May 21st, 2009
If you’ve been hypnotized like I have with NBC’s new cop show Southland, you won’t want to miss tonight’s episode “Derailed,” which serves as Southand’s finale for a while.
The show will return with 13 new episodes in the fall – but on a new night – Friday, as NBC just shuffled its fall season around to accommodate The Jay Leno Show each night. I wasn’t real happy with that at first – but I think Friday is going to be the “new” Thursday. Lots of good shows are moving to Friday, including Smallville.
In “Derailed,” the day takes a turn for the worse when officers John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz -he’s on Twitter!), Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie), Chickie Brown (Arija Bareikis) and Dewey (guest star, C. Thomas Howell. War of the Worlds) find a member of Marta’s Avenue gang dead in a trunk outside Dodger Stadium. Meanwhile, Detective Bryant (Shawn Hatosy) convinces Lydia (Regina King) to take in Janilla (guest star, Carla Jeffrey, Curb Your Enthusiasm) in order to ensure her safety. Elsewhere, Detective Salinger becomes increasingly frustrated with his growing rift with his teenage daughter. Kevin Alejandro and Tom Everett Scott also star.
In the last Southland episode “Westside,” we saw first-hand that officer John Cooper is addicted to pain pills for his back pain he is trying to hide. And it’s gotten out of control as he now is basically using illegal resources to curb his need.
Meanwhile, officer Ben Sherman hooked up with his ex-girlfriend’s BFF after running into her following a break-in to her ritzy Bel Air property. Yea, I understand it’s against company police to get involved with a victim, but they did know each other before it happened and had history. I’m curious if they will show her again or if that was just a one episode deal. Also, we got to see Ben go all “Ryan Atwood” (an O.C. reference) on his father, played by John Heard, when he finds him with his mother – who he has hurt in the past with his actions.
Lydia learned the hard way that once men learn she’s a cop, she’s treated differently. Lydia also agreed to watch Janilla if Det. Bryan’s wife doesn’t let him. From the promo photos, it appears that the gang members will do whatever it takes to get to Janilla – even breaking into Lydia’s home.
Here are more photos from the “Derailed” episode:
NBC Photos: Richard Foreman
Tags: Southland, southland benjamin mckenzie, southland derailed, southland derailed spoilers, southland finale, southland michael cudlitz, southland nbc, southland previews, southland regina king, southland spoilers
