The Glades

TL:DR Great series don't watch the last episode.

With this show up on streaming services now I thought it apropos to post an updated review. The show is great. I started accidentally watching it when it aired on Sundays in between Criminal Minds marathons. After a few episodes I was hooked.

I watched it up til the last episode and the cliff hanger is insane! ..... I spent the fall waiting for it to comeback and then the show was canceled. No posts on what the plan was to be, no wrap up, just hanging there. Still.

I really liked this series. Until the end of the last episode, that is. Oh, it started out okay, but the ending! It upset me so much, that I couldn't sleep. Sick writers that came up with that ending. Don't want to spoil it for anyone, but it was not a happy ending! And I'm still upset about it.

I've been in Florida for 35 years, working as both a script writer and newspaper editor. I've been on the sets of most of those made-in-Florida productions and invariably they try to over-sell the Sunshine State with the glamorous South Beach style that typifies almost every show since Miami Vice. The Glades, however, gets its right with stories about the warm heart of Central Florida, with stories most Florida shows forget. Instead of Cuban drug lords we get stories of the football heroes bred in Imokalee, the spiritualists in Cassadaga and the surfers in Melbourne. The cast is down-to-earth with the right accents and attitudes. Very shows have understood their material this well since Ivan Tors migrated to North Miami.

I enjoy cop dramas. Having said that, I REALLY enjoy The Glades. It's such a nice change of pace, not as deep or dark as some of the fare is now-a-days.

What some call hubris, I would call being glib. It's nice to see a cop who's not always beating his chest or tearing his hair out over a case. The interaction of ALL the characters is also refreshing. Actually seems more true-to-life than most. The little gibes, off the cuff remarks to each other really lightens the "mood" of the show.

This is a great example that a good cop drama doesn't have to be heart-rending or bloody. Don't get me wrong, I'll still watch other cop dramas. But it's hard waiting a week for each episode of The Glades. It's on my DVD "series-to-buy" list, no other cop shows made it, yet.

This is one show worth watching in my opinion and I am surprised at the negative reviews that are rubbishing it. It is obviously not technical enough for those reviewers. I find Matt Passmore's character very likable and I also like the way he goes about his work. He is a really good detective who thinks outside the box. Nothing seems to get in his way and even if it is a bit unbelievable that he gets to solve every crime in record time, it is still entertaining. The supporting cast is also excellent, I particularly like Carlos Gómez's character and Jordon Wall is fitting into the series very well.

I've watched every episode so far and look forward to it each week. Living in Australia my only access to it is to download it each week off the internet, but it is well worth it.

8 out of ten for me