Season 1
You may have seen it, or not. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch an episode or two when it aired on F/X and became instantly addicted, or you turned it off right away because you're one of those folks(like me) who hates trying to play catch-up in the middle of a series. But whatever your status, one thing's for sure: you have heard of The Shield.
Created by Shawn Ryan(Angel, The Unit) and loosely based on the late '90's LAPD Rampart corruption scandal, The Shield is one of the most innovative tv series ever created, and most definitely the best cop series ever produced. Like all great series, it built upon the foundations of what came before it in the genre--but as innovative as Hill Street Blues was, neither the cops of that show nor any officer this side of NYPD Blue's Sipowicz could ever have imagined getting away with the language and storylines F/X afforded The Shield.
Set in the fictional low-rent Farmington district of L.A., the story centers around a four-man special drug enforcement unit called the Strike Team. Led by Vic Mackey(Michael Chiklis), fellow cops Shane Vendrell(Walton Goggins), Curtis Lemansky(Kenny Johnson--his character was often referred to as "Lem" or "Lemonhead") and Ronnie Gardocki(David Rees Snell) skirted the line between good and evil for seven years, taking down drug dealers and other scumbags, while alternately running protection and distribution rackets for those villains who played by Mackey's rules. The Strike Team were the cops you loved to hate--corrupt almost to the core, but when they did good for the community, it was righteous...and thus helped to make them more palatable for viewing.
With a powerhouse opening theme by Rodney Alejandro and Ernesto J. Bautista, solid acting from every single quarter, amazingly tight direction and storylines which will probably hold up for the next ten years, The Shield as a series is a veritable powerhouse of entertainment, from beginning to end. Now, let's take a look at the most rare of occurrences: pure genius in television...
SEASON ONE: OUR GANG
Episode 1: Pilot
Episode 2: Our Gang
Episode 3: The Spread
Episode 4: Dawg Days
Episode 5: Blowback
Episode 6: Cherrypoppers
Episode 7: Pay In Pain
Episode 8: Cupid & Psycho
Episode 9: Throwaway
Episode 10: Dragonchasers
Episode 11: Carnivores
Episode 12: Two Days Of Blood
Episode 13: Circles
The series starts off strong, letting us know immediately who all the important players are, and more particularly, what kind of cop Vic Mackey is on the streets. Between Vic pulling a drug dealer's pants down and nailing him between his legs to find a hidden stash and beating down on a suspected child molester(Classic Mackey line: "Good cop/bad cop's gone for the day...I'm a different kind of cop"), you know he's not like any kind of cop you've seen before. The dynamics between characters are well established, especially the disdain Mackey has for the precinct's Captain David Aceveda(Benito Martinez), the straight-laced leader who is mostly ineffectual when it comes to dealing with Mackey, who runs the streets as if he and the Strike Team owns them...because basically, they do. The pilot episode takes a serious turn into darker waters when, during a bust on a drug dealer named Two-Time, Vic turns on new ST inductee Terry Crowley(Reed Diamond) and shoots him in a cold blooded execution. The reason being that Terry was placed on the team by Aceveda with the secret intent to expose the team's corruption. But once Vic found out, obviously Terry's days were numbered. This murder would haunt the team off and on for the entire run of the series, and culminate in the finale, which we'll discuss in a little bit.
The GOOD and the BAD about Season 1: While it only takes approximately the first third of the pilot episode to get a handle on who the major characters are, it's a fact that most white writers simply don't know how to write for black characters--especially female black characters. In the first few episodes, there's a too-obvious attempt to make Detective Claudette Wyms(CCH Pounder) the Wise Black Mother, as she refers to virtually any male within earshot as "son". Luckily, through either Pounder drawing exec producer Ryan's attention to this or through Ryan's wising up, this doesn't last long. Also, the precinct the cops work out of--known as "the Barn"--is a little too large, too sleek, in the first couple episodes. It looks more like a precinct in Beverly Hills than a rundown joint in the worst parts of L.A. This isn't a huge sin, as most pilot episodes have set changes while they find their footing. Whereas later episodes would wisely eschew the use of mood music to underscore scenes, there's a little bit too much on-the-nose soundtrack use within the first third. However, the ongoing theme of Terry Crowley's murder--and the fact that Aceveda knows Vic did it but can't prove it--drives much of the drama, and watching Vic keep on his toes trying to stay out of the captain's line of fire while doing his job, is part of what will keep you riveted to the screen.
