TVSquad

I don't know, it seems to me like the creator hinted at something towards the end. It felt like mackey contemplated suicide when he reached for his gun, yet decided to go the opposite direction when he smirked.

In other words, defiant to his obligation by holstering his gun at the end (something olivia forbid) it hints that he'd rather go back as a criminal than be tied in a desk job. To me, he has nothing to lose any more, so what is there to stop him now? In my mind, he'll do right by Ronny and break him out, becoming both fugitives or the something...

PS: the shane thing seemed clear cut from a few episodes ago, but still even knowing exactly what would happened, it still shocked me.

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Wow...what an ending. I thought it would end with a show down between Vic and Shane, but this was better. It left a lot of questions for me unanswered, though. Like a lot of you, why did they have Dutch kill the cat if he wasn't going to end up killing Rita? I think it would have been better if he walked out of the interrogation room with a smile on his face, knowing he was framing Lloyd for something he really did, or pull an article of hers like a bracelet or something out of his pocket. And what about the whole Steve/lawsuit story line? Who really cared??!! It was a waste of film that could have been spent on something relavent to the series. But the big question...what happens to Vic? Does he go try to get Ronnie out of jail and go down in a blaze of gunfire? Does he sit in Olivia's office and shoot himself at her desk? Does he search for his family or head to Tijuana? Vic cared about power more than anything in his life and now he didn't have that, his kids, the Strike Team "family", the job he thought he had secured...he had less than nothing. There was no way he would sit at a desk job for the rest of his life. He looked at the pictures like he was looking at them for the last time, like he wasn't coming back. He grabbed his gun for a reason, not just to go home. Why? This last season was terrific, the acting and writing superb. There had better be Emmy nominations and big wins for this show this season. Michael Chiklis could not have done a better job or been more believable in this last episode. My Tuesday nights will be empty, but I am glad that Vic Mackey and friends were there for as long as they were. Bring on syndication!!

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http://rafflesterrace.blogspot.com/

My blog about the final episode.

Honestly, I dont think it was the best it could have been, but it was damn good. I love the Shield!

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What was the cat incident, I missed that

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what was the cat incident, I missed that

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First of all, I'm not much of a fan of TV in general, don't watch it, but when I got wind of this show coming on 7 years ago I knew I had to give it a chance. In 7 years I never missed an episode. Most of it's already been blogged, the great acting by everyone, the writing, the emotion. My point is, it's amazing how this fictional show impacted so many fans and how deeply. I would wake up Wed. morning still going over the previous night's plot twists, and along about Sat. I'm thinking "only three more days to go." My little prayer is it returns in some form. Hopefully not a movie, but another series. There were enough intertwining personalities and story lines that this thing could have gone on for another generation. I guess no show is perfect or 100% realistic, but I also would like to have seen some closure to Dutch. It's odd how they left the cat thing hanging. And also Julian. He's gay, then he's married. Then...nothing. Most shows just have to go to the well too many times after about 5 years and this thing just got better and better in my opinion. The plots could still carry on with Dutch being psycho, Vic going rogue. Danny plea bargaining or escaping...You still have Corrine, Danny...Hell, it could never end. Does anyone know the reason they wrapped it after 7 years?

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the series was ruined due to this abrupt ending

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I disagree with a lot here:

Vic: He's not as bad as many of the posters here, and the last few episodes, make him out to be. While he was obviously dirty, he always did try to do the right thing in his 'hood: he solved murders, kept the streets safe, protected the innocent, etc. He stole but only from gangs. He robbed the evidence truck to help a kid out, he helped out the priest and his daughter, etc., etc. Crowley was the worst of it, of course. What we were shown of his testimony to Olivia was just the worst parts; where are all the confessions for the rules he broke to do good? Instead we got treated to the low points-- killing Crowley, pinning the robbery on O'Brien, etc.-- the most clearly dubious, selfish things. Stopping gang wars, catching pedophiles, etc., those weren't shown. Olivia could still hate him, but she shouldn't see him as purely a monster knowing the whole story.

