Already announced was that the seventh and final season of the amazing The Shield will premiere on September 2nd, but now comes word that it will The Shield finale will air November 25th. I know that gives us the full thirteen episodes promised but as it's been more than a year since we've had a new episode to chew on, forgive me if this suddenly feels like a really short-lived reunion. There is something so magically beautiful about what Shawn Ryan has created here; I'll go ahead and dub it the best cop show I've ever seen on television. The thing you have to wonder about is how it's all going to end, and I do believe Ryan will give us a definitive ending here. Vic Mackey has been the "hero" of the series, but still ... should the Strike Team get away with all the shit they've pulled over the past six seasons? Shane's treatment of Lemansky deserves retribution, but is Shane necessarily a worse guy than Mackey? Remember how the first episode wrapped. There is a line of victims behind these guys, and each one is in it as deep as the guy next to him.
It's interesting because I don't think we've had a lot of television series quite like The Shield. Clearly this is a dark urban story about some pretty bad guys who, while we might feel sympathy for them as human beings, we certainly don't think they're worthy of praise or acclaim. And now we'll get to see this story reach it's rightful conclusion, still under the stewardship of its creator. I'd like to think Claudette, and even Dutchboy, can get theirs in the end.
Claudette is a great character and a brilliant detective and one of the few genuinely decent people on the whole show, and she's been smelling shit from The Strike Team from day one. I think she deserves this one. But then, I'm not sure if Ryan is into happy endings. He certainly didn't give one to the closest thing to a moral compass The Strike Team had.
Do you think Vic and the boys will get their just desserts in the end, or will they somehow ride off into the sunset scot-free. Or maybe Shane will take the fall for all of them; he's certainly gone down a path that would seem beyond redemption at this point. How do you think things will wind up for the gang? As much as I'd hate to think of a television landscape without The Shield (at least I'll still have Breaking Bad and Rescue Me), man, I can't wait for September ... and then November. It better be awesome!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-20-2008 @ 10:12AM
CCK said...
"I'll go ahead and dub it the best cop show I've ever seen on television."
You must not have ever watched The Wire then.
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8-20-2008 @ 10:29AM
Will said...
Thank goodness we finally get to see them.
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8-20-2008 @ 10:29AM
Will said...
Thank goodness we finally get to see them.
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8-20-2008 @ 10:42AM
j said...
"I'll go ahead and dub it the best cop show I've ever seen on television. "
Um....then I guess I can safely assume you haven't seen The Wire. Which then beggars the question, how on Earth are you a TV columnist/reviewer?
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8-20-2008 @ 11:05AM
Eddie said...
Your post has officially heralded my reluctant return to obsessing over every moment of this show. Waiting damn near killed me, and now that it's so close... You're absolutely right about the bittersweet thing, how by finally being closer to seeing our beloved show on, we also inch closer to never seeing more of it again.
This amazing series marked not only my own shift in personal viewing tastes from the campy to the adult, but I would venture to say we would not have seen the huge rise in popularity and production quality of tv shows with complex storylines and characters without The Shield. We went from Buffy to Swingtown and from Batman and Robin to the Dark Knight over the course of this program, and I don't think it's any coincidence.
While I certainly don't think it should be considered the savior of modern programming, it should definitely go down in history in much the same way it expertly portrayed all the layers of its characters - not perfect, but in trying to do better, has definitely changed the landscape.
And that's a very good thing for all of us.
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8-20-2008 @ 11:50AM
R-Bro said...
Have to agree: Best cop show ever. I'd put Third Watch a close second, but that was more than just a cop show...
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8-20-2008 @ 11:22AM
Midnight13 said...
Well, when I think of the ending of "The Shield" I think, "I ain't going to be pretty." However, I've been wrong before. (The Sopranos). Anyone thinking, Vic Mackey will meet his end by the final moments may want to hold off on that thought. When we left off Vic Mackey was fighting for his carrer, with one step out the door. Will he even be a cop when the series returns, or will he just be an ex-cop that no other department wants to touch because he comes with too much baggage? Maybe the whole final season will be Mackey doing what he does, badge or no badge. "The Shield" for me has been a pretty constantly awesome show throughout, and I hope the finale lives up to it.
