Good Cop/Bad Cop Review 2025 Tv Show Series Cast Crew Online
When first confronted with the notion of “Good Cop/Bad Cop,” my screen-addled brain sputtered to a halt. Surely, this couldn’t be a real television series. It checks out that a show with a forward-slash in the title is available to stream internationally on something called Stan., an Australian streaming service — which, yes, includes the period as part of its name — but it’s also been picked up in America on The CW? Are you sure? Did you check the one true source for release confirmations — the Metacritic TV premiere calendar? Isn’t it more likely the police procedural about a brother/sister detective duo working for their dad/chief in a small Washington town was actually an old “30 Rock” joke — something that’s only stolen my attention today because Tina Fey’s prescient sitcom once again aligned with current events and took over social media?
But no. While the title does sound like the kind of show Josh would brag about landing before he eventually lost the gig to Frankie Muniz (remember Josh?), it’s a touch too generic to make it out of such a shrewd writers’ room. Their version wouldn’t be “Good Cop/Bad Cop”; it would be the Tracy Jordan movie, “Black Cop, White Cop,” complete with the tagline, “One does the duty, the other gets the booty.” That’s funny because it sounds like a studio comedy (remember those?) that could’ve really been produced in the early 2000s, and because it’s clear the joke-tellers know how stupid their silly title sounds. “Good Cop/Bad Cop,” despite being real, doesn’t show any such awareness.
Until, that is, you start watching. While far from the slyly subversive satire one might hope for given its bluntly brainless title, creator (and veteran sitcom writer) John Quaintance’s hourlong police procedural is self-aware enough to make its flaws forgivable and its strengths unmistakable — most prominent among the latter is its effervescent star, Leighton Meester. (Someone please give her a plum, prominent lead part in a premium production, my god, why do I even have to ask?) “Good Cop/Bad Cop” is like if “Blue Bloods” was set in a town of 9,346 people, the number of cop-family protagonists was reduced to fit their fun-sized jurisdiction, and their biggest concern was running into an ex at the local diner. It’s a silly-fun time (not a stupid-fun time), which helps the first six episodes settle somewhat uneasily on the side of “good.”
Meester stars as Lou Hickman (short for Louise, which she disavows because it’s “an old lady name”), the top (and only) detective in Eden Vale, Washington. While some narcissistic cops may think having the whole department to themselves is a license to run wild, Lou is sick of it. She’s tired of handing off cases to the county sheriff because Eden Dale’s office doesn’t have the resources for a proper investigation. She’s fed up with handling everything on her own, since the town’s recruiting pool for additional detectives is virtually nonexistant. She’s exhausted by the same boring tactics used to keep locals in line, like when she threatens to tell a suspect’s mother what he’s been up to because Lou knows her, personally. She knows everyone personally. It’s a small town!
“I feel like KG when he played for the Wolves. Give me some complimentary pieces or trade me to the Celtics,” Lou says, immediately winning over this ride-or-die Boston basketball fan (despite relying on a sports reference that’s nearly two decades old). Lou’s passion for professional growth and preference for communal success over individual heroism are the initial endearing aspects of “Good Cop/Bad Cop” (if you don’t count Meester herself, whose mere presence is an automatic plus), in no small part because Lou’s not blaming her problems on where she lives. This isn’t another story about a person trapped in their hometown, dreaming of what they could do in the big city, if only they could get there. It’s a story about a young woman who wants what’s best for her career because it’s also what’s best for the people and place she cares about. That’s nice! It’s also necessary, given the dire state of America’s rural communities.
Thankfully, “Good Cop/Bad Cop” doesn’t dwell on such serious matters. It’s not a serious show. It’s a fun show, which sets its main story in motion when Lou’s father/police captain Big Hank (Clancy Brown) answers his daughter’s pleas by bringing in another detective — someone who fits the budget, but still has experiences distinct to the existing team: Lou’s brother, Henry (Luke Cook). Years ago, Henry left town after a minor dust-up with Big Hank and went to work in the nearest metropolis (Seattle) as a beat cop. But Henry’s lack of interpersonal skills are keeping him from the promotion he craves, so when presented with a chance to move up in the ranks, even one that means working for his father, he can’t turn it down.
Henry’s awkward interpersonal interactions and obsessive behavioral patterns are both strange and familiar. They’re strange in the sense that his social skills are “worse than a serial killer’s” and he’ll only eat almonds while outdoors. But they’re familiar because they fit a common TV archetype that often labels such characters as autistic, which this series has yet to do. “Good Cop/Bad Cop” doesn’t want you to think Henry’s on the spectrum. It just wants you to think he’s weird. Could it have done so without inviting questions about his neurodiversity — questions like, “Is Eden Vale too small to support a proper psychologist who could’ve diagnosed Henry when he was a kid? Or did Big Hank simply never take him to the doctor? Does Big Hank not even believe in doctors? Wait, is this show set in a future where RFK Jr’s worm-brained health policies have forever warped our children’s futures? Is that the twist? Is this secretly a stupid-fun show after all?!”
No, it’s not. It’s a silly-fun show that, like its small-town police force, doesn’t have the resources to grapple with such weighty issues, so it does it’s best to avoid them. As Lou and Henry team up for new cases every week, “Good Cop/Bad Cop” overcomes its meager production budget by leaning on lighthearted vibes. There’s solid physical comedy, clever quips, and endearing family bonding — and Meester isn’t the only actor capable of delivering them. Plus, the investigations are goofy! The first crime revolves around two unrelated burglars who show up to rob the same pharmacy at the same time. Another involves intimidating (but never hurting) a high school quarterback before his big rivalry game. Perhaps the best episode of the six screened for critics hinges on an amateur actress who goes missing while shooting a YouTube video. (“Well, it’s a YouTube video for now, but one day it’ll be a movie,” the baby-faced director says.)
“Good Cop/Bad Cop” feels most at home when it’s awkwardly staged around the Hickmans’ dinner table — Lou and Henry sitting side by side, with Big Hank and his TV-obsessed girlfriend Nadia (Blazey Best) at either end. Not only does the awkward seating arrangement emphasize the show’s mandated ethos of economy over realism — it’s faster to shoot facing in one direction than two (let alone four) — but it also emphasizes how little I care that four people are inexplicably taking up three sides of a four-sided table. Sometimes TV just has to be charming enough, silly enough, and sound enough to earn your time. Sometimes it just needs committed actors, writers, and producers who know what to prioritize and what to disregard. Sometimes it just needs a character who can’t stop bringing up real TV shows to show how much the people behind the one you’re watching love TV.
“Good Cop/Bad Cop” may be a terrible title, but it’s far from terrible show. Everyone making it appears to know it can surprise some people — keep those “Twin Peaks” references coming, Nadia — and now I do, too.
