The Shield

[Agent Richard07]

I just finished all seven seasons of The Shield and I think it's the best cop show I've seen to date. I loved the raw and real documentary style and got a kick out of seeing Michael Chiklis go from the lovable huggable Commish to playing Vic Mackey, a sociopathic dirty cop. Yes, I like the character. Maybe it's because self-assuredness is such an appealing attention-grabbing quality, I don't know, but Chiklis plays the part very well and sells those confident lies and effortless scheming equally well. I read that Chiklis sought to revamp his image around 2000 or so and wanted to do a cop show, then lucked out when this came along. I'd say he got his wish big time and really delivered in return.

The first three seasons were just plain fun to watch as the show pushed the boundries of television. Raw police brutality and none of the gloss of Hollywood. This show was one of the few times I felt like I was watching real people instead of actors. And despite taking place in L.A., there was no sun or beaches for these people. Not everyone has it good and the show captures that in explicit detail. The show isn't too dark though. It's got some good camaraderie among the characters along with the occasional bit of humor that really fits the tone of the show. Some say that the drama and action are over the top, but I was actually impressed with how a lot of it was handled without too much melodrama. Now the fourth season was the show's low point for me. This was the first big shake-up the show got and it just didn't appeal to me. Then everything really picked up in the last three seasons with one long unrelenting arc, culminating in one of the best finales I've ever seen. It's one I'll always remember and think back on. If you haven't seen this show, I highly recommend it. I know I'm going to miss hearing that latin vibe gangsta riff five times a night.

Now for a few highlights and observations for those who've seen the show.

I'll spoil everything, so if you plan to watch this at some point, stop reading now. You won't want to know beforehand how it all goes down because even though this is "just a cop show", a big part of the viewing experience involves you sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.

Here we go…

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- I imagined that the LAPD might not have been too thrilled with this show and it seems that I was onto something. It made sense to create a fictitious district in L.A. given all the police corruption we saw.

- Most memorable exchange that says a lot about Vic (and has to be heard in context)…

Corrine: Do you even feel any shame?
Vic: I don't think about it.
Corrine: Well, that's honest.​

- Aceveda's rape was pretty eyepopping. This is one of those boundry-pushing moments I mentioned. Both that and the fallout were handled pretty well, but the part that hit me the most was his wife's reaction. Instead of sympathy and support, all we got from her when she found out was disgust. Not because of what was done to him but because he was weak and she expected more from the powerful ambitious man she married. I thought we'd eventually see some marriage trouble with a divorce, but that didn't happen.

- My favorite season was season 5. That's when everything started to unravel for Vic and his team, and who was there as his "Moriarty"? Inspector Kavanaugh, played by Forest Whitaker. He totally blew me away with what I consider to be his best role to date. I expected him to show up later on towards the end, but he never did. No matter, people don't always come back or get their revenge.

- David Marciano was great comic relief. Too bad they didn't have Detective Billings there from the beginning or at least a lot sooner.

- Ronnie was a fascinating character. He started off as a nameless faceless guy on the team and slowly became someone of note without losing that basic and subdued "everyman" quality. I can see why he's a cult favorite among viewers. They did a pretty good job with his plastic surgery after the burn. It was like the incident never happened. That was probably the only time the show delved into the implausible. Then there's his fate. A real shame what happened to him in the end but that's life and that's what this show does.

- In the final episode, something about Dutch's investigation into the psychopathic teenage murderer didn't sit right with me. We were supposed to believe that the kid framed Dutch by putting his mom's clothes in his garbage but I got to thinking… What if Dutch really did do it? Then I read on another board that Dutch was supposed to turn out to be a serial killer but they killed the idea. Don't know if that's true or not.

- Dutch got the girl at the end and she was played by Jay Karnes real life wife. Good for him.

