A Weekend Hike In The Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

 

A little over an hour drive north of Seattle lands you in some pretty nice scenery. Actually, anywhere in that area is spectacular. The countryside is simply beautiful, and full of surprises at ever turn. You’ll see our biggest surprise of the day in the last photo. It was during the drive home through the mountains.

After hiking upward on narrow, twisting and winding trails, we wound up miles deep in the thick woods. When we hit this clearing I wondered how someone got the materials there to build the bridge. Helicopter?

What a surprise it was to run into this on the way home.

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the family of this brave officer.

Trooper Javier Arana, Jr., 32

Texas Highway Patrol

March 24, 2012 – Trooper Javier Arana was killed in an automobile accident while responding to a vehicle pursuit. He is survived by his wife and five children.

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11 Legendary College Pranks to Applaud on April Fool’s Day

11 College pranks

Every year on the first of April you’ll see coffee cups glued to car roofs and Facebook statuses claiming surprise marriages. But don’t we deserve a better class of jokester? Is it too much to ask for a little thought and effort? Consider these legendary pranks by college kids as inspiration, and be like them. It doesn’t matter that you’re not drunk, responsibility-free, and reckless. If you want it badly enough, you can make fools of us all.

  1. George P. Burdell

    When your prank becomes a running joke at the school for nearly 100 years, you know it’s legendary. In 1927, when precocious student Ed Smith received two enrollment forms for Georgia Tech, he decided to enroll the imaginary George P. Burdell at the same time. Amazingly, Smith then proceeded to enter Burdell in all his classes and do all his homework and tests twice, changing them slightly, to serve as Burdell’s “work.” Thus began the legend of the “man” who has since received every undergraduate degree at Tech, served in World War II, worked at Mad Magazine, and had a Tech school store named after him.

  2. Bonsai kittens

    Beware when MIT students get bored. In 2000, a website appeared claiming to sell kittens sealed into glass jars in order to permanently make them the shape of the container. The site featured outrageous photos of a person supposedly using a shoehorn to stuff one of the cats in the “insertion process,” and an uncomfortable looking kitty pressed up against the glass. Gullible folks at the Humane Society bit, and bit hard, hard enough that the feds got involved and exposed the hoax.

  3. Car on the roof

    Nothing is better than pulling off a prank that makes people say, “How the heck did they do that?” For half a century that’s what people in Cambridge were saying after someone parked an Austin Seven on the roof of Cambridge University’s Senate House in 1958. Police and firemen had to disassemble it to get it off the roof. Fifty years later, a group of engineering students came forward and explained how they did it with three groups using winches, ropes, and pulleys.

  4. Great Rose Bowl Hoax

    It’s a little tame by today’s standards, but this one’s in the pantheon of legendary college pranks. At the 1961 Rose Bowl game, Minnesota squared off against Washington in front of 100,000 stadium fans and millions more watching NBC’s broadcast of the game. At halftime, they were treated to the surprise of a carefully choreographed flip-card show that concluded with Washington students unwittingly displaying signs that formed the word “CALTECH.” Angered over their continued exclusion from the Rose Bowl proceedings, Caltech students had spent weeks creating 2,232 replacement flip cards.

  5. Hugo N. Frye

    When students at Cornell’s campus paper needed an angle for their second annual banquet, they landed on the idea of embarrassing gullible politicians for a few laughs. So they created Hugo N. Frye out of thin air as “the father of the Republican party” and invited prominent GOPers to attend the banquet for his 150th birthday. None could attend, but their glowing remarks were read aloud at the banquet by gleeful students. “It is a pleasure to testify to the career of that sturdy patriot who first planted the ideals of our party in this region of the country,” the Secretary of Labor wrote. Even the vice president at the time congratulated them. The New York Times got ahold of it and the prank swept the country.

  6. Veterans of Future Wars

    Ah, political humor. In 1936, some prophetic Princeton guys, disgusted by bonuses being granted to veterans of World War I, reasoned that the odds were quite strong that sooner or later they too would be called to war. Thus, as future veterans, they deserved their bonuses up front while they were still able to enjoy them. Overnight, Veterans of Future Wars parties sprang up on campuses all over the country. They even had their own salute: an outstretched arm similar to the Nazi Party, except with the palm turned up, ready for a handout. Real veterans were outraged and the group was denounced by Congress. In other words, mission accomplished.