Dutch: These comments about the cat incident and him killing Rita are absurd. Dutch being the killer makes absolutely no sense in terms of the characters or the setup. The cat was a big deal, but it was a one-time thing, him cracking and realizing he did. It was a wake-up call, not a harbinger. Lloyd was a killer, that was made abundantly clear.

Ronnie: What did he do that was so horribly illegal? They say he's going away for life, but.... He wasn't involved in the Crowley killing, only years later hearing of it from Shane (that not even being reliable); saying he "covered it up" is quite a stretch. His most serious crime I can think of was killing Zadofian, a cold-blooded murder; but come on, Z was a mob hit man, how much is the state going to nail him for that? Also, Vic never actually witnessed it, so he could try to say the Armenians got him first (because of the feet), though that's a long shot. Dutch mentioned robbing the money train, but whatever he stole money from gangsters, big deal.

I'd like to imagine Vic trying to help Ronnie out, e.g., convincing the authorities he can help with a case in exchange for time off, or even trying to call in favors from or plain play Aceveda, once mayor, to push for a lighter sentence or even a governor reprieve. But I get the sense Vic will just accept that he burned Ronnie and move on.

Finally: I know they needed him not to for the plot, but couldn't Vic have tipped Ronnie off before taking the deal? That would be covered by immunity. He could've told Ronnie straight up that they couldn't get both deals in time and he had to spring Corinne (who might talk anyway), so sorry, Ronnie, but you have to run, I'll help you out when I can. I guess without Ronnie it would've been harder to draw Beltran out.

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What was the song playing at the end of the show?

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The last word on Vic is wrong. There was a flash in his eyes and the corners of his mouth turned up. We have not seen the last of Vic Macky.

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You've got to be kidding! Vic Mackey has no conscience. He won't suffer five minutes worrying about anything he has done. Give him two days and he will con someone into something. He'll be out of that cubicle before Obama is in office. Shane is dead. Ronnie is locked up. Vic Mackey is free. And he will be working a deal before the first Federal holiday comes around. Vic got nothing! Nothing at all! This is some kind of art-intellectual ending; which will mean nothing in the world where Mackey lives.

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Why did Vic confess for everything to get Corrine out
of trouble ? I mean why not tell to Olivia he'll get Beltran and she gives immunity to his wife?
This way he doesn't rat out Ronnie.

I love this show but so many logical errors in 7 season :(

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Great commentary.

Great last episode.

However, Vic's family did not need to go into protective custody; he would have forgiven Corrine(Is that how she spells her name). He would have realized that she was scared. He never would have hurt her. Absolutely no chance of that.

The reason:
His selfishness. If he did anything to her, and got away with it, he'd be a full-time father. NOW, THAT, is worse than going to jail or working at a desk to Vic.

He's a great 15-25 minute-a-day father. He comes in, says hi, looks at his daughter's test, gives her a $20 and bolts. That's what Vic does. Imagine him having to take care of 3 kids?

Ironically, I believe Michael Chiklis starred in a show in the 90's, titled "Daddy-O," in which he did play a stay-at-home dad.

Also, I agree with some of the other comments about Ronnie. His last scene should have been running to Mexico. His loyalty to Vic never faltered.

Great run, SHIELD!!!

Thanks to Shawn Ryan and Michael Chiklis, respectively.

Also, to everyone else involved with the show.

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My takeaway from the ending moments (Vic sticks his gun into his belt, cracks a small smile, and heads out) is that his days may belong to ICE, but his nights are his own -- and he'll be back to his own Mackey ways in some form or another. Brilliant finish, though. Anything else would have been predictable or unrealistic.

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The last 10 minutes of The Shield was a disgusting let-down. A sorry joke wrapped in the guise of critical acclaim and finality. Terrible. AWEFUL. Shawn Ryan spent the past six years building his credibility as a storyteller and suspense writer only to piss it away on a garbage note.