- CCH Pounder owned as Claudette Wyms and I enjoyed seeing her as captain. I wonder how Pounder felt about Glenn Close being brought in to fill that role before her character finally got it. I also can't help but think about how her character ends up. It's sad to think about a person like her getting weaker and leaving the job to wither away in a hospital.

- I'm disappointed that they dropped Julien's struggle with being gay. When I think about it though, it probably mirrors some aspects of real life. Some people in his position do try to deny themselves and make a go at a heterosexual relationship, a charade they often keep up for years. I'm glad though that Shawn Ryan at least gave a nod in the final episode to the fact that it's still an issue for him.

- I was happy to see some flashes of forgiveness on Ronnie and Vic's part in the end when it came to Shane. Ronnie felt for him after hearing about the suicide and Vic acknowleged that he himself played a role in making him who he was and thought about trying to turn him around even if briefly. One interesting thing happened though, after the suicide when Vic was presented with the pics... There was a bit of a smirk at one point. At least it looked that way. I figured that eventhough he was reeling from what he just heard, part of him was happy that the bastard got his due.

- Now that ending... I was still rooting for Vic and wanted him to get away with everything but was afraid that he wouldn't. It's TV and people usually get their cumuppance, so I feared that something would derail his plans and he'd wind up dead or in jail, so I was pleasantly surprised when he actually got away with everything and not only lived on, but managed to do so as a free man. Sort of. He was able to outsmart society's rules, but was left without friends or support because of everything he did. He beat the system, but he didn't beat life. Then in typical Vic fashion, he grabs his gun and rises up again. They didn't have to do that but they did. Life can give people another chance like that too. Brilliant moment, brilliant writing. They were lucky too since this episode was shot during the writers' strike.

- Somehow I don't see Vic staying at his desk job for three years. I think they'll need him sooner or later. And with his determination and smarts, I can see him making that happen a little sooner than "sooner or later".

- I don't know why Vic's wife needed witness protection. Seemed more like a contrived way to get his family out of the picture. I don't see him as the kind of person who would do anything bad to them and I think Corrine must know that.

- As much as I loved the show, I wish we had gotten to see how Vic started down the wrong path the way Breaking Bad did with its main character.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I loved the series and the finale was amazing, but I see the ending quite differently than you do, I think.

Vic may have gotten away with what he did in terms of not going to prison, but it cost him everything else. He lost his family, he lost his friends, he lost the respect of his peers, and he got to spend the next few years being nothing but a pencil-pusher. That scene of him sitting at the desk, just staring blankly--the realization that "getting away with it" only changed what prison he'd be doing time in. After the three years, it's unlikely he'd have gotten back onto the street, nor was there a good chance of getting his family back. His life was over.

I also didn't root for him. The first episode of the series gets to the core of who he is, the moment he shoots the mole in his team. Mole or not, Terry was a fellow cop. For Vic to shoot him in cold blood tells you very clearly what kind of guy he is, and he never really changed.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I agree about Vic getting a different sort of prison, but the part where he takes his gun and walks out after having seen the police cars being dispatched meant something too. Like you said, he never really changed, so I think it's clear that he's off to be the same Vic he's always been... The guy defending the streets (illegally and on his own time of course). He'll undoubtedly get himself into more trouble, but it's also a bit of a second chance if he can use the opportunity properly. And knowing him, I think he can weasel something. I do think there's something in there about the opportunity to pull oneself out of Hell, and that's part of what made the ending so good.

I heard that Shawn Ryan has an idea for a movie. If that's the case then Vic wouldn't necessarily be in this Hell of his for long. I miss the characters, but I don't know if I'd want a continuation. It was perfect they way they left things.

 

[J.T.B.]

I've said it before, but I found the show to be about four seasons worth of good stuff stretched into seven seasons. A lot of padding, going in circles and setups that weren't followed up. Some of it was really good, but The Wire, Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue it ain't.

- Now that ending... I was still rooting for Vic and wanted him to get away with everything but was afraid that he wouldn't.

