Series / Deputy

The hero no one saw coming

Deputy was a Police Procedural starring Stephen Dorff that premiered on Fox in 2020.

Bill Hollister is a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's mounted division who has a reputation as a hard charger with little regard for procedure. When the incumbent sheriff suddenly dies, he finds himself suddenly forced into the role of Acting Sheriff due to a rule in the county charter declaring that the role be taken up by the most senior member of the sheriff's "mounted posse". Suddenly finding himself in a position with real authority, Hollister decides to take advantage of his situation and make some changes in how things are done.

Following the end of the first season, Fox announced that the show was cancelled.

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This series provides examples of:

• Action Girl: The LA County Sheriff's Department includes multiple female deputies. Charlie Minnick is the most prominent, serving as Joseph's training officer. Bishop appears to be one too before coming out as nonbinary.
• Affectionate Nickname: Maggie is sometimes called "Mags" by her mom and dad.
• Alliterative Name: Bishop's first name turns out to be Brianna.
• Badges and Dog Tags:
  • Bishop was in the Pentagon working with Army Intelligence before moving out to LA and becoming a deputy sheriff.
  • Cade Ward was a Marine before he became an LA County Sheriff's Deputy, serving as a sniper for the Marine Corps and then the LASD sometimes too.
• Bar Brawl: Carter picks a fight while in a bar with Joseph during "10-8 Agency". Joseph has to stop him from beating the guy he gets in a fight with severely, and then reluctantly goes along with his excuse for it afterwards.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Bishop is Hollister's driver and bodyguard. He is quite a capable man even without having them, though Bishop's definitely skilled themself.
• Butch Lesbian: Deputy Bishop has short hair and always dresses in nice suits while on duty. They're established to be a lesbian in the pilot, then nonbinary with they/them pronouns later too. It leads to Bishop's breakup with their first girlfriend, and later dating another woman.
• The Cartel: Latino gangsters connected with Mexican drug cartels serve as recurring villains, given the LA setting.
• Coming-Out Story: Bishop, though out as a lesbian (mentioning this in the pilot to Hollister) tells Paula later they're "not all woman" after having had a long period of discomfort on the topic, coming out as nonbinary this way too. When they told their girlfriend though, Genevieve was unhappy about this revelation, with the two breaking up eventually as a result of it. Bishop later also starts to use they/them pronouns. All of their colleagues and work friends accept this easily, however, assuring Bishop they're supported. Hollister even sends a memo out helpfully updating people on their new pronouns. Bishop is quite pleased by this.
• Coming Out to Spouse: Bishop comes out to their girlfriend as nonbinary. This ends the relationship because Genevieve isn't sure who Bishop is after this or the implications for her, having defined herself as a lesbian as meaning a woman who loves women, and so she can't fit nonbinary into that.
• Copkiller Manhunt: When Deputy Luna is shot, in "Deputy Down" the LA County Sheriff's Department goes on the warpath to find the shooter.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: In "10-8 Selfless" the villain it turns out is a corrupt developer who ordered a homeless veteran Marine murdered to get the homeless cleared out by the police as they were impeding his developments.
• Cowboy Cop: Hollister has a reputation for rushing into action with little care for procedure. He's also a cowboy cop in a literal sense. As a member of the LASD's mounted division, his job was to patrol the rough rural terrain of Los Angeles County on a horse.
• Dark Action Girl: "10-8 Do No Harm" features a female villain named Rose, who impersonates a deputy sheriff, murders an actual deputy on being spotted and takes hostages along with her prisoner boyfriend in a jail infirmary to get him released after he gets life-saving surgery. She's quite ruthless and not hesitant about shooting people or threatening them in the least.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Cade was in the foster care system along with his sister growing up, and suffered for it. Both of them also lived homeless for a time, and while he escaped the streets, she didn't. He's been unable to find her since. Cade served in the Marines too, and became an alcoholic as an implied means of coping with all this, but got sober after going through AA. He has an especially tender regard for homeless kids and Marines after these past experiences.
• Dirty Cop: In "10-8 Black & Blue" it turns out an LAPD detective with homicide is involved in murders, drug dealing and frames an innocent man on a murder charge. While talking with Hollister he says he'd slowly fallen further into corruption over time to get this far.
• Due to the Dead:
  • In "Deputy Down" when a deputy is killed on the job, there's a ceremonial roll call made by the LA County Sheriff's Deputies which ends with his send-off.
