IMHO "Southland" (1.5): Two gangs

After the fourth episode of NBC's Southland, in which gruff gay cop John Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) was nowhere to be found, I was afraid last week would be more of the same.

Happily, he was back on the beat in this episode with twink partner Ben (Ben McKenzie), and although his personal life is still pretty much a mystery, there were enough good scenes to point the arrow northward.

John is frustrated because he and Ben are caught in the middle of a flurry of "garbage calls" (which are calls to 911 that are pretty much bogus). The first call they investigate is a domestic violence incident in which the male victim was attacked by his girlfriend ... with a thrown cat. I guess living on a tugboat and losing on Project Runway are more traumatic than I thought.

Their second call is from an airhead who let her kid dial 911 just to teach him what happens ... when you dial 911. John speaks for all us when he tells her she had her head up her ass.

Their last call takes them to a tattoo parlor where a shirtless, hairy WWE-esque behemoth is in a rage because the tattoo he just received was not the "Denise" he wanted, but rather ... "Dennis".

An annoyed John asks if that's really why he called 911, and the man says "do I look like a faggot?" John looks bemused and says "I don't know, what does a faggot look like?" and when the man says "are you fu**ing with me?" John says, "yeah, sort of."

The guy leaps on top of John, and they grapple on the floor until the diminutive Ben jumps on top of the man and delivers a sleeper hold that knocks the man unconscious. John asks Ben where he learned that, and Ben replies, "summer camp."

Gentlemen, start your fanfic!

The main story of the episode involves a cop who's in an accident and has his weapon stolen by a gang, but there was nothing especially noteworthy about it (except for the fact that the detective played by Shawn Hatosy has a high-strung wife played by Emily Bergl, whom I haven't seen since since she was making all hell break loose in The Rage: Carrie 2).

The most intriguing character in the show (besides John) is still Lydia (Regina King), who has to deal with a flasher played by character actor extraordinaire Tim Bagley.

From what we learned from insiders in the show, the next time we'll get another glimpse into John's personal life is episode six, although it's supposed to be "subtle".

I think the show is still trying to find its voice, so John's "slow gay reveal" doesn't bother me as much as it bothers many other people. (And this episode seemed less frenetic than the previous couple, which is something they should strive for. I'm all for "realism", but that doesn't mean the camera has to be held by someone who just received a caffeine injection.). Right now, I'm enjoying the mentoring relationship between John and Ben, who are obviously still getting to know each other.

It'll be interesting to see how this relationship progresses in the final two episodes, and I can't wait to see how "subtle" the next gay reveal is.

What did you think? Still sticking with the show, or have you given up?