Southland – Recap & Review – Derailed

photo: tnt

Southland
Derailed

Original Air Date: Feb 23, 2010

Farrah Kaye – Associate Editor
farrah@thetwocentscorp.com

It’s what we’ve been waiting for … some of us longer than others. The season one (aka “the original episodes) ending. The season two previews have been everywhere and I can’t wait for it! But in the meantime, we had to see what season one had us ending with. I will be honest, I was so excited I watched it already and will watch it again to review it – it’s just THAT good. I just have to thank Jay Leno for making it possible for Southland to get a new life at TNT. It’s the best thing that ever happened! Now, on with the season finale …

Opening flashback scene: Brown, Dewey (yes, he’s back), Sherman and Cooper standing over a trunk with a dead body in it. The voiceover says: Holiday weekends are notoriously busy for the police. Our officers had made plans for the weekend, but they were derailed.

Five hours earlier …

Ben (shirtless – woot!) and Daisy are in bed, her singing for him and asking him if he’s going to see her sing that night. He agrees. Then we finally see Dewey (he’s been missing since crazy movie star guy incident, right?) leaving a bar in the morning and changing in the car on his way to work. Cooper is in someone’s backyard, agreeing the color of the bricks he’s laying are nice. Sal is on the phone with Clarke, who still hasn’t moved home. They used to be neighbors (didn’t know that) and Sal says Clarke’s wife misses him and asks him to come to the barbecue he’s having that night. We also hear a couple across the street fighting – loudly. Sal tries getting his daughter to help him with the barbecue and she says no, and also says she won’t be at the BBQ, which is for Memorial Day (remember, these episodes ran last year…). Kimmy pulls out the “I hate you card” and we still hear the couple across the street arguing. Sal goes over to tell them to be quiet. Finally at work, Sherman and Cooper discuss their weekend plans and Sherman says he’s going to see Daisy sing but can’t admit that she’s his girlfriend. Some random guy says he needs a ride because he’s late somewhere – they’re not a cab service! Funny Cooper moment. At the station, Bryant is informed that the head of the gang that is going after Janilla paid bail and is free now (it’s a mother who leads the gang, which is made up of her sons). Bryant feels Janilla isn’t safe with him anymore because Tammi isn’t taking care of her and doesn’t want a gun in the house. Janilla tells them she is going to work out with the Explorers but they don’t tell her about the lady making bail. We see Marta, the leader, questioning a guy, who was sent to shoot Janilla at the courthouse, and why he didn’t get the job done. He’s the same guy from the trunk in the opening scene. He’s shot in the head.

Bryant goes to the FBI (I assume?) who keep refusing to protect Janilla. Brown tells Dewey to go home because he’s drunk. This is not going to end well, is it. Adams is running with a friend talking about guys (finally, lunch-date guy’s name was Talib..only three episodes too late!) and says she is having a BBQ and Adams says she’ll come. Bryant and all the detectives working on the case are trying to work on how to get Marta but she keeps escaping. Bryant realizes Janilla isn’t back from working out with the Explorers and they kick into high gear to find her. Cooper and Sherman are called to the trunk scene and Cooper is still in FTO mode, telling Sherman to evaluate the scene. I like FTO Cooper. At the station, the detectives figure out Janilla is probably with her boyfriend when they get the call about the dead shooter. While at the scene, Sherman gets a call from Daisy reminding him to come to her show. Dewey leaves the scene to go to the bathroom and Brown tells Cooper he’s drunk and that she’s done with the situation. Cooper says he’ll back her up as long as it doesn’t jeopardize his job or land him in jail … says Dewey should have retired. See, I wasn’t losing my mind. There was a retirement party for him.

Bryant and Moretta catch up with Janilla, who is with her boyfriend and his “friends.” As soon as they take her away, he makes a phone call. I have a bad feeling about this guy. While Adams is eating lunch, Bryant calls her asking her to take Janilla in for a few days. At the same time, Moretta is talking with Janilla and reminding her she’s doing the right thing and it will all be over soon. Back at the station, Sal is still Facebook-stalking Kimmy and is talking to his wife about where Kimmy is going that night (she says she’s going to her boyfriend’s house but Sal doesn’t buy it). His wife also says that Dina (Clarke’s wife) really misses him. Janilla’s boyfriend, meanwhile, is being taken into a house by Marta’s gang. OH! No he didn’t! Marta wants to know where Janilla is. He’s working against Janilla and FOR Marta. He owes Marta money and says he’s tired of Janilla and doesn’t like her because she’s a snitch. He shows them his tattoo that says “Trust No B*tch” and Marta says she is one and he trusts her (well, Marta is a bit different from Janilla…a LOT different). Marta says if he messes up one more time, his entire family will be in trouble.