  • At the end of "10-8 Selfless" a murdered homeless veteran Marine is paid tribute to by the people who knew him publicly.
• Enemy Mine:
  • Several rival LA gangs are revealed as allied due to something called "the reckoning".
  • Hollister and London team up to oppose District Attorney Carol Riley when she announced her candidacy for County Sheriff because neither one wants any outsider running their department, no matter what else they disagree on.
• Everyone Has Standards: Undersheriff Jerry London firmly believes that he should be sheriff instead of Hollister and is determined to beat him in the election. While he is willing to use some dirty tactics, he is still a police officer and would never do anything to jeopardize people's lives. He is outraged when he finds out that a political ally has been careless with vital police information and four people are dead as a result. He cuts all ties with the ally and threatens to arrest her unless she resigns from the county government immediately.
• Fair Cop: Several of the LA Sheriff's Deputies, Joseph chief among them, are attractive people.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: Hollister met Paula, his future wife, when he was in the hospital after being stabbed and she treated him. He'd asked her to dinner afterward, and they ended up married with a daughter.
• Following in Relative's Footsteps: Joseph's father was an LA County sheriff's deputy who'd been killed on duty, while he graduates to become one in the pilot. Both his mother and Hollister, his godfather who'd been his dad's partner, aren't entirely pleased with this. His mom outright wants him fired for Joseph to avoid death on the job as well. Hollister initially agrees, but then lets him stay. Joseph narrowly avoids his dad's fate after being attacked while on duty by inmates in the LA County Jail.
• Happily Adopted: Cade and his wife Teresa have been unable to conceive. As a result, they look into adoption, taking two orphaned kids in before adopting them. They become loving parents to their adopted kids Roberto and Camillo, gaining the trust of both while also finally having a biological child. Cade had grown up in the foster care system along with his sister, so he's determined to give the kids the loving family which he never had. Then their grandmother seeks custody though, so Cade and Teresa have to fight her over it, though the kids are happy with them.
• Hidden Depths: Hollister initially comes across as a rough cop who cares mainly about action and arrests. But he is also genuinely concerned about making sure civilians are safe and free from harassment, even tipping people off about immigration raids because he disagrees with indiscriminate blanket deportations.
• Hospital Hottie: Paula is quite a beautiful woman who's also a medical doctor.
• Hostage Situation:
  • "10-8 Do No Harm" centers on one which occurs at a jail infirmary when a male prisoner and his female accomplice disguised as a deputy take hostages to have him transferred so he can get the surgery needed for saving his life, which the authorities hadn't approved.
  • In "10-8 Paperwork" two inmates break out of a police station holding cell with a deputy being held hostage.
• Impersonating an Officer:
  • In "Graduation Day" Villalobos steals Joseph's uniform and key card to escape LA County Jail. After this he kidnaps a girl as punishment for her father taking from his cartel, initially getting inside due to his disguise.
  • "10-8 Do No Harm" sees a woman disguise herself as a deputy sheriff to take hostages in a jail infirmary.
• The Informant:
  • Daisy, a kind transgender inmate in the LA County Jail, gives information to the cops about her ex-boyfriend Villalobos, a gangster. After he learns about it and ends up in the same jail, Villalobos nearly kills her for doing this.
  • A suspect in a deputy's murder turns out to have really been his informant, only behaving hostile to him as cover.
  • In "10-8 Firestone" Hollister runs into Valeria, a woman who once had been an informant when he worked narcotics. They were also involved, as he admits to his wife while assuring her it's long over. Valeria's now a money courier for criminals and gives him information about human trafficking that she knows of. She gets a new life in Witness Protection because of this, and they have a bittersweet farewell.
  • "10-8 Agency" sees confidential informants being killed all over LA, which the Sheriff's Department starts investigating. It turns out that the names were given by a former Dirty Cop to the DA's Office as a part of his Plea Bargain, then leaked as a plant is working there.
• Last-Name Basis: After coming out as nonbinary, Bishop decides to use only their last name along with using they/them pronouns, dropping their first name Brianna. Even prior to this they were mostly called just Bishop by colleagues.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: Cade and Teresa Wade have been trying without success to have a baby. They decide on adoption after meeting some Latino siblings in need. After adopting them, Teresa learns that she's finally pregnant.
