"Heroes" reminded Southland viewers of the complicated history that makes Officer John Cooper such a compelling character. 

John chaining Hicks up in his house to keep the man from killing himself was a move that could have come back to haunt him. Hicks was a mean drunk, the worst kind. He had no problem verbally tearing down the only person left who gave a damn whether he lived or died. Cooper knew he had to wait until the alcohol left Hick's system to get back to the man he knew. 

But it was John's father who made me ill. First he dangled a substantial donation in front of a priest to get him to compel John to see him. All of the priest's talk about forgiveness felt less than sincere once we learned that his church would receive money if he succeeded in getting John to the prison to visit. Would the man have pursued John so relentless if the cash hadn't been a factor?

I was surprised John went to see his old man. He found him strapped to a gurney in a dingy prison hospital ward and quickly found that man hadn't changed at all.  

Cooper senior wanted to tell his son that he had raped and murdered his girlfriend years ago because he knew his son was gay. He'd also wished John would have committed suicide as he said, "I rather would have seen you dead than had a faggot for a son."

How could such a good man come from such an evil bastard? Hopefully John can now put his despicable father behind him and move on.

Sammy was going off the deep end as his guilt over lying to investigators ate at him. But this time Sherman was right. The recording needs to be destroyed. No good can come of it now and if it's found by the wrong people both he and Ben could lose their jobs and Sammy his son.

I knew the moment Ben and Sammy went to check on the parents that they'd find nothing good. The scariest part about being a cop is that you never can tell just how crazy someone is just by looking. Thank goodness they put the cuffs on Doug when they dragged him off of that bridge. 

Ben was all about Elena tonight as he stood up to her gang banger brother. I still can't imagine this relationship being anything but disastrous in the end. Plus, what the heck happened to Brooke? 

Hopefully Lydia allowing Christopher and his daddy some time together will be good for all concerned. Terrell may have proven to be a lousy husband but he does seem to be a decent dad.  

Finally, Dewey's daughter made her debut as a cop as her probational training was over. Rae Anne Dudek was smart, beautiful, tough and funny. As Lucero said in this Southland quote…

How does an ugly son of a bitch like Dewey get a such a hot daughter? | permalink

Sometimes the universe just doesn't make any sense.

C. Orlando was a TV Fanatic Staff Writer. Follow her on Twitter.