MovieChat Forums > Southland (2009) Discussion > New to Southland

New to Southland

posted 12 years ago by fanaticita
11 replies | jump to latest

I started watching the first couple of episodes in Season One and I sort of got turned off by the murder of the little girl, and then in the second episode (I think) the young African-American girl who wanted to be a cop when she grew up is recruited into a "junior" force, and some guys in her 'hood were watching her as she went up the stairs to her home. I though. . oh no, they're going to kill her. I love detective/police shows but when they show bad stuff happening to kids I can't deal with it. Does this happen a lot throughout the show? What happens to the girl who joined the "junior" force? Thanks.

[–] JudeDeveraux 12 years ago

I didn't get to see the 1st season but no it's not every episode that stuff happens to kids in the later seasons.

I didn't see any kids being killed ...the kids I saw had their parents either run out on them or killed and the cops would help to find them homes.

Stick with the show, it gets much better...you will love it.

[–] Maverick356 12 years ago

She doesn't get killed or harmed in anyway. I don't recall any other kids being killed in the series.

Look sharp, act sharp, be sharp.

[–] BSQuared_41 12 years ago

Nothing happens to the girl from the first season.

But I can think of two other instances where children do die (however, it is not shown). In one, a young child is shot in a drive-by and in this past season a baby died in one episode. But please don't let that deter you from watching the show, because it isn't violent for the sake of being violent, and it isn't about the shock value. It's all about how these characters deal with what they're exposed to while they're on the job, and how well or how poorly they cope. Stick with it, I promise you won't regret it even if you might be a little uncomfortable with some of the material.

Couldn't you do something less drastic than sleeping with her? Couldn't you just kill her?

[–] fanaticita 12 years ago

OK, I'll give it another shot. . .excuse the pun.

[–] User_With_No_Name 12 years ago

Honestly, this is not an easy show to stomach because it is so raw, real, unapologetic and completely devoid of cheesy filler. Much like real life, things are not wrapped up all tidy and neat. It doesn't feel like a cop drama, it feels like you are just there in the back of the squad car or a fly on the wall.

They continually ratchet up the intensity with Southland. There were some episodes that my jaw literally dropped and I was just dumbfounded at what just occurred. Such a fantastic show that deserved a longer run. I blame the networks for mishandling this masterpiece.

I need to re-watch the entire series again soon.

[–] fanaticita 12 years ago

I gave it another try and realized that the hand help camera that is used in most of the action scenes was making me feel like throwing up. I get that way with hand held cameras in movie theaters, but this was the first time it bothered me while watching the dvds on television. Sooooo.. . I'm switching to NCIS: Los Angeles. So far so good.

[–] SrEditor 11 years ago

I love NCIS LA, but it is NOT Southland.

Southland is maybe the first time I have *liked* hand held camerawork, because it actually does add to the realism. Does it make the action scenes uncomfortable and sometimes even messy? Yes. But only because they are not filming them on tracks with careful focus pulling for every scene.

I would say, give it a try every once in a while. You might develop a tolerance for the action scenes, an immunity to the motion sickness, and you'll find it pays off to see a good show.

[–] JudeDeveraux 11 years ago

Another NCIS LA fan here but it's definitely nothing like Southland. (BTW Eric Christian Olsen's wife just had a boy)

Give the show another chance because not every episode uses the hand held camera but like SrEditor says it adds to the realism of the show.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] duanereilly 11 years ago

For me, the little kid who talked about the magic cave was much more disturbing for me. That kid lived, although will be scarred for the rest of his life along with the rest of the kids that pervert destroyed.