Having watched a lot of cop shows and crime/police procedural shows, I must say that there is a huge difference in watching a show like Rookie Blue which focuses a lot on the private & personal lives of the young cops that form the cast of this show. The primary focus being on the love lies and yes it does seem a bit contrived that all the 5 rookies have affairs with cops in the same division (the 15th here) as they work in except for one, Dov Epstein whose girlfriend is also a cop but in bomb squad and works out of another station (they meet in this season). Having said that it’s a lot better than most shows in the same vein as the actual crime / cop stuff is really good and makes it worth your while. As we start the season, Andy’s world explodes by a seemingly senseless act of violence during a concert shooting. When she sets out to unravel the details, she comes into direct conflict with Luke’s former partner, Detective Jo Rosati, a new detective with 15 Division. As Rosati investigates the case, sparks begin to fly between her and Luke. Dov and Chris take charge to find out who the shooter is and Swarek debates whether or not to join Guns & Gangs.

Andy and Gail participate in a drug bust by going undercover as cocktail waitresses but things do not go smoothly. Traci finds herself drawn back to Detective Barber while a complaint is filed against Dov. Andy unintentionally speaks to Tori a little too freely and candidly about her relationship with Luke. Strange happenings and a full moon rattle the rookies. Andy and Sam investigate the theft of some severed heads from a medical lab. A particular man catches their attention as a suspect with his obsessive behavior. Luke and Andy decide to get married, and Sam has trouble hiding his opinions. While trying to protect a young woman who could be the next target, Andy puts both her life and Luke’s in jeopardy. The torching of a laundromat is the latest in a series of arsons which 15 Division must work. The list of suspects is long so Chris and Gail take to the streets while Traci interrogates a person found at the scene. Andy is left to deal with the widow who insists on entering the burnt-out building which ends with the two of them trapped inside. Division 15 sets up a sting operation to catch suspects with outstanding warrants. One suspect, trying to cut a deal, puts Dov and Chris in a life and death situation. Andy and Traci meet a woman who can’t pay her bills and convinces her to seek help. Luke helps out Jo on a job with surveillance and the tension about the past between the two finally reaches its limit.

Indications are that the East Jameson gang was involved in the murder of a police informant, so solving the case will be difficult. The pressure is on when Superintendent Elaine Peck sets up at the station. Elsewhere, Andy is paired with Detective Rosati who unintentionally makes Andy privy to a secret that involves Luke. Stressed out with her mother at the station, Gail is tasked with protecting an eight-year-old boy who’s the only witness to the crime. Andy worries her personal problems are affecting her professionally when a woman is brutally attacked on her watch; Luke’s erratic behavior leads to him being kicked off a case. The primary suspect is Ray Nixon, who had, according to Luke, murdered a rookie from 15. Gail and Traci bring an intoxicated man to the station. As the doctors examine the man’s unusual condition, 15 Division is put under quarantine. Meanwhile, Andy and Sam arrest a man who robbed a bank. Chris goes undercover to get some information from the man. Traci is stuck with a married couple who both work as paramedics and do nothing but argue. Dov shares a kiss with his bomb squad officer girlfriend, Sue. Traci and Gail try to find out the motive of an Asian woman for calling the police to report a fake bomb threat at a restaurant. Dov, Andy and Chris have their equine training at the Mounted Unit, together with other rookies from 27 Division. Chris meets his old friend from the academy, Aaron, while an intoxicated Dov tells Gail his feeling for her.

Andy saves a woman who is pinned in her car while the remaining of 15 Division investigates a kidnapping case. Swarek tells Andy that he has decided to go back to Guns & Gangs. Chris questions Dov and Gail about their relationship while Andy decides to call Swarek and says she is ready to take their relationship to the next level not knowing he’s already left for his undercover assignment. Andy, Dov and Traci participate in an undercover training exercise which results in some unplanned situations and choices. They run into Swarek and almost blow their covers to save a girl’s life. Dov runs into an old friend of his brother. Chris and Gail must look past the wreckage of their relationship to determine what to do when a young boy found tied up as the result of bullying. Gail’s stolen uniform has the rookies looking for a cop impersonator, but it is Chris and Dov who find clues that may offer up the motive. While undercover, Swarek finds himself in a life threatening situation when he and Andy can not stay apart. Swarek’s gone missing and Andy tries to find clues that will help her and the rookies locate him before it is too late. Meanwhile, investigating this case will implicate one officer and threaten Andy’s job. Sam Swarek is rescued by his cop friends and his torturer is arrested but McNally is suspended for her part in the undercover operation going wrong.

