Source: FilmBook
Hi,
This is my entry to this week's CineTV contest about the most underrated television series. This is about The Shield.
This series tells us the story of the Los Angeles police department special strike team led by Vic Mackay(played by the excellent Michael Chiklis). It is made pretty clear from the beginning that these cops have crossed the line of right and wrong a long time ago.
They use whatever means necessary to get what they want and that is usually money. The methods used range from intimidating witnesses to cold-blooded murders.
In the beginning, they get a new member to their squad who isn't corrupted and later on a new captain who won't just turn the blind eye to what they are doing.
What really works in this show is how the viewer is put in a position where relating to these dirty cops becomes quite easy. There are times when they seem like really nice guys with whom you'd like to have a beer or two.
Vic Mackey is a bald, blue-eyed tank who looks like he could go through a wall. If I remember correctly, in one episode he actually did just that when catching someone. In contrast, he is also portrayed as a family man trying to get his disabled kid to a better school.
For liking these characters, viewers have to question their own moral values and are forced to ask the question, what would I do in a situation like that?
The strike force, and especially its leader is like a hurricane, leaving nothing but destruction behind. In parallel storylines, the show also follows a couple of good street cops(Catherine Dent and Michael Jace) just trying to make a living and struggling with their own issues in life. Things are about to get messy for them because theirs and the task force's paths are bound to cross.
The part of Los Angeles where it all happens is a dirty, violent, and sad place. Most characters we meet are whores, gang members, or drug addicts. Life is cheap, everyone has an agenda and the task force rules them all.
One of the best things about the Shield is the well-built intensity. So many times it's just a matter of seconds if they get caught and the line between freedom and jail is so thin.
This kind of intensity is underlined with shaky handheld photography which was quite new back then. Sometimes the camera "is left" on the table and security type of footage is used to create dizzy angles.
The show was created by Shawn Ryan and it consists of 7 seasons made between 2002 and 2008. The cast is already brilliant at the beginning of season 1 but great actors such as Glenn Close, Forest Whitaker, and Benito Martinez were added along the way. Jay Karnes also deserves a mention playing Dutch Wagenbach, a geeky detective getting to know his dark side.
I would call The Shield underrated in the sense that it wasn't so popular among the mainstream audience and seems somewhat forgotten. That being said, it is respected among critics and has a very high IMDb score of 8.7 for example.
In studying corruption, only The Wire manages to go even deeper. In my opinion, the Shield is also reflecting the disappointment of people towards their leaders. It doesn't give us any easy answers or happy endings. It's a story about corruption and greed, the survival of the most cunning and strongest one. It can also be seen as a picture of a sociopath, asking us, would we want him to survive?
Thank you for reading!
