By Alexandra Sparco @cautionwriter

Cooper & Sherman in "Butch and Sundance"

The theme song to Southland has never sounded so eerie before. Maybe TNT remixed it a bit? It could just be my anxiety for the episode to begin, or the fact that I’m actually using headphones and watching it on my iPod as I write this. The point being, I’ve never had a television show theme song give me this anxious feeling before. A scary suspenseful scene, sure. A theme song, not so much. However, this is Southland people, it’s damn good television and it’ll do that to you every time.

We start with Cooper and Sherman, henceforth referred to together as “Coopman” for my convenience engaged in a car chase. Zipping around parking lots and nearly ninety degree turns, something’s bound to happen – and it most definitely does. The car they’re chasing (a Toyota might I add) clips a curb, flips several times, the gas tank is leaking and it’s starting to catch fire. Coopman rushes out of their squad car to help, but Cooper realizes nothing can be done, he pulls Sherman away from the car and they both manage to get away before the thing explodes.

Officer John Cooper knows, and Ben Sherman will learn, that sometimes…you see things as a cop that nobody should see.

Can I call third-person omniscient narrator? Or is that too tenth-grade English class?

36 Hours Earlier. Richter is in bed with Tammy, while Sammy’s in the bathroom brushing his teeth. There’s no toilet paper. Sammy tells Tammy to go to Box Club and get some. Tammy complains, she just wants to go to Walgreens so she has more time to work on her photography portfolio. I love these Tammy/Sammy scenes. Tammy’s a complete mess, and Sammy’s the perfect foil to her – a man just trying to live his life by a set of rules for once.

A few minutes later, Coopman roll up to a nice house. A man is lying badly beaten on his front stairs, a neighbor sits by him. The neighbor says the man’s family is inside the house. As they clear the inside of the house, Coopman find the rest of the family beaten and tortured to death. It’s so bad, TNT has pixilated it for our viewing pleasure. Somehow, I already know I’m going to have to cover my eyes with a pillow if the Season 2 DVDs are uncensored.

Meanwhile, Nate takes his daughter Mercedes to school. He’s trying to tell her she should come to the baby shower for his new baby. She’s uninterested, and just wants him to help her find her mother. Nate reluctantly agrees, and Mercedes gets out of the car in a huff.

Cordero and Lydia arrive at the scene of the home invasion from earlier, and we immediately realize they’re more than likely going to have a differing opinions on the case (intentionally or not).

Lydia lets Coopman leave the scene a bit early, and Sherman is pissed. He doesn’t completely understand why they’re just going back to “chasing the radio” like nothing happened. Cooper puts it simply, he wants to catch the bad guys too, it was rough, and they’re lucky that Lydia let them leave when they did.

Nate, Sammy, Kenny and Andy are in the bullpen getting prepped on the details of the stakeout by Gil Puente (Laz Alonso, @lazalonso on Twitter), Nate’s former partner from narcotics. I like when cops shows take the time to have briefing scenes, especially at this pace – it tells more of a story than just jumping forward to the cops in the so not conspicuous paneled van snapping pictures. Gil then knocks Sal’s nameplate off his desk in a moment of excitement. Sal’s pissed, he doesn’t like this guy and his perpetually ready approach. Nate tells Sal to cool it, Gil isn’t doing anything bad.

Cordero and Lydia are now reviewing some surveillance tapes from the convenience store where the mom and daughters picked up the ice cream. They catch a bit of a lead on the suspect’s license plate. They’re warming up to each other due to this shared lead, but you can tell the animosity between them isn’t going to dissipate any time soon.

Coopman then are seen returning home after their shifts to take a load off. Cooper chooses to drown his frustration in a beer, while we see than Sherman simply can’t fall asleep. He’s staring out the window, his clock radio alarm going off, and the brutality of the case is still bothering the heck out of him.

The next morning, Cordero and Lydia are back on the case, still going against each other on every possible theory. Coopman are also back on the beat. Cooper notices Sherman’s sleepy-face and calls him on it. He jokes about giving Sherman some Ambien. Sherman embraces that opportunity, and rags on Cooper about his pill problem. Cooper than turns it around on Sherman, he’s tired of the rookie’s “passive-aggressive bullshit.” Good for you Cooper.

Now Sammy, Nate, and Gil actually are in the so not conspicuous van snapping pictures, except they sprung for the windowed version for ease of picture snapping. Gil asks Sammy if his wife is pregnant yet. Sammy reluctantly tells him that she isn’t. Gil pushes Sammy a bit more, tells him that since his wife is still young – she must not be trying hard enough. You can tell Sammy wants to beat the living daylights out of this punk, but he’s the better man and refrains.

Meanwhile, at the window, Nate spots someone pull up to the auto shop. It’s the gang member, Orlando, whom he and Sammy busted about a year back. Sammy confirms the visual on Orlando, and they decide to arrest him in violation of his probation for gang association. Nate radios Kenny, who along with Andy, begins to pursue Orlando via auto. This scene is a nice little break from Southland’s norm, as we get to ride along for a bit with two of the supporting characters. Kenny and Andy’s tail of Orlando is cut short when a firetruck pulls out in front of them – blocking the street.