The BBC series Sherlock is a crime/drama that presents a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Create by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss and based on the works of Sir Arthu Conan Doyle, Sherlock has so far seen just 6 episodes (each however 90 minutes long) with the first series of 3 being televised in 2010. The show stars  Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as Doctor John Watson. Using modern technology Holmes, assists the Metropolitan Police Service, primarily DI Greg Lestrade (Rupert Graves), in solving various crimes. Holmes is assisted by his flatmate, Dr. John Watson, who has returned from military service in Afghanistan. Arch-nemesis Jim Moriarty (Andrew Scott) is a recurring feature. Pathologist Molly Hooper (Louise Brealey) assists Holmes in her laboratory. Other recurring roles include Una Stubbs as Mrs. Hudson, Holmes and Watson’s landlady; Vinette Robinson as Sgt. Sally Donovan; and Mark Gatiss as Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes.

The first episode A Study In Pink is loosely based around the case A Study In Scarlett. As the episodes opens we see Dr. John Watson, an ex-army doctor injured in Afghanistan and still haunted by his time there. He walks with a limp and the help of a cane and is not having much progress with his therapist, even if she has noted that his injury seems psychosomatic in nature. A mutual friend introduces him to Sherlock Holmes, who is currently experimenting in a lab and either seemingly oblivious to the attentions of Pathologist Molly or he knows it & is purposely feigning ignorance to not encourage her. A series of strange suicides, by swallowing a deadly pill, interests the attention of Sherlock who texts all the journalists in the press conference held by Lestrade and himself stating that he knows more than any of them about the case. Lestrade calls him in to the latest death, a lady dressed in pink. Sherlock invites Watson to join him and showcases his stunning sense of observation & deduction at the crime scene. As he suddenly leaves Watson is approached by an assistance of Mycroft (Sherlock’s older brother although he doesn’t state who he is at the first meeting) to go and meet a rich man who offers Watson a large sum of money to “spy” on Sherlock. Watson refuses and leaves the meeting only to be contacted by Sherlock, who has found a missing suitcase of the recently deceased.

The two spy a suspicious cabbie and chase them all over the streets. In his rush of adrenaline Watson forgets his cane and runs, jumps & leaps along with Holmes. At the flat, the police are doing a “drug search” as an excuse to get in touch with him and see what he knows. Using the dead woman’s clue ‘Rachel’ (which she had scratched on the ground) they track her phone using her GPS password and find that she slipped the phone in the killer’s coat. The killer is a dying cabbie who holds his victims at gun point as they enter his taxi and makes them play a game of swallowing pills with him. Only he knows which is the safe pill and which is the deadly pill but each time he wins and the victim dies quickly. The cabbie contacts Sherlock via text and calls him outside and they drive off in his cab. They arrive at a school building, and the cabbie pulls out a gun and two bottles, each containing an identical pill. The cabbie says one of the pills is harmless, the other poison; he invites his victims to choose one, promising that he will swallow the other – and that he will simply shoot them if they refuse. Sherlock correctly deduces that the cabbie is dying from a brain aneurysm, but that is not the only reason he is killing people. The cabbie admits that a “fan” of Sherlock’s, contacted him and offered to “sponsor” his work, paying money for each person the cabbie killed, to be left to the cabbie’s children.

Sherlock realises that the cabbie is lying, and calls his bluff on the gun, which is actually a novelty cigarette lighter. He walks off, but the cabbie challenges him again to choose a pill and see if he can solve the puzzle. Meanwhile Watson tracks Sherlock & the cabbie using the GPS and arrives at the place but goes into the adjacent building.  Through a window in the adjacent building, John sees Sherlock about to take one of the pills, and shoots the cabbie. Sherlock questions the dying cabbie, first about whether he got the pill game right, and then about the identity of his “fan”, the cabbie’s sponsor. Finally, the cabbie reveals a name: “Moriarty”. Sherlock calls Scotland Yard who surround the premises and theorize on the identity of the shooter. Sherlock deduces Watson but doesn’t share that information as he see him waiting by the crowd. As the two new friends leave they run into Mycroft & Anthea and the two brothers bicker for a bit before Sherlock & Watson leave for dinner, a new partnership having being forged.

Brilliantly filmed, with great writing, directing & acting. This Sherlock blows the film versions of recent years out of the water.  Although I was wary of bringing Holmes to the current times, I was blown away by the performances. A must watch for detective freaks!