The Shield breaks the conventional formula of the cop genre. It plays out in a tough, morally ambiguous world in which the line between good and bad is crossed everyday. The series focuses on the tension between a group of corrupt but effective cops and a captain torn between bringing them down and advancing his own political ambitions. The Shield stars Michael Chiklis as rogue cop Vic Mackey, leader of the elite Strike Team unit, who is effective at eliminating crime but who operates under his own set of rules. Benito Martinez plays David Aceveda, the young captain turned councilman who doesn't like Mackey's tactics and wants to bust him off the force. And CCH Pounder as Claudette Wyms, a veteran detective who understands Mackey and knows how to play both sides of the fence.
1x01
Pilot
aired Mar 13, 2002
- Poor
- Nothing special
- Worth watching
- Pretty cool
- Awesome
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Comments
Want the seventh season!
Sublime!
It's apples and oranges to compare The Wire with this. The Shield certainly doesn't walk all over The Wire, I hate to assume, but I've noticed caucasians are a little iffy about a predominately black cast, which is understandable. It seems only sitcoms like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or The Cosby Show are where folks are comfortable with it, but anywho. I'm just about done season 4, Glenn Close is fantastic.
I agree with kakature, it's nowhere close to The Wire and I also don't understand why they compare it, people saying it's as good as the wire is the reason I started watching this show.
But okay, it wasn't terrible either so I won't drop it yet, but I am not really desperate to watch the rest of it.
DarkReality, you shouldn't have quit The Wire at season 3, as Season 4 is the best television ever, regardless if you like The Wire or not lol.
@DarkReality Well yeah, I read that those 2 shows are alike and comparable. But I don't think so and you don't either it seems.
I'll continue watching The Shield but it's not on my priority list.
Agreed about SFU btw, even though I haven't seen The Shield's ending (yet) ;)
The Shield walks all over The Wire, but The Wire isn't the same thing and never tries to be, so the comparison isn't fair. If you're watching The Shield, you're looking for a high-adrenaline action show with cops and gangs. The Wire has cops and gangs, but it has no adrenaline and the action is quite measured (in very small doses). The Wire may have been a smarter show, but I tend to favour smarter shows, and The Wire did nothing for me, through three seasons, after which I quit.
The Shield doesn't improve dramatically, but it has its ups and downs. If you can put The Wire aside, I think it's worth sticking around for. If you can't, maybe you should find another show, but I thought it had a lot to offer.
To the person who said it had the best ending, yeah, The Shield had a good ending. I think Babylon 5 edges it out, just a little bit. But the show with the best ending is Six Feet Under. Bar effin' none. But that's not action, it's straight up drama. The life and times, trials and tribulations of a family of morticians, their friends, and their clients. It's a deep character drama, and if the ending doesn't bring you to tears, it will at least knock you flat. I'm pretty sure I have never seen a show that ended quite like that.
I've seen the first season now. I dont know what the fuss is all about to be quite honest. It's not doing anything for me, only the final episode was pretty good.
I can't understand the comparison to The Wire. Season one doesn't even come close. Maybe other seasons do, I sure hope so.
Should I keep watchin' this or are the next seasons the same?
E P I C !
The show was originally written to only be about the lead, Vic, and his interactions with the rest of the police department.
The interesting thing was that they cast the three other strike team members as background characters, but they were all so good that Shawn Ryan ended up writing them into the show full time. At first it was a test and they passed, so the show ended up becoming about all of them.
Walton Goggins, who plays Shane, gives one of the best performaces I have ever seen. He is on Justified now and is tearing it up on that too. Kenneth Johnson ended up coming out of nowhere as well. The third guy, David Rees Snell, was good when they let him talk. I think he had about a dozen lines total for each of the first few seasons.
What a series finale. Speechless!
The Shield has the best ending to a show I can remember. The entire 7th season was created to end the series properly and it paid off.
After watching the special features I feel like this shows quality was really representative of the work put into it. I like that that Shawn Ryan / writers / directors / etc seem to have had a plan for the series from the get-go. The story development is awesome, not unnatural like it could've been.
In summary: Much love. Buy it on DVD :D
Best cop serial of the 2000s, IMO. Gritty, pulls no punches. I was very sad to see it end, but the outcome was inevitable...
godlike
Watched the entire show in 2 weeks. Addictive damn!