Customer Reviews

The Shield: Season Seven - The Final Act

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

One thing about "The Shield" is how well the show holds up on multiple viewings. It's probably because of the attention to detail and the numerous story arcs going on in any single episode. This continues to be the case in the 7th and final season of the show.

Season 7 finds Det. Vic Mackey, at the end of the line. Season 6 finished with Vic walking out on his last chance to keep his job with the LAPD and making a deal with former police Captain, now wannabe-Mayor Aciveda to take down the crooked developer who has been bankrolling Aciveda's political career. Meanwhile, Vic's strike team is beginning to come apart at the seams, all of their former bad deeds are bubbling to the surface, and on top of that Vic's ex-wife and daughter are terrified of him. Vic's a dirty cop with a perverted sense of justice. He thinks that if he can nail this crooked developer AND take down the Armenian mob, it will make up for all the horrible things he has done.

The season plays out almost as a tragedy, and is the strongest season of the Shield since the powerful season 3. Watching these episodes again, I'm most struck by the relationship between Dutch and Capt. Wymms. Both actors do terrific work as seemingly the only people in the precinct who seem to care about Mackey's abuses, and the quest to bring him down strains them to the breaking point.

The rest of the cast is solid as always. David Rees Snell, who plays Ronnie Gardocki on the strike team, shows a whole lot more here than he has in the past. But the real standouts are Michael Chiklis as Mackey, and Walt Goggins as his longtime best friend/failed protege Shane Vendrell. Goggins is outstanding in the final episodes. He's done horrible things and he can barely live with himself, yet he continues on to try and help his wife and children.

The show ends in about the only logical place it could end. The last three episodes in particular are shattering. The writing, acting, and direction are all fantastic, and "The Shield" goes out on a highly satisfying and emotional peak. A must own.

The Shield's final season is uncompromising as old ghosts continue to complicate lives in farmington. Every moment of this season remains focused on the impending end, and long time viewers are rewarded as the major plot points come to a head and pay off. This was not a quickie rush job to end the story, every member of the cast moves with deliberate and in some cases desperate urgency.
The season is topped off by one of the most satsifying endings I have seen in a television show. It's a credit to the writers and actors involved that I can pity a character I despised an episode earlier, or that a complex character like Vic Mackey can charm his way through a horrific dialogue.
If you've been watching the Shield, don't miss the final season.

Warning, spoilers ahead:

In the seventh, and final, season of FX's The Shield, everyone gets just about what they deserve to one degree or another. Whether it be crooked cop Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), who is working overtime to save himself along with working every angle and playing every side he can in the process, or his ex-partner Shane (Walton Goggins), whose plan to take out Vic and Ronnie (David Rees Snell) goes awry, and when he is discovered, amounts to one of the absolute best scenes and moments in the show's entire history as he goes on the run with his pregnant wife Mara (Michele Hicks). In between all that, Vic's shaky alliance with Aceveda (Benito Martinez) hits a bump as he plays the Armenians, Mexicans, Salvadorans, and the Feds all against each other, as well as seeking immunity with the help of a shady agent (Laurie Holden), which leads to a powerful moment of Vic's admition of all the things he's done over the years in the season's penultimate episode. Everything truly does come together as the episodes wind down to the end, and everyone gets what they deserve in the process. There's some sub-plots abound that include Claudette's (CCH Pounder) failing health rearing its ugly head again, Dutch's (Jay Karnes) investigation of a possible up and coming serial killer, Dani's (Catherine Dent) attempting to keep her son out of Vic's reach, and Corrine's (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) betrayal of Vic. Throughout the season, Chiklis is at his top form, and is more magnetic to watch here than ever before. That being said, The Shield as a whole has earned its spot as being a groundbreaking crime drama, and in retrospect, the show comes to a more than fitting end as well.

This is the BEST SHOW EVER!!! You will be hooked from the opening of the very first epidose right through to the very last moment. Awesome cast, fantastic writers - just first rate everything all the way!

Loved it!!!!

If you're considering whether to purchase this final and epic season, then you've more than likely seen all of the prior seasons. No need to reiterate what a fabulous and uncompromising show The Shield is. What I will touch upon is the lasting effect this final season has had on me from an emotional standpoint. Without clarifying which particular emotions have remained with me (as to not give anything away), I will state that these feelings are still reflected upon many months after witnessing the final episode. In a nutshell, it has made a rare and lasting impression on me, a true testament to the quality and power of the show. A rare breed these days. You can't go wrong with this final and paramount season.

Ok, here is the thing, my family and I (father and brother) are proud fans of The Shield, we started to watch the series on dvd, never saw it on tv, we loved every single minute of the six seasons and were eagerly waiting for the 7th season to hit on dvd, we didn't saw it on tv because we are a Latin family and my dad still has problems to understand spoken English, well, to our surprise the 7th season DOES NOT count with a subtitle option, not even in English, which is rare because during six seasons we enjoyed the series with Spanish subtitles, now we are probably are going to have to skip the final season of a beloved show because no kind of subtitles, even close captions, were included, this is a really big disappoint, I do hope they put on sale a special edition or something like that with a subtitle option, especially when this is a series that has a big appeal to the Latin community.