  7. Harvard sucks

    Imitation, as they say, is the sincerest form of flattery. In a 2004 homage to Caltech, Yale students donned red t-shirts and hit the Harvard-Yale game as the “Harvard Pep Squad.” Not content to simply trick Harvard fans into holding up a “Yale” sign, the pranksters handed out red and white signs that formed a giant “We Suck” over the Crimson faithful. In the hilarious video, a Harvard guy nearly blows their cover, and a sweet old Harvard mom asks, “It’s not going to say something like ‘Yale sucks’ is it?”

  8. Maryland half-court shot

    Collegehumor staffers Amir Blumenfeld and Streeter Seidell authored a string of hilarious back-and-forth pranks on each other from 2006 to 2009. Streeter kicked things off by tricking Amir into listening to the audio of Streeter getting down with his girlfriend. One of the best moments came a few rounds later, when Streeter publicly humiliated Amir at a Maryland basketball game by enlisting the crowd to make Amir briefly think he’d made a half-court shot for $500,000. The poor fool celebrated like an idiot — then he saw Streeter.

  9. Theft of the Sacred Cod

    Sometimes the simplest pranks get the best reactions. In 1933, Harvard Lampoon staffers quietly absconded with “the sacred cod,” a five-foot wooden fish that hung over the entrance to the Massachusetts House of Representatives chamber. You’d have thought they’d kidnapped the Lindberg baby. State police were called in. The Charles River was dragged. A Lampoon writer was detained by police at an airport and questioned for hours. After three days of hysteria, the Harvard chief of police was led into the woods and there two saddle-shoed young men returned the cod.

  10. Greasing the railroad tracks

    This prank from Auburn’s past has the smell of tall tale to it, but it’s so cool and such a Tiger tradition that we’re going to give it the benefit of the doubt. Legend has it, the night before the 1896 Auburn-Georgia Tech football game, Auburn students crept down to the railroad station under cover of night and greased a quarter-mile of track with pig fat. When the train carrying the Yellow Jackets rolled in come morning, the train slid five miles past its stop and the players had to walk back to town, tiring them out and paving the way to an Auburn victory.

  11. “Clap if you think he’s guilty”

    The NoZe Brotherhood is an underground society at Baylor University, whose members wear Groucho glasses to disguise their identities. One of their funniest moments came in 1973 at the yearly Homecoming Parade. The Grand Marshall was Baylor alum Leon Jaworski, who only days before had been made the prosecutor in the investigation of President Nixon and Watergate. As Jaworski rolled down the street waving to hundreds of applauding spectators, a NoZe brother followed behind him in trademark wig, glasses, and trench coat with a sign that read (referring to Nixon), “Clap if you think he’s guilty.”

 *Today’s article brought to you by www.bestcollegesonline.com

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Death Notifications: Delivering The News

Death notifications

Delivering a death notification is often referred to as the worst assignment a cop will ever receive. I agree, it’s tough duty. The drive to the house, thinking about and rehearsing in your mind what you’ll say, is never long enough—one of the shortest drives a cop will ever take.

However, no matter how tough emotionally it is for a police officer, many survivors of homicide victims say that receiving the notification of their loved one’s death is the most traumatic and horrifying event of their lives. Therefore, what officers say during the notification, and how they say it, can either complicate the moment and the survivor’s grieving process, or the officer’s words can go a long way toward helping the survivors begin rebuilding their lives.

A few simple steps help make the process a little easier. Such as:

1. Before the officer begins that drive to the survivor’s home, he/she should familiarize himself/herself with the victims family, if possible, and if time allows. Notifying the nearest kin/closest survivor is always best.

2. Always deliver the notice in person, and always do so with a partner. One officer should assume the lead and do all the talking, while the partner watches for signs of trouble and/or danger. Death notices should always be delivered in private. Not on the front doorstep or in the driveway. Also, in cases where it’s known that a survivor may have a medical condition, it’s a good idea to have medical personnel standing by.

3. Know the details of the victim’s death. Family members want to know what happened, when it happened, and where it happened. Don’t use “cop speak.” Talk in plain language. Be honest. Knowing details of injuries better prepares the survivor in the event they’re called on to make identification, or for the moment when they hear those same details in court.

4. Always refer to the victim by name. Never say things like, “the deceased,” or “his remains.”

5. Survivor’s first reactions are often of denial. Have information ready to verify the victim’s identity. However, never bring a victim’s personal items to the home.

