Just got done watching the finale to The Shield (which actually had its finale last November).That was seven seasons of great TV right there.
I wish the cast and its crew could all see me applauding after the end credits ran. I'm just one viewer. And even as I am aware The Shield isn't exactly a big favorite compared to other series, there are still loads of us who marvel at how good this is.
Debuting in 2002, The Shield quickly became our favorite here at home because it was an edgy cop series. The theme around it was tense and high strung...but it was something you can't stop watching. In fact, I was reluctant to check this out before, thinking it's just another generic cop series. One season, two seasons, six seasons down --- and I can't stop following.
The lead character, Vic Mackey, who is every inch the anti-hero, carried a badge around but moved and acted like the criminals he arrested...sometimes even worse. Watching the episodes unfold used to pump me up. On one hand, you know that good has to triumph over evil. But on the other hand, there's a part of me watching, wishing he won't get caught in the web of lies, murders and treachery he created.
The way I see it, Vic Mackey isn't all evil. There are pitiable reasons to why he did some of those things. And it's mostly about one thing --- survival.
I loved that scene near the end, when he was walking out of The Barn after Claudette told him of Shane's fate...and Vic said he is the way he is because his job, the system, built him for it.
Eventually, it was this job that lead him to his fateful end.
Vic Mackey lost everything --- his family, his friends, their loyalty, the admiration from his colleagues, the respect or fear from the gangs he has busted in the past. It was so beautifully satisfying how Claudette was the one to show him all of that.
I don't know who to pity the most when it ended --- Shane, Ronnie or Vic. But hooray for Claudette and Dutch! Though I found Claudette a bit self-righteous even from the beginning, it just fits how these two very clever and highly capable detectives were crucial to the fall of the Strike Team.
And then, just when you think that was it, Vic even lost something worse. He was emasculated, no longer the king of the streets. And that was probably the biggest, most insulting, most anguishing moment for him most of all.
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST EVER!!!
