The Shield Series Review

The Shield (2002-2008)

Season 1 - 13 episodes (2002)
Season 2 - 13 episodes (2003)
Season 3 - 15 episodes (2004)
Season 4 - 13 episodes (2005)
Season 5 - 11 episodes (2006)
Season 6 - 13 episodes (2007)
Season 7 - 13 episodes (2008)
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Created by: Shawn Ryan
Starring: Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, Jay Karnes, CCH Pounder, Benito Martinez, Catherine Dent, Michael Jace, Cathy Cahlin Ryan, David Rees Snell, Kenny Johnson, Glenn Close, Forest Whitaker
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
A gang of corrupt Los Angeles Police Department cops uses illegal methods to maintain law and order, whilst engaging in a series of undercover dealings in order to get rich.

Verdict
This is one of my all time favorite shows. It's one of the few shows that becomes more intense with every season. From the first episode until the last, this is a thrill ride. It reels you in immediately, and the final episode ranks as one of the all time great finales. Nearly every episode builds story and character. Mackey's goal is always to reduce crime, but he considers himself judge, jury, and executioner as he instigates his own form of street justice. He provides plenty of moments where you want to root for him but even more instances where he commits abhorrent crimes. Plenty of characters fear him, but they also recruit him when they need someone to do the dirty work. He's the guy you want when you're in a bind, and he's also the last guy you want to cross. For seven years Vic Mackey ruled over the streets of Los Angeles.
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Review
This was FX's first drama, and the network was looking for something that could compete with premium cable channels. Shawn Ryan had been a writer for Nash Bridges and wanted to write something less upbeat and more grim. While FX was afraid the cop genre was tired, this script garnered their attention. Michael Chiklis's previous roles were comedies in The Commish and the short lived Daddio. He was seeking a role that would reinvent his image.

S1: Michael Chiklis, Benito Martinez play Vic Mackey, David Aceveda

Season one begins with Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his Strike Team chasing down a suspect, assaulting them, and then pocketing the drugs as Captain Aceveda (Benito Martinez) does a new interview about how he's making the streets safer. It's quickly clear that Mackey has a disdain for Aceveda who has never spent time on the streets, and Aceveda has concerns that Mackey is breaking the rules.

Vic gets results, just don't question the how. Even though Aceveda is sketpical of the methods, when he needs a case solved he goes to Mackey knowing the methods. When you get results, you gain friends. That's the thing about Vic, he doesn't see anything wrong beating a suspect if he can save a victim. From the beginning he's always believed the ends justify the means. The first episode provides a shock. Through this show you waver between liking and disliking Mackey. The end of the first episode proves he's not a good dude but it's easy to forget about that throughout this series.

The show is full of duos. Mackey and Aceveda, Claudette (CCH Pounder) and Dutch (Jay Karnes), Julian (Michael Jace) and Danny (Catherine Dent). Dutch follows the rules, but thinks he's smarter than everyone else, arrogant and indulgent. It's easy to see why people don't like him. He wants to be the guy but doesn't have the attitude or confidence. Claudette balances him as his partner. She's uninterested in the political games. Danny is Julian's training officer, trying to show him the ropes but frustrated as he's never willing to bend the rules.

This show always charges forward. The hand held camera work helps, making you feel like you're always in the middle of the action. We're in every room, just out of sight, watching behind the scenes as cops break rules at will. Everything about this is well done. The actors always bring it, making this feel real. Every scene develops character and plot. All these elements add energy to the series.

Vic does reduce crime, but it comes down to breaking the law. While he's fiercely loyal to his friends, he also think it's his call on how laws are enforced. Mackey can't be stopped. Other cops follow laws, but Vic isn't constrained in that way. He wants to be the top cop, and he doesn't care how he gets there. Even Aceveda who decries Vic's methods also sees him as a means to boost his profile to get on the city council.

Later in the season Dutch manages to not only detain a suspected serial killer but gain a confession. It's a brutal interrogation where the killer proudly proclaims all of Dutch's flaws but Dutch wins, though after his shift he's reduced to tears in his car. 

