Network: NBC, TNT
Episodes: 43 (hour)
Seasons: Five
TV show dates: April 9, 2009 — April 17, 2013
Series status: Cancelled by NBC, Cancelled by TNT
Performers include: Kevin Alejandro, Arija Bareikis, Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, Regina King, Michael McGrady, Benjamin McKenzie, Tom Everett Scott, Emily Bergl, Patrick Fischler, Lex Medlin, C. Thomas Howell, Emily Swallow, Carla Jeffery, Lori Alan, and Roxana Brusso.
TV show description:
From the beaches of wealthy Malibu to the streets of urban East Los Angeles, this fast-moving drama takes viewers inside the lives of cops, criminals, victims and their families.
John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) is a seasoned and gruff LAPD officer who’s assigned to train Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie), a young rookie from a wealthy background. Cooper’s honest and no-nonsense approach to his job — “You do what they teach you in the Academy, you will die.” — leaves Sherman questioning if he has what it takes to become a police officer.
Detective Lydia Adams (Regina King) is a tough cop at work and the primary caregiver of her ailing mother at home. Adams’ partner is Detective Russell Clarke (Tom Everett Scott), who is unhappily married and the father of three.
Detective Daniel “Sal” Salinger (Michael McGrady) is the leader of a team of gang detectives that includes Nate Moretta (Kevin Alejandro) and Sammy Bryant (Shawn Hatosy).
Meanwhile, patrol officer Chickie Brown (Arija Bareikis) is a single mom who dreams of being the first woman accepted into the male-dominated SWAT.
Episode #43 — Reckoning
Sammy closes in on the real robbers. Ben makes his girlfriend’s brother, Cris, who broke into Sammy’s house leave town. He also has Cris’ car towed so that the helicopter patrol won’t spot it. Sammy finds the tow records and ties it back to Ben.
After being confronted, Ben admits what he did but justifies his action because he lied for Sammy though Sammy wouldn’t destroy the tape. They end up in a physical altercation.
Lydia continues to pursue John’s kidnappers. They eventually corner him and the SWAT team kills the suspect when he won’t go alive. Lydia’s relationship with her former partner Russell grows.
Ben’s previous girlfriend, the school teacher, continues to bother him and she shows up at his current girlfriend’s house (which she found by installing a location finder application on his phone).
John copes with the aftermath of his kidnapping but doesn’t want to admit he’s having a difficult time. He’s currently on desk duty and this upsets him. It doesn’t help matters when his ex-wife, who he has been staying with since his kidnapping, tells him that she no longer wants to have a child with him.
All his stresses come to a head when the neighbors John suspects of growing marijuana call him a pig for turning off their loud generator. John disarms one of the neighbors and uses his gun to beat the other neighbor. The police show up and shoot John twice when he stands up gun in his hand even though it’s at his side.
First aired: April 17, 2013
What do you think? Do you like the Southland TV series? Are you sorry that it’s been cancelled and won’t have a sixth season?
Good policework and not too big on relationships, a little yes, but not like other shows where everyone sleeps with each other on revolving door basis.
Bring it back. Please.
“I think” you are making a HUGE mistake by taking Southland off.
It had finally found true emotion and strong character in everybody’s part.
The cast is outstanding with seasoned actors and a very strong story each week. It shows the heart of the stories told.
PLEASE reconsider your decision to cancel.
i love this show
After the last two episodes, which I think every police officer should watch, are you kidding me – cancelled !? I very much want execs to re-think cancelling such a good show as “Southland”. I have watched some very realistic and gut-wrenching acting on this show and that is not often seen in this era of “reality TV”. There is plenty of other crap you can cancel but bring back “Southland”. I want to see how P.T.S.D. is addressed and it could be very educational for the viewing public to learn and understand how much stress could be on a… Read more »
5 season and only 43 episodes, and they wonder why this show coundn’t get a folowing and ratings. This show was mis-managed from the start when it was with NBC. They start the season in Jan. and end it in March and expect people to stick around until next January. Great show hate to see it go but new it was coming because of poor management.
Greatest show on television. Excellent stories, fantastic characters, great actors. Aren’t we all tired of all this so-called reality tv and singing/dancing competitions? This was the one show my wife and I anticipated watching every week. Bad move by TNT and originally NBC.
Bring it back please
Southland is the best Police show on T.V. Every time a good one comes along, it gets cancelled. I will really miss it. Great stories and great actors.
Too bad! It was a great show.
I LOVE THIS SHOW. Really sorry to hear it was cancelled. Also read in TV Guide they MIGHT do a 2 hr. show to close out everything. THAT WOULD NICE!! I am/was an avid fan of this show….never missed it.
I am having a hard time believing that TNT would cancel this show. Being a former Police Officer, I find this show the most down to earth and the most honest when it comes to telling what it is like working the streets. It is not ALL fun and games. It is tragedy and broken hearts along with some of the most craziest things anyone will ever see. This program shows it like it is.
What a shame you won’t show life like it really is.
It is unforgivable that TNT would cancel this incredible series! A true inheritor of Homicide, Life on the Streets and the ground-breaking Shield, Southland was one of the grittiest, most honest, and enlightening television experiences to grace the screen. Superbly written, breathtaking in cinematic expertise, truly believable characters that capture the viewer from the very beginning and make you care about them. No fancy dialogue, no pontificating characters, no reality-bending plot lines; Southland is quite simply, the best TV series in many years. For the viewing public to be burdened with the inane and insulting shows that have been renewed;… Read more »
As a trauma nurse in the catchement cnter for Grennwich Village I really enjoy the reality this show brings. It shows both the major cast members’ as well as the guest actors’ reaction to the varieties of human problems with whch they have to deal with on a daily basis. Excellently written and acted. Keep it going.
I could smell the deodorant. Keep up the good work. Lucy Liu was exciting in the last season.
[…] second season of 15 episodes will start airing on Monday, January 28th. The fifth season of Southland is set to kick off on Wednesday, February 13th. There are 10 […]