Southland: Season 1

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 125 Ratings

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8.5

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8.5	User Score Universal acclaim based on 125 Ratings

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Southland

Now Playing: Southland

Season Details & Credits

NBC | TNT | Season Premiere Date: April 9, 2009

Starring: Tom Everett Scott, Arija Bareikis, Michael Cudlitz

Summary: After being cancelled by NBC, John Wells' drama about the Los Angeles police department finds a new home on TNT.

Creator: Ann Biderman

Genre(s): Drama, Action & Adventure, Suspense

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Season 1 Episodes

tbd
S1:E7. Derailed
Air Date: May 21, 2009
tbd
S1:E6. Westside
Air Date: May 14, 2009
tbd
S1:E5. Two Gangs
Air Date: May 7, 2009

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Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Dorothy Rabinowitz

Prattle is, in any case, a minor note compared with the crackling pace of the first script, its evocative mood of menace at every turn, each police car racing to destinations that will reveal who knows what tragedy or unspeakable sight. Read full review

Southland is built to be bigger, and in that sense it succeeds immediately, thanks to excellent casting (especially Michael Cudlitz and Regina King as a cop and a detective), gritty location shooting around L.A. and storytelling that doesn’t hold the viewer’s hand. Read full review

David Hinckley

What Southland has, already, is its own swagger, a get-outta-my-way style of moving and talking that says it's going for the raw edges we see on cable shows like "Breaking Bad." Southland pulls it off, too. If Thursday night's premiere episode is an indication how it plans to roll, it's a keeper. Read full review

Matthew Gilbert

The show is what it is--no surprises, no disappointments. Read full review

Brian Lowry

Wells and company have delivered a cop drama with its own racing pulse, albeit for a network that's uncomfortably close to flatlining. Read full review

Rob Owen

Of the two new cop shows this week, Southland is the more serious and realistic. It also demonstrates the potential for greater depth in its exploration of characters and their stories. Read full review

Robert Bianco

Southland is unbearable--a pretentious, foul-mouthed, overly arty chore that will leave you with a headache should you linger too long. Read full review

SEE ALL 22 REVIEWS

User Score

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8.5

User Reviews

marks

Apr 14, 2009

Amazing! super realistic cop show! not the typical "crime happens-solve crime- catch bad guy" this show deals with the day to day emotional aspects of police officers and what they are faced with every day! everything that is said and done by the actors is super realistic! well acted! very Amazing! super realistic cop show! not the typical "crime happens-solve crime- catch bad guy" this show deals with the day to day emotional aspects of police officers and what they are faced with every day! everything that is said and done by the actors is super realistic! well acted! very realistic! Best cop show in a long time!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

NoahF

Nov 26, 2009

Best new show. I can;t believe it got canceled. T.V. is starting to suck again. I think I just won't watch it. Bring Southland back! To me this is like Law and Order or CSI but more realistic. Which only makes it come across graphic and unafraid. Some of the scenes I felt like I almost Best new show. I can;t believe it got canceled. T.V. is starting to suck again. I think I just won't watch it. Bring Southland back! To me this is like Law and Order or CSI but more realistic. Which only makes it come across graphic and unafraid. Some of the scenes I felt like I almost couldn't watch. It was great!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

DaveJ

May 20, 2009

This show is the uniform partner to NYPD Blue. As a retired police sergeant I can see the real life street situations in this show. It is not for everyone since most of the low votes on here are people that know nothing about law enforcement on the street level. The old saying is 90% of This show is the uniform partner to NYPD Blue. As a retired police sergeant I can see the real life street situations in this show. It is not for everyone since most of the low votes on here are people that know nothing about law enforcement on the street level. The old saying is 90% of police work is done in 19% of the time. Homicide was great, NYPD Blue was great, Police Story was great, Law & Order was/is below fair and some of the others that I cannot remember are below average. ER was not a real ER because I have worked in a real ER so those who knock Southland probably have never been a cop or worked the streets. This show is realistic and those who say it is not just don't know and have never been there. If you showed police on patrol it would be boring as most shifts are but you do want action and Southland gives you action. COPS is just the interesting part of the shift not the boring part.… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful

ElliotS

May 21, 2009

I like the look of the show, I like the characters, it is fairly intelligent, I like the opening montage and I seem to care about what happens to these people. There is a lot of kindness, and I would say a lot of reality, maybe not so much in the crime solving, how would I know? But in the I like the look of the show, I like the characters, it is fairly intelligent, I like the opening montage and I seem to care about what happens to these people. There is a lot of kindness, and I would say a lot of reality, maybe not so much in the crime solving, how would I know? But in the cops lives......but nothing can ever top "The Wire" and tonight's episode did a total "Wire" rip........when the police received the officer shot call from the people who wanted to kill Janilla.......so totally Randy and Miss Anna. Oh well, imitation is the highest form of flaterry and it's beats "American Idol" et al hands down.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

RangerFish

Sep 13, 2010

I can't help comparing Southland to The Shield - perhaps because of the LA setting. Certainly, the show doesn't shy away from a tough representation of the LAPD, though it doesn't make corruption its central theme like The Shield did.

In fact the one complaint I might level againt theI can't help comparing Southland to The Shield - perhaps because of the LA setting. Certainly, the show doesn't shy away from a tough representation of the LAPD, though it doesn't make corruption its central theme like The Shield did.

In fact the one complaint I might level againt the show is the lack of a central story. The characters do evolve a little over the course of the series but the show never really carries a thread to full completion, and it sometimes feels like it's showing random snippets from different characters - more "a day in the life..." rather than "the story off...". However, because of this the show also has a pretty unique style, and over the 12 episodes it works really well.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

ChuckC

Apr 12, 2009

I'm not psychic, so I never got the connection with the "ants" in the alley and in her apartment??? What makes writers think we understand something that has no credibility? I'll watch once more to make my final decision

0 of 1 users found this helpful

petes

Apr 16, 2009

The show is really horrible. First they bleep out words - how asinine is that? Don't try to make it like reality if it is so fake. Police draw their weapons a few times in their career not a few times a shift. How can you drive down the street and not see a baby sitting in the middle The show is really horrible. First they bleep out words - how asinine is that? Don't try to make it like reality if it is so fake. Police draw their weapons a few times in their career not a few times a shift. How can you drive down the street and not see a baby sitting in the middle of the road? I mean it isn't like it is a bouncing ball that appeared all of a sudden. Not to mention once they stop there are several calls driving by. I guess they were at the right place at the right time. Thank goodness for the police. After this guy jumps through a window shoots at the cops and pulls a knife on them they calmly shoot him with a bean bag shot gun and just walk away like its no big deal. Besides it being so fake it is really written horribly - beside a little bit of action it is a complete waste of time.… Expand

1 of 7 users found this helpful

SEE ALL 41 REVIEWS

Seasons & Episodes

77

Series Overview
Season 5

86
- Season 5 Overview
  Air Date: February 13, 2013
Season 4

87
- Season 4 Overview
  Air Date: January 17, 2012
Season 3

80
- Season 3 Overview
  Air Date: January 4, 2011
Season 2

77
- Season 2 Overview
  Air Date: March 2, 2010
Season 1

69
- Season 1 Overview
  Air Date: April 9, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E7. Derailed
  Air Date: May 21, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E6. Westside
  Air Date: May 14, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E5. Two Gangs
  Air Date: May 7, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E4. Sally in the Alley
  Air Date: April 30, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E3. See the Woman
  Air Date: April 23, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E2. Mozambique
  Air Date: April 16, 2009
- tbd
  S1:E1. Unknown Trouble
  Air Date: April 9, 2009