The Shield

[Richard.John]

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But Dutch is a police officer, so his word against Cleveon's would stick surely considering the evidence. No evidence and no warrant, then I understand.

Or is it the case that it requires two officers for such a takedown? anyway, I am on season 6 now. Great stuff.

[VR46]

Bumpage. For those with cable etc, Fiver US have started showing the final season of this, kicked off at 9pm last night, it's on every Monday and is bound to be repeated before next Monday.

[Atticus]

Only just realised this is on ... relieved to find the first ep is indeed repeated at around midnight on Thursday, Five USA. Phew.

[Atticus]

Have to say I didn't really enjoy season 7 ... and was almost glad when it finally ended. For a show which strives for a certain amount of realism the elaborate storylines were just too far fetched. But worst of all it just wasn't fun to watch. Viewers might have wanted closure prior to the season starting but the

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deconstruction of the strike team

was just dull and depressing in the end.

The show peaked at season 5 and then eeked out 2 weak seasons (not the first show to do that, won't be the last).

[Dogg Thang]

Having waited for season 7 on DVD, I finally watched through the final season and wow, what a depressing ending. That was tough viewing.

Totally disagree with Atticus that it was dull or dropped in quality. In fact, it's one of the only show I've watched from beginning to end that, for me, I never felt was going off the rails or had me wishing for the good ol' days. Even my two favourite shows, Oz and Homicide, fell apart a bit in their latter seasons.

But The Shield gripped me from beginning to end.

There was no filler. No ****e thrown in that didn't make sense. No tease storylines that were built on nothing but promise of unrealised potential. Some shows could learn a lot from The Shield.

If there was one part in the entire series that I felt didn't contribute, it was when Aceveda left the Barn and we got the storyline with him and the hooker. It felt like he should have been written out completely and just brought back when he had a role to play again. But, even with that, they did find a role for him at some point and he was back to having a major part in all that was going on.

The end, for me, was gripping. Satisfying? No, but that's not actually a bad thing - I think a satisfying end for me would have been too easy. Too neat.

But with the ending we got,

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I felt totally gutted for Ronnie. He got totally shafted. A dirty cop in prison will not have an easy time and I always felt Ronnie was just swept up in things. He was never really a part of everything. He didn't have that streak of nastiness and pure selfishness that Vic or Shane had.

Poor ol' Ronnie.

Shane's end with his family was harrowing. And, for me, I never really felt for Shane since Lem's death. I was actually hoping Ronnie would get the revenge he so wanted. But that shot of Mara and Jackson on the bed was heartbreaking.

And Vic? Well, I seem to have a different take on it to most. A fate worse than death? Not a chance. His deal was just three years and let's be clear about who is dealing with that fate. Vic Mackey is a survivor. A slippery selfish man who has left a trail of devastation and come out on top pretty much every time. The very last scene with him going out with the gun showed he wasn't broken. He'd get through this too and, three years on (if not sooner knowing him), he'd be out on the streets doing whatever he wants.

If anything, I could see Vic ending up a major player in a crime syndicate. Probably telling himself that he can't be a cop but he can help clean things up from the inside but, in reality, just raking in the money, living on a power trip and, once again, piling up the casualties. Always one step ahead of the cops.

Vic got away clean.

I actually thought they handled the other resolutions very well. The big story was the downfall of the Strike Team so that overshadowed everything but that allowed them to tell the rest of the story with subtlety. The inevitable ending of the story with Dutch and the kid played out well. Although I must admit, my mind always went back to the cat incident and part of me was thinking they may actually have had Dutch turn out to be a killer.

Other characters like Julien and Danni just got little nods to their future. It wasn't hard to imagine Danni running the Barn one day and Julien turned out to be a really good cop. It's clear at some point his whole sexuality issue will blow up in his face.

There was nothing else this ending needed for me.

Except perhaps Lem turning up and saying he got better. I miss Lem.

What a show. I'll really miss it.

Hard to believe that's the jolly fat guy from The Commish...