I recently tried watching this series from the beginning but just couldn't get past the first episode of season One. I found it slow, contrived, awkward, and dull; a poor adaptation of better books.
I remember seeing that HEAT shoot out in a cinema with surround sound ... was quite visceral experience ... probably one of the first "realistic" hollywood gunfights filmed...
...and the bad guys were basically terrorists with their complete disregard for bystanders.