Steven Seagal: Lawman S1 review

Originally published in Coastal Views magazine June 2011

STEVEN SEAGAL DOCO TV 2009

That’s right…Steven Seagal.
From the Crime and Investigation Network comes this truly classic piece of ‘reality TV’ gold, playing like Cops, but with a slicked back double dose of awesome.
Whether you want to Ripley’s believe it or not, the opening claim of this show is that for 20 years, movie action star Seagal has in fact been moonlighting as a full deputy of Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office. As a real cop. With a gun. And hand cuffs.
Whichever way you want to view it doesn’t really matter, it’s played for entertainment and here it finds success. How can you go wrong with a camera crew following Nico Toscani and his fellow lawmen around on patrol, riding shotgun in their macho SUV’s? That’s right…you can’t.
But it’s not all cruising the streets of Louisiana, busting unsavoury types with their drugs and their guns, no, there be more to it than that. Fans of the big guy, (and I mean big – it appears that between films he has discovered an enjoyment of cake,) will rejoice in the sequences detailing Seagal teaching a younger officer the finer points of pistol shooting, where we learn Steve is also a master marksman adept at shooting the heads off of matches…
In another episode, we get to join in as Seagal teaches an unarmed combat class, where he guides rookies and veterans alike in the best ways to disarm aggressive and violent offenders in confrontational situations. And he certainly makes it look easy. Careful trying this stuff at home, kids.
It’s not all action and tough guy stuff however, (although there is plenty there, lads,) we also get to see the softer side, the creative side of the man who’s made it an art form to kill someone with household appliances and baking goods. Seagal takes time out to visit children’s hospitals and hand out gifts to sick children, and although it’s a PR gimmick for a lot of celebs, here Seagal looks genuinely compassionate and moved. And it’s hard to knock him for that.
Finally there is insight into Seagal’s first passion, that of blues music, by way of a rare glimpse into his band’s rehearsal session and front row view of the benefit concert they put on for the families of the above mentioned kids. We’re used to seeing him with a Colt .45 or a knife in his hands, but most will be surprised to see him working with equal skill, his blues guitar.
An ego project? Of course. He’s also one of the executive producers of the series. But there are also lessons to be learned. Lessons about doing the right thing, crime and responsibility. If you can get past all the hype and negativity oft thrown up at Seagal, if you can get past his recent string off rubbish movies, then you might be able to get something out of this series. I’m off to buy his blues album now and wait for Season 2. That’s right…Season 2.
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