The Shield

By Steven Rubio Sons of Anarchy might make it somewhere between The Riches and Damages. It ain't there yet ... if someone told me I could have The Riches back if I gave up Sons of Anarchy, the bikers would be gone in a second. I'm trying to think if there's a single character on Sons where I think "oh boy, this is gonna...

By Richard Keller Last week another terrific cable drama, The Shield, took its final bow in a series finale that still has fans talking. The talk is mostly about the last three minutes, which featured Vic Mackey's silent contemplation of the life he now leads after losing his friends, family and, some say, h...

It's a huge TV week. The highlights: FX's " The Shield " ends its run. The finale has received a rave reviews, and it screens from 10 to 11:30 p.m. Tueday.

Case closed: "The Shield," with Michael Chiklis and David Rees Snell. On "House," a gunman gives the doctors' orders, by taking the team hostage to get medical attention.

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Until Kohn got killed, it was really interesting to see Jay Karnes on back-to-back nights every week playing these two completely different characters. Any plans to bring in anyone else from "The Shield"? You're going to be called the heir to "The Shield" now.

By The Huffington Post News Editors In its seven seasons on FX, "The Shield" has shown what child's play all those other vigilante narratives have been. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), who leads the police strike team in the grisliest sectors of East Los Angeles, jury-rigged the rules so aggressively, and so often based on no...

The Shield" set the template for the gritty cable drama, and now it's showing all those other second-generation wanna-bes and imposters how to properly ride off into the sunset. Be warned, though - it's going to be a bumpy ride. ...

By heywriterboy@hotmail.com (DMc) Let's also not forget The Shield for what it was for the industry: the show that kicked in the door for the basic cable drama. Weeds, Rescue Me, The Closer, Burn Notice, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Damages, Nip/Tuck -- all followed. Vic, you bastard, thanks for keeping the streets of Farmington sa...

By Jason the TVaholic Over on cable, Bravo has The Real Housewives of Atlanta reunion special and the fourth season premiere of The Real Housewives of Orange County, FX has the series finale of The Shield, and Oxygen has the first season finale of Coolio’s Rules.

It took seven seasons, but The Shield's Vic Mackey finally gets his reckoning tonight.Michael Chiklis' groundbreaking TV cop shocked viewers in his very first episode by shooting an undercover officer. The act re-emerges, along with an avalanche of other illegal activities committed...

Tuesday night, "The Shield" comes to a staggering conclusion after seven seasons on FX, making it, IMHO, the best police series since "Hill Street Blues" and the single most consistent drama of any genre that I've ever seen. ...

FX's The Shield comes to an end at 10 p.m. tomorrow in a 90-minute finale that promises to wrap up the stories of crooked cop Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his colleagues. Recent episodes have seen the noose tightening around Vic, his partner in crime Ronnie (David Rees Snell), and his form...

By Jonathan Toomey Another thing I've mentioned at least a few times over the course of this season are the brilliant looks some of the actors have been giving. These faces and expressions that just say 1000 different things - especially Shane. This episode, a few others stepped up. I loved Dutch's face when tha...

After seven seasons and 87 episodes, we finally saw the real Vic Mackey tonight. We found him in an ICE interrogation room, shoulders slumped and jaw clenched, coldly confessing to every single awful thing we’ve watched him commit over the course of this remarkable series. We’ve been with...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) If you thought that the series had gone as extreme as it could with Vic and Shane each attempting botched hits on the other, and Vic turning in his badge to hunt Shane's family full-time, well, you underestimated just how ruthless Shawn Ryan and company (here led by writers Adam E. Fierro &am...

By Jason the TVaholic The Shield (FX): New. Olivia is helping the Strike Team take down a Mexican drug lord. Claudette is looking into the death of a woman that had ties to the team. Runs 65 minutes. Plays again later. Other Options 90210 (The CW): New. Sean is welcomed by Harry and Debbie, trouble is brewing between Bre...

By Jonathan Toomey Yet for someone who we know so little about, as fans, we've never questioned Vic's ability to achieve ... well ... anything. While the comparisons between Vic Mackey and Jack Bauer are endless (24 premiered in 2001 as well), Ryan said that he agreed with 24's similar style of refraining from showi...

By Matt Roush Matt Roush: With only two episodes remaining, what better time to salute The Shield, which I've always considered one of TV's best dramas and which is ... Matt Roush: With only two episodes remaining, what better time to salute The Shield, which I've always considered one of TV's best dramas...