6. Be sure the survivor is seated before the officer delivers the news.

7. Deliver the news to an adult. Separate children from the adults, but offer to assist with delivering the news to the children.

8. No beating around the bush. Be direct. “I’m sorry to tell you that your husband was killed during a bank robbery today at 4:30.” Do not use phrases like “passed away” or “he left us.”

9. Different people react differently to the news. Don’t judge.

10. Be prepared for “If you’d done your job instead of drinking coffee, he’d still be alive.” Police officers are often the first people blamed. Roll with the punches and remain supportive.

11. Assist with notifying other family members (phone calls, etc.), if needed.

12. Never make frivolous promises such as, “We’re going to catch this guy and put him away for a long time.”

13. Be sure the survivor has a support system handy—someone to stay with them, etc.

14. Leave your contact information.

15. Provide written information regarding other support services—victim/witness services, crime scene clean up, etc. Always leave written information. Memories aren’t in tip-top shape during those moments.

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Castle: 47 Minutes – A "Good Cop/Bad Cop" Review and Recap

Castle: 47 Minutes

Another episode has come and gone, and guess who’re still exchanges goofy glances and innuendos…and nothing more. Yep, our dynamic duds. Honestly, I’ve gotten so desperate to see something happen—hell, anything—that I’ve resorted to watching old Moonlighting reruns. Seriously, what normal adults behave like these two characters? Yep…priests, nuns, monks, and dead folks.

As far as the police stuff and Lanie go, well, grrr… And to make matters even worse for me, I pegged the killer in the first few minutes of the show.

Oh, and that crazy red-dot-moving-cell phone-user-map? Well, we brought in the big gun, Lt. Josh Moulin, to address that issue. Lt. Moulin is a nationally recognized expert in cyber crime and digital forensics, who just happens to be assigned full-time to the FBI as the commander of the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force / FBI Cyber Crimes Task Force. Many of you will remember him as an instructor at the 2011 Writers’ Police Academy. We’ll see what Lt. Moulin has to say about the “red dots” in a minute.

First, let’s get Melanie’s take on the show.

Melanie Atkins

Episode 19, or rather, 47 Seconds, began with a bombing at a protest rally, a seemingly senseless event that killed at least five and left many others injured. Random victims who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Their whole lives changed in a brilliant flash.

The fallout had a big impact on our dynamic duo. Kate tells Rick, “Makes you think of all the things you don’t want to put off anymore.” And the way she looks at him… as if she wants to tell him how she feels. Before she can, however, they’re interrupted.

Alexis, who is still interning in the morgue with Lanie, is also greatly affected by the carnage. She has to take a break while cataloging the victims’ personal effects. Rick takes her home and ends up talking about the bombing with Martha.

“Nobody’s tomorrow is guaranteed,” he says. Martha urges him to tell Kate how he feels before it’s too late. Why is he still waiting? Rick, however, is worried she’s not ready, yet finally decides to take Martha’s advice.

The next day, he approaches Kate with their customary coffee (coffee = love to our Caskett duo) and tries to tell Kate that he loves her — remember that at this point, he thinks she doesn’t remember him saying that after she was shot — only, they’re interrupted again. Of course! Grrr…

The case gets in the way, and they don’t get to talk again before they finally run down a prime suspect the next day. Rick drops off another coffee on Kate’s desk, then enters the observation room just in time to see her question the guy, who claims he doesn’t remember what happened because he was traumatized by the bombing — yet she refused to allow him to use that excuse. “I was shot in the chest, and I remember every second of it,” Kate says. “And so do you.”

So… she remembers the shooting and Rick’s I-Love-You, and yet she’s denied it for ten long months. Rick is devastated. He feels like a fool. A school boy hanging around the pretty girl at school who merely tolerates him. He has to get some air, so he leaves and goes to see him mom. Martha is sympathetic.

He goes back to the precinct in spite of his mother’s protests, trying to do some good, and walls of his feelings for Kate. He snarks at her, throwing out little comments that she just doesn’t get. She’s puzzled by what he’s saying and how he’s pulling away. The case, of course, requires her attention, so she can’t question him about it.

Finally, they get the man and his newswoman accomplice actually responsible for planting the bomb. At one point during the interrogation, Rick uses the term “sinning by silence” to describe the accomplice’s role in the bombing. He says, “It’s not smart. It’s not brave. It’s just cowardly.” And he looks at Kate. She’s obviously confused… yet surely those words have hit home in some way. I mean, really. She doesn’t get it, though.

