at a police unit in Los Angeles. From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East Los Angeles, 'Southland' is a fast-moving drama that will take viewers inside. Watch full episodes of Southland and get the latest breaking news, exclusive videos and pictures, episode recaps and much more at.
There will be people who suggest that it didn't provide enough tangible resolution, or that it left the story on an important cliffhanger. Although I understand that perspective, I get the impression that the production team saw the writing on the wall while they were crafting this season and particularly these last few episodes. This is probably the end, and 'Reckoning' was a pretty solid way to go out.I wouldn't say that the events of the penultimate episode were out of the show's typical purview, but the thrilling, horrific and powerful kidnapping of Cooper and Lucero last week certainly undercut the series' typical day-in-the-life check-ins and snapshots. 'Chaos' was probably one of the two or three best episodes the show has ever done, and Michael Cudlitz was tremendous throughout every second, but it also turned the show away from its typical narrative framework and toward more singular, forward-moving stories. That shift mostly dominated this episode as well, though not to the same degree as we saw last week. I'm not criticizing the show; 'Chaos' was wonderful, and 'Reckoning' provided the perfect mix of resolution and ambiguity.
But with that said, it felt a little weird to see so much attention paid to catching two particular killers, and to see characters like Cooper and Lydia interact. It was Southland, but not Southland, and yet also still great.Where 'Reckoning' really succeeded was in the way it managed to wrap up most of this season's stories without ever feeling too much like a finale. There's always going to be enough to work with if TNT and Warner Bros. want to continue, but in the very likely chance they do not, this episode gave all four lead characters (and really five, if you count Ruben) important moments of temporary stasis. Southland isn't a show about sweeping stories that require the kind of grandiose storytelling we often see in finales, be they season or series.
Most of these characters are going to keep on living, and they will likely keep on doing this job. They might hate it when they wake up, they might hate it when they're out on the street, but it's going to tough for them to quit.For Lydia, it's always been about the work-personal life balance. It's a rote story we've seen hundreds of times, but the writers and Regina King did a masterful job of really showing us a woman who is both committed to and excellent at her chosen career, but not some sort of cold or disconnected harpie. Lydia wants to find the balance, she just can't turn off her skills and instincts. The interesting thing about her little story in this episode was that she finally had one of those moments where she completely chose her personal life over her work. Right in the middle of one of the biggest investigations of her career, she got pulled away because of a medical emergency with her son and without even thinking, she went.
Unfortunately, it kind of took her mother dying for her to recognize that she needed to be a more regular part of her child's life, and now with her former partner/maybe something else back in the picture, there's a little family unit there, with two people who understand one another—and who understand the job.With Ben and Sammy, the last third of the season had been building to the moment where Sammy found out that Ben orchestrated the break-in on Sammy's house. We knew that was coming; Southland isn't a show about secret-keeping, and these things eventually come out.
But really, the tension between the two had been bubbling throughout the entire season. What's really fascinating about both Sammy and Ben is how they're simultaneously bleeding hearts and cold-blooded assholes.
The series does a great job of representing the dualities someone might need to have to work a job like this, in a place like this. Sammy's been a little jealous of Ben's rising career from the beginning and Ben can be a raging, selfish dick. Yet, we also get the sense that Ben, having learned from his experience with Cooper, truly cares for Sammy and wanted to have his back until the end.As a result, by the time Sammy discovered Ben's shoddy cover job and ultimately figured out that he planned the home invasion, it wasn't just an argument about the home invasion, and most impressively, they were both right and wrong. Sammy was about to flake on Ben and Ben took action—terrible action, but action. There's a code, they both broke it in their own ways, and the partnership is probably fractured forever. But it was always headed that way. Sammy's out there trying to teach, but he's also not able to emotionally separate himself from any given situation.
He takes things very, very personally and I can't imagine him wanting to ride with Ben anymore.Of course, they're both still going to be cops. And Lydia will still be a detective. Maybe Sammy and Lydia will cut back on their hours and recommit to their respective children. Maybe Ben will decide to stop having sex with all the women and thinking he's invincible. But probably not.
At least Lydia can sit on that beach, or Sammy can talk to Nate; they're convincing themselves that it's going to be different and it probably won't be. But that is their life.For Cooper, though, there was no way he'd have been able to not change after what happened to him out in the desert. He saw too many things and experienced too many more. He busted up his back again, meaning he was just as broken physically as he was mentally. And despite his insistence that everything was on its way back to normal, 'Reckoning' did a wonderful job of showing how each time he moved outside of a comfort zone, everything came crashing down. He was fine at breakfast, he was fine at roll, and he was even fine talking to Lucero's wife about the possibility of the two of them being gay lovers.
