The Shield

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Spoilers for tonight's "Sons of Anarchy" coming up just as soon as I say things in smaller doses... "The outlaw had mercy." -OpieOne of the trademarks of "The Shield" was watching Vic and the strike team dig themselves a deep hole and somehow find a way to climb out. Most of the time, though - the fi...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) • Badass men - Al Swearengen (Deadwood), Sayid Jarrah (Lost), Michael Westen (Burn Notice), Omar Little (The Wire) • Bald cops - Theo Kojak (Kojak), Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue), Frank Pembleton (Homicide), Vic Mackey (The Shield)

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) • Another benefit of the long run time is that we get a scene that doesn't really move the plot along but tells us a lot about the characters and the world, like Gemma trying to talk Jax away from what he'd read in John's book. We find out that John wrote it shortly after the death of their other son...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) In today's column, I continue to sing the praises of "Sons of Anarchy," which has a sensational episode coming up tomorrow night:There’s been a lot of talk lately about how setting an end date can be a shot in the arm to a drama series. “Lost,” “The Shield” and “Battlestar Galactica” all took...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) And, as per usual on both "Sons of Anarchy" and "The Shield," things mostly worked out, in that the club guys get bailed out before one of them gets killed. But in the larger picture, matters are more screwed-up than ever: Juice is stabbed (which, as Bobby notes, is only going to add to the moun...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) But Sutter, who has never been shy about defending all those sick and twisted things he pitched on "The Shield" (including a similar story for David Aceveda), said he thought it would be a good storyline for Sagal to play (not just the crime, but its aftermath). And Sagal - who has, after all,...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Lead actor in a drama Lead actress in a drama Supporting actor in a drama Justin Chambers, "Grey's Anatomy" Jeremy Davies, "Lost" Walton Goggins, "The Shield" Michael Hogan, "Battlestar Galactica" John Mahoney, "In Treatment" Supporting actress in a drama

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) • Fox, whose upfront will be on Monday, has started making a few pick-ups, including Mark Valley's "Human Target" and the comedy "Sons of Tuscon," plus a renewal of "Lie to Me" with "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan as the new showrunner. I stopped watching "Lie to Me" after a couple of episode...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) And even if he doesn't, there's still the matter of Spooge's dead body, isn't there? If this was "The Sopranos" -- a show where the main characters routinely left gallons of DNA evidence behind, but never got in trouble because law-enforcement was even more incompetent than they were -- I...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) I don't mind the sledgehammer parallels between doctor and patient so much when the doctor is house, and when the patient is played by a good actor like Jay Karnes (Dutch from "The Shield"), or when the patient's story turns out to be so tragic even after he's cured. That guy's relationships...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) 1)A bad guy who was not only well-cast, with Jay Karnes from "The Shield" (sporting his haircut from "Sons of Anarchy"), but well-written as someone so good at his job and so smart about the way people like Michael operate, that our heroes were never really able to trick him. The best they cou...

By Alan Sepinwall(asepinwall@starledger.com) Despite all the shows I praised in my recent columns on the best shows and best episodes, 2008 was in many ways a rotten year for television. It started off in the middle of the writers strike, and even though a lot of shows were back on the air by April, we got fewer episodes of most series, while...

By Alan Sepinwall(asepinwall@starledger.com) The Shield""The Wire""Mad Men""Chuck""Lost""The Office""Battlestar Galactica""In Treatment""Breaking Bad""Burn Notice" & "The Middleman" (tie)To read the full column with flowery praise of each choice -- plus embedded video of memorable moments from each show -- click he...

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 Alan Sepinwall And, at the end of the amazing series finale of "The Shield," this is what Vic Mackey has left on his way out the door: one cop murdered by his own hands; another cop murdered by his protege; the protege having killed himself, ...

By Alan Sepinwall The following transcript comes from two different conversations with "The Shield" creator Shawn Ryan: a two-hour-plus chat he had with FX president John Landgraf and a half-dozen TV critics immediately after we watched the series finale ...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) So, in writing my review of "The Shield" finale, I'm going out on a limb and declaring it my favorite drama series finale ever. This prompted a question from my editor about what other finales I would put in my top 5. "The Wire" is definitely on there (though, as with all things "The Wire," it was...

By Alan Sepinwall Sepinwall on TV: 'The Shield' creator Shawn Ryan l... It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, "The Nightman C... ER & Grey's Anatomy: It's a teaching hospital, stu... The Office, "Frame Toby": Caprese for everyone! ...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) But in this case, I didn't so much out-think the show as overthink it. I was so fixated on Opie -- on seeing Opie and Donna look so happy together finally, on watching Ryan Hurst look like the baddest man on the planet during the shootout in the doll warehouse and wondering how on Earth the show c...

By asepinwall@starledger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Spoilers for the penultimate episode (ever!) of "The Shield" coming up just as soon as I even myself out... Oh. My. God. • Because the Vic/Shane stuff is so epic, the return of Lloyd and his mom almost got lost in the shuffle, but it's great to see Frances Fisher again.

By Alan Sepinwall With that said, nothing can be perfect, and if I were forced to pick a fault in The Shield, it would be that the later seasons seemed to drop some of the personal stories involving non Strike-Team characters. Particularly, I was always ...

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 noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Spoilers for "The Shield" season seven, episode three, coming up just as soon as I take a midterm... • After the experience with the money train cash and other shenanigans with the "retirement fund," how could Vic have not anticipated Aceveda snatching up the blackmail box at the first oppor...

By noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) In the middle of a long interview with Mo Ryan, Shawn Ryan says that Kurt Sutter (once a "Shield" writer, now this show's creator) "was always into the big, complicated, mythology stuff," and you can definitely see a lot of Vic and Shane's more convoluted antics in Jax's attempt to get the c...

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) The "30 Rock" premiere, either with Rachel Dratch or Jane Krakowski, is funny in spots, but wildly uneven, and the show took about a half-season to come together. I would also argue that "The Sopranos" didn't become "The Sopranos" until "College," and while the "Lost" pilot is impressive...

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 noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) Today's column goes on at greater length (while still avoiding anything really spoiler-y) the final season of "The Shield." Short version: it's really good, you guys. (Also, as FX often does, it's going to run long. My DVR has the episode in a 68-minute timeslot, so plan accordingly.)

By noreply@blogger.com (Alan Sepinwall) All I will say about them is that, as Shawn Ryan has promised, they are very much in keeping with the tone and spirit of "The Shield," and they feature the return of a number of figures from seasons past, from those I remembered well (Tavon!) to those I can't believe I almost forgot (Bottom Bit...