tryagainlater
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I'll just mark spoilers here again because I noticed a few people on GAF are watching it at the moment likely due to Netflix picking it up and I don't want to spoil it.
The Shield is fucking awesome. I wish I didn't wait so long to watch it. It is easily one of the best dramas ever made. The finale is near perfect and the final season was an amazing build up to it. So many people have said that but I didn't realize just how good it was going to be. It's kinda hard to know where to start when talking about a whole show so I guess I'll talk about a few characters
Dutch and Claudette - the friendship and partnership between these two was really convincing. I initially didn't think much of them when the show started because they weren't particularly exciting compared to what Vic was doing but then Dutch took down that serial killer and my opinion on him soared. Really good stuff. Eventually, they became the feel good section of the show as it was kinda sweet to see how they'd back each other up whenever shit hit the fan. Plus, I really liked Claudette as Captain. Sure, she didn't have a crazy storyline like Acevada got in season 3 and she's not Glenn Close but she got shit done even with lupus. And now she's gonna die
Also, I know some people think Dutch is a serial killer because of that cat scene...yeeaaa...no.
Lem - thinking about Lem is bumming me out. He was so nice. He was willing to be somewhat dirty to get results but he had a good heart. And than Shane....Lem deserved a death like that the least
Ronnie - I generally laughed when he was on screen in the early seasons because it was almost like they were trying to shove it in our face with how little importance this guy was. He has like one line across four seasons. His arc over the show was like watching fucking Boyhood where he gradually grew a personality. It was great finally getting to see him shout at Vic at the end after all the shit he's done for him. He got his face burnt off for that asshole. I suppose Anton Mitchell had him killed if he ever noticed he existed in the first place. Ronnie was still invisible in the season they dealt with him.
Shane - oh boy, Jesus. Where to begin? He's a piece of shit. Constant fuck up. Racist asshole. Yet, I was still upset when he died with his family. Way to jerk a tear out of me with that family meeting. God damn. Walton Goggins gave an amazing performance throughout the show, probably the best of the cast. I need to see him in more stuff. I also want to add just how great his fight with Tavon. Very brutal and convincing. Those two looked like they really wanted to kill each other.
Acevada - a pretty annoying character for a while until mid way through season 3. Then...I don't really have much to say about that particular storyline except it was a very bold thing to put on TV and Acevade became a million times more interesting after that. Some grim shit right there. This show is grim all round. I shouldn't have watched that episode just before going to bed.
Julian - kinda the opposite of Acevada. I was very invested in Julian's storyline in the early seasons than he kinda just started being around. I would have liked to have seen more of him dealing with his homosexuality but Shawn Ryan's comments on how people repress this stuff for years makes sense. We got that one little nod to that arc in the finale I suppose.
Guest stars - Few decent guest actors throughout the show. Glenn Close who I mentioned earlier was great as expected. Forest Whitaker played such a weirdo. He was so creepy, no wonder he had a crazy wife. Him going head to head with Vic is a highlight of the show. Even Carl Weathers showed up at some point to get a stew going.
Vic - Michael Chiklis is awesome. Deserved that one emmy he won. He made an evil asshole compelling which has been a trend in TV for the last few years. Vic Mackey got a better ending than any other similar TV character though. I don't want to start making comparisons though because then the thread will just become about that. This is a show that just builds upon everything. The cop murder in the first episode was obviously significant but they solve that storyline fairly early on and then it comes back to haunt Vic again. Same with the money train. It feels like all the loose ends are tied up then BAM! It's brought up again. All the shit with Shane and Lem all comes tumbling down upon Vic and results in that beautiful scene with Vic's confession. Vic's face before he starts with the murder with the cop whose name I've forgotten is perfect. His face at the very last scene at the office, perfect. Seriously, what a perfect ending. Closing a loop on a character while managing to show the significance of the where the show started in the first episode but still leaving a bit of mystery of where Vic will go from there. He deserved everything he got. He has to live with the guilt of what happened to his partners with everyone knowing just how awful he is with no family around to love him. Perfect. Tell me a show with a better ending. I'm not being facetious. Tell me so I can watch it and be impressed with another finale because an ending has never been this satisfying to me.
I really want to talk about that scene where everyone learns that Shane tried to have Ronnie killed. As much as I love the ending, this might be the best scene. Since the audience knew what happened, the show gets so tense as we see the investigation get closer to Shane and how he tries to cover it up. Naturally, after everyone finds out, the show is again tense because it switches to Shane being on the run being hunted by the cops. Yet there's this moment in between those two waves of intensity. A grace period where Shane accepts that he's going to be caught. He knows it's about to happen. The rest of the characters are about to know in a few seconds. There is this lovely scene where Shane looks peaceful as he walks out of the police station. I really love it and Walton Goggins performance likely deserves the credit to it. I think it makes Shane's ultimate fate so much more tragic.