Lydia’s at the hospital, interviewing the father from the home invasion earlier. She’s suspicious of him, asking one of his fellow doctors (James Eckhouse, Jim Walsh from Beverly Hills 90210) about his possible stressors – maybe the husband had something to do with the attack? “Jim Walsh” tells Lydia that he believes the doctor had a happy marriage and keeps asking about his wife, no reason he had anything to do with it. Lydia enters the room and interviews the father. He asks for his wife, Lydia tells him she’s dead. Distraught, he’s now worried about his daughters, Lydia tells him they didn’t make it either. The father, wires, tubes and bandages all over him, cries even more.

Sammy and Nate are driving through MacArthur Park looking for Orlando. Sammy tells Nate that Gil shouldn’t be ragging on him about his sex life – that’s private stuff. Nate assures him that Gil was just trying to pass the time. They spot Orlando, jump out of the car and take off after him. Sammy, ahead of Nate and running like a damn machine, catches up to Orlando and tackles him to the ground. Orlando tosses a gun into a nearby lake.

Lydia returns to the station. Cordero tells her that he found some stuff that implicates the father. Lydia, running on autopilot, tells “Russell” that it couldn’t have been the father. He was distraught, the kids weren’t even supposed to be there. Cordero stops her, tells her he’s not Russell, Lydia’s ashamed – but she tells Cordero that they should check into the parents from the father’s malpractice suit. Maybe it’s revenge? Cordero tells Lydia the father knew Wayne Dorff, the guy who drove the truck that tailed the wife and daughters to the convenience store.

Lydia and Cordero then take a trip to the rehab center that the father worked at, and Wayne attended. The director of the center tells the detectives that the father healed Dorff’s staph infection – and was always helping the guy out. Lydia asks the director if he knows who the skinny guy in the surveillance tape with Dorff is. They get a name, Danny Sutton. The two had a reputation as “Sylvester and Tweety Bird,” the director’s sure that Sutton got Dorff into trouble. Lydia thinks Dorff and Sutton saw how rich the father was, decided to rob him. Cordero is dead-set on the idea that the father could’ve hired Dorff and Sutton to pull it all off.

At lunch, Sherman tells Cooper he’s sorry he insulted him. Cooper tells him not to worry, then he gets a call from the Watch Commander for follow-up on the home invasion/triple homicide. Sherman then gets a call from his sister, who is trying to fix him up with a girlfriend via a dinner date. Cooper laughs. “Get laid, get drunk and try and forget about this crap,” he says.

Tammy is at Box Club, it’s warehouse walls stocked with crazy-huge boxes of foodstuffs. She stuffs some snacks, toilet paper and dog food (with extreme difficulty) into the overflowing cart and then hoofs it to the checkout line.

Back at MacArthur Park, Sammy and Nate are watching as a dive team searches the lake for Orlando’s gun. Sammy asks Nate if he trusts Gil, because Sal doesn’t like the guy. They then switch subjects to Mercedes, who’s upset that Nate couldn’t find her mom because he was too busy with his pregnant wife and subsequent new baby. Nate asks Sammy if he’s sure he’s ready to start a family – just as the dive team finds Orlando’s gun.

Tammy is in the checkout line at Box Club, she presents Sammy’s Box Club card, which she is told she’s not allowed to use because she isn’t Samuel Bryant. Tammy, eating some of the snacks from her cart, insists that she should be allowed to use the card because she’s Mrs. Samuel Bryant. The cashier tells her that rules are rules, and that she needs to go get her own card at customer service. Tammy argues that she doesn’t have the money to get her own card. The guy behind her in line tells her to just go get a card, Tammy tells him “that’s how they get you man.”  Tammy then pleads with the cashier to be able to use the card, tells her it’s B.S. that she can’t. Cashier tells Tammy not to swear, Tammy subsequently insults the cashier – who calls for a restock of all Tammy’s groceries. Tammy tells them it’s not going to happen, and grabs at her stuff as the stock boy unloads the cart. The guard is called, and Tammy freaks. She tells them “my husband is a detective on the Los Angeles Police force!” The store patrons clap and cheer as Tammy hurries out.

Meanwhile, Sal pulls up to the stakeout spot. Gil complains that the guys they’re watching will see the cop car. But they won’t see the big van that’s been sitting there for over an hour? Heh. Sal ignores him, asks how the stakeout’s going and joins them in the van. He grabs some binoculars and looks out the window at the auto shop, and notices Mercedes – Nate’s daughter entering and kissing one of the workers. He calls Nate over, who takes a look and gets super pissed.

Coopman are at the house of the suspect in the home invasion/triple homicide. They knock, no answer, so they look in the windows. The guy isn’t there so they head over to the neighbors as the suspects drive by in the Toyota from the opening scene. Coopman rushes back to the squad car and pursues the suspects, initiating the opening chase scene, which replays.

