Plot Synopsis

SOUTHLAND focuses on the work lives and personal relationships of a group of four LAPD cops: Officer John Cooper, a seasoned cop who trained Ben Sherman, recovered from surgery and a stint in rehab, rode with Officer Jessica Tang (Season 4), who monitored his fitness for duty and is now training "boots" again, like ex-Marine Gary Steele (Season 5), but gains a new partner, Hank Lucero (Season 5), a Chicano from East L.A. who believes "99% of the job is comedy"; Officer Ben Sherman, who still has much to learn after recently completing his training rotation with Cooper and being paired with Sammy Bryant (Seasons 4 & 5) -- and the streets of Los Angeles will define the man Ben becomes; Detective Lydia Adams, whose unending caseload hits closer to home, while taking on another new partner, Ruben Robinson (Seasons 4 & 5), as she struggles being a single mother; and Sammy Bryant, a former detective who decided to go back to being a uniform cop after the traumatic death of his partner and is riding with Ben (Seasons 4 & 5) while fighting an ugly and expensive custody battle with his unstable ex-wife, Tammi. Plus, Dewey Dudek, one of Cooper's only friends, is a veteran cop whose smart-aleck attitude often makes him the source of conflict with both civilians and fellow officers. In Season 4, Lydia's new partner was trainee Ruben Robinson, a former Marine, and in Season 5 Ruben challenges Lydia to grow personally. Season 5, which premiered on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 10pm ET/PT on TNT, featured an episode ("Off Duty" on Mar. 13) directed by Regina King and these guest stars throughout the season: Chad Michael Murray, Derek Ray, Emily Bergl, Michael Jace, and more. Toward the end of the fifth season, Cooper and Lucero were kidnapped and held hostage by a pair of tweakers, with the season finale (April 17 at 10pm ET/PT) revealing how John copes with the aftermath and showing Lydia's pursuit of his kidnappers. After NBC canceled the series after showing seven episodes, TNT picked it up. TNT aired the pilot commercial-free with extra footage on January 12, 2010 and repeats of the NBC episodes until showing new episodes on March 2, 2010.