S2: Brian White, David Rees Snell, Kenny Johnson, Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, play 
Tavon Garris, Ronnie Gardocki, Curtis Lemansky, Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell

To begin season two, an auditor works out of the Barn while a new criminal Armadillo consolidates the cartels to run the drug business. Aceveda partners with Mackey to thwart the auditor. Mackey looks better in comparison as Aceveda's means are all about self image and press. Mackey wants free reign to fight crime as he sees fit.

Last season Vic's wife Corinne (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) left with the kids. Vic's upset, more so when he can't talk her into coming back. He takes that frustration out on Armadillo. It's brutal, even if it had been on premium cable. In return Armadillo puts a hit out on the entire Strike Team just as the team plans to rip off a money laundering organization, the money train.

After last season's successes Dutch epically botches a case. It rocks his confidence. As much sympathy as you feel for him, he always manages to irritate. While Claudette knows better than getting in the middle of Vic and anyone else, she can't keep ignoring the rumors and how it affects the Barn.

For a show that always has such great pacing, episode nine Co-pilot is filler. It's a lot of background and answers to questions we don't need. We don't need to see Vic and Aceveda's first interaction. It also includes nearly every character we've seen in the show, as implausible as that is.

The auditor represents the reoccurring threat of outside authorities trying to tie Mackey and his team to crimes. This is only the first wave. Mackey doesn't want to be exposed, and Aceveda needs him to pad the stats and boost his reputation so he can run for office. Vic reconsiders the money train. His vote is the only one that matters, and he calls it off. When he needs money, it's back on.

The final episode is the money train heist. The location changes and they face unplanned hurdles. Can the strike team pull it off? Either way this is an event that changes everything, something that follows them for the rest of the series.

S2: Kenny Johnson, Walton Goggins, Michael Chiklis play 
Curtis Lemansky, Shane Vendrell, Vic Mackey

The Strike Team is playing it by the book in season three after last season's robbery, but the money has marked bills the FBI is attempting to trace. The Strike Team pulled off a great score, but they aren't spending it to avoid suspicion. They don't realize they can't spend it because it will be traced. It's effectively worthless.

Claudette prepares to take over as captain, but Aceveda refuses to step down and steals Claudette's plans. He farmed her for ideas and she didn't realize it. That leads to an addition to the Strike Team, Tavon (Brian White).

Shane's new girlfriend is trouble from the start. She doesn't like Vic, and she plants ideas in Shane's head about how poorly he's treated. She's not wrong, but it's still an exaggeration. She coerces Shane into spending the money train cash and later steals some herself. Shane figures it out but she doesn't apologize. The show never gives you a reason to like her. Shane's tension with Tavon boils over when Tavon visits his home. Shane starts the fight and Moira finishes it. It's a brutal fight that feels more realistic with how uncoordinated it feels.

As many rules as Vic breaks, he spends his stolen cash on paying off a gang to get guns off the street. Everything he does is with the ultimate goal of making the streets safer. No one will know about his victory, but that's not the point. That's also how Vic discovers the cash is marked. Lemansky (Kenny Johnson) is stressed about the money, about everything. He states the money has caused nothing but problems and now Vic wants him to lie to Tavon about what happened in the Shane altercation in an effort to 'protect the team.'  It leads to Lem wanting to leave the team, but if he does the team may be permanently disbanded.

In a different case, Aceveda searches a home by himself and is assaulted by the same guy Vic beat up earlier to give up information. You have to imagine Aceveda was attacked out of spite and revenge. Vic is indirectly responsible. Aceveda was made to feel powerless, and he wants to regain his power. He begins tracking the guy involved in his assault.

Dutch has been hoping for a big case. While he's obnoxious and arrogant, he wants the case in the hope that he'll gain approval and the respect of everyone else. He finds a suspect that challenges all of his assumptions about murderers. This killer is mostly normal, living a typical life. Dutch always assumes serial killers are deranged.

Claudette's captain spot was delayed, but she screws that up by ignoring warnings and pursuing a case. It costs her the captain's spot. 

Three seasons in and this show is great. Every episode adds to the narrative. Season one established the Strike Team as crooked cops with boundaries. Mackey wants to reduce crime, but his methods are questionable. Season two steps it up with Armadillo and the money train, but it also has Co-pilot. Season three manages to up the intensity again with Tavon, the money train fallout, and Aceveda's assault. This show just gets better as it builds these characters.

