The first two seasons that played on A&E are really bland, however season 3 which only consists of 8 episodes is far more better. They almost got the formula down Though I'm sure people would love Steven to fight a few people to keep it interesting but I really If it wasn't for Steven's alleged personal life or so the most reliable website on the planet says I'm sure he would have done more.
For the most part if you've seen the movie Steven did in 1997 Fire Down Below this is the Steven you're getting if you haven't see the movie it'll make parts of this review make sense. Which I think was the movie that ruined his career as it was more unwatchable than everyone tries to pretend "On Deadly Ground" from 1994 was the reason.. In fact On Deadly Ground which was his directorial debut and won him a razzie for his directing skills was so bad it's good. Well what can I say about this
Steven claims he trained police departments and so forth. I'm not here to question it, he has some photos. However in this show he's a deputy at best and I can understand his film career comes first as that is what paid for his lifestyle to say the least and perhaps is why he never became a full time officer as he's a ride along police officer with no power is my understanding. I could be wrong but it seems like it that they take him out only when the coast is clear and all the danger is gone. Though i wouldn't question if this show is scripted or not as it really seems like it. Either way if you're expecting high paced thrill rides with helicopters, Steven taking on 5 or 10 gangsters in this small town or any of that this isn't going to be the show for you and it's better to stick to his movies. Just like a lot of tv series similar to this such as Cops the episodes tend to blend together so it is at best something to have on in the background while doing other things for me. I usually practiced guitar with this on.
Steven can be quite interesting. Though I despise that put on southern Louisiana accent he puts on in the first and second season, though it's not the worst accent he's put on as one movie he did Russian which was worst. For those who don't believe me about his different voices go watch some of his earliest movies. I also hate his stupid durag he wears at times and the show has some heart such as when Steven is helping out a local animal shelter getting people to adopt dogs, he talks to the people and doesn't come off like this macho I'm better than you, my word is the law nonsense where he over steps his power. He seems like he's there to help the people instead of acting like this insecure WWE wrestler such as when Triple H did that reality wrestling show and everyone laughed at how overly intense he is. You see Steven's family and him playing with his band to add some personality to him. Bringing someone on the force to go get acupuncture and of course eat sushi. Sometimes he goes a bit overboard with the Asian stuff he wears but whatever he's lived in Japan and did so much for the marital arts thriller movie genre he can get away with it Plus you get to see him swing a katana and a bunch of other interesting things.
However I think it's a bit of an ego trip too. How can everyone in town know it's him, there was one drunk guy who pretty much had to be reminded in season two of who Steven Seagal was. Everyone goes CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH, can I take a picture or driving around with an open window and kids shout STEVEN!! Maybe in 1992 or so he was that famous but I'm not sure now. It doesn't seem the police department is allowed to say anything bad about him, oh wow I didn't know Steven's band rocks so much! I've never seen anyone shoot a gun like Steven and then you watch him do a shooting test and get a 120 out of 120 (perfect score) and he pretends to know best in every situation, what every gun shell casing looks like and stuff like that so if you've ever seen the movie Fire Down Below and wanted a sequel this is probably it though he upgraded to a prettier and younger wife. It just looks like the deputy sheriff or whatever his title is as I'm writing this review actually is why does he have the final say. There has to be someone with more power but seriously no one has ever said NO STEVEN that's an awful idea. It'll get us killed. He hardly runs like maybe twice in the 3/4 of the episodes I saw and was in a lot better shape than his 2015 or so movies so I'd really like to know what happened.
At the end of the day it's a fairly low budget cop show, don't expect "under siege 3" or something out of one of his movies
It's not the worst reality show as it has more redeeming factors than Jersey Shore did or anything to do with the Lardashians but it's still not Hardcore Pawn good to me. Would I watch it again after seeing the episodes again? No. I think I'm just watching it to say I've seen everything to do with Steven Seagal.