But as soon as someone wanted to get into the details, it was all over. Cooper couldn't even be happy about the sobriety of his mentor Hicks, because there was immediately a discussion about why he gave up his gun.Even though it was 18 days later, this event showed Cooper that at a certain point, there's nothing we can do. Horrible things happen.
Even when you try to move on, people's sympathy or patronizing questions only make it worse. And for a man who was already so internally broken and angry to find out that there was no possibility of a baby in his future—he didn't have much left to care about. Retirement or disability would take him down the same road Hicks just left.
Staying on the job would mean listening to more crap from peers for months, finally getting a weapon back, and then just waiting for the other shoe to drop eventually anyway. Unfortunately, in the moment that Cooper got into an altercation with some neighbors, he had very little left to live for and a whole lot rage inside him. That's not a good combination, and he knew where he was headed. He didn't care. There's still a chance the show comes back and Cooper survives being shot multiple times by his fellow officers. But that would just be more misery for a man who's had a lot of it lately. It's not necessarily a fitting ending for Cooper, but it's a powerful one.
And it's a powerful one for Southland.If this is it, I'll miss Southland. Season 5 was probably the show's most consistent and dramatically engaging one yet. But 'Reckoning' offered a very nice conclusion. Full resolution isn't necessary. Life goes on, and then it doesn't.NOTES– Great sequence with Lydia and Ruben chasing the meth heads down in their car after setting up the makeshift sting. Gruesome conclusion. The show was very violent in the last few episodes.– It was also great for Ruben to get his little moment in the sun at the press conference.
He wasn't the most developed character, but his willingness to go to the mat for Lydia worked throughout the last two seasons. The tension with the homicide detectives was probably a little overwrought, though.– Brooke the teacher ended up to be quite the scorned ex, huh? Ben Sherman really knows how to pick 'em.– If this is the end, I will regret not getting another scene with Ben and Cooper. I thought it was coming last week and it didn't happen, and then there was no real opportunity here. I had to ask when I saw the finale of Southland, which I thought was a very good series, how all those police turned up over an altercation in an alley between Cooper and the neighbour, there were at least two police cars and a helicopter but, throughout the series, people have been shot in the alleys even in full daylight and not found until a lot later and no police turned up until a lot later.who called them and how did they manage to get there so quickly?
Pity it had to end with this way I thought though did realize Cooper was probably too broken to ever recover fully after what he'd been through. I thought Cooper's ex knew about his preference when she decided to accept his offer to have a child together, so why all the pent-up hate when she changed her mind? I guess the writers wanted more fuel for the fire of his melt down. I think I saw the moment when Cooper decided to suicide-by-cop, for he slowed himself down for a split second, then went back to full rage.
Although I agree with you about Ben and Sammy both sharing blame in their predicament, I blame Sammy more. Sammy has absolutely no fore-thought about possible repercussions, and no self-control.
Ben has a bit more fore-thought (except with women), but isn't that great at planning if he used an unstable, dumb ganger that hates Ben for bumping naughties with his sister. So because of using a nitwit, Sammy figures things out, but Ben explained it was because he was backed into a corner because Sammy's guilt was going to take Ben down too. I was disappointed the two women didn't get into a more physical fight over Ben.
I bet Lydia would have got the glory had she stayed at the scene, but thank goodness we got to see her choose her son over her job! If this is Southland's finale, I'm going to imagine Lydia marrying her new friend, he's very soothing for her, which she really needs after losing her mother, with a demanding baby. This show reminds me of 'Last Resort' that also sucked me in because it had real conflict, good acting, it didn't fall on heavy and overused cliches, it didn't ride on the silly 'everything works out ok' fairytale plots, it was gritty, and I loved it but that got snuffed immediately for some show that did no better.
At least TNT gave SOUTHLAND a chance (if this is to be the final season) and I enjoyed every moment of it. Too bad the tv schedule nowadays is just filling up more and more with nonsense reality shows, reality competitions, and half rate fictional shows! Not much left to watch anymore!
Will be absolutely gutted if it's finished for good, easily on a par with the likes of Breaking Bad for the best TV drama currently on television, the fact it's only 10 episodes per seasons means that the actors can quite easily do other projects shot around it, not to mention the fact that you will often see an episode where one or more of the main stars are barely in the episode, so nobody should read too much into the actors doing pilots for other shows. If the network care about putting out quality television it will be renewed. Michael Cudlitz as Cooper was awesome all season. He oozes misery and heartache, and it was heart wrenching to watch him at times. The ending was quite a surprise for me, but I couldn't help but think 'is Coop finally at peace.' Because this has been a hard season for his character. Lydia as played by Regina King has got to be the most unpredictable female character on primetime.