Kate invites Rick and the boys out for a drink to celebrate solving the case. Ryan and Esposito decline because they’re really tired. Once they leave, Kate tells Rick, “I guess it’s just us. You know, now that the case is done, what did you want to talk about?” And he says, “Nothing. Nothing important, anyway.” No way will he reveal his feelings now.

She’s puzzled, to say the least. My heart broke for both of them. So much miscommunication — or rather, a lack of communication. Next week, the countdown is on to the finale… only four more episodes to go. And all of them are supposed to highly emotional, with Kate and Rick’s relationship taking center stage. Tonight, of course, a major secret came to light. A secret that crushed Rick’s heart and caused him to back away from Kate.

Will we get that much needed resolution in The Limey? I can’t wait to find out!

Lee Lofland

I’m not going to beat around the bush. I didn’t like this episode. Not at all. First of all, the investigation and police procedure were silly and unrealistic. More importantly, though, the relationship (or, lack of) between Castle and Beckett is downright dumb. Dumb, I say. No living and breathing species on earth acts this way…not for four or five years. Sure, a giggly mating ritual at the onset, but this? Come on. And now…well, I’ll leave it alone. Because it’s dumb, dumb, dumb.

Okay, the cop stuff (and Lanie).

– Gates. She’s horrible in this role and I cringe every time she marches on screen. I say we resurrect Montgomery. Please, please, please let him be alive, working in some undercover capacity. Perfect way to bring him back. Then he could shoot Gates and put us out of our misery (“Here’s a bullet just for you, ‘Sir.’).

– I did like it when they questioned the homeless guy, which is always a good thing to do since they’re out there, in the background, and see everything. However, why bring him to the office? They drove all the way down there, picked him up and brought him in, just to hear him say three or four sentences? Those interviews are normally conducted in the street, or inside a police car. BUT, cops tend to avoid placing unwashed street people inside their cars. It takes a long, long time to get rid of the odor. Seriously.

– Lanie. Any other time, Lanie can’t stop herself from spewing all sorts of nonsensical information. Not last night, though. She’d recovered bits of explosive-coated canvas from one of the victims, A HUGE PIECE OF INFORMATION, yet, didn’t bother to call anyone. Of course, in the real world, it would have been the folks in the lab who’d discovered the explosives, and they would have have kept the material in the lab, nicely packaged and sealed.

By the way, did you guys happen to notice all the dead bodies simply hanging out in Lanie’s little shop of horrors? They’d been there for hours too. Doesn’t she have a cooler? I ask, because that’s where they’re kept until autopsy time, not on gurneys placed willy-nilly throughout the morgue (in the corners, the middle of the room, etc.).

I guess Alexis, now a college dropout, I guess, will bypass medical school altogether and begin conducting autopsies and magically discovering and testifying to causes of death.

Mother Castle to Boy Castle – “Did you ever wonder why I never visited you at the precinct the first year you were there?” Why would she visit someone who was also visiting? He doesn’t work there. Never has, and he’s still a visitor. He’s a writer, not a cop. No training, remember? And that brings up another point. Gates handed Castle a pile of official documents/folders—witness statements—and told him to go through them. So what does he do? Yep, he takes them home. Think a defense attorney wouldn’t be all over that? “Your honor, the “writer” took the files home and did who knows what to them. We all know he’s in love with the lead detective, right. And he’d do anything to help her “solve” this case. He does write fiction, you know.”

– So Castle decides to be a big boy and tell Beckett how he feels about her, but Ryan walks up and interrupts. Now how boilerplate-scricpt-predictable was that? Just like the red herring suspects. I yawned through those interviews because you know it’s never #1 or #2. Besides, I picked the bomber within the first few seconds of the show.

Okay, let’s bring in Lt. Josh Moulin (the cyber crime/computer/cell phone expert) to talk about the red dot map.

Lt. Josh Moulin at the 2011 Writers’ Police Academy

“While it is possible for us to do what we call a “tower dump” and find out every cell phone that communicated with a specific tower in a given time, we can’t show movement of cell phones like they showed in this episode.  Also, with the amount of towers around these days, we would have to send a search warrant for a tower dump for every cell phone provider that owns a tower which would cover the geographic location of the crime scene.