Sal asks the guys what “sexting” is because Kimmy mentions it on her Facebook. Back to Sherman and Cooper’s weekend plans, Cooper says he is building a retaining wall in his garden. They get a call but it’s very vague, which usually makes for funny moments with them (and pisses off Cooper). They are called to a fast-food restaurant because a lady was upset when the restaurant was out of chicken nuggets. Cooper yells at her and Sherman tells her to try the fish. LOVE IT. Bryant and Moretta drop Janilla off at Adams’ house and they get acquainted. Cooper and Sherman are told to start covering Adams’ house for 24-hour surveillance of Janilla. Lydia is trying to make Janilla feel at home but she is upset and standoff-ish. She doesn’t want to go to the BBQ but when Lydia says she’ll go to the grocery store to get stuff to make their own BBQ, she agrees to it. Sherman and Cooper are on duty and Cooper says he is building the wall with his friend Cesar … and Daisy is going to be singing music that is KD Lang meets Joni Mitchell. Dewey makes him and Brown stop at a store so he can use the restroom again and Brown has finally had enough. Tammi calls Bryant and he rips into her about now watching Janilla and all Tammi cares about is herself and their dinner being ruined. Sal finds out, via Facebook, that Kimmy is going to a rave and decides to go, taking two of the detectives with him. Janilla’s “boyfriend” shows up to Lydia’s and the cops tell him he can’t come in, no mater what. Brown takes Dewey to a spot where they are going to meet with their sergeant and Dewey passes out. When he wakes up, he says he won’t be turned in and takes them on a joyride (at the same place the “race” scene was filmed in Grease). Lydia comes back to the house and tells Janilla’s boyfriend he has to go…and I’m sure he’s just soooo broken-hearted. Dewey is off his rocker, making them hydroplane and even going up on the side of the wash. Finally, he overturns the car. Brown calls for help and Cooper and Sherman are the closest to the scene so they head out, making sure to call for back up to their security detail.

Dewey is being sent to rehab but they are both (physically) okay. Clarke finally decides to go home and is casually getting a beer out of the fridge when his wife comes in. They both apologize to each other. Sal is at the rave and Kimmy calls him, high as a kite. She says she left the rave. Lydia and Janilla talk about Memorial Day and the meaning of it while some gang members call in a fake phone call about officers being shot. Sherman and Cooper are finally done for the day and Sherman is heading to watch Daisy sing. Bryant hears the call about the “officer being shot” and says what if it’s a setup – Moretta tells him he’s being paranoid. Janilla is laughing while watching TV and Lydia is sitting with her when she sees headlights pull up in front of the house. She says she’s going to the kitchen to get something – water and a GUN (although Janilla doesn’t know about the gun part). Lydia turns off the kitchen light to observe more and the headlights come around again. She heads upstairs quickly and gets a SUPER BIG GUN out of her safe. Janilla sees her and as Lydia calls for backup, they hear someone break in. Lydia gives her the small gun and she heads downstairs to see what’s going on. She doesn’t even get to the staircase when a guy shoots at her and she takes him out! She goes all the way down the stairs. Bryant and Moretta are speeding to the scene calling for all units as Lydia hears someone upstairs. Janilla holds up her gun to shoot the guy holding the gun at her when Lydia comes up from behind and shoots him first. Lydia heads back downstairs to see the rest of the guys running away and shoots at them as they shoot at her back. She’s not hit, but her house is.

Is your heart racing like mine is?? And this is my second time watching it!

Lydia is being questioned about the guys and if she has a place to go when the feds show up and finally agree to take Janilla in to Witness Protection. Bryant tries to comfort Janilla. OH how I wish he’d leave crazyTammi because he is such a good person! At the bar or wherever Daisy is singing, she tells Ben she’s going back to NY and to the guy she was seeing and how her and Ben can’t talk to each other like they used to. Ben is honestly upset and leaves. The feds take away Janilla (what about her grandma? Hmm…). Meanwhile, Kimmy shows up at Sal’s BBQ, apologizing profusely. Clarke and his wife head to the BBQ together when they hear the couple arguing. He says he’s going to invite them to make peace for just one night. Cooper and Cesar finish their retaining wall and share a beer under the fireworks (oh, and sexy looks, too). Clarke goes home to crazyTammi and they just sit on the couch together, without saying a word to each other. Ben sits on his porch, wallowing in his loneliness. As Sal and his guests watch the fireworks, across the street, Clarke knocks on the door to the angry guy and is shot by him, who then shoots his wife and (it sounds like) himself.

THE END.

Until next week! Lydia with a new partner. Sherman driving the car. Dewey is gone. Does Clarke make it? SO MUCH DRAMA!

So, that’s it for season one, aka the NBC episodes aka the Original Ones. I can’t wait for next season. What do you think will happen? Will Clarke make it? How will Sherman do at the wheel? Will Cooper’s “secret” life come out? How will Adams do with a new partner? What kind of partner will Brown get? Leave your two cents below!

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati | Yahoo Buzz | Newsvine