I never really know what direction she's going in, but I always enjoy the ride she takes you on. Lydia has it all and I love that we see her struggle to get it right. If this is the end, I will miss this series.
I really like Southland. It is one of the best shows I have had the opportunity to watch. I don't understand why it has such low ratings. Michael Cudlitz is one of the best actors on TV. His character John Cooper is fantastic.
I guess people would rather watch Dancing With the Stars or The Voice. I think back to Homicide in the 1990's. It was easily the best show on TV but nobody watched it. I used to look forward to Friday nights back then so that I could see what Frank Pembleton would be up to. Andre Braugher was the guy who carried that show like Micheal Cudlitz carries Southland. If indeed this is the end for Southland, I have all five seasons on DVD and I will watch it forever. I was suprised to know that it was probable series' finale.
I thought they could easily go into 6 and 7 season. Structure of the show suggests many opportunities. Southland was so good with characters that I've been enjoying every second of usual conversation, just even walking of these cops was interesting for me, daily stuff. Of course, violent previous nightmarish episode was great too. Though was out of Southland line. Killling the Coop is really the end I think. Southland without Coop is weird, for now I can't imagine it.
And when Cooper was beating shit out of neigbour one thought got into my mind - in the end Cooper couldn't escape his father's murderous shadow. His father was a killer, so Coop now may be too (it is uncertain if neigbour is alive or dead). Lydia's story came to pleasing conclusion I think. Ben's story ended kinda abruptly and in negative way. No redeeming points for Ben in the end. I was so frustrated with his treatment of the teacher girlfriend. So harsh and in total douche fashion.
I was expecting something would happen in the end involving her and Ben. May be something freaky or horrible that will kick Ben in his fucking ass. His road to total douchery in two seasons was puzzling for me at times. I thought his resolution with Coop in the end of 3 season had some effect on him in a negative way, coz his switch to whoreness and douchebaggery was incomprehensible to me.
But anyway, it was great cop show. Sad that it is probably, the end. I hate that it may be the end for such a great series while other mediocre shows remain. There are a lot of police dramas on the air but none of them have the realism and depth Southland does. I was so bummed last night when I saw the last scene with Cooper, but really it was a fitting end to the season. Lydia is starting to find the work/life balance. Ben will be Ben good and bad.
Sammy won't ever figure out to separate himself from the job or any other situation but will keep trying. Another season in my mind would be unnecessary we know the direction each character is heading and the ending. THis is without a doubt one of my favorite shows, ever.Your review really hit on all of the notes as to why I think this is one of the best shows in TV. It is simple, you don't need a lot of mystery, or secrets, or a big bad or any of that. You just need compelling characters moving through a close approximation of real life. And this show gives it to you.
The characters are very well layered, we get to see all the sides of them unabashedly, their weakness, their strength and all that is in between. And if it was the series finale, it ended like it should. Like just another day in their life. Because really that is all this show has ever been. A day in their lives. But saying that, I would want the show to continue.
I doubt that Cooper will die as the result of his injuries. I want to see Sammy back and finally pull his head out of his arse in regards dealing with his wife. I want to see Ben continue to hover between a good person and a bad person and I want to see Lydia get some sort of happiness in her life. I don't have high hopes for that, TNT is bringing up a lot of new content, some that looks and sounds good and some that looks and sounds utterly stupid.
(I mean Rizzoli and Isles is still on) Way too much reality coming down the bad idea train. I am not sure why you would go that route when you have an awesome show that is only 10 episodes long. I would even be willing to drop it down to 6 or three two hour episodes kind of like Sherlock. This is too good of a show to just dismiss.
However, saying all of that. This show has survived the likes of NBC, if cancelled it could survive again. This would be a deserving show if Netflix wanted to add more quality to their bullpen. I so do not want this to be the end. The last third of this season was the most gripping, intense television experience I've had in recent memory.
This show seriously blew my mind so often, was so graphic and raw, I wondered how it aired on basic cable at all. I for one would LOVE to see Southland return for as long as the crew wants to continue putting out quality material. The show format is versatile enough that it could pick back up with different detectives in different divisions quite easily, though I would seriously miss the groups we've followed, especially Lydia Adams and John Cooper. I agree with the other commenters here that there are a number of well earned Emmy nods with Southland and regardless of whether TNT brings it back, the cast and crew deserve to be recognized for absolutely outstanding work.