INVESTIGATING
INVESTIGATING
A thorough look into 7 years of the absolute best cop series EVER!
Broken shield: The shattered title denotes a great significance to the methods and motives of the Strike Team.
Thunderous debut: From the pilot episode on, viewers knew this was going to be a cop show like no other.
Building momentum: The second season set in motion a series of events that would lead to heavy ramifications down the road.
Bad boys rule: Left to right are Vendrell(Goggins), Crowley(Diamond), Mackey(Chiklis), Gardocki(Snell) and Lemansky(Johnson). Crowley's fate would directly tie in with the team's.
The rest of the gang: Left to right are "Dutchboy" Wagenbach(Karnes), Wyms(Pounder), Kavanaugh(Whitaker), Aceveda(Martinez), "Lemonhead" and Vendrell.
Down and dirty: The third season is when things get bleak and nasty for at least one major character.
Season 2
You may be wondering why I'm not going into more detail about specific episodes like I did in my overviews of Babylon 5 and the brilliant UK series Ultraviolet. The reason is that with The Shield, there are so many layered nuances to the show--from the ongoing drama of whether Det. Wyms will catch Vic in the act, once she catches on to the fact he's not all on the up-and-up, to the really cool fact that we see the same extras playing cop in the last episode that we did in the pilot--there's simply too much to give away accidentally. Each season has major ramifications for more than one character, and contains subtle portents as to how the series will end...and season 2 continues the path to the Strike Team's ultimate fate.
SEASON TWO: BREAKPOINT
Episode 1: The Quick Fix
Episode 2: Dead Soldiers
Episode 3: Partners
Episode 4: Carte Blanche
Episode 5: Greenlit
Episode 6: Homewrecker
Episode 7: Barnstormers
Episode 8: Scar Tissue
Episode 9: Co-Pilot
Episode 10: Coyotes
Episode 11: Inferno
Episode 12: Breakpoint
Episode 13: Dominoes Falling
One thing which The Shield never shied away from, is treating its audience as intelligent, thinking individuals. After revealing that newbie officer Julien Lowe(Michael Jace) is gay--and ashamed of his actions due to his strict Christian beliefs--the show next took on the topic of sexual reorientation therapy as the officer tries to deny his true self in favor of dating a woman he met while on a case, and later becoming betrothed to her. This led down several very dramatic roads for the character and his work partner Danielle "Danny" Sofer(Catherine Dent), who also had to come to terms with Julien's decision, while trying to deal with being suspended due to a side-effect of the actions of the Strike Team, coupled with several personal issues of her own. The show opens up the secondary characters more in this season, allowing us to realize that even though this is primarily Mackey's story, overall the series is an ensemble piece...and each actor carries their part of the show firmly on their shoulders at all times.
It's a difficult trick, attempting to straddle the line between right and wrong...and this season, nearly every character falls into the pit at one time or another. Vic and the Strike Team come to realize there are some criminals who aren't intimidated by the law, no matter how many sides of their face Mackey decides to burn off. "Lemonhead"--usually the conscience of the group--finds that it may be easier to commit a murder, if the alternative is facing life in prison. Vic and his wife Corrine(Cathy Cahlin Ryan) become more estranged from one another thanks to Claudette Wyms' investigation into the uneasy partnership Vic has struck with Aceveda. And then of course, there's the Money Train issue. When Vic and his team choose to rob the Armenian mob's mobile cash stash which contains roughly $2 million in order to cushion their own "retirement fund"(cash the team already has hidden, the result of dozens of illicit deals with drug kingpins and other busts), this sets the stage for the crap to hit the fan continually for the rest of the series, as they will now have both the mob and the police eager to find out who stole the money...and catch them at any cost.
The GOOD and the BAD about Season 2: There's not that much bad at all here. Both series creator Shawn Ryan and his writing team have a much better handle on the characters and who they are, and the direction is solid as ever. The universe in which these characters live is more believable than at least 70% of other shows on tv, and while the behavior of the Strike Team is definitely reprehensible...darn it, you just can't help but want them to hit that Money Train!
I believe in David Aceveda: Acevada(Martinez)...the captain who dreams of being a Councilman, until his life turns into a nightmare.
Power boost: When Emmy Award-winning actress Glenn Close joined the show, even Vic Mackey had to step up his game.