That was all a bit rambly. I get so excited talking about the show even though I finished it over a week ago. I wanted to wait a bit before making a thread so I could compose my thoughts. Clearly didn't work
The Shield is fucking awesome. I wish I didn't wait so long to watch it. It is easily one of the best dramas ever made. The finale is near perfect and the final season was an amazing build up to it. So many people have said that but I didn't realize just how good it was going to be. It's kinda hard to know where to start when talking about a whole show so I guess I'll talk about a few characters
Dutch and Claudette - the friendship and partnership between these two was really convincing. I initially didn't think much of them when the show started because they weren't particularly exciting compared to what Vic was doing but then Dutch took down that serial killer and my opinion on him soared. Really good stuff. Eventually, they became the feel good section of the show as it was kinda sweet to see how they'd back each other up whenever shit hit the fan. Plus, I really liked Claudette as Captain. Sure, she didn't have a crazy storyline like Acevada got in season 3 and she's not Glenn Close but she got shit done even with lupus. And now she's gonna die
Also, I know some people think Dutch is a serial killer because of that cat scene...yeeaaa...no.Lem - thinking about Lem is bumming me out. He was so nice. He was willing to be somewhat dirty to get results but he had a good heart. And than Shane....Lem deserved a death like that the least
Ronnie - I generally laughed when he was on screen in the early seasons because it was almost like they were trying to shove it in our face with how little importance this guy was. He has like one line across four seasons. His arc over the show was like watching fucking Boyhood where he gradually grew a personality. It was great finally getting to see him shout at Vic at the end after all the shit he's done for him. He got his face burnt off for that asshole. I suppose Anton Mitchell had him killed if he ever noticed he existed in the first place. Ronnie was still invisible in the season they dealt with him.
Shane - oh boy, Jesus. Where to begin? He's a piece of shit. Constant fuck up. Racist asshole. Yet, I was still upset when he died with his family. Way to jerk a tear out of me with that family meeting. God damn. Walton Goggins gave an amazing performance throughout the show, probably the best of the cast. I need to see him in more stuff. I also want to add just how great his fight with Tavon. Very brutal and convincing. Those two looked like they really wanted to kill each other.
Acevada - a pretty annoying character for a while until mid way through season 3. Then...I don't really have much to say about that particular storyline except it was a very bold thing to put on TV and Acevade became a million times more interesting after that. Some grim shit right there. This show is grim all round. I shouldn't have watched that episode just before going to bed.
Julian - kinda the opposite of Acevada. I was very invested in Julian's storyline in the early seasons than he kinda just started being around. I would have liked to have seen more of him dealing with his homosexuality but Shawn Ryan's comments on how people repress this stuff for years makes sense. We got that one little nod to that arc in the finale I suppose.
Guest stars - Few decent guest actors throughout the show. Glenn Close who I mentioned earlier was great as expected. Forest Whitaker played such a weirdo. He was so creepy, no wonder he had a crazy wife. Him going head to head with Vic is a highlight of the show. Even Carl Weathers showed up at some point to get a stew going.
Vic - Michael Chiklis is awesome. Deserved that one emmy he won. He made an evil asshole compelling which has been a trend in TV for the last few years. Vic Mackey got a better ending than any other similar TV character though. I don't want to start making comparisons though because then the thread will just become about that. This is a show that just builds upon everything. The cop murder in the first episode was obviously significant but they solve that storyline fairly early on and then it comes back to haunt Vic again. Same with the money train. It feels like all the loose ends are tied up then BAM! It's brought up again. All the shit with Shane and Lem all comes tumbling down upon Vic and results in that beautiful scene with Vic's confession. Vic's face before he starts with the murder with the cop whose name I've forgotten is perfect. His face at the very last scene at the office, perfect. Seriously, what a perfect ending. Closing a loop on a character while managing to show the significance of the where the show started in the first episode but still leaving a bit of mystery of where Vic will go from there. He deserved everything he got. He has to live with the guilt of what happened to his partners with everyone knowing just how awful he is with no family around to love him. Perfect. Tell me a show with a better ending. I'm not being facetious. Tell me so I can watch it and be impressed with another finale because an ending has never been this satisfying to me.
I really want to talk about that scene where everyone learns that Shane tried to have Ronnie killed. As much as I love the ending, this might be the best scene. Since the audience knew what happened, the show gets so tense as we see the investigation get closer to Shane and how he tries to cover it up. Naturally, after everyone finds out, the show is again tense because it switches to Shane being on the run being hunted by the cops. Yet there's this moment in between those two waves of intensity. A grace period where Shane accepts that he's going to be caught. He knows it's about to happen. The rest of the characters are about to know in a few seconds. There is this lovely scene where Shane looks peaceful as he walks out of the police station. I really love it and Walton Goggins performance likely deserves the credit to it. I think it makes Shane's ultimate fate so much more tragic.
That was all a bit rambly. I get so excited talking about the show even though I finished it over a week ago. I wanted to wait a bit before making a thread so I could compose my thoughts. Clearly didn't work