There are no maps available that show red dots where each phone is in proximity to another phone, especially showing just a foot or less difference.  How nice would that be, especially replaying movements as little as a few feet!  We can show movements of cell phones as they move in large movements and between cell towers, but not that close.”
Lt. Moulin also brought up a couple of other great points about the show. Remember when Beckett and crew surrounded Bobby the backpack guy? Well, the detectives each had their weapons pointed at the guy which placed them in a crossfire situation. If Bobby’d ducked at the moment they started firing he’d have been the only person left alive, because the four cops would’ve filled each other full of NYPD-ammunition-induced holes. And what about the civilians in the background?

Also, Ryan grabbed the backpack and ripped open the top. Had it been a bomb it could’ve gone BOOM!. Step away from the suspected bombs, people.

– Beckett tells the news reporter/bomber that she found the garage remote detonator and it had her prints all over it. How’d she know they were her prints? Had the reporter ever been arrested? If not, why were her prints in the system?

And that brings me to the point where I tell Castle to grow up. Ask Beckett out a date. Have her over to play Monopoly. Something. Just do something.

Hell, even Niles Crane finally stopped smelling Daphne’s hair and married her. And to say that Niles Crane “manned-up” quicker than Rick Castle…well, that’s just plain sad.

That’s right, Alexis. Scare some sense into your Dad. Someone needs to.

*By the way, what’s up with the shiny thing on Alexis’ ring finger?

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The Fire: Page 193 Of My Spiral Notebooks

The fire page 193

10-4, it’s a structure.

Fully involved.

A real hot one too.

Send fire units to my location.

Standby.

Someone’s running toward me.

Please, you’ve got to help him.

Help who, ma’am?

The old man.

He’s in there.

I tried.

But it was too hot.

He’s trapped.

Screaming.

His bedroom.

Heat and flames

A fireplace

Times ten-thousand

Smoke

Thick

Heavy

Choking

Eyes

Burning

Get low!

Crawl

Glass

Flaming carpet

Hot embers

A doorway

So hot

Can’t breathe

A little further

Furniture

Ashes

The heat

Too intense

TV

Melted

Smoke boiling and billowing

Can’t see

Hands burning

Wheelchair

Caught on bed frame

A crutch

Out of reach

A foot

A leg

Trapped!

Pull and tug

Pull

Harder!

Fire

Crackling and popping

Something falls

Two hands

Back down hallway

Dragging

Straining

Pulling

Muscles screaming

Can’t see

Sweating

Burning

Heart pounding

No air

Pulling

Dizzy

Can’t breath

No strength

Can’t breath

Almost there

Can’t breath!

Moonlight

A touch

Strong hands

Gloved hands

Pulling

Dragging

Helping

Cool night air

Deep breaths

Firefighters

Oxygen

Yes, I’m okay

A few burns

Not too bad

Yes

The coroner’s on  the way

I tried

I really did

But he was already gone.

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A Hike Overlooking The San Juan Islands

Hike in Olympic Mountains

 

Our Weekend Road Trip this week takes us to Washington state in the mountains overlooking the San Juan Islands. Take a deep breath. The hike up and over to the water is not for the weak.  Enjoy the view.

* No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, this is a repeat post. I’m painting our house this week and today I’m trying to beat a long line of thunderstorms before they move in. I’ll do better next weekend, I promise. In the meantime, enjoy the view…and sign up for the Writers’ Police Academy. The remaining few spots are waiting for you!

 

I was exhausted by the time we reached this point. The scenery, however, made me forget all about my aching calf muscles. Breathtaking!

 

A climb down led us to this deserted stretch of beach and remnants of long-forgotten civilization.

 

Orcas often frolic and feed just offshore.

 

*     *     *

* Coming soon…an exciting interview with Joe Bonsall of The Oak Ridge Boys! Did you know the Elvira crooner is a successful author? Joe is also a supporter and fan of our Writers’ Police Academy. As usual, he and his fellow “Oaks” have generously donated several autographed items for the WPA raffle.

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Friday’s Heroes: Remembering The Fallen

Friday's Heroes - Remembering the fallen officers

 

The Graveyard Shift extends our condolences to the family of this brave officer.

Sergeant Ruben Thomas, 24

Florida Department of Corrections

March 18, 2012 – Sergeant Ruben Thomas was stabbed to death by at inmate in the prison dorm.

Sergeant Thomas is survived by his daughter and fiancee.

