Just Started Watching "The Shield"

Why not just watch it and decide for yourself? Unless you like going into shows with preconceived notions...

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Why not just watch it and decide for yourself? Unless you like going into shows with preconceived notions...

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I like hearing other people's opinions.

I'm one of the Team Shield members of the M/TV board.

I think it has the best Pilot/Finale combo in all of television history.

You have guest runs by Oscar-winning actors Forrest Whitaker and Glenn Close coming up in the middle seasons. You have the money train ahead, the cuddler rapist, the serial killers, just a long list of compelling stories.

It does a decent job of balancing episodic stories and threads, although it leans more towards episodic with only a handful of threads going at a time. It takes turns, both predictable and unpredictable, at times.

It finishes strong with just a few soft patches here and there.

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I'm one of the Team Shield members of the M/TV board.

I think it has the best Pilot/Finale combo in all of television history.

You have guest runs by Oscar-winning actors Forrest Whitaker and Glenn Close coming up in the middle seasons. You have the money train ahead, the cuddler rapist, the serial killers, just a long list of compelling stories.

It does a decent job of balancing episodic stories and threads, although it leans more towards episodic with only a handful of threads going at a time. It takes turns, both predictable and unpredictable, at times.

It finishes strong with just a few soft patches here and there.

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Cool. Yeah the first episode was awesome. I can see how it might become over the top at sometimes, and I usually don't prefer episodic shows, but I plan on finishing the first season at least.

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Forrest Whitaker

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Some of the scenes between him and Vic were just incredible.

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I usually don't prefer episodic shows, but I plan on finishing the first season at least.

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And this is a different kind of episodic - they balance good guest stars, generally outstanding writing and directing, with getting the regular cast their share of screen time. You get a beat or 2 of Aceveda's political ambition, a beat or 3 of the Strike Team, a beat or 2 of Claudette and Dutch, a beat or 2 of Dani and Julian, plus a beat of Vic's homelife - pretty much every episode of the main run. They usually only have some of the guests for an episode or two, and that dictates tying up loose ends on that particular story.

A few episodes, here or there, will focus more heavily on one group or another and the threads overlap a little - most of the main threads deal with Strike Team or Vic's family issues, which, of course, overlap with the Strike Team. And, generally, there are 1 or 2 "season" threads, which spill over occasionally.

Their coup was getting people like Whitaker to do an extended run (more than 1 season, at it turned out) as a guest star and Close as part of the main cast for an extended run - that allowed a change in chemistry that expanded beyond our starting/finishing cast, and it feels more realistic that way.

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I usually don't prefer episodic shows

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I would NOT call the Shield episodic. Everything comes together brilliantly. It is certainly not a "case of the day" show.

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would NOT call the Shield episodic. Everything comes together brilliantly. It is certainly not a "case of the day" show.

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Well, it is, but it isn't. They capture all of the "case of the day" stuff, mainly, with the detectives and street cops. The strike team gets pulled into this stuff, as well, but they're more typically dealing with the same gangs and often the same gang members over time. Of course, the detectives have a few long running cases (serial killer, cuddler rapist, etc.). Aceveda's story is almost one long thread - at times, it feels like The Shield is more about him than any other character (except Mackey) - while at others, it seems he is a footnote - and I feel that was by design.

They have all the cop stereotypes and turn most of them on their respective heads. "Good cop, bad cop left for the day. I'm a different kind of cop." - that was in the pilot and it stuck with me. That sums up the show - a different kind of cop show - as big a departure from NYPD Blue as NYPD Blue was from Hill Street Blues - and I consider those 2 shows the father and grandfather of The Shield.

And The Shield was even better...