What Separates “Southland” From Other Cop Shows
by Ben McKenzie
In the season finale of “Southland” (airing this week on TNT and tnt.tv) my character, Ben Sherman, takes drastic action that is at the very least unethical and arguably immoral. In part, Ben is still working through the psychological trauma he experienced as a child when he saw his mother assaulted, But primarily, his actions are a direct result of his descent into nihilism, which is borne out of his inability to accomplish what he set out to do when he became a cop: make things better.
The tension between striving to make the world better and accepting the world as it is lies at the heart of almost every plotline in Southland. And it’s what separates Southland from almost all the other “cop shows” on TV.
Many shows involving police portray a black-and-white world of good guys and bad guys — cops and criminals. A crime occurs at the opening of each episode, followed by an investigation and the eventual capture of the criminal. It’s a satisfying formula. Viewers are titillated with some violence and/or sex, but they’re assured that all transgressions will be punished by the good guys, and the world will be made safe again for the average, law-abiding folk.
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