The Shield (2002-2008) A Retrospective Review

The Shield

2002-2008

Starring: Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, Kenny Johnson, David Rees Snell, Benito Martinez, CCH Pounder, Jay Karns, Catherine Dent, and Michael Jace

Notable Guest Stars: Glenn Close, Anthony Anderson, Forest Whitaker
Created By: Shawn Ryan

Television shows come and go each year almost as frequently as we change our underwear or brush our teeth. Very rarely does an episodic show come along that not only refuses to follow conventional means, but also defies logic in how it creates it's own mold and then breaks out of it.

From the pilot episode until the series finale, The Shield has reinvented the episodic drama wheel so to speak. Critically acclaimed from moment one, The Shield not only revolutionalized the episodic drama, it paved the way for a whole new genre of shows (especially for the FX network). Sons of Anarchy, Dirt, Damages, Rescue Me, and The Riches all owe their television life to The Shield. And that's just the FX network. This doesn't take into consideration the other networks.

On March 12th, 2002, The Shield's pilot episode premiered. Without spoilers, the first episode dealt with the organization of The Strike Team, a squad of detectives aimed strictly at dealing with gang related crimes in the ficticious Farmington District of South Central LA. The episode also introduced The Barn: The experimental police precinct formed of a motley crew of law enforcement stationed in an old church that had been remodeled to suit their needs. The thematic elements to the episode dealt with a "new" Strike Team member and detectives searching for a missing girl possibly involved in an underage sexual slavery ring. The pilot summed all this up within an hour and then left you with (at that time) probably the most disturbing last 30 seconds on television. It was those 30 seconds that would come back to haunt the Strike Team for the rest of the show's seven seasons and set up a catalyst for what would be 7 years of gripping television. The Shield did in one hour episode what many cop, crime, or drama shows spend their entire lifespan trying to accomplish: BE COMPELLING.

And that's exactly what The Shield was for seven whole years. Compelling. From season to season, events escalated to the point that you really never knew who the true good and bad guys were, and it was that big gray area that kept you hooked. Was it maverick cop Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his detective hit-squad double-dealing their own cop bretheren while in turn taking a huge payoff from gangs, or was it the deep and moving moments strung in between the rape, violence, and gritty street lifestyles that made this show compelling? Truth is, it was a little bit of everything. The show was shot completely on Steadicam, which means that each scene and each shot is constantly moving. Kenetic energy and constant motion really puts this show in your face, grabs you by the throat, and won't let go for an hour.

Rape, murder, drugs, prostitution, sex, serial killers, gang warfare, corrupt city officials, The Armenian Mob, underage sex rings, senior citizen rapists, money laundering, and undercover sting operations are only the beginning. With guest stars such as Glenn Close, Anthony Anderson, and Forest Whitaker, as each season came and went, the bar was not only raised, it was obliterated and a new one was created. I mentioned the guest stars, but as wonderful and great as their roles were, it was the regular cast that really kept this show moving. Even the pimps, hookers, and gang members were so well fleshed out and believable that you could actually lose yourself in an episode. And it's that dark and taboo beauty that really ups the ante with each episode. With stellar acting, directing, writing, and production values, nothing kept you watching more than just knowing what was going to happen next. This show didn't resort to eyecandy and explosions to keep you watching. No, it resorted to grabbing you by gripping storylines, flawed characters, and a believable and down to earth approach to the cop drama.

As each episode came and went, the years went by and each season drew to a close. At the end of each season, I'd find myself saying "Well, after that mess, this show can't end well for everyone." Well, it didn't. The final episodes (or season for that matter) were spent wrapping up most of the open storylines and building toward what would be one of the most disturbing and talked about series finale's in the history of television. Without spoiling anything, the final episode of The Shield took viewers to a place they didn't expect to be and never returned them home. Shock value doesn't describe this show, but shocking does. Nothing was ever cheap or included just for shock value. With everything that happened, you saw the result, even if it was good or bad. With The Shield, it was mostly bad for the cast. The show was all around great entertainment, but also at the same time it was gritty, raw, and disturbing. One episode I remember vividly from Season one showed Vic Mackey track down a cop killer only to find the killer's dad sitting with heroin needles sticking out of his arms and feet in a drugged out haze. The guy turned his own son in, tricked him to come home, and he came home to be tortured by Mackey with the stick pin end of a badge before his arrest.

It's that flipside to life reality that The Shield gives you with each episode. They show you a reality that most people don't even realize exists, and then they shove it down your throat and make you believe that there truly is an underworld within our own world. Sure The Barn, Strike Team, and Farmington are all ficticious members to a dramatized LA, but after the pilot episode, you won't even care. The realistic portrayal and brilliant acting and writing will sink the hooks in and not let you go.

In retrospect, I miss this show. Only seven or eight months after the final episode aired and I miss it. I miss looking forward to the fall television lineup and wondering how The Shield was going to wow me with it's brilliance. The good thing is that I own every episode on DVD. The bad thing is that what I own is all there is. No matter how many times I see an episode, I always notice or hear something that wasn't there before. It's so layered and deep that one viewing just won't cut it. The ending, although bittersweet, came at the right time. There really wasn't too much more that could be done with the show except run it into the ground, so it was best to go out on top than to dwindle down to nothing and then just fizzle off the tube altogether.

For those that haven't seen this show, please do yourself a favor and pick it up. It literally was weekly filmmaking at it's best. Each episode was so much like it's own film and didn't really feel like a TV show at all. It was groundbreaking, inventive, and had the biggest balls a show ever had on network television. Like the shows I mentioned earlier, a lot of TV shows out now owe The Shield for breaking down walls and touching on taboo topics that people were too scared to even mention.

I'd like to think that this retrospective review will get someone interested in this show and allow them to experience the gripping and beautiful show that is The Shield. If you haven't seen it, give it a chance. With all the awards it's won, all the praise it's recieved, and all the critical acclaim it's taken... that should tell you something. So, in closing, instead of giving a rating, I'm going to say that this show is beyond a rating and leave you all with a few random quotes from the show.

Good cop and bad cop have left for the day. I'm a different kind of cop."- Vic Mackey

"Ay, Mo. Your sister's ass really tastes as sweet as Alvarez here says it does? He wants to know what your momma's putting in the corn muffin. "- Vic Mackey

"Mackey's not a cop. He's Al Capone with a badge."- Captain David Aceveda

"The truth is like grits, you can't serve it up plain, you got to put a little salt on it."- Shane Vendrell

"If my tone sounds superior it's because I'm American and you're Greek!"- Dutch Wagenbach

"From now on, when I say, "Suck my dick", you say, "You want me to lick your balls, Daddy?"- Antwon Mitchell

"So, we cause a triple murder before breakfast, start a race war before dinner - that's uh, that's a pretty good day." - Shane Vendrell


Everyone check out this phenominal and wonderful show. You won't be disappointed