You've got to be kidding. Mackey was a scumbag as bad as the people he was supposedly protecting society from, and ruined the lives of just about everyone around him.

He beat the system, but he didn't beat life. Then in typical Vic fashion, he grabs his gun and rises up again. They didn't have to do that but they did. Life can give people another chance like that too. Brilliant moment, brilliant writing. They were lucky too since this episode was shot during the writers' strike.

I saw it differently. I saw it as Mackey incapable of adjusting to his new life and sooner or later blowing his deal. No one is rooting for him, everyone who knows his story hates him, he's a cop killer. He'll break the rules and they'll jump at the chance to put him away.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I've said it before, but I found the show to be about four seasons worth of good stuff stretched into seven seasons. A lot of padding, going in circles and setups that weren't followed up.

It did have some padding here and there, I agree, but the relentless endgame made me forget about a lot of it.

Some of it was really good, but The Wire, Hill Street Blues or NYPD Blue it ain't.

I plan to check out The Wire as soon as I can. People seem to really like it. Wish it was widescreen though.

- Now that ending... I was still rooting for Vic and wanted him to get away with everything but was afraid that he wouldn't.

You've got to be kidding.

It's a show and when you get attached to a character like that, you find yourself rooting for them.

He beat the system, but he didn't beat life. Then in typical Vic fashion, he grabs his gun and rises up again. They didn't have to do that but they did. Life can give people another chance like that too. Brilliant moment, brilliant writing. They were lucky too since this episode was shot during the writers' strike.

I saw it differently. I saw it as Mackey incapable of adjusting to his new life and sooner or later blowing his deal. No one is rooting for him, everyone who knows his story hates him, he's a cop killer. He'll break the rules and they'll jump at the chance to put him away.

He did show difficulty adjusting, but we also saw that he wouldn't let that keep him down, either because he's Vic or because he's a sociopath, or both. And yeah, I did wonder if they might try to make his desk work difficult enough so that he'd break his contract and they could put him away. It's the only loophole they've got.

 

[Lonemagpie]

Loved it.

Personally I thought him taking the gun at the end was a signal that he would pretty much prefer to just eat a bullet...

 

[the G-man]

The irony about the ending of the Shield was that Vic thought he was cutting a deal to save his family and avoid prison and neither really happened.

As others have noted, he lost his family.

He thought he was getting a gig with ICE, but he ended up in a different type of prison. For three years he was locked in a cubicle with nothing to do but read. They even made it a point to mention when it was "lights out" at the office. For a guy who thrived on action, he might have well have been in a cell.

In terms of the final scene, with the gun, to me the implication was clear. Vic hadn't changed, couldn't change and wouldn't change. He was going to keep breaking the rules no matter what.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The funny thing is if he didn't get killed the first couple of weeks by those who knew him I could see Vic Mackey thriving in prison. He seemed more at home in a place like that than behind a desk. The ending is extra depressing in a way for some of us with desk jobs...

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I just finished all seven seasons of The Shield and I think it's the best cop show I've seen to date.

It's a great show. I own all seven seasons on DVD, but that doesn't stop me from watching re-runs whenever I see them on TV. I can never get enough of The Shield.

The first three seasons were just plain fun to watch as the show pushed the boundries of television. Raw police brutality and none of the gloss of Hollywood. Now the fourth season was the show's low point for me. This was the first big shake-up the show got and it just didn't appeal to me. Then everything really picked up in the last three seasons with one long unrelenting arc, culminating in one of the best finales I've ever seen.

I loved the arc with Kavanaugh and the final episodes of the seventh season after Vic and Shane went rogue. But I actually didn't like the finale much at all. It was cool to see each character's arc wrapped up, but I was disappointed with Vic's ending (more below).

Note: If you've not seen The Shield and don't want to be spoiled, stop reading here.