Season 3
A friend who was already into The Shield told me what happens to Captain Aceveda in this season's fifth episode, "Mum". I couldn't believe it. Then he showed me. I still couldn't believe it, because nothing like this had ever been on a tv show before. Nothing this brutal, in this manner. In any other cop show, the Strike Team would have shown up just in time to get Aceveda out of his jam...but not this time. Any other show that would have the Strike Team show up would just be a typical program...and like nothing else before it, "Mum" proved once and for all that The Shield is not a typical show.
Each box set of The Shield comes with commentaries by the various cast and crew, and "Mum" is unique in that it is the most somber of all the commentaries(the gang usually has a great time laughing it up as they chat), as Benito Martinez(Million Dollar Baby, Once and Again) reveals that he had serious talks with his manager and some others about why he shouldn't agree to do this particular script. Yet in the end, he felt it was the best choice as an actor...and the show benefits from that choice.
While Aceveda tries to deal with the aftermath of what happened to him, the Strike Team's successful heist of the Money Train begins to unravel as they find out first that some of the bills were marked by the feds, who were looking into the Armenians, and then that Shane's newly pregnant girlfriend has taken some of his cut and given it to her mother. This will, of course, all begin to blow back on the team eventually. It also doesn't help them that Lem has found his conscience once again, and decides to take matters into his own hands in order to cover the team's tracks.
SEASON THREE: FIRE IN THE HOLE
Episode 1: Playing Tight
Episode 2: Blood And Water
Episode 3: Bottom Bitch
Episode 4: Streaks And Tips
Episode 5: Mum
Episode 6: Posse Up
Episode 7: Safe
Episode 8: Cracking Ice
Episode 9: Slipknot
Episode 10: What Power Is...
Episode 11: Strays
Episode 12: Riceburners
Episode 13: Fire In The Hole
Episode 14: All In
Episode 15: On Tilt
Things begin to move along at a brisk pace as Aceveda begins making inroads to becoming a city councilman, leaving Claudette in charge of the Barn, and on the fast track to becoming the new captain. The Strike Team reluctantly attempts to get used to new member Tavon Garris(Brian White), placed within their ranks in the previous season due to the police chief's demand that a minority be placed on the previously all-white team, in order to set the community at ease. Shane's inherent racism gets the better of him however, which will lead to a bloody confrontation and further complications for the Strike Team down the road.
The GOOD and the BAD about Season 3: The mythology of the series gets deeper here, as evidenced by the beginning use of pre-credit flashbacks. All the actors are now firmly comfortable in the skins of the characters they inhabit. The mere fact this series boldy went where none have gone before(pun intended) further solidifies The Shield's standing as one of the best and brightest shows on the tv landscape.
Close call: The addition of Captain Rowling(Close) provided the opportunity for Vic to go straight...if only for a little while.
High five: Another season, another investigation into the Strike Team...yet nothing about this show is ever "typical".
Season 4
It was a surprise to many fans of the series that Academy Award-nominated actress Glenn Close(Fatal Attraction, Air Force One) joined the show. But even though The Shield didn't need a shot in the arm, Close's ongoing role as relentlessly by-the-book Captain Monica Rawling was still a type of reinvigoration for the series' plotlines.
In this fourth season, the various members of the Strike Team are attempting to deal with their own lives after separating in the prior year. Captain Rawling attempts to bring down suspected drug dealer Antwon Mitchell(Anthony Anderson, who manages to put in a strong performance) while also trying to rein in Vic and keep him honest.
SEASON FOUR: BACK IN THE HOLE
Episode 1: The Cure
Episode 2: Grave
Episode 3: Bang
Episode 4: Doghouse
Episode 5: Tar Baby
Episode 6: Insurgents
Episode 7: Hurt
Episode 8: Cut Throat
Episode 9: String Theory
Episode 10: Back In The Hole
Episode 11: A Thousand Deaths
Episode 12: Judas Priest
Episode 13: Ain't That A Shame
The season starts off strong as always, and first episode writer Glen Mazzara(Life, Hawthorne) and the late director Scott Brazil(JAG, Nash Bridges) make a good call by giving Vic the reluctant duty of chauffeuring Rawling around Farmington, so she can refamiliarize herself with the area. They also place her in one-on-one scenes with the majority of the secondary characters such as Wyms and Detective Holland "Dutchboy" Wagenbach, allowing the audience to gain insight into Rawling's character through these various interactions, as well as wonder what her true motivations are as the new leader, since she seems determined to play several characters against each other.