Coopman, back at the station for the end of shift, carries their shotgun and beanbag shotgun as they have a conversation. Cooper tells Sherman he is not an addict like those friends of Sherman’s mom up in Beverly Hills. He takes the medication for a work-related injury so that he isn’t stuck working a desk, because if he isn’t out on the streets as a cop – he’ll put a bullet in his head. Cooper goes inside, and Sherman tells himself that he’ll put a bullet in Cooper’s head.

Back at Nate’s house for the baby shower, the place is packed with family and friend enjoying the festivities. Mercedes arrives, and Nate eyes her up. Mercedes fawns over the baby, asks if she can hold her. Maria, Nate’s wife, hands over the baby. Nate tells Mercedes that she’s late, asks where she was. She tells him she was nowhere, he presses. She tells him she was with her friend Lola. Nate knows she’s lying and takes his baby daughter away from Mercedes.

Back at home, Tammy’s editing her pictures on the laptop. Sammy gets in and tells her all about his stakeout experience- he hated it. Then Sammy enters the bathroom and freaks out because there still isn’t any toilet paper. Tammy tells him to hang on, and retrieves a single-wrapped roll from the closet and tosses it to him.

“What’s this?” He asks.

“I went to Walgreens.” Tammy replies.

“Why? Come on I asked you to do one thing. Why?” Sammy badgers.

Tammy ignores him and sits back down at her laptop.

Sammy continues, “I’m serious, I’m owed an explanation! I had a horrible day.”

Tammy doesn’t even look at him, “I don’t want to talk about it,” she tells him.

Lydia returns to the hospital and tells the father that they caught the guys who hurt him and his family. It won’t bring back his wife and kids, but they won’t be able to hurt anyone else. Lydia gets a call from Cordero and excuses herself. Cordero’s at the Sutton’s sister’s place, he tells her it’s the father. There’s a load of evidence there that suggests he orchestrated the entire thing. Lydia hangs up then simply handcuffs the father to the bed and tells him he’s under arrest for the murder of his family.

Sherman shows up for his dinner date, his sister’s there already and tells Sherman the others are still parking. She tells him he’s going to love the girl. He asks if the container on the table is Sake. His sister pours him some and he downs it. His sister then tells him that Ward and Olivia are going to be there too. Sherman looks pissed, his sister tells him she couldn’t get out of the arrangement. Ward and Olivia, already drunk, high or whatnot enter. Ward (the guy from the yellow sports car in the pilot episode) makes a cop joke. Sherman and Lila (his date) meanwhile introduce themselves to each other. Ward and Olivia go off on some crazy-ass conversation about stomach worms, while Lila tells Sherman she heard he was a cop. Ward and Olivia make fun of Sherman being a cop, Ward calls him Wyatt Earp and they act out a shootout. Sherman’s sister tells them they have to clue, that Sherman was the first to respond to the triple homicide. Ward, Olivia and Sherman’s sister start to pry him for information. Lila realizes Sherman doesn’t want to talk about it, tries to clue in the sister, Ward, and Olivia. Olivia continues to pry though, and Sherman excuses himself from the restaurant so that he can leave. Ward and Olivia still don’t get what they did wrong, and believe that Sherman has some sort of superiority complex.

Back at the station, Cordero asks Lydia if she remembers that she was wondering how the convenience store fit into the entire scheme of things. Cordero things it was just “one of those things,” Dorff and Sutton followed the mom and daughters – hoping she would drop the kids off, then realized that she wasn’t and that they could just kill three birds with one stone. Back at the house, then killed the family, then decided to kill the father too because it was to the point where they had to.

“Probably,” Lydia replies.

“Probably? Was that good?” Cordero asks.

“It’s good,” Lydia assures him with a smile.

Later, Sal sneaks back into his house through his daughter Kimmy’s open window. He knocks something over and Kimmy wakes up and screams for her mother, Sal tries to calm her – tell her it’s just him.

“What are you doing?!” Kimmy asks.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m crawling in through an unlocked window. How many times do I have to tell you?” Sal replies.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” Kimmy retorts.

“Well it’s better than being raped and murdered, right?”

His wife then bursts into the room holding a gun.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sal says.

“What are you doing?” His wife asks.

Kimmy tells her he crawled through her window, which he says was wide open. He demands it stay locked at all times or Kimmy is grounded, then he tells his wife to put the gun away.

Cooper then enters the gay bar, and sits down at the bar before entering the bathroom and exchanging some money for some pills. The seller says that it goes against his business practice, but tells Cooper he might have a drug problem. Cooper then tells him “Let’s get out of here” and picks him up.

Sherman is at the shooting range, he empties a few clips, all in the center of the target.

And we’re out.

This episode, all in all, was fantastic as always. Always a thrill, Southland delivers what you need.

I just wish Chickie would have showed up at least once in this episode, even if she just was grabbing a cup of coffee in the break room.

This episode gets a 4.5 out of 5 in my book.