- Most memorable exchange that says a lot about Vic (and has to be heard in context)…

Corrine: Do you even feel any shame?
Vic: I don't think about it.
Corrine: Well, that's honest.​

I've always liked the exchange between Vic and Olivia after he confesses to everything. She says, "Do you have any idea what you've done to me?" He says, "I've done worse." Classic Vic.

- Aceveda's rape was pretty eyepopping. This is one of those boundry-pushing moments I mentioned. Both that and the fallout were handled pretty well, but the part that hit me the most was his wife's reaction. Instead of sympathy and support, all we got from her when she found out was disgust. Not because of what was done to him but because he was weak and she expected more from the powerful ambitious man she married. I thought we'd eventually see some marriage trouble with a divorce, but that didn't happen.

I've always wondered if his wife's reaction was also a product of her heritage and upbringing. My knowledge of Hispanic culture is limited, but I wonder if she was behaving as she was taught. In any case, I was also surprised that their marriage didn't end in divorce, especially after he cheated on her with the prostitute.

- My favorite season was season 5. That's when everything started to unravel for Vic and his team, and who was there as his "Moriarty"? Inspector Kavanaugh, played by Forest Whitaker. He totally blew me away with what I consider to be his best role to date. I expected him to show up later on towards the end, but he never did. No matter, people don't always come back or get their revenge.

Whitaker's a great actor. I'd never heard of him before he played Kavanaugh. I'm glad they chose someone who nailed the role so perfectly. IAD was supposed to represent the Good Guys in this instance, but I hated Kavanaugh and actually rooted for Vic to beat him in spite of how much of ass Vic was.

- Ronnie was a fascinating character. He started off as a nameless faceless guy on the team and slowly became someone of note without losing that basic and subdued "everyman" quality. I can see why he's a cult favorite among viewers. They did a pretty good job with his plastic surgery after the burn. It was like the incident never happened. That was probably the only time the show delved into the implausible. Then there's his fate. A real shame what happened to him in the end but that's life and that's what this show does.

I was shocked when Ronnie was arrested. I thought his under-the-radar approach would have helped him steer clera of Vic's machinations in the end. But that didn't happen. I actually David Rees Snell would be a good fit for Star Trek, hence my avatar of Ronnie.

- In the final episode, something about Dutch's investigation into the psychopathic teenage murderer didn't sit right with me. We were supposed to believe that the kid framed Dutch by putting his mom's clothes in his garbage but I got to thinking… What if Dutch really did do it? Then I read on another board that Dutch was supposed to turn out to be a serial killer but they killed the idea. Don't know if that's true or not.

Dutch was actually my favorite character from the series. I vaguely remember hearing the rumor that he'd turn out to be the serial killer. I'm glad that didn't happen. The finale was depressing enough with everything else that happened. I would have hated seeing one of the series' true good guys turn out to be anything but. I didn't know until recently that he appeared in Voyager's "Relativity" but laugh about it whenever I see the episode now.

- Dutch got the girl at the end and she was played by Jay Karnes real life wife. Good for him.

Absolutely. As much as everyone ragged on Dutch throughout the series, it was great seeing him have a chance for happiness at the end. That his wife's cute doesn't hurt, either. In any case, his character is proof that hard work and dedication can pay off in the end (but don't always).

- CCH Pounder owned as Claudette Wyms and I enjoyed seeing her as captain. I wonder how Pounder felt about Glenn Close being brought in to fill that role before her character finally got it. I also can't help but think about how her character ends up. It's sad to think about a person like her getting weaker and leaving the job to wither away in a hospital.

Which is why I'm glad things wrapped up when they did for her. I didn't like the idea of her withering away in the hospital or at home. Seeing her while she still had some of her strength and vitality was a great way to end things for her.

- I'm disappointed that they dropped Julien's struggle with being gay. When I think about it though, it probably mirrors some aspects of real life. Some people in his position do try to deny themselves and make a go at a heterosexual relationship, a charade they often keep up for years. I'm glad though that Shawn Ryan at least gave a nod in the final episode to the fact that it's still an issue for him.