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8-20-2008 @ 11:38AM
DavidM said...
The Shield is a better show than The Wire in every way. Yeah, I said it. I'm throwing the gauntlet down on this one, The Shield has better actors, characters, situations, writing, directing, guest stars, and it is a hell of a lot more focused show.
I'll miss this show, it will always be one of the best shows ever aired on television.
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8-20-2008 @ 12:07PM
KJ said...
While I would never say The Shield trumps The Wire, I love the show. And although it might be too much in the way of wish fulfillment to be dramatically satisfying, I want to see Shane go down hard. I still get chills thinking about the grenade scene.
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8-20-2008 @ 12:20PM
frank said...
The only reason the Shield wasn't far and away better then the Wire was cable vs. HBO. Imagine the things that could have been said/done/shown had this show been on HBO
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8-20-2008 @ 12:44PM
Sheldon McGee said...
Yeah, The Wire is good too but for me it's just too freaking depressing. The Shield isn't exactly a feel good show but maybe since the storylines are not as "real" (the Money Train robbery . . . come on!) even if it doesn't end on a positive note you don't feel disappointed/depressed/etc about society in general.
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8-20-2008 @ 1:21PM
John Hewitt said...
The Wire is all but unwatchable. It's terrible. There... I said it. It feels good to get that off my chest.
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8-20-2008 @ 1:21PM
willy the impeached said...
Dutchboy and Claudette go on a murder rampage and wipe out the strike team!
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8-20-2008 @ 6:52PM
MCW said...
Woohoo! More free time for Chicklets to make new Fantastic Four films! Awesomes!
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8-20-2008 @ 11:40PM
pvarine said...
The Shield is a better cop show than The Wire; but The Wire is a better show than The Shield.
Short of Crowley's brother capping Vic, though, I don't think there's any way Terry is going get justice. Kavanaugh pretty much sunk that ship.
I've also got to say that, ever since Dutch strangled that cat back in the day, I've had a feeling that he's going to slip over the edge. It would be crazy if he somehow found out what Shane had done to Lem, by all accounts the one member of the Strike Team that Dutch would have considered a decent person. That might be enough to push him to perhaps pull a Dexter and get inside the criminal mind even further... I'm probably reaching there, though.
You have to wonder, though, with the writers' penchant for bringing so much older stuff back, what might rear its ugly head in the final season.
I think the ultimate ending for the series would be for Mackey to lose it all, yet still have his freedom: Shane and Ronnie dead (I'm thinking Armenian mob for Shane and an accident that Mackey's responsible for when it comes to Ronnie; another body he's left in his dangerous, bloody wake a la O'Brien, Connie and Diegur), his family having left him for good, his job done for after he wraps up this case with Aceveda... that would be a great final image to go out on: Mackey alone in the street, gun in hand and no one to kill, no longer protected by the shield.
And to the guy that said the Wire is 'all but unwatchable'... I'm sure there's an episode of American Idol on for your dopey ass.
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8-21-2008 @ 12:27PM
John Hewitt said...
Hey pal, I've never watched a single episode of Idol and I never will. Sorry I don't love your show, but don't lump me in with the reality crowd. The Wire is a slow, mopey show that loves itself way too much. it's the Six Feet Under of Cop Shows.
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8-21-2008 @ 9:36PM
kurt said...
A show that has you routing for the worst cop on tv - ever. Hoping they get away with the money train but knowing that the writing gods will not let that happen. Shocking even Mackey when he sends two guys into a container with instructions to fight it out and only one comes out. Don't forget Armadillo. What an awesome story line. Who ordered the grilled cheese? I already miss this show. I am sure that Ryan will gives us his creative all and not go Chase on us. I can't wait, but as soon as it starts I will be mourning its end.
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8-22-2008 @ 3:52PM
Sharkboy said...
he's definitely not going to pull a chase on us...(although over time i grew to appreciate the sopranos finale)...however ryan definitely realizes the impact and scope of this show, i'm no matter what happens, this will easily be the most memorable season. it feels too soon to say goodbye.
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