Obviously TNT decided not to renew this after s5 but Im curious if anyone knows if the story arc was meant to possibly wrap up in case they were predicting it would be the last season. Especially since (Spoilers) the conclusion of season 5 obviously, was "he" meant to die?
shareI don't think it was planned this way.
shareS5 was not meant to be the last, no. But, the way it ended left me satisfied & went out in true SL fashion.
SPOILER:
Cooper was meant to survive.
I'm actually glad it ended the way it did because the way it ended is how SL was from the get-go: heart-breaking/emotional, gritty/realistic, in your face, but also showing life goes on and sometimes things are left unresolved or unfinished.
Personally, I feel Cooper dying would've been better for the story and character even though he was a fan favorite. I think his story arc was perfect in that he let all of his emotional baggage and trauma get the better of him after so many years on the force, divorce, bad childhood upbringing, being a closet gay in a masculine occupation, struggling with injuries & addiction- which all lead to his character's decline with personal relationships and his pessimistic attitude.
We, as viewers, and his character got to see what he'd become if he didn't change and that was his old F.T.O. who was an alcoholic, divorced, living on a boat, retired, suicidal mess.
Plus, if Coop survived, I don't buy him coming back to work again after his life-threatening injuries. His character already went through seasons of pain/struggling with a serious injury which was done very well & showed how unlikely it is for an officer to come back from all that & have everything work out when you're that age. To see it again wouldn't have been as powerful, IMO.
I feel we got closure for Lydia, Russell, Sammy, and Ruben in the final episode. Ben's character is probably the one I wouldn't mind seeing more of, but again, I was satisfied seeing his last scene where he's left devastated from losing a great partner & friend, and he's reaping what he sowed from trying to be above the law and the poster boy of the LAPD but thinking he's the hero cop who did no wrong up until that point. His fate could either be he becomes more crooked/corrupt or he changes his ways. We'll never know but I'm ok without knowing because what we saw was enough, I thought.
Most people want closure- it's natural, so I see why people wanted more & wanted to know what happened to X character in Y situation but it ended how SouthLAnd needed to end, like a lot more people are saying these days. I was in a small minority of praising the S5 ending when it happened & there was some anger, backlash & disappointment for it being cancelled when it did. Was it disappointing that it got cancelled because it was so good? Definitely. Was it a proper ending? For SouthLAnd- I say yes.
Take care, God bless.
I took Cooper's actions at the end to be suicide by cop. He knew he had guns on him, but chose to act in a way that he knew would get him shot.
DAMN