I actually never liked that he married Vanessa. I'd have preferred that he remained as he was at the start of the series. The idea that someone must reform because his behavior defies the conventions of society is antiquated and needs to die off.

- I was happy to see some flashes of forgiveness on Ronnie and Vic's part in the end when it came to Shane. Ronnie felt for him after hearing about the suicide and Vic acknowleged that he himself played a role in making him who he was and thought about trying to turn him around even if briefly.

I don't know if that was forgiveness as much as it was remorse that things had deteriorated so badly. I don't think Ronnie hated Shane as much as he hated the things he did (killing Lem, for instance). He seemed genuinely sorry for what happened to Shane, Mara, and their children. But I don't think he'd have forgiven him had Shane survived. Too much had happened. I know he'll never forgive Vic.

One interesting thing happened though, after the suicide when Vic was presented with the pics... There was a bit of a smirk at one point. At least it looked that way. I figured that even though he was reeling from what he just heard, part of him was happy that the bastard got his due.

Which only proves how despicable he is. That he would find amusement in the suicide of a man and his family shows only that he felt no remorse for his actions. Shane may have killed Lem and murdered his family, but Vic's actions set everything into motion by killing Terry. Everything was downhill from there.

- Now that ending... I was still rooting for Vic and wanted him to get away with everything but was afraid that he wouldn't.

I rooted for Vic against Kavanaugh, but I wasn't rooting for him at the end of the series. I kept hoping Ronnie would turn out to be the real mole for Justice (tying in with the Terry arc at the beginning of the show) and take Vic down. That would have been a more fitting end than his being stuck in a desk job. He deserved the same death that Crowley got.

It's TV and people usually get their cumuppance, so I feared that something would derail his plans and he'd wind up dead or in jail, so I was pleasantly surprised when he actually got away with everything and not only lived on, but managed to do so as a free man. Sort of.

I detailed my feelings on this above.

He was able to outsmart society's rules, but was left without friends or support because of everything he did. He beat the system, but he didn't beat life.

I'm not sure he beat the system at all. He wasn't in prison. But he was made completely irrelevant by taking the desk job. His family, friends, and career were gone. I'll admit to laughing when I saw him wearing the suit near the end. Not Vic at all. But fitting given what his life had become.

Then in typical Vic fashion, he grabs his gun and rises up again. They didn't have to do that but they did. Life can give people another chance like that too. Brilliant moment, brilliant writing. They were lucky too since this episode was shot during the writers' strike.

I've never known what to make of that ending. Was he going to join the police officers at the crime scene? Was he going to find his family? Or was it merely a sign that he hadn't changed at all and would find a way to keep bending and breaking rules as he'd been doing all along.

- Somehow I don't see Vic staying at his desk job for three years. I think they'll need him sooner or later. And with his determination and smarts, I can see him making that happen a little sooner than "sooner or later".

I don't see that happening at all. I'd be shocked if he lasted the entire three years stuck in that cubicle.

- I don't know why Vic's wife needed witness protection. Seemed more like a contrived way to get his family out of the picture. I don't see him as the kind of person who would do anything bad to them and I think Corrine must know that.

I think that was the point, though. She was so horrified by what Vic had done that she realized she didn't know him at all and couldn't be sure he wouldn't hurt her or his children. I like that her family had a chance for a fresh start.

- As much as I loved the show, I wish we had gotten to see how Vic started down the wrong path the way Breaking Bad did with its main character.

I've wondered about this, too. I actually think some sort of novel detailing his early career and the beginnings of his friendship with Shane would have been interesting to read.

Vic may have gotten away with what he did in terms of not going to prison, but it cost him everything else. He lost his family, he lost his friends, he lost the respect of his peers, and he got to spend the next few years being nothing but a pencil-pusher. That scene of him sitting at the desk, just staring blankly--the realization that "getting away with it" only changed what prison he'd be doing time in. After the three years, it's unlikely he'd have gotten back onto the street, nor was there a good chance of getting his family back. His life was over.

