Southland 4x07 "Fallout"

I have been loving Southland this season, which is unsurprising, I suppose. The last episode did more of what I like best: focus on what it means to be a “partner,” and what happens when that relationship is in conflict.

I have to admit that Tang and Cooper have been my surprise favorites this season. Their progression from precinct-house jokes to a competent, tightly knit team doing good work and getting to quietly know each other the way two guarded, prickly, but generous and funny people would. I have to admit that Cooper being all mock-“Meh-meh-meh-meh-meh” at Tang at the beginning of the ep gave me a odd overflowing of affection for the two of them.

Naturally, nothing good lasts forever, and Tang, suffering through a bad personal day, makes one snap decision—to take the bright orange tip off the toy gun she caught a glance of while chasing a suspect, resulting in her shooting an innocent kid—and all the goodwill and connection is immediately placed in jeopardy. Much like Cooper, Tang is stubborn and defensive, bristling at being told what to do by her new partner. And Cooper... man, Michael Cudlitz did some of the best work of the season (and that’s saying something) as he turned in on himself, silent but struggling mightily under the weight of wanting to share the truth.

One of the things I’ve always liked and respected about Southland is that they’re never trying to play tricks with tone or psych the viewer out with the way they present a scene. So when Cooper is charging down a dark alley, agitated and hurting, to meet a cool cucumber who asks him about Oxy and Vicodin, the actors, the writing, the direction is all very deliberately upfront, at least if you’ve seen an ep or two of the series: there was nothing furtive in Cudlitz’s performance as Cooper to try to indicate that this was a drug buy, the man he is talking too seems too forward and level-headed to be a dealer. I don’t think the show intended to trust the long-time audience to immediately recognize the differences and know ahead of the reveal that John was meeting his sponsor, looking for support and guidance.

Also, I need to annoy everyone: Dee! D’Angelo from The Wire! That actor is great.

And to reiterate: I am loving Lucy Liu as Jessica Tang. I enjoyed the opportunity to get to know more about her personal life, even in limited slivers, and I like that this storyline isn’t about a female officer being incompetent—I think the way the sequence of events leading up to the shooting was filmed, particularly the split-second POV shot where the audience sees the gun suggested it was indeed a decision made out of training and instinct—but about a police officer making a poor choice she didn’t have to make in a moment of doubt.

Anyway, in Ben and Sammy’s world, the two of them are still working out from under Ben’s momentary lapse of trust. Ben is frustrated by Sammy’s passive-aggressive (or, uh, plain ol’ aggressive) sniping; he apologizes again and again to no avail. Finally, Sammy drops his swagger, looks his partner in the eye, and reveals the philosophy that has been so ruptured by Ben’s slip-up: trust is critical to a partnership when the daily world the two people enter is filled with danger and distrust. It’s a nice moment of direct sincerity from Sammy, who immediately gets zinged, and good, by Ben, who apologizes bitterly for not living up to Nate. I loved the slow way that seeped into Sammy’s expression. The show hasn’t put a lot of focus on how large Nate’s shadow must loom, and I don’t know that Sammy has talked a lot about it, but I can’t help but imagine that Ben isn’t too, too far off base and that the show has intentionally made the decision not to lay that on too thick.

Also: Sammy, just get laid already. Please. Your resentment/enjoyment of Ben’s multiple conquests are messing with your head, man.

The Lydia/Ruben storyline has been the quietest of the three partner arcs, though I think that’s partially due to how low-key and awesome the performers are. After Russell, who inspired some kind of codependent mess in Lydia’s heart—and it was never clear if it was because she was in love with him, or if it was because he was the one constant in her life besides her mom—Lydia went through a string of partners, with whom she seemed to be indifferent or in conflict. Ruben has been a great fit for her: a dedicated family man who views the job as a job…one he does well and takes seriously, but one he disengages from at the end of the day, a crucial balance to Lydia’s default of taking the job Too Seriously (although when measured on the Olivia Benson Scale of Too Seriously, I still think Lydia only rates about a 3 at best) and mashing up personal and professional (though, to be fair, it was sort of an accident with Josie…initially, she didn’t KNOW that the dude she was flirting with was Josie’s son…initially…which was before she chose to sleep with him, oh, Lord…).

Anyway, the question of trust is ironed out over the course of several scenes, wherein Lydia feels that the captain sniffing her out for potential preggo-ness MUST have come from Ruben, and Ruben gently, but tactfully, points out that Lydia herself is showing her hand by trying too hard and drawing attention to her trying-too-hardness. I loved how confident and genuine the moment was when Ruben said that anything shared between the two of them remained sacrosanct and confidential. I am always eager to see how Lydia is progressing as she continues to think about what parenthood will mean for her and for her job.