• Lipstick Lesbian: Bishop's girlfriend Genevieve is a very feminine lesbian with long hair who gets dolled up while on the town in a flattering blouse and skirt. When they break up, Bishop dates Julie, who's equally feminine.
• Loose Lips: The District Attorney's office obtains a list of confidential police informants and are careless about keeping its existence secret. The list is stolen and people start to die.
• Love Makes You Evil: Dark Action Girl Rose in "10-8 Do No Harm" becomes willing to murder and take hostages for her incarcerated boyfriend. It's shown the couple genuinely love each other, and he really does need surgery to save his life which the prison system otherwise won't authorize before they're hostage-taking coerces this into being provided.
• Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Butch Lesbian Bishop dates Lipstick Lesbian Genevieve. They break up as Genevieve doesn't accept Bishop's coming out as nonbinary. Bishop moves on and dates Julie, another Lipstick Lesbian.
• Minority Police Officer: Several of the LA deputy sheriffs are black, with some Latinos as well. Joseph, who's a black rookie deputy, faces being profiled and threatened by LAPD officers, while also viewed as a traitor by some other black people for being a cop at all. His training officer, herself black, tells Joseph how while on the job fellow black people are only going to see him as a cop.
• Nepotism: Hollister is accused of this for aiding his godson Joseph who thinks the LAPD got it wrong in arresting his friend for murder. Joseph turns out to be right though, and they both deny any nepotism, saying he was just standing with one of his deputies.
• Nice Guy: Hollister, Cade, Paula, Bishop and Joseph are all very compassionate people who genuinely want to help others, even when some put up a tougher exterior (mostly to scare bad guys).
• "Not So Different" Remark: Ward attempts to connect with a kid he's fostering by revealing that he used to be a foster kid himself and how he and his sister used to sleep in shifts to make sure nothing would happen in the middle of the night, just like the kid he's fostering.
• Obvious Rule Patch: The failure to do this is what kicks off the series. Presumably, if someone had noticed the LASD's line of succession rules had not changed since 1850, they would have amended the charter. Alas, no one did, so it stood that, should the sheriff die in office, his replacement is the longest-serving member of his mounted posse. In 1850 the sheriff's mounted posse would have consisted of his most trusted and senior deputies. In 2020 few deputies even know how to ride a horse and the mounted division is a secondary department with little clout. Hollister has served in the mounted division for so long because he is deeply unpopular with the senior brass and was thus never transferred or promoted to a more prestigious division.
• Off the Wagon: In "10-8 Bulletproof" Hollister has to stop Cade from having a drink (as he's a recovering alcoholic) after losing custody of his adoptive kids.
• Oppressive Immigration Enforcement: Bill Hollister sees ICE in this regard and holds their tactics in utter contempt, seeing this as a flagrant abuse of power and an insult to everything being a Sheriff's deputy stands for, with the first episode involving him facing disciplinary actions for disrupting an ICE coordinated raid using the LA Sheriff's deputies. Upon becoming Sheriff, Hollister makes it clear to the senior ICE official that under his command the Sheriff's office will no longer support them in or participate in raids or mass roundups, only in the arrest of specific fugitives determined through the proper channels, despite Undersheriff Jerry London pointing out this will cost them the massive federal grant the cooperation nets them.
• Outranking Your Job: Hollister continues dealing with crime as if he were a street cop and not the Sheriff responsible for a department of thousands. However, this is deliberately invoked by Hollister, as he feels, not incorrectly, that one of the biggest issues facing the Sheriff's Department is the disconnect between the upper-level brass and the boots on the ground.
• Plea Bargain: District Attorney Carol Riley tells Hollister she plans to cut a deal with corrupt former detective Johnson that will have him plead guilty in exchange for light punishment, as he's given useful information to her office. Hollister opposes this strongly and works to kill the plea deal.
• Police Brutality: Hollister prevents a couple of deputies from committing this as they get rough with suspects while looking for a fellow deputy's shooter, noting any evidence they find would be thrown out from this but also clearly disagrees with how they acted, despite having a Cowboy Cop reputation himself. He also reins in his people while on a Copkiller Manhunt, arresting the shooter harmlessly himself.
• Profiling: Joseph endures this when a friend of his gets pursued as a murder suspect, with his trying to help through saying he's a deputy sheriff ignored by an LAPD officer. He gets forced down at gunpoint as he attempts to show his badge, with the officer clearly not seeing anything except just another dangerous black man in his mind. Joseph is very upset about it afterwards, saying how even becoming a cop hasn't changed being treated like this.