Agree completely on this. He wasn't gong to get his family back. Not after what he'd done. Olivia's line on that front was classic. "You said goodbye to your kids when you shot another cop." So perfect. Vic's fate was sealed the moment he pulled the trigger to shoot Terry.

I also didn't root for him. The first episode of the series gets to the core of who he is, the moment he shoots the mole in his team. Mole or not, Terry was a fellow cop. For Vic to shoot him in cold blood tells you very clearly what kind of guy he is, and he never really changed.

I rooted for him at times, but I agree about his true nature. Vic was a despicable human being who cared only about whatever served his best interests. He tried to change but kept getting dragged back into the same types of situations that led him astray in the first place. He should have listened to Ben and Rawling, both of whom tried to warn him.

I heard that Shawn Ryan has an idea for a movie. If that's the case then Vic wouldn't necessarily be in this Hell of his for long. I miss the characters, but I don't know if I'd want a continuation. It was perfect they way they left things.

I'd love a TV movie of some sort, or maybe a spinoff series featuring some of the same characters. It would be fun to see what happens with Dutch, Danny, and Julian as they move on with their careers. Maybe coming back to Farmington after Claudette has passed and a new captain has taken over would be a good starting point. They could take the series in any number of directions from there.

--Sran

 

[sidious618]

The Shield is amazing. The finale, though, wow, that was on a whole 'nother level. It was art on TV.

 

[wissaboo]

Loved that show. That and Homicide were the best cop shows ever made.

I loved the juxtapositon through the final season of Vick who had always been the family man and who claimed he did everything for his family but ultimately shut them out and Shane who's warped relationship ended up being everything that Vick's relationship wasn't.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I've always liked the exchange between Vic and Olivia after he confesses to everything. She says, "Do you have any idea what you've done to me?" He says, "I've done worse." Classic Vic.

"And you have it on tape!" - Vic

I've always wondered if his wife's reaction was also a product of her heritage and upbringing. My knowledge of Hispanic culture is limited, but I wonder if she was behaving as she was taught. In any case, I was also surprised that their marriage didn't end in divorce, especially after he cheated on her with the prostitute.

At that point I wondered if she had already left him because she seemed to be out of the picture. As for his cheating, sometimes people don't get caught. This is another instance where the show mirrors real life.

Whitaker's a great actor. I'd never heard of him before he played Kavanaugh. I'm glad they chose someone who nailed the role so perfectly. IAD was supposed to represent the Good Guys in this instance, but I hated Kavanaugh and actually rooted for Vic to beat him in spite of how much of ass Vic was.

It was obvious that Kavanaugh would lose the battle once he tried to set Vic up.

I was shocked when Ronnie was arrested. I thought his under-the-radar approach would have helped him steer clera of Vic's machinations in the end. But that didn't happen. I actually David Rees Snell would be a good fit for Star Trek, hence my avatar of Ronnie.

I saw your avatar and wondered if you'd show up here.

At one point, Ronnie was being strung along so convincingly by Vic and the feds that I actually thought that he got a deal too and I missed something.

I don't know if that was forgiveness as much as it was remorse that things had deteriorated so badly. I don't think Ronnie hated Shane as much as he hated the things he did (killing Lem, for instance). He seemed genuinely sorry for what happened to Shane, Mara, and their children. But I don't think he'd have forgiven him had Shane survived. Too much had happened. I know he'll never forgive Vic.

That's a better way of putting it.

I've never known what to make of that ending. Was he going to join the police officers at the crime scene? Was he going to find his family? Or was it merely a sign that he hadn't changed at all and would find a way to keep bending and breaking rules as he'd been doing all along.

I think he was going out to see what was going on with the police dispatch and try to do his part behind the scenes but now that you mention it, the scene could represent all of the above.

