The Shield (#25)
The Strike Team squeaks into the list of my favorite TV shows.
If I’d been doing this countdown of my top-25 TV shows of all time, this would have been the first write-up as it comes in at 25 exactly. I’m sort of glad I decided to do this all random, because it’s been nice to find the cadence here, and how I want to discuss each show, especially ones that aren’t super easy to describe.
I’m talking, of course, about The Shield, which aired from 2002-2008, and focused on a group of policemen in a special team (called “The Strike Force”) in Los Angeles, focused on reducing crime in a district rife with gangs, drugs and prostitution.
We quickly learn (in the pilot episode) that the Strike Force, led by Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), is not as above board as we’d hope. Captain David Aceveda (Benito Martinez) worries that the team is not adhering to good protocols in how they go about their business (which has led to an admirable record in terms of arrests, etc.) - but that’s not nearly the half of it. And that’s where The Shield gets interesting…
Because the Strike Team is indeed not all sunshine and roses. Yes, they are cleaning up the streets, but they are making money on the grift, and in some ways are part of the very problem that they are fighting. And all the guys on the team - Mackey, Shane Vendrell (Walton Goggins), Curtis Lemanksy (Kenny Johnson) and Ronnie Gardocki (David Rees Snell) all feel sure they’re doing the right thing, even as they profit and do things that are openly, obviously, ethically and morally wrong.
It’s that ethical line that makes The Shield so much fun, because we (the viewer) LIKE Vic Mackey, even as he and his team hijack a drug operation to make millions for themselves, or - in an even less grey area - commit outright murder. Like the felons in Oz and the mafioso in The Sopranos, the Strike Team are a bunch of anti-heroes at a time when this was a relatively new thing for television.
Mackey has two children he clearly loves (including one who is autistic, which was not a common thing to acknowledge 20 years ago) from a failed marriage (largely his fault), but we see how human and loving he can be. We follow Shane Vendrell who is trying to do the right thing but can’t get out of his own way. And all during this we have to decide for ourselves if the illegal stuff that Mackey and his crew are doing is worth the effectiveness they’re having in cleaning up other parts of the neighborhood.
It’s a question we’ve constantly had to ask ourselves in recent years - what lines are you willing to cross in the name of safety or freedom? This show started in 2002, just after 9/11 the year prior so this question was especially relevant at that time.
Rounding out the cast of regulars on the show is CCH Pounder as Claudette Wyms, a detective in the same precinct but decidedly not part of the Strike Force, in theory or in practice. I must admit, I’ve never really “got” Pounder as an actress, something about her cadence and diction always feels sort of off to me - but in The Shield, I liked her as much as I ever have and she’s great. Later in the series, Glenn Close shows up as Captain Monica Rawling, and she’s also a perfect complement to the show.
The show is also where I first discovered Walton Goggins (who we’ll meet again later in this countdown) who just soars as Shane Vendrell. Vendrell is Mackey’s best friend, and a loose cannon to boot, but his energy just pops off the screen. (Goggins and Pounder both later appeared in Sons of Anarchy, a show that just missed this list.)
The thing about The Shield is it FEELS like an older show - even the picture looks low-resolution these days - and some of the things we tolerated or rooted for have maybe crossed a line at this point. And man, does the show get DARK. Without spoilers, there are some plots and deaths in here that absolutely floored me. Let’s just say that one involves a grenade, and that’s something I hadn’t seen before.
It’s also worth stating that - again, spoiler free - the finale of the show is really incredible, and one that many consider to be one of the better series finales of all time.
One thing that stands out for me is looking at the cast. Obviously, there are some real hitters like Goggins, Chiklis, Pounder and Close. But while so many of these shows have casts that went onto massive success, with The Shield, there’s a lot of other actors here who I really never saw before or again. I don’t really want to call out any actors in particular, but there were a few that I never fully bought into and seemed like odd casting choices, and that for sure had an impact on my sentiment.
As the 25/25 show on this list, The Shield is obviously teetering on staying on my list, but for now, I’m glad it is still here because it really was groundbreaking highlighting an anti-hero, the darker stories and surprising the viewer with moments you simply never believed you could see on TV.
The Shield was a pretty revolutionary show for its time. Show creator Shawn Ryan went on to make some similar shows with less success (including the awesome, single-season Terriers which would be on my list of shows that deserved a longer run). It may not have aged perfectly, but it’s still good enough to make my list of top-25.
For those wondering, here’s the list to date:
Loved the Shield when most never heard of it. Made me feel like a rebel! Googins is so very cool!