• Queer Establishing Moment: Bishop, who has a masculine hair and clothing style, soon reveals they're a lesbian when talking to Hollister. It turns out they had moved to LA and joined the sheriff's department so they could live with their girlfriend. Later they come out as nonbinary and switch to they/them pronouns too.
• Recovered Addict: Cade has gone through AA and is sober. He stopped attending meetings for a long time but goes back after dealing with the case of a homeless fellow Marine who'd struggled with drug addiction, having gone into NA.
• Revolvers Are Just Better: Hollister carries a six-shooter for day-to-day use. He switches to a semi-automatic if he expects prolonged action.
• Rite of Passage: Hollister's daughter Maggie has a quinceañera since she's a Latina along with his wife, her mom Paula, which they're shown making the preparations for ahead of time. In the last episode when it's performed he misses a large part of the event as he's saving an informant from being murdered.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: In "10-8 Entanglements" a group of thieves turn out to be bored rich kids who steal just as a game, competing with each other. They believe their wealth is going to shield them from any consequences, but are caught after one commits attempted murder when he gets his identity found out by a victim (his neighbor).
• Semper Fi: Cade is a Marine veteran who had been a sniper. His skills come in handy as a deputy sheriff, with him being consistently shown to be among the best because of his background.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran:
  • Cade is a Marine veteran with implied issues due to his time there (but he had a bad childhood too) including developing alcoholism because of it.
  • Paula is traumatized by being taken hostage and threatened, getting counseling afterwards. It continues to trouble her despite the different methods she's tried until at last she confronts the woman who'd taken her hostage, which finally helps in Paula coming to terms with what happened.
  • "10-8 Selfless" deals with the murder of another Marine veteran who'd been homeless and drug addicted. While not explicitly stated, it's clearly implied his issues stemmed from PTSD. It's mentioned many other veterans are homeless too, likely for this reason as well.
• The Sheriff: The plot starts as Bill Hollister, a Cowboy Cop deputy in the LA County Sheriff's Department, is suddenly made Sheriff when his boss dies due to an archaic rule in the city charter. He decides to take advantage of his new position and change things for the better, but some in the department are very against his planned reforms.
• Speak Truth To Power: Bishop continuously pushes back against Hollister's blunt methods and tries to get him to see that he can make the changes he wants if he'd just sit down and take on the sheriff's duties.
• Tattooed Crook:
  • Villalobos, a major Latino LA gangster, has a gang tattoo on the side of his head.
  • A Japanese-American gangster has the Yakuza tattoos.
• Trans Equals Gay: The LA County Jail has a ward just for LGBT+ inmates. It's described as being for the gay inmates, although some are clearly trans women, like Daisy. Of course, the deputies probably aren't very concerned with specific terminology. In any case, they treat them well.
• Trans Relationship Troubles: Bishop comes out as nonbinary, with Paula being supportive and accepting. However, their girlfriend Genevieve is not happy, with the relationship going downhill. Genevieve says if Bishop isn't a woman, then as a lesbian she's not sure what this would mean for her. Bishop on the other hand refuses to hide anymore. This leads to the two of them breaking up. Later though Bishop finds another girlfriend who completely accepts them.
• Trauma Button: In "10-8 Paperwork" Paula's triggered by hearing an alarm go off while she's about to perform surgery, as this makes her remember being held hostage during "10-8 Do No Harm". She does manage to calm herself though and continue the operation, reassuring Paula she's capable of dealing with it.
• Twerp Sweating: Hollister is very protective about his daughter Maggie, an attitude her mom and grandma note is common among fathers. Though polite, after meeting her boyfriend he browbeats the kid a bit while making clear he'll never tolerate any mistreatment of her. He later apologizes for not trusting her judgment and doing this, however.
• Unexpected Successor: Bill Hollister becomes acting sheriff as he was the longest-serving member of the previous sheriff's mounted posse (interpreted as the LASD's mounted division).
• What You Are in the Dark: Minnick formerly taught at-risk kids, telling them (quoting Oprah) that real integrity is doing right regardless of whether anybody else will know what they did.
• Yakuza: "10-8 Paperwork" has the main villain as a Japanese-American gangster connected with crime syndicates both in the US and Japan. Though the Yakuza is not specifically named, he has their telltale tattoos showing from under his shirt. He's in the US as the emissary for a deal with a Mexican drug cartel to traffic cocaine within the Southwest.

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