I'd be shocked if he lasted the entire three years stuck in that cubicle.

Oh, he won't last. The question is… Will he screw up and end up in prison or will he wiggle his way into being on the streets again? Personally, I'm inclined to think he'll wiggle his way back into action.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

At that point I wondered if she had already left him because she seemed to be out of the picture. As for his cheating, sometimes people don't get caught. This is another instance where the show mirrors real life.

You just reminded me of something. After Carl and Scooby are killed in the fourth season, David returns home to find his wife washing the dishes. He tells her that he was the one who found their bodies, apologizes for the way he's acted, and says several times, "It's over." I don't know if he was saying that the period of his life he'd just gone though was over or if he knew Aurora suspected him of cheating and was telling her that the affair was over.

Oh, he won't last. The question is… Will he screw up and end up in prison or will he wiggle his way into being on the streets again? Personally, I'm inclined to think he'll wiggle his way back into action.

Like I said, I'd love a movie that follows up on what happened. Short of that, a novel adaptation or sequel to the series would be a lot of fun to read. I'd love to see what happens to Vic at ICE and to Ronnie in prison. I also had a wild idea while reading your post: what if Terry Crowley were still alive somehow? Think about it. We see Vic shoot him in the face, but we never see his body after that. David and Ben come out of the hospital and announce that Terry has died, but we're never shown anything other the funeral with a closed coffin. Could he have been placed in protective custody himself and hidden? It's unlikely but possible.

--Sran

 

[the G-man]

- I don't know why Vic's wife needed witness protection. Seemed more like a contrived way to get his family out of the picture. I don't see him as the kind of person who would do anything bad to them and I think Corrine must know that.

Corrine might know it, but I don't think the feds wanted to take the chance. Even more likely, the witness protection was not just to protect them against Vic, but against all the people that Vic had crossed who might now look for revenge against his family, including the Armenian mob.

As much as I loved the show, I wish we had gotten to see how Vic started down the wrong path the way Breaking Bad did with its main character.

There was a flashback episode that hinted at it, but it was one of the weakest of the series, especially since it seemed to compress the time so that Vic had been bad for about a week before they brought in Terry.

The funny thing is if he didn't get killed the first couple of weeks by those who knew him I could see Vic Mackey thriving in prison. He seemed more at home in a place like that than behind a desk...

Exactly. Vic finally outsmarted himself.

I've always wondered if [Aceveda’s] wife's reaction was also a product of her heritage and upbringing. My knowledge of Hispanic culture is limited, but I wonder if she was behaving as she was taught. In any case, I was also surprised that their marriage didn't end in divorce, especially after he cheated on her with the prostitute.

The Acevedas clearly fancied themselves a political power couple and their marriage seemed to have evolved into a career relationship, not a romantic one. Her reaction, and her decision not to divorce him, is wholly consistent with a number of real life political couples.

Dutch was actually my favorite character from the series. I vaguely remember hearing the rumor that he'd turn out to be the serial killer. I'm glad that didn't happen.

It did seem a few times like they were foreshadowing that (for example, the scene with the alley cat) but then dropped it. Like you, I’m glad they did drop it/didn’t pursue it.

I actually never liked that [Julian] married Vanessa. I'd have preferred that he remained as he was at the start of the series. The idea that someone must reform because his behavior defies the conventions of society is antiquated and needs to die off.

It may be antiquated but it is/was reflective of reality at the time (especially in a macho line of work like law enforcement), and consistent with the character’s self-loathing of that aspect of his life. I would assume that someday he would have realized that.

I also had a wild idea while reading your post: what if Terry Crowley were still alive somehow? Think about it. We see Vic shoot him in the face, but we never see his body after that. David and Ben come out of the hospital and announce that Terry has died, but we're never shown anything other the funeral with a closed coffin. Could he have been placed in protective custody himself and hidden? It's unlikely but possible.

