Shady wrote:
I've just finished The Shield. I wanna talk about it generally in a bit of depth when I get time, but I can comfortably say it's the best tv series I've ever seen. That finale definitely lived up to all the hype from you guys.
Spoilers to follow.
[spoiler]
I read an interview with Shawn Ryan that took place shortly after the finale, where he said that he and his co-writers allowed the story to develop according to the characters. In a lot of ways that's pretty evident. However, I think the themes in The Shield are so prominent, that at times it feels like a work of literature. Masculinity, family, and moral conflict are all so influential, it would take a long time to properly analyse them.
In terms of the structure of the show, it is very procedural throughout, something I've never been a fan of, but as the show develops, it's handled quite well. Certain cases allow for some considerable character growth (the most interesting cases were obviously with Dutch), laying the seeds for recurring characters (Kern Little - a shame we didn't see more of him), and generally painting the corruption that plagued Farmington, because ultimately The Shield questions whether the legal system is ultimately flawed, and asks us, as SR said, how far we're willing to let the people who protect us go to get the job done. There's no easy answer to this either. Ultimately, characters either compromised their own moral compass to get bad people off the streets, or were left swimming against the tide. A few characters had "happy endings", but the long-term fate of The Barn and Farmington still felt up in the air.
I always felt that while the storylines themselves were sometimes ordinary, The Shield has a way of constantly making you feel uneasy. The shaky camera, the zoom ins (perhaps overdone at times), the shots that lingered for just a few seconds more than what was comfortable. That combined the endless list of red herrings (Antwon Mitchell in prison waiting for the Strike Team, Dutch killing the cat and exhibiting signs of evolving into a potential serial killer etc) always kept you on edge.
The use of recurring characters, themes and motifs was also executed better than in any other show I've seen. Keeping Antwon relevant after season 4 was very effective, Aceveda's need to display his masculinity (predominantly in season 4, and then occasionally afterwards) was often useful in propelling the plot forwards. Ryan actually described his attack in season 3 as "the gift that kept on giving", and it's so true.
As for the main characters: Shane and Mara's relationship always felt Macbeth-like to me and their fate was somewhat inevitable. It was amazing how you just kept changing your view on Shane. For me, he was the most complex character in the show. His constant need to escape Vic's shadow felt like it would inevitably lead to his downfall, and his marriage to Mara signalled the writing on the wall for me. He was probably the most tragic character in The Shield, and his suicide note was especially tragic ("I wish I never met him"). Walton Goggins stole the show at times. His performance in the second half of the show was masterful. I always felt Vic was unkillable, and simply too smart to get himself arrested. For a while I suspected he'd have a Michael Corleone sort of fate. He does so much bad shit, even in the final episode, and his confession scene was astonishing. It's hard to justify rooting for the guy, but this is television, and not real life. The guy was a fighter, willing to win at all costs. Obviously he went too far (even from episode one it was clear he was a criminal), and he was a poor father. You feel like he just had the wrong life. His aggression, intelligence and resilience could have been useful somewhere, just not defending the law.
Ronnie's fate was a real punch in the gut. Bringing him to the foreground in the last few seasons, emphasizing his position as the rational and level-headed one in the group, and have the rug pulled out from underneath him was really effective. I don't need to say much about Lem. The end of season 5 hurt me like no other moment in television history.
I also thought Aceveda's ending was well done. The number of times Vic suggested he was going to get himself killed sort of gave away that he wouldn't, and I think ultimately Aceveda was a good man, despite the downward spiral and general sense of jadedness he suffers after season 3. The death of Robert Huggins was an effective moment, because it doesn't matter whether Aceveda was behind it or not, the mere fact that it was plausible perfectly demonstrates the widespread corruption that haunts Farmington. I did think his storyline seemed to peter out after season 4 and the whole rape fantasy though.
For so long I kept expecting them to delve into the potential Dutch being a killer storyline, but it never came. Ryan said afterwards that the cat incident was supposed to be the conclusion to a one-episode story. In the end I think that's fair enough. Having Dutch revealed as a killer in the final episode would have felt a bit cheesy. he was another one who was ultimately just a good man. No need to ruin that. I also loved his analyses on the suspects. Great entertainment, and really thought-provoking. I felt Julian's gay storyline was swept under the carpet a bit, but again Ryan explained that he felt Julian would have managed his marriage for a few years, before it inevitably fell apart - the Shield simply couldn't fit that into it's timeline, which is fair enough. Danny became quite dull, and it seemed they didn't know what to do with her. Having Vic impregnate her merely seemed a way to keep her relevant. Claudette was great, and I'm glad we didn't have to see her demise. I actually liked Billings too. The Kevin Hiatt character in season 6 seemed too bland, which I'm assuming is why they scrapped him.
There were only a few things I was disappointed with. Season 4 felt quite poor compared to the chaos of S2 and S3. Ryan admitted it was the one season that lacked direction. Glenn Close's character just laced any charisma for me. Antwon was great though. Season 6 felt like filler too. The show would have been better if it was just 5 seasons in my opinion. I also wish they killed Tavon at the end of his fight with Shane. That was one of the most shocking moments in the show, and I felt cheated that they kept him alive afterwards. he was a really cool character, but it was weird how they just had him fade away. It made me think there might have been some sort of shooting clash for the actor with some other project. I kept waiting for him to return, and when he did for that one ep, it was underwhelming, and served only to show that he was at peace. I know they wanted to bring back Army at one point, but couldn't due to schedules again, so maybe it was the same for Tavon. That whole scene seemed to be forgotten quite quickly which was a shame.
Small note, how fucking good are the episode titles in this show? "Family Meeting", "Of Mice and Lem", "A Thousand Deaths", "Inferno", "What Power Is". Always felt a strong sense of dread reading them before starting each season. Considering writing more about The Shield in some format at some point, it's just got so much about it to be analysed. Favourite pilot and finale of any show I've ever seen. Favourite individual season (season 5, Forest Whitaker: amazing ) Favourite main character. Favourite individual scene. Favourite show full stop.[/spoiler]