S4: CCH Pounder, Jay Karnes play Claudette Wyms, Dutch Wagenbach

Season four introduces a new captain, Monica Rawling (Glenn Close). You have to imagine Mackey will try to grift her too. Vic was hoping to get out of Farmington and on a street crime task force with the Strike Team disbanded, but Aceveda sabotaged him, portraying him as problematic. No one will take him. We get the why, but Aceveda was always quick to use Mackey when it suited his self interests. Sabotaging Mackey is just moral pandering to make himself feel better. Rawling points that very fact out to Aceveda. He had several opportunities to get rid of Mackey if he wanted to.

Rawling plans to use asset forfeiture to generate funds for the division. She finally repairs the men's bathroom, which has been a running joke since the first season. She puts Mackey on the gang task force. She has no choice but to use him since she's stuck with him. Aceveda later sets her up at a public meeting claiming she can defend forfeiture, but it's really so he can attack her and make himself look good. Everything Aceveda does is for political gain.

Meanwhile Shane is running wild in vice squad. Vic made deals with dealers to make the streets safer and reduce crime. Shane makes deals because he's greedy and wants a cut. It's a subtle but big difference. Vic always had a mutual respect as long as the dealer had respect. Shane respects no one, thinking his badge is all the shield he needs. He gets in deep with Antwon (Anthony Anderson) and now it costs him. Antwon gets the upper hand.

As smart as Dutch is, he's crippled by a lack of confidence. That and he's not as clever as he thinks. Trying to date Vic's wife is just a dumb decision. All the good will Dutch built with Vic is erased instantly. So much of this show is a game of machismo that Vic usually wins.

To save his public image Aceveda brokers a deal with Antwon to murder his assaulter so he can't reveal the details. In exchange Antwon gets a deal, but Rawling wants to undermine that, tasking Vic with voiding the deal and arresting the suspect Antwon gave up. Later, while Rawling wanted to do the right thing, she takes it too far and loses her job. That seems to be the way it goes. The righteous are always too righteous. 

After four seasons my ranking is 3,4,2,1 though it could just as easily be 4,3,2,1. So much happens in three that sets the stage for events in later seasons. In season four Antwon looms large, but the season is a transition with Rawling. Season two has the Armadillo encounter, but it also has Co-pilot, the worst episode of the show. One is a stupendous season yet somehow the show just got better, continuing to build on that foundation. I've never seen a show that gets better every season. That makes it nearly impossible to rate the seasons.

Season five introduces Jon Kavanaugh, and what a plot line that becomes. Kavanaugh has his sights on Vic and plans to use Lem as leverage. Lem is the best of the Strike Team, but with Vic the good ones always go down.

Kavanaugh bugs the clubhouse but we've seen Ronnie sweep it, so when Kavanaugh thinks he has them caught in extortion, Vic pulls the strings to make him look foolish. Vic isn't just content to win, he reveals he knew about the wire to rile Kavanaugh and it works. Kavanaugh has seemed completely jovial, but he loses it and sets up an office in the Barn just to antagonize the Strike Team. He even targets Vic's wife. I rooted against Kavanaugh despite Vic's deeds as that's how it sets him up. Kavanaugh becomes petty.

Kavanaugh's wife is a pressure point, and he knows Vic will use it. When he realizes just how much Vic knows, he flies off on a rage and arrests Lemansky on the spot. Kavanaugh loses his morals in the pursuit of Vic, willing to harm others en route. 

Vic tries to work out a plan to protect Lem. Kavanaugh didn't want to put Lem in jail. Cops always give up information with the threat of jail, but Lem is a loyal soldier. Lem works out a deal to protect everyone else. The most moral of the Strike Team is the one facing consequences. The entire series we've wondered if the Strike Team will get caught, now Lem is in the middle and we wonder what happens next. Lem isn't going to bring down the others, but what will happen to him if he goes to prison? The very fact he's arrested is a threat to the rest of the Strike Team.

Vic always had a line and was always loyal. Shane never had the same line. He wanted immediate results and never saw the big picture like Vic. You get the why. Shane has seen Vic do horrendous things, but he never realized the nuance.

This is the most intense season yet. Kavanaugh is a great addition. He's a manifestation of the Strike Team's wrongs catching up to them, but with this show it's usually the good guys that pay the price, not Vic. That's what makes this season tough. 

