['Southland' - 'Sideways]

Regina King has never been better than tonight as Lydia dealt with helping a witness make life and death decisions, the possible end of her career and a betrayal so big that it left her speechless.

Shawn Hatosy, as grieving Sammy, continued his journey to the darkside after blowing the ID for Nate's murderer. As Dewey commented when he heard, "Ouch. Notify the suicide hotline."

Actually, based on next week's preview, it looks more like Sammy's leaning toward homicidal rage. But these days, even after running over and killing a pedestrian during a high-speed pursuit, Dewey has his head screwed on straighter than Sammy's.

We spent a lot of time with Lydia this week: Despite being suspended over the leaked crime scene photos, she kept an injured witness company at the hospital when his fiancée couldn't be found. It was tough to watch since we could see the mutual attraction, and even tougher when she learned that his condition was rapidly deteriorating. Poor Lydia, she finally meets a great guy and he's dying!

As if that wasn't tough enough, she then helped him decide whether to attempt a risky surgery or wait to tell his fiancee goodbye. Lydia's story about her own painful loss of a lover, whom she never got to see before he died, convinced the man to hang on to say goodbye, a scene that rivaled any tearjerking moment on 'Grey's Anatomy.' The nurse on the case told her how moved she was, but Lydia told her it was just a made-up story.

Meanwhile, Sammy got protective of Nate's widow Mariella, asking a helpful friend of Nate's why he was coming around so much. "You accusing me of trying to move in on a widow? You're the one living in her house." Even Nate's son asked, "So, you're going to be my dad now?" when he caught his mother and Sammy holding hands.

After picking the wrong perp in the lineup, Sammy couldn't face Mariella. Instead, he went back to his old house and sobbed to Tammy. "Everything I touch turns to s--t." For once, Tammy had a heart and let him cry on her shoulder. What is Sammy going to do next? Besides stalking Nate's killer and get his payback. It's hard to imagine Sammy going back on the job, back to playing family with the Morettas and definitely not, we hope and pray, back to Tammy.

John's been really tough on Chickie in the past, so it was great to see him bucking her up when she lost it after the pedestrian's death. "I wasn't going to be a cop. I was just going to surf... I needed a job, that's all this was supposed to be," she said, sounding moments away from handing in her badge. "How many surfers run towards gunfire? Until they do, you cut yourself a break," he told her. "If not you, who? Who else deserves to be wearing that uniform?"

The final scene belonged to Lydia: As many a fan suspected, strapped-for-cash Russell was the one who leaked the celebrity crime scene photos from Lydia's phone. He confessed just as she told him she was sure she was going to lose her job along with her reputation. He offered a lame apology and she just stared at him in disbelief. "I don't even know you, dude," she said as she fought back tears.


'Southland' airs Tuesdays, 10PM ET on TNT.