I respectfully disagree. The Shield was not a sci-fi show or comic book show. In its own way it was realistic. The whole point of Aceveda putting Terry on the team was to convict Vic and the Strike Force. If Vic had shot Terry, and Terry was alive, Terry would have testified as to what Vic did, Vic would have gone to prison and the show would have lasted less than a season. As such, there is simply no way that Terry could, or would, be hidden away.

 

[Agent Richard07]

That rationale for the witness protection makes sense but they way they wrote it made it seem like Corrine was just looking to get away from Vic and I took that at face value.

I also agree about Terry coming back being a bad idea. It doesn't fit with the show.

 

[The Habs Fan]

The Shield is one of my favourite shows all time. In terms of police shows, I'd rank it #1 (with Homicide #2 and The Wire #3).

So many amazing moments: Lem's death, the money train robbery, Aceveda's rape, Kavanagh (the episode Kavanagh is my favourite episode of the entire series), Shane's murder-suicide. But my favourite moment is when Vic is confessing all of his crimes to that woman from ICE (forget her name). I just thought that tied up the whole series nicely. And then there was a whole other episode after that (the series finale) which was pure perfection.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^My favorite moment of the entire series is Kavanaugh's rant in front of Phillips and Chief Johnson.

"This guy is pissing, just pissing all over us. And we just smile and lick it up?"

"Vic Mackey kills cops! He deals drugs! He beats suspects! Do you know what he did yesterday? He... he screwed my ex-wife for the sole purpose of making this investigation seem like a personal vendetta. He may have assassinated a gang leader. And that's all in one day. I wonder what he's gonna' do today. I wonder what he's gonna' do tomorrow. This guy! This guy is pissing! He's pissing on us! He's pissing on you! What's does it taste like? What's it taste like, Chief? Because it tastes like piss to me!"

--Sran

 

[E-DUB]

Yeah, I liked the Shield, especially the season with Whittaker. Loved the big set-up where Whittaker thinks he's got Mackey soliciting a bribe and Mackey's already cleared it as a sting to nail the guy offering the bribe. You'd watch in utter fascination wondering what outrage he'd pull and how he'd get away with it. Mackey was the consummate anti-hero and at the end he gives up everything only to sit in a cubicle writing reports that nobody's ever going to read. The office leper, eager to get back into a game that no one is going to let him play.

 

[doubleohfive]

I've been a fan of The Shield since almost the beginning of its run. My best friend got into it first and made sure I was aware of it very early on and for seven seasons we were enthralled. Terry Crowley. The money train. Lem Glenn Close. Billings' mediocrity Kavanaugh's witch hunt. Shane's descent into madness. All of it was brilliantly executed and obviously a game-changing show for basic cable and the future of television.

Something some of you might not know - Sons of Anarchy has a lot of ties back to The Shield, not just behind the scenes (where Kurt Sutter wrote for the entirety of The Shield's run) but also in that there is the faintest of continuity ties between the two shows (apparently, there's some fictional Latin gang both shows reference and have dealings with.)

More over, a large number of actors from The Shield have appreared on Sons of Anarchy over the past six seasons - Jay Karnes, CCH Pounder, Kenneth Johnson, Benito Martinez, Jeff Kober, David Rees Snell, Emilio Rivera, Walton Goggins, and even Kurt Sutter himself.

Anyway. My buddy sent me this link the other day so I thought I'd share here for those interested:

Good Cop, Bad Cop: An Oral History of THE SHIELD

 

[Agent Richard07]

^ A very interesting read.

- I wonder what Eric Stoltz would have been like as Vic Mackey.

- The show's writing certainly generated a lot of emotion and drama on the set and among the cast.

- Interesting idea for a follow-up to the series. It's worth reading given that Vic's future has been a big part of the discussion here.

Oh, and I looked up those ties to Sons of Anarchy and stumbled onto something else... Looks like Jay Karnes played "Officer Wagenbach" in an episode of CSI.