When you're "Under the Big Top," the walls between the circus and the rest of civilization are pretty thin. No one knows that better than the cops of Southland.

Cooper and Lucero's day was never dull. I'm really enjoying these two as partners. It's great to see John playing off of an equal instead of training a boot. 

When Dewey called them over to inspect the vat of foulness with the nipple ring, I assumed that was Ted in there too. At the end I had to wonder, if it wasn't Ted, then who was that being boiled down to bone?

When they found the man butchering a goat in his bathroom, all I could think was I'd never again take a shower in there. 

The best part of the day was Cooper and Lucero making a game show parody out of picking up the pimp and his hooker. Lucero guessed correctly when Cooper found not one but two concealed weapons - and who could forget the bonus round where the guy had an open warrant for murder? Even better was he and the hooker trying to figure out which guy he'd beaten on that ended up dead. Apparently there was a list of possibilities.

Terrell tracked down Lydia. Yvette's divorcing him and he wanted to get to know his son. I certainly don't want to see Lydia falling back into bed with the guy, he's a chronic cheater, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be a part of his son's life.  

I cheered for Reuben when he told Lydia not to make another mistake and shut out Terrell. Her son has the right to have a relationship with his father and he'll probably grow up resenting Lydia if he finds out years later that she didn't allow that to happen.

I couldn't believe Sammy took that money. I understood why, but that's one hell of a risk. It could be marked or someone could have recorded him taking it on their iPhone. He's got a good salary, a pension, and his child on the line if that decision comes back to haunt him.

As for Sherman, his bed's never cold for long. He and the teacher seemed like a pretty good match. She just might bring out the good in him.

I had one question, however. When he got on that subway and realized that Sammy hadn't, why didn't he just hit the emergency button or cord that's on the train to make it stop?  

When that woman approached him after the fight, I thought she was going to ask if he was okay. Silly me. She was just there to grab the cash before someone else did.  

Southland never fails to highlight just how thin the walls of civilization truly are.

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