To me, this most definitely had the feeling of being a series finale to it. I agree that this was probably the intent of the writers. Yes, enough doors were left ajar to allow it to return for another season, yet the unresolved aspects - including the one very major one - somehow really didn't need answers. Even if I mentally pencil in my own grim conclusion as to what probably became of Cooper (and I suppose I did), it still seems okay.
As much as I loved his character, that sad outcome somehow doesn't seem particularly upsetting to me. In fact, I'd have had a harder time seeing things ultimately turn out well for him. It just didn't seem to be in the cards for him. I had already envisioned what happened to him in last week's episode being the straw that finally broke his back (no pun or humor intended). His death sort of strikes me as being in keeping with the overall tone of the show. People die, yet life - such as it is for battle-hardened, world-weary L.A. Police officers - goes on.
Beloved heroes fall, yet the sun still rises tomorrow. New heroes - and villains - spring up to replace the previous ones. The world goes on. Those that went before are always missed, yet forgotten.
Ah, the duality of it all. (Or maybe I just need some sleep.
Yes, I'm sure that's part of it. I don't think I can put my feelings into words well when I'm this tired.) This show was great during its first season on NBC, when it had cast members aplenty. Despite the savage curtailing of so much of the original cast when it moved to TNT, the quality never dropped one bit, as I feared might happen to it when moving to a network that (IMO) has a very shaky record when it comes to original programming. I think the network knew it was probably best to just step aside on this one, not 'note' it to death, and just let the talented creators, producers, writers and actors all do what worked so well. In fact, I think its moving to TNT actually helped it as a show (smaller cast and viewership numbers notwithstanding), since the relaxed profanity restrictions actually.added. an even grittier and more realistic element to a show that was already chocked full of them. Special mentions: Gerald McRaney, for his excellent guest star work over the course of several episodes.
(The same goes for his appearances on this past season of Justified.) The penultimate episode, for being one of the most memorable hours of TV I've ever watched in my entire life. The final episode, for being a harsh yet somehow fitting end. Resolved and unresolved.
TNT, for keeping it going for as long as they did. I generally have a pretty low opinion of the vast majority of their original fare but this series was a stellar exception to that rule. All the cast and crew, for turning out such an amazingly good product year after year.
TV.com and Cory in particular, for choosing not to overlook this finale. This show deserved a good final write-up / wrap-up / send-off, and you certainly did that well. I thank you for that. You said everything I would have liked to say if I were a decent writer. If this is the end, I'm certainly sorry to see it go, but I think I feel okay about it. I ended up being able to see four more seasons of it than I ever expected to see, and every one of them was welcomed, appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed excellence. This will always be at or near the top of my list of all-time best cop shows.
We won't see its like again for a long, long time. Sorry for all the blather, but I figured this is the last relevant opportunity I'll ever have to publicly praise this beloved bit of television. Well communicated thoughts and beautifully stated!
I agree with you 100% but I'm not sure if I am ok with it ending. If it does end then they handled it perfectly-gritty, real, 'messy' as in life can be 'messy' but life still goes on.
The 'realness' of the show and the characters are part of what is so unique and wonderful about Southland Thank you Cory and tv.com. First Banshee and now Southland-awesome job and thanks for listening to us fans!
WavSlave-maybe it's because I am also sleep deprived but I understood all the points you were commenting on and found it concise and accurate (imo)! Seriously, great comment. Southland is one of the best shows on tv and if this is the series finale then its is in keeping with the series itself - emotional, gritty, brave but also morally ambiguous. The fight between Ben and Sammy has been brewing since the start of the season, with Ben looking to further his career and Sammy more worried about his son (which seemed to piss off Ben from the start) The Ben in the first two seasons if totally different from this one - he is less empathetic towards anyone really (victims, his partner or even his girlfriends) and as Sammy pointed out, everything he does is about him.
But Sammy has been self involved throughout the season as well - the episode with the car chase really exposed this, but for most of the season the main difference between their attitudes is the level of arrogance that Ben has displayed. It has been obvious that this partnership was going to break up for a while.
Lydia and Ruben's relationship made a nice change to some of the partners she has had, there was very little personal drama between them. Ruben getting the praise at the press conference was a nice touch, especially after the RHD detectives crack about Lydia being his boss.
This could lead to Ruben gettting a new partner if there is another season. Lydia and her old partner hooking up is an ok way to finish her part of the series, (she did seem to have a thing for him before) but it also leaves an opening for her to return. Cooper's future is in the balance, both his career and his life being in the balance. I think Cooper is more important to the show than any other character. He is tough, has his personal problems, but he always put everything aside to do his job. With the loss of his partner something has changed and a confrontation was going to happen with someone.