First things first, I have to give a shout-out to my colleague and fellow Shield fanatic Noel Murray for playing substitute blogger the past two weeks while I tended to the launch of this thing. (How’s that for a shameless plug?) Second things second, can I take a moment to exhale? After that...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Spoilers for "The Shield," season seven, episode 11, coming up just as soon as I start going through gas station men's room trash cans... Oh, it's getting bad around Farmington. As Ronnie -- still so clear-headed most of the time it's amazing he ever let himself fall under Vic's sway -- puts it,...

By Jason the TVaholic The Shield (FX): New. The Strike Team needs to come us with some quick cash. Runs 63 minutes. Plays again later. Other Options 90210 (The CW): New. Annie’s 16th birthday party gets an unexpected guest. Kelly is back from her trip. Adrianna learns that Navid is the Donna of this group.Big Break X (Gol...

Afterwards, series creator Shawn Ryan, who wrote the finale, sat down with writers to discuss his creation. I asked if how mindful he was of "The Sopranos"' famously controversial finale when putting the final touches on his own show. ("The Sopranos" was airing its last episodes just as "T...

By Steven Rubio The Shield is about the inner city, and it's about police, and it's about the corrupt but fascinating cop at its center. It is a great show. But no one would suggest that it covers as much ground as, say, The Wire, which was about all of the above and much, much more. If The Shield tells the story of V...

By Tom Coombe And finally, The Shield: Whoa. The most tension-filled episode of the season, one of the more stomach churning hours of the series. I think I held my breath through that entire interrogation scene, in which Two Man gives up Shane for the attempt on Ronnie's life. Dear lord.

By Mike2GuysTalking Having the Time You Have for Your Kids: Vic is one of the most dynamic characters I think there’s ever been on television.  Whether it’s this last season, the first season or anything in between, Michael Chiklis continues to provide his audiences with just simply magical moments that help...

By Mike2GuysTalking Cementing the Rezian Deal: If there had to be an episode that showcased the “mechanics of what I love about Vic Mackey”, this would be the one of the many that are perfect samples of what this show is all about.  The literal mechanics that both Shane and Vic give you in this episode are hallmark...

By noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Though Vic and Shane are still in the middle of the Armenian mess, "Money Shot" was significantly stronger than the previous two episodes because it focused much more on the characters and how this ever-spiraling fiasco is destroying their relationships with one another.

By Mike2GuysTalking Shane’s Power of Persuasion: Masterful delivery from one of my favorite actors of all time, Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell, putting on the hard-core Mackey-flava’ when confronting a witness who is about to roll-over on the mastermind Armenian, Razian.  With just a few word...

By noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) In particular, I loved seeing Claudette tear into one of the junior Spook Streeters over his embrace of the worst aspects of the stereotypical gang culture. It didn't make a dent at all -- and wound up giving Claudette, who already isn't feeling well, another headache to deal with -- but sto...

By noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) I know I'm having trouble sometimes, especially lately. As I said in my column today, the plotting on "The Shield" has always been secondary to the character material, to the point where I zone out sometimes when Vic starts briefing Claudette or the strike team on the latest problem. When th...

By Mike2GuysTalking Ronnie Turning the Moral Corner: It might be that the cloak of impropriety has always been draped around Ronnie’s neck over the last 6 years, but never before has his interaction with characters become as bold as outright murder.  We see him take on the final responsibility that often defi...

By Jason the TVaholic Over on cable, FX has the seventh and final season premiere of The Shield. ABC, CBS, and NBC all have Republican National Convention coverage tonight, but it plays depending on your time zone. Like here on the west coast they are all on at 7:00 p.m. PT. Cable Choices

Not so long ago, basic cable was a peaceful medium, filled with old movies, network reruns and kiddie shows. Then FX’s “The Shield,” starring Michael Chiklis, kicked in the door and changed all that. FX, an upstart network, gambled that producing the kind of high-quality, grown-up progra...

Michael Chiklis is pleased with the way FX’s “The Shield” is coming to an end—with a bang, not a whimper. “I feel like we really finished it in an incredibly strong way,” said the series’ Emmy Award-winning lead actor. “Especially the last seven episodes, it becomes like a moving freight tra...