Rawling proves to be a powerful character, and in the personage of Close, exec producer Shawn Ryan certainly chose the right actress to give her depth, intelligence and grace. Meanwhile, Claudette and Dutchboy try to get out of the doghouse with the D.A. she managed to tick off last season, the action having lowered their standing as detectives. Aceveda also begins a personal descent into darkness as he attempts to cope with what happened to him last year. As all this occurs, Shane manages to get blackmailed into working for Antwon Mitchell, who orders him to put a hit on the number one pain in his side--Vic Mackey.
The GOOD and the BAD about Season 4: As the series progresses, aside from the occasional boom mike shadow, there's truly less and less "bad" at all about the series. It was a complete surprise to me that Anthony Anderson(Transformers, The Departed), whom I usually tend to think of as little more than a talentless buffoon, managed to turn in a strong and menacing performance as Mitchell. Under creator Ryan's lead, The Shield continued to improve in its fourth year, when most series are usually on the decline at this point.
Reunited: Together again, the Strike Team does what it does best...all under the watchful eye of a new IAD investigator.
Tragedy: A sad day for the team, as one of their own is lost. But was it a criminal who did it?
Season 5
As Glenn Close stepped out of her role as Captain Rawling, Forest Whitaker(The Great Debaters, Street Kings) stepped in as Internal Affairs Investigator Jon Kavanaugh, determined to take down Mackey and his Strike Team by any means necessary.
Six months have passed, and while milquetoast Detective Steve Billings(David Marciano) has been placed in charge of the Barn due to his company man nature, officer Danni Sofer is visibly pregnant...but won't reveal the name of her baby daddy. There's also a new rookie cop placed under Julien's wing; officer Tina Hanlon(Paula Garces), who will become as well known for her on the job screwups as she will for her striking good looks, which bring her the attention of several cops within the Barn...including Dutchboy.
SEASON FIVE: ENEMY OF GOOD
Episode 1: Extraction
Episode 2: Enemy Of Good
Episode 3: Jailbait
Episode 4: Tapa Boca
Episode 5: Trophy
Episode 6: Rap Payback
Episode 7: Man Inside
Episode 8: Kavanaugh
Episode 9: Smoked
Episode 10: Of Mice And Lem
Episode 11: Postpartum
Kavanaugh's ongoing investigation powers most of this season, as he works first behind the scenes--making deals with Aceveda, worming his way into Corrine's life by pretending to be the parent of an autistic child(Vic and Corrine have two autistic kids--oldest daughter Cassidy is played by Chiklis' real life daughter Autumn), grabbing up Lem and forcing him to go undercover to snare the Strike Team--then face-to-face with Vic himself, proving to be a formidable opponent. There's also the first hint in this season that something might be seriously wrong with Claudette's health. And the surprising death of a Strike Team member hits harder than a punch to the heart.
The GOOD and Bad about Season 5: The show continues to impress, building in its momentum like a relentless heart attack. As with all series, there are some episodes that are better than others. Unlike other series however, there are NO bad episodes within the bunch. This amounts to nothing short of a minor miracle, and from the get-go, The Shield continues to impress this season by staging one of the most impressively shot mass riot scenes on tv, easily comparable to anything one would find in a feature film. This, in spite of the fact each episode of the series was shot on a budget just less than $2 million each. We also become more intimately familiar with the characters' relations to one another, especially with how much Dutchboy cares for his partner Claudette Wyms, when a murder suspect tries to push her over a second floor railing in the Barn, and Dutch almost ends up strangling him to death.
A small point of contention for me is that while Dutch sometimes openly displays his appreciation for Claudette, the feeling is never fully reciprocated by her over the course of seven years. While there are moments when we catch glimpses of her respect for him, it just never seems that we find her telling Dutch how much she cares. It's an old argument of screenwriting, whether one should have their characters show or tell their emotions, but I just never get the full connection between them. While recently doing a Shield marathon with a friend, he asked me when the two would ever hook up. This being The Shield--and not your typical cop sudser--they never do. Which isn't a bad thing, simply because it would ruin their dynamic, which in spite of Wyms' distance, remains one of the best on screen.
Claudette Wyms(Pounder) and Dutchboy(Karnes): Even to the bitter end, they remain steadfast partners.
Out like a lion: Vic Mackey's tale comes to its inevitable end...and it's one of the best endings in television history.
Season 6
The beginning of the end for Mackey and his Strike Team starts with Vic losing his cool over the death of one of his pals. Now that Claudette's in charge of the Barn, Vic is her problem...but a string of brutal rapes forces her attention on those cases. Meanwhile, the Pensions Department is intent on forcing Vic out of his job early. Will he manage to find his friend's killer before time runs out?
