Review: L.A.'s Finest (Season 2)

While Singapore was able to watch the second season premiere of L.A.'s Finest last night, it has been understandably postponed in the US.

Now is not the best time to launch a hero cop show over there – even worse when the season debuts with a protest that turns violent.

That is about as real as this series gets.

If you didn't know, L.A.'s Finest is a TV spin-off of the Will Smith-Martin Lawrence movie franchise Bad Boys.

It's a tenuous link. Gabrielle Union played the sister of Lawrence's characte in Bad Boys II – 17 years ago.

Union was not given much to work with back then so even the most generous of us would have to admit that this isn't a spin-off anyone was clamouring for.

That said, if it means getting Union back on our screens, there are few arguments here.

She has teamed up with her fellow defier-of-the-ageing-process co-star Jessica Alba, who, given her entrepreneurship outside of acting, must be doing this for larks.

Union plays streetwise Sydney Burnett while Alba is working mum Nancy McKenna – and the gag that they are Syd and Nancy feels like an age-profiling experiment.

Much of this plays to the middle-aged demographic and the pop culture references barely get past the mid-90s – jarringly so in some instances.

Yet it is hard to begrudge the payday a Hollywood crime drama can bring.

Get the right chemistry and these can just keep going and going with little fanfare (such as the MacGyver reboot – now in its fourth season!).

And while Union and Alba are the stars, the show's title handily allows for a longevity not reliant on either lead.

L.A.'s Finest is a nonsense, non-committal show. While it skims real life, it veers closer to parody.

Unlimited bullets, burn-free explosions that only make you fly, Alba borrowing her teenage stepdaughter's dress, really obvious switches between actors and stuntpeople in wigs, the lamest attempts to fake high speed chases and actors trying to talk street in the most excruciatingly embarrassing way.

It runs on a formula so familiar you can take bets on the next lines to be said.

Yes there are some very light story arcs, but this is a show you can easily watch without having to worry that a missed episode leaves you adrift of the plot.

If you suffer from choice inertia – where you have so many viewing options you're unable to choose – LA's Finest could be your go-to show.

It's so easy to watch – though possibly more fun to make fun of.

Score: 2.5/5

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SERIES: L.A.'s Finest 2

STARRING: Gabrielle Union, Jessica Alba, Ernie Hudson, Sophie Reynolds, Ryan McPartlin

THE SKINNY: LAPD detective Sydney Burnett (Union) and partner Nancy McKenna (Alba) may have very different personalities, but both have complex backstories that neither is keen to share. Together, they take on the most dangerous criminals in Los Angeles.

SHOWING: AXN (StarHub TV Ch 511/Singtel TV Ch 304), Tuesdays 9.45pm