 

 

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10 Common Illegal Alterations Made to Cars

Illegal altercations on cars

It’s a fact, we love cars. But we love them even more when they look and sound nice too. If you want to have the sharpest-looking car or meanest-sounding truck on the block, you may have to make some alterations to get these desired results. What many drivers don’t know is that some of the coolest and most popular car modifications are actually illegal. The rules and regulations on vehicle alterations tend to vary from state to state, but these 10 illegal alterations are some of the most common ones out there.

  1. Window tinting

    Dark window tinting is one of the most common illegal alterations made to cars. Every state has different laws regarding window tinting and regulations, including light transmittance and location of tinting. Some states are stricter about tinting the driver’s side window and the windshield. For the most part, a light tint is the best way to go and will keep you out of trouble with law enforcement.

  2. License plate frames

    Customizing license plates and the frames that keep them in place is very popular. It may seem harmless to have a customized frame that advertises a dealership or your favorite sports team, but you can actually get pulled over and ticketed if the frame covers up the state name or numbers in any way. Tinted and reflective-plate covers are also illegal in many states.

  3. Exhaust

    Adding a performance exhaust to your vehicle can make it more powerful, faster, and louder than before. Drivers who install a new exhaust system may have a noisier and meaner sounding vehicle, but you’ll also run the risk of being ticketed if it’s too loud and causes any noise complaints.

  4. HID headlamps

    Drivers who want a customized look for their car might be tempted to get a HID headlamps kit to install, but this popular alteration is illegal in all 50 states. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that no HID headlamps meet the federal photometric standards, so if you install these you may end up with a pricey ticket.

  5. Undercarriage lighting

    Undercarriage lighting is a popular, but often illegal alteration made to cars. Adding bright neon or LED lights may be illegal in your state, especially if it interferes with the front and rear lighting. Some states have restricted certain colors and color combinations that might cause confusion or distractions on the road.

  1. Lifts

    Lifting the suspension or frame and body of your vehicle can drastically change the way your car looks and drives. As popular as this alteration is, your state may have a limit on how high you can go. Some states set their height restrictions based on maximum headlight and taillight heights and others measure by maximum bumper heights. Depending on the state you live in or drive through, you could be ticketed for an excessive lift.

  2. Muffler delete

    Drivers who want to increase the horse power and noise level of their vehicle may consider installing muffler delete pipes. But it’s important to know that every state has different laws relating to muffler delete alterations, but for the most part, it’s illegal. Most states require all vehicles have a working muffler to prevent excessively loud or unusual noises, but adding a muffler delete or similar device to your vehicle is illegal.

  3. Studded tires

    Many drivers install studded tires to get better traction on slippery roads during the winter season, but these tires can also destroy pavement. Even though studded tires have been approved by the federal government and received the DOT rating, some states do not allow them on their roads or only at certain times of the year.

  4. Off-road lamps

    High intensity off-road lamps are very bright and very illegal in some states. These 100-watt (or more) lights are often attached to the grille of trucks or mounted on the roof of vehicles. Off-road lamps might help you find your way through the dark wilderness, but they are completely unnecessary for everyday driving. The range, intensity, and light patterns of these lamps are extremely distracting on the road and can cause danger to oncoming traffic.

  5. Cold air intake

    This is a common alteration made to mostly muscle cars and four-cylinder import vehicles. Drivers install cold air intake systems for various reasons, but one of the most common is to produce more power from the engine. But this increase in power can result in an increase in fuel consumption and emissions. Your car may seem like it’s running better, but if you’re exceeding the legal emissions limits, you could be in trouble with the law.

* Today’s article brought to you by www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com

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Southland: Thursday – A Review And Recap

Southland: Thursday

After a couple of years on the job every cop has to make a decision about what kind of cop they’re going to be. The time has come for Officer Ben Sherman to decide.

Getting up in the morning, every morning, knowing that part of your job is to carry a gun, can be a bit overwhelming, if you let it. Ben Sherman is one of those officers who hasn’t quite learned how not to be overwhelmed. He’s also hiding behind his badge, using his authority to carry out a mission. Some argue the mission is a deep-rooted issue with his own father. Some say there are other motivators. No matter the reason, though, Ben Sherman is an overconfident and cocky, loose cannon.

