Shield, The (2002)

Gritty, violent drama centered on corrupt cop, Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), and his strike team, a semi-autonomous unit with a reputation for effectiveness and brutality. They're not above beating prisoners, stealing evidence to supply their pet dealers, and even murder -- but they're still the good guys, right? Who cares what happens to a bunch of bangers? But it's hard to stay in control with his own captain trying to bring him down -- earning brownie points to boost a fledgeling political career -- while still dealing with constant crises on the streets and trouble at home.

The Shield walks a fine line. On the one hand, it glorifies a dirty cop; he's nothing if not effective. Even when events turn sour -- planting a gun on an innocent man, for example -- the problem is with harming an innocent; the strong subtext is that, if he had been a gang-member, it would have been a moral thing to do. On the other hand, it's Vic's results that are glorified, not his methods. It's hard not to appreciate a young girl's rescue from forced prostitution, but the violence leading there is not casual or spectacular. It's intense and discomforting.

Its intensity is such that watching through the first season was physically exhausting. The Shield isn't as intellectually interesting (nor, admittedly, so well made) as The Wire, but it has a visceral, raw power, an animal ferocity that strikes deeper than reason. If you can stomach it, it's worth the effort.

The third season of The Shield is more interested in snipping plot threads left dangling at the end of season two than it is in introducing new ones. The Armenians, led by the psychopathic foot-fetishist Margos Dezerian (staff writer Kurt Sutter), are back in town and looking for their money train cash; Treasury agents aren't far behind. Vic (Michael Chiklis) is still dealing with the aftermath of his separation; Danny (Catherine Dent) gets a second chance; Julien (Michael Jace) finds marriage harder than expected; David (Benito Martinez) finds politics interfering with work. Claudette (CCH Pounder), riding a high at the end of the second season, antagonizes everyone.

The series as a whole suffers from the lack of focus, but individual episodes are still engrossing and tremendously satisfying. Highly recommended.

Forest Whitaker guests as Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh, Internal Affairs, charged with the witchhunt against the strike team.

It's a good season; the biggest problem is Whitaker, who plays his part so weird-intense that he bounces between incredible (amazing!) and incredible (unconvincing).

Note: don't watch the special features on the third disc until you've finished the fourth or you'll get hit with a massive spoiler -- thanks for nothing, bastards,

(Major spoilers in this comment.)

The final seasons of the Shield wrap things up nicely, with each member of the Strike Team facing the consequences of their actions in very different ways. Vic struggles to ward off his upcoming forced retirement, including attempting to wrangle an immunity deal from the feds; Shane, ostracized after Lem's death, faces a harder route.

That it reaches a conclusion is not to say that it is satisfying. Vic was always a morally ambiguous figure, like Dexter Morgan: can you do good by doing wrong? While I wasn't expecting a ride-off-into-the-sunset happy ending, I did think that, perhaps, there could be some hint of redemption. There is not; it is essentially an Aristotelian tragedy.

Vic wins his immunity by sharing the details of every crime committed by the team -- earning the hatred and loathing of his new superior, who had no idea what she had promised, in the process -- and, in the process, condemns Ronnie to life imprisonment. Shane has already committed suicide; Vic's family are in witness protection.

Of course, he can't stand being stuck at a desk, so we are left with the clear impression that, having "won", he is about to throw it all away.

A superb ending, but an unpleasant one, and a sour note on which to close.