S6: Forest Whitaker plays Jon Kavanaugh

With season six, Vic and the team find out that Aceveda gave them bad information at Kavanaugh's behest to push them into aiding and abetting. Unfortunately the result was much more than that, and Vic is on a rampage while also being pushed to retire. He gets to train his replacement, but Vic is scheming to keep his job anyway.

It's so wild that we root against Kavanaugh despite what Mackey has done. The real tragedy is that Kavanaugh became no better than Mackey in trying to arrest him, but Kavanaugh has a line he won't cross. Vic's old partner appears, introducing us to someone whose tactics even Vic can't stand. It regularly comes down to Vic's motive of making the streets safer.

Shane is spinning out, and we understand why exactly. He's grieving Lem, engaging in self-destructive behavior. When Vic finds out what Shane has done, it puts him in an impossible spot. He's loyal to two friends, and it can't go both ways. Now Shane is scared, sure Vic will kill him. Shane has always been reckless, this season has been a question of what he'll do next. It involves plenty of trouble.

This season has Ronnie step up. He became more of a main character in season five, and now we see him assigned to detective work where he comes up with leads and takes suspects down. Later we learn he's fully knowledgeable and complicit in all the crimes the Strike Team did.

Vic is doing everything to remain a cop, hoping a big bust will fix everything despite being told it won't. Vic is recruited by Aceveda's big donor Cruz Pezuela. Cruz provides Vic information to keep his job, shocking Aceveda, but he and Mackey eventually team up yet again. They take down a suspect that just may be big enough for Vic to keep his job.

This entire season feels like a rush in a good way. We wonder how Vic is going to get out of his forced retirement while Shane creates nothing but trouble. It's not my favorite season, but the tension is off the charts.

S7: Michael Chiklis plays Vic Mackey

Season seven is the final season. Vic has a new hope to join ICE, and he's trying hard to impress the local agent. Vic is also considering, with Ronnie, how to deal with Shane. Scared that Vic is doing exactly that, Shane makes his own plans. They both consider taking the other out, but whenever Shane tries to mastermind a plan it goes wrong. He's always planning out of panic and fear. Shane's plights become public and he goes on the run. Vic quits the police to chase Shane. This really feels like the lead into the finale. It's real now as everything blows up.

Shane tries to avoid detection, meanwhile Vic is chasing him while playing ICE and the cartel against each other. Vic has to prove himself to get the ICE job which hinges on his relevance to the cartel. All of that could be undermined if Shane produces evidence against him. 

Vic's ICE deal offers full immunity for any and all crimes. He refuses the job when Ronnie isn't included, but when Vic thinks his wife is at risk of arrest he forsakes Ronnie to save his wife. He couldn't let Ronnie know without jeopardizing his own deal. It's terrible, but Vic's family always comes first.

Vic painted it as cutting corners with the immunity. Little does ICE know what they're getting. Vic gets immunity to every crime to which he admits. Vic not only admits them, but he also has to confront them, laying them all out. At the same time, the audience has to listen to Vic's confessions. This is the guy we rooted to win for seven seasons. When you lay out the crimes, you wonder how we were ever on his side.

The final episode is emotional. Vic gets his immunity but loses his family. Shane's time as a fugitive ends, as does Ronnie's time as a cop. The entire season has been edge of the seat. Where will this land? What will happen to the Strike Team? Ronnie suffers for Vic's crimes. All the stuff Vic did, he doesn't go to jail. The price Vic pays is that he's off the street, assigned to a cubicle. It's the worst punishment Vic could have faced. In prison he'd probably carve out a niche and gain power. At ICE he's isolated, chained to a desk. His family and every friend is gone. Vic didn't go to jail, but he pays a unique price that's nearly designed to attack his very core. It's one of the greatest finale's ever. 

This is a flat out amazing series. My rank for this seasons is 5, 7, 6, 3, 4, 2, 1. The Kavanaugh battle was amazing. While seven is good, we know from the start it's the run to the end, but this is a show where every season brings it. You could just as easily rate them in descending order from the last. Every season seems to figure out how to increase the intensity. I don't know of any show with a run like this that seems to keep getting better.