Sammy knows Ben is standing at the edge, and he feels responsible. He even tells Ben that he gave up his position as a detective, returning to uniform duty, so he could help younger officers. Ben shrugs off Sammy’s heartfelt words and heads out to begin his shift, and his quest to hunt down “Pimp Ronnie,” the guy whose gunshots caused the car crash that landed Sammy in the hospital. Pimp Ronnie is also the father of the girl Ben so desperately wants to save from a life in the streets (the bad father-figure theory?).

Ben is partnered with Ferguson (LDP himself), who offers Ben a brief lecture about wasting his time trying to save the hookers, but still has no qualms about about joining the hunt for the man who tried to kill two cops (shoot at the boys in blue and we’re coming after you!).

Well, it doesn’t take long before Ben is in a foot chase with Pimp Ronnie. Ferguson tries to get in front of the chase using the patrol car, but he’s not quick enough. Ben doesn’t answer his radio, He runs. Breathing hard. Sucking wind. Faster and faster. Just out of sight of Ferguson, when suddenly a shot’s fired.

Ferguson runs toward the sound and finds Ben standing over a very dead Pimp Ronnie. A gun is on the pavement beside the body. A gun that looks suspiciously like the gun we saw Ben cleaning in the opening scene. A drop gun? Did Ben murder an unarmed man? Revenge for shooting at Ben and Sammy? Or revenge for the way Pimp Ronnie treated his own daughter? The father-figure-syndrome? No matter the reason, it sure looks as if Ben, overwhelmed and overconfident, hid behind his badge and murdered a man. Granted, the man was not an innocent man, but murder is murder.

Cooper and Tang—the tension is so thick between the two that you’d have to use an ax to even make a dent in it. Cooper doesn’t like the fact that Tang will do whatever it takes to come out on top of any situation, including putting Cooper’s life at risk while she plays cowgirl during an intense shootout at a car wash.

And to make matters worse, Tang flaunts her cockiness by tossing the orange gun tip (the one she removed after shooting an innocent kid) to Cooper while the two of them argue outside the bar where a celebration in Tang’s honor is well underway.

Cooper’s one of the original good guys. He’s a cop, with blue running through his veins. He’s the guy who goes home, strips off his gear, and can get a good night’s sleep knowing he did the best job he could possibly do. Sure, he’s got his flaws, but at the end of the day his badge is shining as brightly as it ever did. No tarnish there, no sir.

Lydia (Regina King) delivered a powerful performance off camera last night. We didn’t have to see or hear what went on in that burn victim’s hospital room to know how deeply the interview affected Adams. Her emotional rooftop scene afterward told us all we needed to know. She was keeping her baby and she was not going to let anything happen to it. Not ever. And she proved that by taking a desk job for the duration of her pregnancy.

This was a season finale that really delivered. The show started with a bang and never let up until it ended with a quick one-two punch to the gut. Then, without giving us time to catch our breath, the writers left us with a few unanswered questions.

– Sammy knows, and we know he knows. Once again, Shawn Hatosy said a million words with mere facial expressions. And I don’t think he likes the Ben he’s seeing. And I’m not sure I’m liking what I see either. Ben’s on a one man quest to save the world, but who’s going to save him from himself?

– Cooper has a new boot, a clumsy, new recruit who’s ready to be molded into a real police officer by TO John Cooper. Let’s hope Cooper has better luck with this one. Hey, things have to be looking up, right? After all, Cooper’s got a shiny orange good luck charm on his key chain. What more could he ask for?

– Tang is a sergeant. You know, sometimes it’s the devious and not-so-nice that get ahead. That’s life. Accept it.

The show started on a Wednesday this year, with freshly scrubbed faces and new attitudes. It came to a conclusion on Thursday, with battered bodies and troubled hearts. Will the relationships survive? Should they?

One thing I’m certain of…everyone involved in this show absolutely wants to “get it right.” They want to accurately portray life as a police officer. And they pull no punches. In fact, there was one scene in last night’s episode that summed it all up while using very few words.

Cooper and Tang entered the car wash, knowing there were armed gunmen hiding inside. Extremely frightened customers and workers were running outside to safety. Cooper encouraged them to leave. “Go. Go. Go. Get out of here,” Cooper said to them. And then he and Tang headed straight into the danger. No hesitation. No second thoughts. Because that’s what cops do. They head into danger while everyone else runs away from it.

Will we see the officers of Southland again next season?

I certainly hope so, because this is hands-down the best darn cop show on TV.

Light ’em up!

 

*     *     *

Want to train like a real cop at a real police academy?

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And…

How do you like The Graveyard Shift’s new look?

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