Maybe because it's Friday or because I've spent what I'd quantify as too much time thinking about it without talking it all out with friends first, I'm going to keep this brief: Southland is an awesome show with awesome actors, and it was totally, totally awesome this season.
I feel like the last episode, after a season of focusing on building new partnerships and defining what partnership is and means (and sometimes doesn't mean), there was a stark, isolated feel to that final sequence where each of our four leads--John, Sammy, Ben, and Lydia--are essentially very much alone with their secrets, their truths, and their disappointments. It reminded me of--wait for it--Mad Men, the way that I feel at the end of an ep where despite seeing relationships played out, grow, and bear fruit, Don and Peggy seem to spend a lot of time feeling left out, misunderstood, or lonely.
I don't know that I'd label it an unhappy message. I mean, John is still working towards his 20 years and 1 day, still bringing new boots into the world with a slap on the ass (metaphorically...y'know, with his sarcasm and intimidating manner) and Lydia finally closed book on her expectations of her unborn child's married father and is preparing to spend her remaining months of pregnancy off work.
Ben, shading his eyes and laying poolside, was a different story: I feel as though it was fairly ambiguous where he is at with all that happened with Ronnie, Amber, and Daniela (Danielle?). It's more clear that Sammy is distraught and disappointed, likely feeling far more responsible for what happened than he actually is.
The final confrontation between Cooper and Tang was easily my favorite dramatic part of the episode. I'm going to miss Cudlitz and Liu as scene partners. They struck such a great balance early in the season, with their tentative, prickly bonding and their moments of levity, and the slow boil that resulted in the two of them having it out in the alley was so well-acted. I don't know how Cudlitz managed to dial his normally intimidating physical presence back, but he did, so that when he and Liu were nearly toe-to-toe, it didn't seem for a second like he was crowding her or looming over her. But perhaps that had to do with Liu's ability to play Tang's defensive and angry dismissal of Cooper.
Good stuff. I'm sad another season has come and gone, but good gravy, between this show and Justified, I need a little break from the constant ass-kickings and tense showdowns.
Definitely good stuff. You make a great point about Cudlitz not being physically looming over her in that final scene; I hadn't noticed at the time, but he really didn't invade her space, like he has in other confrontations with, well, everyone. That stark isolation and pain on his face when he was in the back of the room was pretty amazing too. I am so going to miss Cooper and Tang; it was refreshing to see him with an equal partner instead of in a mentoring relationship.
ReplyDeleteAnd god, that intense stare-down between Ben and Sammy across the pool. A million slash fans woke up in that moment, methinks. That said, I don't know where Ben is headed; they didn't show us the shooting at all, and I think that was meant to imply that he shot the pimp in old blood, and later, putting on his sunglasses...so he has no regrets? He's gone that far over? I thought he was supposed to be the idealistic one. Whew. Where is that going to go next season? That is going to be so rough.
I think the show gave us some hints that Ben had mixed feelings. He was definitely having a moment of panic right after the shooting--kind of similar to Sammy having to pull over and throw up after his mess in the desert last season--and Ben also struggled not to cry as he saw Daniela (Danielle? I don't know) onto the bus.
ReplyDeleteI spent some time wondering if the shooting is meant to be ambiguous: are we, the viewers, meant to feel a little like Ben did when he found the crack pipe in the back seat of the squad? We have all this evidence pointing to one thing, but are we supposed to trust that Ben did the right thing? After all, Ronnie did have a gun. He did take a shot at Ben and Sammy.
Someone over at the TumblrBumblr posted that photo of Ben from the pilot episode crouching over the first guy he shot with the quote about how shooting someone was a big deal to him. That really, really hit me. What a journey that kid with the cowlick has taken in four seasons.
As to the slash: yeeeeeeeah, I don't think I want to read that, just like I don't want to read John and Ben.