SEASON SIX: CHASING GHOSTS
Episode 1: On The Jones
Episode 2: Baptism By Fire
Episode 3: Back To One
Episode 4: The New Guy
Episode 5: Haunts
Episode 6: Chasing Ghosts
Episode 7: Exiled
Episode 8: The Math Of The Wrath
Episode 9: Recoil
Episode 10: Spanish Practices
As the season progresses, Kavanaugh's vendetta against Vic grows to dangerously obsessive proportions. In the meantime, Vic is unfortunately forced to train the officer who will be his eventual replacement. Now partnered with Billings, Dutchboy tries his best to adjust to the unpleasant situation, while also keeping a concerned eye on Claudette's deteriorating health. And Shane is placed on the unintentional path which will lead to a collision course between him and Vic.
The GOOD and BAD about Season 6: The show continues to chart unpredictable waters, which makes for the essence of good drama. At the end of the season, Aceveda's past humiliation from season three comes back to haunt him at a time when he's both most powerful--and most vulnerable. It's a great twist which once again makes him and Vic reluctant allies, but this time, it's for all the marbles...not just their own individual safety, but for the safety of Farmington itself.
Season 7
This is the season where it all pays off. For seven years, fans wondered whether Vic would face justice from the law or that of the street. Would he wind up incarcerated, or slip through the noose at the last minute, as he'd managed to do so consistently over the past six years? If you think I'm going to give you the answer, you're absolutely crazy...but there's a well-placed middle finger to the lame ending of The Sopranos. Only in this world of vague moral choices, when the lights go out for the last time, you know that no matter what the situation, Vic will eventually find his way back on top again somehow, someday(and no, that's not a direct hint in the slightest).
SEASON SEVEN: FAMILY MEETING
Episode 1: Coefficient Of Drag
Episode 2: Snitch
Episode 3: Money Shot
Episode 4: Genocide
Episode 5: Game Face
Episode 6: Animal Control
Episode 7: Bitches Brew
Episode 8: Parricide
Episode 9: Moving Day
Episode 10: Party Line
Episode 11: Petty Cash
Episode 12: Possible Kill Screen
Episode 13: Family Meeting
Vic is no closer to finding his pal's killer, until a surprising new suspect comes into focus. All loose ends are finally tied up: Claudette's final analysis of her health. Will former rookie cop Tina Hanlon finally make the grade? What happens to Danni's baby? Will Corrine be able to make a separate life for her and the kids apart from Vic? And finally, Dutchboy has a chance to start a proper relationship with a woman.
The true story here, of course, is what finally happens to Vic and the remainder of the Strike Team as the long arm of the law finally draws closer to snaring them. As I said above, of course I'm not going to tell you what happens. What I will say, after looking back at seven years, the series finale is as inevitable as it is completely unpredictable. Really, from the moment Vic actively chose to murder Terry Crowley, there couldn't be any other ending. And this ending...this final, bittersweet closing...serves as one of the best endings to any series in the history of television, if not the best. Take that and shove it up your diner scene, Sopranos.
The GOOD and Bad about Season 7: There is no bad to be found here, with the exception that after seven years of getting to the heart of who all these people are, sadly the character of Ronnie Gardocki remains a cipher. Aside from knowing that he's an expert at lock picking and retrieving lost info on computers, creator Shawn Ryan and his writing staff never really delved deeply enough into his character to give us any tantalizing info on him. The same could technically be said of Lem, but at least being the heart and conscience of the team, he was a presence when he was on screen. With Gardocki, pretty much anyone could have played the role.
I did say in season 5 that the show's momentum builds like a relentless heart attack, and here in season 7, the coronary hits and all four chambers of the heart are set to explode as Vic tries to cut a last-minute deal to keep him and one of his teammates out of prison. Everyone is at the top of their game, and it's very telling that there are no pre-credit flashbacks at all this season; obviously Ryan figured that if you haven't been watching by now, you'll never catch up. From the first episode of the season onward, it's definitely pencils-down time.
Thus does our overview of The Shield--the greatest cop drama ever--come to a close. It's a rarity for the box sets of this series to go on sale, and even rarer to be able to find all of them together in a store at any one time. But if you happen to stop by your local video retailer, do yourself a favor and start from season 1, then collect the rest however you can. And once you're done with the first season, feel free to kick yourself for missing out on such brilliance all this time...
I know I did.
Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey: For seven years, the bad cop you just can't hate, no matter how much you might want to.