The writers’ strike: What now?  MO - Nov 5, 2007 Shawn Ryan, the creator of “The Shield” and producer of “The Unit,” and a member of the Writers Guild negotiating committee, circulated an e-mail on Monday ...

By Ann Hagman Cardinal Dutch and Steve investigate the murder of Miracle Joe, a well-known and beloved Farmington homeless person, and they uncover a guy who extorts money from the homeless, a begging tax. But it seems he watched Joe get hit by a bus and get up and walk away, so he left him alone. Poor Dutch is the laug...

By Ann Hagman Cardinal Shane is going “deeper into the Armenian beast than [he] ever intended.” He brings in his Armenian Gang Princess to pose as a bookkeeper for a bakery to implicate rival Mafia families. Great line alert: when Shane brings in the Princess posing as an accountant, Claudette says, “I don’t want...

By Ann Hagman Cardinal Hiatt seems to be studying at the Vic Mackie School of Strike Team Management. He is going around Claudette and breaking rules as needed. He tells Vic that Claudette’s been playing him from day one, that he will still be forced to retire, and Vic doesn’t seem concerned (could be his politicia...

By Ann Hagman Cardinal Ronnie lures Shane with the pretense of a meeting of the two of them with Vic. But Vic confronts Shane alone. Watching Shane squirm as he begins to realize where it was going was so much fun. And — drum roll please — he finally admits to Vic that he killed Lem. Then they both cry. Luckily, not for long. T...

By Tempo But when the show, which began a typically stellar sixth season April 3, wraps up its seventh and final season some time next year, the character I may miss most is Holland “Dutch” Wagenbach, a dogged detective played by Jay Karnes. But Claudette has been put in charge of the Barn, which may s...

By Ann Hagman Cardinal Dutch’s new partnership with Steve is off to a rocky start, though I have to say, I was cheering Steve on for calling Dutch on his shortcomings as a detective (see? I told you Dutch’s arrogance got in the way!). And Claudette is acting more and more like a Captain, asking for Lem’s locker to be c...

By Ann Hagman Cardinal And then there’s David Aceveda. I’m sorry, Councilman David Aceveda. Shudder. Now, I can’t tell you how happy I am that there is a prominent Latino character in this impressive ensemble, and I adore the actor, Benito Martinez, but Aceveda’s smarmy police captain turned politician makes my...

By Blake Matthews Last night my favorite FX series finally had its season premiere. That’s right folks The Shield is back for its sixth season, and just in time for the premiere is the DVD release of The Shield – The Complete Fifth Season.  Throughout this season, the strike team attempts to defuse racial tens...

With placements on hit shows like "The Shield," "Ugly Betty," "The OC," "Friday Night Lights" and "CSI: Miami," there's no shortage of demand for Latin sounds on mainstream TV.

By Jonathan Toomey This is actually old news, but I don't remember reading anything about it. So it's new to me and hopefully to most of you other Shield fans. Alex O'Loughlin joined the cast of The Shield a few months ago when the second half of season five began filming and according to this IGN interview, he's b...

By Jonathan Toomey Anyone else been watching F/X lately? During the past few episodes of Nip/Tuck, there have been nothing but advertisements for the new Courtney Cox-Arquette drama Dirt. The show premieres this coming January but what about The Shield? Ever since it's mid-season finale last March, ther...

By terry In an exclusive interview with actor Jay Karnes, who plays comic relief Detective Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach on FX's "The Shield," he revealed a spin-off for the character has been bandied about. If it were to happen, it would be beyond the seventh -- and final -- season, coming in 2008. The n...

By Lindsay Soll The Armenian Mob has been taking over the tube lately with guest-starring-criminal roles on three of our favorite shows: in a trial of a Mob boss on TNT’s The Closer; in a money-train robbery on FX’s The Shield; and now in Showtime’s comedy Weeds they're muscling in on the grow house of weed...

By Jonathan Toomey During last night's season premiere of Rescue Me, FX ran its first new preview for the second half of season five of The Shield. It's not supposed to return until January 2007 I think, but the promo still said "Coming Soon." They love to tease us. For those who missed it, here's how it played out.

By Keith McDuffee Filed under: Drama, Cable, OpEd, The ShieldWow. And to think all we have left after tonight is a 90-minute season finale next week. I don't know about you, but I'm really not looking forward to another long hiatus for this show. The thing is, I don't realize how much I miss the show until the next...