Southland Beats The Cliché

There's nothing new about Southland (which premieres Thursday, 10.00pm on More4). You've seen the setting (LA), the premise (new cop grows up on the job) and characters (craggy captains and wet-behind-the-aviators lieutenants) many many times before. But this refreshingly ambitious, smart cop show proves that repetition doesn't have to be a bad thing. With police drama, it's always about execution. If you opt for gritty realism over daft cop capers then there's a lot that can go wrong. But if it's done well, a show like Southland should pick up Emmys like shells after a shootout.

Just out of the academy, Ben Sherman (Ben McKenzie from The O.C) is partnered with LAPD old hand, John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz). Immediately there's tension because Ben is a privileged pretty boy whose senior officer suspects he's only playing at being a cop. So, Ben's scoffed at by his hostile handler while his other, more forgiving, colleagues merely decide (it's never quite clear why) that he's Canadian. He's not Canadian. Mostly, Ben answers his co-workers by staying silent. Southland's backstage cop banter, complete with realistically economical responses from the frightened newbie, exposes the show's sophistication. Most writers wouldn't be able to resist tapping out at least one feverish retort for young Ben. But a better penman knows that a nervous new cop in his early twenties wouldn't dare talk back, however good a comeback he's brewed. Of course, Ben makes his mark, just not with his words.

We watch the day go down through the new blue's eyes. Alongside Ben, we learn that all those hackneyed police stereotypes are well earned. If there's a cop on this force who hasn't got a troubled personal life then we're yet to meet him. To the viewer, these are all familiar characters, yet because the script is so crisp and succinct, there's no doubt that we're meeting them for the first time, and we're excited by what they have to say.

Ben's baptism of firearms is central to this first episode. It might well have seen him walk off the job. When he decides to stay (yes, this is a semi-spoiler. But we'll assume you worked out that the show's lead sticks it out for more than the pilot) we know that, by episode two, his fellow cops will grant him a sliver more respect. And Ben will go on to form full sentences. But it's also clear that the rich boy/blue collar tension that hooked us into to this first instalment won't just melt away. It's this delicious juxtaposition that will keep you watching.