1990s Action Icon Has His Own Version Of Cops You Must Stream Immediately

Every episode of Steven Seagal: Lawman opens with Seagal saying “I make a living in the movies, but for the past 20 years I’ve also been a cop.” I was hooked from the first episode because, as Tom Segura put it, if you’re getting into trouble in Louisiana, there’s a very real chance that you’ll get arrested by Steven Seagal, which is absolutely hilarious to me. But it’s also worth noting that despite Seagal’s claims, there is no actual public record of him having a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification. 

However, the state of Louisiana doesn’t require POST accreditation if an officer works alongside other POST-accredited officers, so there may be some truth in Steven Seagal: Lawman after all. 

Every episode of Steven Seagal: Lawman opens with Seagal saying “I make a living in the movies, but for the past 20 years I’ve also been a cop.” I was hooked from the first episode because, as Tom Segura put it, if you’re getting into trouble in Louisiana, there’s a very real chance that you’ll get arrested by Steven Seagal, which is absolutely hilarious to me. But it’s also worth noting that despite Seagal’s claims, there is no actual public record of him having a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification. 

However, the state of Louisiana doesn’t require POST accreditation if an officer works alongside other POST-accredited officers, so there may be some truth in Steven Seagal: Lawman after all. 

According to Steven Seagal, he was asked to join the police force depicted in Steven Seagal: Lawman after being hired by the precinct to train officers in defensive martial arts. Being a 7th-dan black belt in aikido, Seagal can be seen training officers how to peacefully neutralize the aggressive suspects they may encounter while out on patrol. Ever since, he has been working as a reserve deputy and joining the officers to do real police work like deescalating drug busts and domestic disturbances. 

While I absolutely went into watching Steven Seagal: Lawman with every intention of laughing at Steven Seagal, I can’t deny the show its due credit for trying to highlight some of the positive police work that happens in this country. Not only do the officers working for the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office try to keep the streets safe, they’re portrayed as compassionate individuals who try to give each suspect the benefit of the doubt, as they are “innocent until proven guilty.”

Though it’s reasonable to assume that a healthy amount of exchanges on the show are staged, or at the very least edited down to show Steven Seagal and his fellow officers in a more positive light, it’s a fun series that aims to restore the public’s faith in law enforcement. 

But Steven Seagal: Lawman wouldn’t truly be a Steven Seagal-centric intellectual property if it didn’t occasionally pull the curtain back and show you how awesome Steven Seagal is, according to Steven Seagal. A season 1 episode, entitled “Too Young to Die,” spends a considerable amount of time off the streets and in the New Orleans Children’s Hospital cancer ward as the off-duty officers try to connect with sick children and make the decision to host a benefit show to raise money for the hospital.

The episode ends with a concert thrown by Steven Seagal playing blues guitar at a concert venue where everybody talks about how great he is for being so charitable, magnanimous, and multi-talented. 

GFR SCORE

Steven Seagal: Lawman is a highly entertaining reality show in every conceivable way. I personally can’t get enough of how Seagal can’t resist the urge to say things like “When the world is speeding by for others, I see things for what they are” with a straight face as if he were still on the set of Under Siege. Unintentional comedy aside, if you’re a fan of reality shows like Cops, this series has great pacing and a positive outlook that’s absolutely infectious if you’re willing to sit back and enjoy the show.

You can stream Steven Seagal: Lawman for free on Tubi. Just be careful, because you’re going to want to plow through every episode in a single sitting.