By Jamie Ruby

Tonight, Southland returns to TNT for its fourth season.

Having not seen Southland before I didn't know what to expect. I was surprised by the format, as it does not follow the usual procedural drama model. While it's obvious the show has an overall story line with the characters, there wasn't much of an overall plot line for the episode. The episode was comprised of multiple short segments with each group of cops. It reminded me of what you would expect to see on a show like Cops. That is not to say that the format doesn't work for the show; it does. It gives it more of a realistic and gritty feeling, and with everything going on throughout the episode it seems to be more of an action driven drama as opposed to focussing more on the characters. Doing that makes this series unique. It focuses more on external then internal, which again adds to the show's authenticity in a way, but it also focusses more on the everyday lives and interactions of the policemen as opposed to things like the motivation of the criminals or details of the crimes.