Reviewing Movies

Essentially another cop show featuring actors known from other series. Michael Cudlitz played Bull in Band of Brothers; Shawn Hatosy, Brendan Behan in Borstal Boys; Ben McKenzie in the OC; and Tom Everett Scott reappears in an adult roll after skirting the Brat Pack in decades past. Ben plays the rookie whose trainer John Cooper introduces Ben and the audience to the rigors of policing the streets of Easts LA. Tom’s Russell copes with being seriously injured on the job while Shawn’s Sammy copes with a flaky drug addicted wife. The show distinguishes itself from others of the genre by dealing with the officers’ personal issues while they deal with the cases and situations thrown at them on the street. They have to struggle with drug dependency, personal conflicts, moral issues that blend black and white into gray. We see gun play and chase scenes on foot and in car but this is more a Drama Series than Action/Adventure.