I'm also convinced that every media outlet is in ryan's pocket and has been showered neck-deep with bribes and cash money. That's the only reason I can think of why the press has almost unanimously decreed that 10 minutes of dreck as satisfying? That's the only reason I can think of why anyone with a shred of sense can really REALLY try to convince a viewer that three years of a desk job with a threat of jail (if VIC should call in sick, or something) is worse than mandatory life sentence. I don't care how much of a bad-ass on a street he was. Take a look at the many correctional institutions in the world where shanking, male rape and solitary confinements in cold, hard hellholes within a hellhole are an inmates' joie de vive.
SHAWN RYAN got well-deserved kudos for orchestrating a realistic world of crime and punishment, where everyone seemed to get what they deserve for the bad they did. But the greatest devil in the show gets away and WE ARE SUPPOSED to believe that THAT MAKES SENSE? What are you people on? If Shawn Ryan had any real guts he would have done one of three things.
1) PUT A BULLET IN VIC's head like the one he put in Terry Crowley's.
2) PUT VIC IN PRISON where he sent Ronnie
3) TORTURE VIC so badly he can feel nothing below the neck, like the way Shane and Mara practically contributed to Tavon, after which Vic manipulated Tavon to take the blame for the entire altercation.

What SHAWN RYAN did INSTEAD was weak and made me so violently ill that I sprayed vomit all over my flatscreen. I'm not fooled by this bs of ironic punishment or karmic justice. This show had potential to be the greatest crime series, possibly the greatest drama on television but all that potential was pissed away with that cowardly ending. That honor will be bestowed to another show, that will not squander away a chance to REALLY say something.

I mean, when you look back, you have to say, then what was this ALL ABOUT?

PEOPLE I say Shawn Ryan must be petitioned to confess that he did not know what he was doing when he led the writing of the season and that he is a fraud. He had Shane commit suicide and kill his pregnant wife and son but Vic gets away? He had Tom Cavanaugh (Forrest Whitaker) go to prison for unsuccessfully framing Vic and he lets Vic get away? Ronnie goes to prison for the rest of his natural life (presumably) for being a follower and a pawn and Vic gets away? Garbage. People, we have been had.


Vic the antihero. Give me a break. In that last scene he takes out that picture of him and the Strike Team, with Shane and Ronnie cut out, leaving only Lem. Lem, the 'good' one, who was the least loyal to their corruption, who wanted out, who burned their stolen money, who was killed by his own friend, who never believed that Vic shot Terry. That part killed me cuz if Lem had known the real Vic the way Shane did, he woulda put the knife in Mackey's heart himself, probably.
I know it's just a show, a show that I have enjoyed, but Shawn Ryan loses ENTIRELY ALL CLAIMS to a "gritty, uncompromising and realistic show" when he has Vic confess to his "original sin", the murder of Terry Crowley, and he gets off with community service, some homework assignments, and 3 years of withering, dirty looks from a beautiful blond federal agent.
When you look at the first ep then look at the last, it's as if it's all been for nothing.

SHAWN RYAN's a HACK.

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> And speaking of Dutch, I was a little disappointed with
> how things played out with him and Lloyd. You knew
> the kid was going to kill his mother and the way he
> tried to set-up Dutch was certainly admirable, but I
> had been hoping for a bit a of a bigger showdown
> between the two.

I'd thought for a moment that Lloyd slipped up in the interrogation. When Wyms told him about his mother's clothes, she said they were found in Dutch's trashcan. But later the kid said, "He burned my mother's clothes!" Was that a smoking gun, that if Lloyd was innocent, he wouldn't know the clothes were burned? Or did I miss something?

Stuart
http://stuart-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

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I have loved this show since the beginning. I think Walton Goggins should have his own show. He is so sexy! I am also a big fan of Clark Johnson. I will watch for more directing from him; and acting. This episode just proves that "what goes around, comes around!"

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