Arija Bareikis stars as patrol officer Chickie Brown, a single mom who dreams of being the first woman accepted into SWAT, in NBC's new drama series "Southland."

Bareikis recently appeared in Manhattan Theatre Club's production of "From Up Here."

In addition, Bareikis’ television credits include NBC’s "Law & Order" and "Crossing Jordan." She also has appeared in "Grey's Anatomy," "A Painted House," "Without A Trace," "The American Embassy" and HBO's "Oz."
Bareikis’ feature-film credits include "Frame of Mind," Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "Tenderness," Woody Allen's "Melinda and Melinda," "Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo," "30 Days," "Snow Falling On Cedars" and "The Myth of Fingerprints."

Bareikis appeared on stage for a New City's production of "Orange Flower Water" and made her Broadway debut in Alfred Uhry's Tony Award-winning play "The Last Night of Ballyhoo." Bareikis’ other theater credits include "Intimate Apparel," "Hotel Universe," "The Moment When," "Virgil Is Still the Frogboy" and "Sweet By N' By." At Williamstown, she performed in "As You Like It," "Counselor At Law," "The Madwoman of Chaillot," "The Threepenny Opera," "The Guardsman," "The Visit" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

Well, I am proud to be the first to post my appreciation for Chickie!

I saw this actress many years ago in the movie The Myth of Fingerprints and never saw her again; but she made an impression on me so much that as soon as I saw her on this show, I knew it was her.

I look forward to getting to know her character as the show continues.

Chickie and Lydia are both great female characters. I think that the have been written and cast very well.

I'm actually keeping my fingers crossed that her and Ben end up getting together. There seemed to be a little chemistry in the second episode.. granted this week's episode Ben ends up with a Brunette victim that probably stalks him, but Chickie is someone he could always end up with in the end.

I wonder if that was her son or younger brother she asked if he wanted to go surfing tomorrow. (They give you little bits of history or character development here and there and you have to catch them all)

Chickie, you are missed *sigh* . . .

I'm not a cop, but I do work in a "man's world" where women are a relatively recent addition, and "Chickie" fits the profile to a "T": very devoted, very concerned with doing the job by the book or at least better than they boys do it, very aware of her "novelty" yet hating that fact, and abused by a jerk (Dewey) while respected by the good guys, Cooper and Sherman.

The regina king character called herself a "social worker" to her date, and that is more believable than a cop. She's got too much "crusader" for a cop. Chickie hits it just right: devoted to the profession, not to trying to save the souls of the human detrius she is forced to serve. My experience is that professional women in a patriarchal world try to "earn" their acceptanceby devotion to the job, not to their coworkers or the "customers." Most of the guys fit in by trying to be "one of the boys" and not rocking the boat.

Love Chickie! More please! I was so afraid they were going to kill her off in the finale!

She needs a better partner than Dewey and please don't hook her up with Ben. Just no!

I'd love to see her out surfing with her son.

Lastly, Chickie can't be her real name, can it?

Keep up the good work, Arija!

Chickie DEFINITELY needs a new partner. Anyone other than that slimeball Dewey. Glad he's done. I honestly hope that Ben and Chickie don't get together. It would just be too cliche and Southland is better than that. And the kid from a few episodes ago was Chickie's son.

Who'd have thought, a policewoman with a regular face and no makeup! It's a far cry from the long gone days when Heather Locklear fought crime with flawless makeup and feathered hair!

Chickie is an awesome character and they need to use her more in the second season. She, Cooper and Ben seem to form a neat clique, and now she just needs a replacement partner worthy of her. It was tragic/comedic a serious professional like her getting stuck with a goofball like Dewey.

We figured out on another board that there is a former cop who's advising on the show and his name is Chic so 'Chickie' must be a nod to him.

I think Chickie needs to be promoted to Detective and paired with Lydia. Then Russell can just Go.Away.


True! And even Sharon Gless on Cagney and Lacey or Kate Jackson in the Rookies. Now I'm dating myself.

Erija Bareikis is a very talented actress, so amazing to watch, so compelling. But her character, Chickie, has not been adequately developed in this show so far. I'm hoping that the writers give her something really meaningful, something which allows her character to grow. Turning in her partner had potential, but the emotional turmoil was not really fully addressed. Now there is talk that the show will focus less on the ensemble, and will instead focus more on other (frankly far less interesting) characters. This could be a wasted opportunity. Bareikis is an actress of extraordinary depth, and deserves some really meaty material. The show will benefit greatly from it.

Chickie fell into the same trap as the other uniform cops, for the most part. Arija is an actress with much to offer and her character is intriguing. The writers even gave her some more material and followed an actual story line, but they skirted the real issues involving her and made it about Dewey. As with other interesting characters, the set up was there, and the potential, but then came the letdown.

I had some high hopes for watching the dynamic between Chickie and Ben develop after the pilot, however slowly. That was heightened after the very brief, but well done scene after Dewey's party. She may outrank him, but there's none of the mind games, badgering for information, or the more problematic history (with Cooper's labeling of Ben, hoping to have him quit, and the culmination with Ben being left in the unavoidable position of having to shoot and kill the banger when Cooper didn't step up) that exists with Cooper. Trust is certainly a huge issue with Ben, but it's compounded with Cooper, who has all the power in that dynamic. With Chickie, there's the possibility for a more casual type of relationship and friendship without the professional scrutiny for either of them since they're not partners/training officer and trainee.

Chickie's friendships and her family (other than her son), are question marks, but I'm guessing she could use a friend, especially one who would have an idea of how her job pressures affected her. Ben and Arija also seem to work well together, just as their characters didn't have the same distance, suspicion or hostility that described what Ben faced. The fact that Chickie is a mother and Ben so clearly is his mother's protector with a very interesting story to explore only made me more hopeful.

I agree that Chickie fell victim to the same treatment as her fellow unformed officers, even if her story did have some continuity through the season. It just had a single focus about her partner, not how her partner effected her and her relationships with others. Is it the curse of the uniform with the writers? Like you, I was hoping to see something in her story more about her that wasn't all about Dewey all the time. An obnoxious, self-centered, self-destructive, crude loser (yes, I'm being kind) makes for an interesting train wreck of a character, but she should have been more than his sidekick. Count me in as someone who was wondering if some kind of gradual bond of friendship might develop with Ben too based on the pilot and the too short scene at the party. They seem to have similar temperments and each could use a friend and confidant, and neither has an easy time of it.