The guy's with the generator were a convenient situation - but as there were 2 of them and 1 was armed, there is also an opportunity for Cooper to return. My only gripe about this episode was not seeing them catch the other meth head.
I am hopeful that it will get renewed, but if not then at least the finale was in keeping with the show. Southland has always been enjoyable, just because it's so well done. But I have enjoyed the last few episodes so much more, precisely because they broke the format (and because of the overall awesomeness of the abduction story).
I have always felt that the show's biggest weakness is that almost everything we see in an episode is irrelevant to the next one. So these last few episodes have been what I've always wanted the show to be. But I have to say I really didn't like the apparent suicide at the end.
It just doesn't seem like something Cooper would do. I felt the same way about Ben getting Chris to break into Sammy's house to steal the camera, but I didn't mind that so much, because I knew that it would force them to break the format and let something we've seen actually have consequences.
One of my favorite shows. I hope we get one more season, but it definitely feels like this is it. For sure the best season of the series, and last weeks episode might have been their best one.
For me the most fascinating thing of the series has been the transformation of Ben Sherman from nervous rookie to kind of a dirty cop. It's one thing to lie to protect your partner.
It's another to send your girlfriends brother to rob the house and tag it with a rival gangs tag. We have TV networks full of cop shows, and this one was so great that it was different. You weren't focused on the crime of the week, but what each day did to a cop in LA. To turn every day 911 calls into a captivating show can't be easy and they did it with style and drama. I really don't want this show to end. It was so good this season.
I thought this episode was great if it ends up being the series finale. I think even if the writers knew for sure that this would be it, they would have written the same episode. Lots of thinks were resolved but life is still going on, which is very true to Southland's style. But dear lord, my heart was pound when Sammy confronted Ben and everything just came out.
But then Cooper got shot, which surprised the hell out of me. Did not see that coming. If this is the end, I am going to believe that he lives and is able to get put back on the job and rides around with Dewey. I am happy that of the 4 characters, Lydia got the happiest and most closing ending. She started the season off in such a rough place, so it was nice to a character progress upward instead of downward.
This show, like many others, was intelligent, well written, superb acting and generally an excellent show. No wonder it was cancelled. The other junk that people watch, with sub-par writing, poor acting and all the sexual content just prove the dumbing of Americans. It goes back to the old saying, garbage in, garbage out. Where have all the intelligent writers gone?
At my age, I long for NYPD Blues, Night Court, Cheers etc. I have over 250 channels available and just use 3 or 4. Wish I could just pay for actual drama series. Southland will be missed.
From John Wells, the Emmy-winning producer of ER and The West Wing, comes Southland — a raw and authentic look into a Los Angeles police unit. From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East L.A., this fast-moving drama with an outstanding ensemble cast takes viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims, and their families. John Cooper ( Band of Brothers’ Michael Cudlitz) is a seasoned Los Angeles cop assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman ( The O.C.’s Ben McKenzie).
And although Cooper’s harsh, tell-it-like-it-is approach often leaves Ben questioning whether he has what it takes to be a cop, he remains on the force. The outstanding ensemble cast also features Ray’s Regina King as Detective Lydia Adams, ER’s Tom Everett Scott as her partner Russell Clarke, Crossing Jordan’s Arija Bareikis as patrol officer and wannabe SWAT team member Chickie Brown, and Day Break’s Michael McGrady as Daniel ‘Sal’ Salinger who oversees fellow gang detectives Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy). From John Wells, the Emmy-winning producer of ER and The West Wing, comes Southland — a raw and authentic look into a Los Angeles police unit.
From the beaches of Malibu to the streets of East L.A., this fast-moving drama with an outstanding ensemble cast takes viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims, and their families. John Cooper ( Band of Brothers’ Michael Cudlitz) is a seasoned Los Angeles cop assigned to train young rookie Ben Sherman ( The O.C.’s Ben McKenzie). And although Cooper’s harsh, tell-it-like-it-is approach often leaves Ben questioning whether he has what it takes to be a cop, he remains on the force. The outstanding ensemble cast also features Ray’s Regina King as Detective Lydia Adams, ER’s Tom Everett Scott as her partner Russell Clarke, Crossing Jordan’s Arija Bareikis as patrol officer and wannabe SWAT team member Chickie Brown, and Day Break’s Michael McGrady as Daniel ‘Sal’ Salinger who oversees fellow gang detectives Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy).