5 Reasons LGBT Viewers Should Watch Southland

Southland is more LGBT-friendly than you know. Here's why.

BY Christopher Rudolph

March 13 2013 2:45 PM ET

The recent return of TNT’s explosive flagship series, Southland — which chronicles the lives of Los Angeles police officers — also brings the return of one of the most complex gay characters on television today. While it may not have all the high heels of RuPaul's Drag Race or the funny gay dads of Modern Family or The New Normal, Southland deals realistically with the everyday lives of cops, gay and straight.

Here are five reasons you should be watching.

1. The Complex Gay Cop

Michael Cudlitz plays John Cooper, the strait-laced by-the-books cop, who also happens to be gay. When the show began he had a painkiller addiction due to a back injury that would force him behind a desk if he didn’t cover it up. It was only once his injury was remedied and he was back to his full self that the softer side of his character “came out.” Now, after a lack of love all around, Cooper has a new romance this season, and begins to develop himself as a person outside of his cop duties. John Cooper is one of the most complex characters on television, and for any viewer who makes the complaint that “every gay character on TV is so stereotypical,” Cudlitz is reason enough to tune in. (Also: We see his bare bottom this season. More than once.)