If you are already a Shield fan then you know how good this season is. Each season was either better than the last or was at least just as good... and they were effing good.

If you have never seen The Shield, do yourself the biggest favor ever and go watch Season 1 episode 1, the pilot episode. After you see that episode you will know whether or not the show is for you. I was always iffy about watching a cheesy-looking FX channel show.. but after three years of avoiding it I finally saw the pilot episode. Pow! Just like that, the addiction began. It will

Best Drama Ever.

Caution...spoilers ahead. I'm assuming many of the people reading this either saw the episodes on TV, watched the DVDs or both. If you're not one of those people, you may want to read this at some other time.

One thing about the bonus materials on The Shield DVDs...it's always interesting and provides excellent "peeks behind the curtain" for the series' fans. It's made clear that the show would end with "closure" on Vic Mackey...perhaps to avoid the kind of backlash that came with Tony Soprano's onion ring-munching "non-ending" at the final moments of The Sopranos, or perhaps the complexity of the Mackey character demanded closure.

In reality, series creator Sean Ryan is a genius, because whether it's immediately clear or not, Season 7 of The Shield ended with Vic Mackey munching onion rings. Please allow me to elaborate.

The set-up is that Vic is being exiled to a cubicle for the next three years, where he'll crank out a ten-page report every day, five days a week, 52 weeks a year. We see Vic look pensively out the upper-story window as squad cars, lights and sirens in full blaze, head toward some unknown crime scene. And when he stuffs his gun in his belt and walks out of the office...the last shot of the series...we see that VIC MACKEY LOOK. The only thing that has changed is his surroundings. He's still the same coiled snake that's depicted on the Strike Team calling card used throughout the series.

Three years in Vic Mackey time is nothing, and he would game the system every inch of the way. He'd hired private detectives in the past to find his wife and kids...what possible reason do we have for believing he wouldn't do it again? Vic was simply transplanted to a new playing field. If Ryan wants to do a Shield movie, I've just handed him half the script.

CCH Pounder...Captain Wyms...provides another insight when she says in the bonus materials that she is "cold blooded about walking away from a job well done." It's an honest and refreshing moment from an actor in a series that was known for its brutal honesty.

One reason why NYPD Blue limped to the finish line is that every time the show lost a major character...David Caruso, Jimmy Smits, Rick Schroeder, on and on and on...the writers took a time-out to regroup, to introduce a new character, to re-build momentum, and over time it simply became tiresome.

The Shield broke the mold by keeping the freight train roaring down the track, no matter who left. They moved the character of Julien from uniformed officer to Strike Team and back to uniform again. But they never took a time-out, not even for a second. The viewer was never allowed to catch their breath.

In terms of major characters...The Strike Team...the series had to end. This became clear after Lem's death, when the only logical progression was to have Shane pay for his sins. Vic exhibits some tough talk about taking a deal from ICE only of Ronnie gets the same deal, but in the end...in true Vic Mackey style...he saved his own hide, took the deal, and sent Ronnie "off to Antwon Mitchell-land."

Other than the death of the Lem and Shane characters (and Captain Wyms revelation to Dutch that she is dying of lupus), Sean Ryan fed you a big, fresh from the deep-fryer platter of onion rings. There was no more "closure" in the final episode of The Shield than there was in the final episode of The Sopranos. If and when he decides to do a movie or any other form of follow-up, Ryan...just like Sopranos creator David Chase...can pick up the pieces right where he left them.

On the "Blue Comet" episode from the final series of The Sopranos, Steve Van Zandt reveals on the DVD commentary track that actor James Gandolfini, at the table read for the final episode, paused, looked up, and asked "Why?" (regarding the onion rings ending). Without missing a beat, David Chase replied "Because I did not want to show that crime paid, and I did not want to show that it DID NOT pay."

Sean Ryan did exactly the same thing with Vic Mackey. He will spend the next three years drawing a paycheck as the single most corrupt cubicle dweller on the planet. After that, he will regain full ownership of his game, with all sins from the past wiped away with the single stroke of an ICE signature.

This, my friends, is genius.

If you enjoyed seasons 1 through 6 with English subtitles, you will be annoyed and disappointed to know that season 7 has no English subtitles, not even in the boxed set. A major flaw in my opinion.

This tv series would be very difficult to watch out of order. So the only qualifier I must give is that if you want to experience this series, you really need to see series 1-7 in order. Do not start with season 7 or you will miss the truly Shakespearean, almost King Lear type epic tragedy, which unfolds in the final season. There is little if any comic relief in this series. I didn't particularly miss having comic relief but this series is not for the faint of heart.

Det. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) is, of course the lead. He is a cop who had a lot of talent for the job who has gotten more and more corrupt with each season. When the series started he had some redeeming features. Back then he seemed to really love his wife and kids and treasure his friends on his strike team. Now every one of those relationships has been likewise contaminated by all the evil he has engaged in from series 1-6. He also got the job done back in season one even though no one could approve of his methods. He's not even getting the job done right by season 7. He is so over his head with everyone and everything that he touches, that anything within his vicinity becomes likewise contaminated and ruined.

The series is very well written and directed. Shawn Ryan is the one who conceived the show and saw it through all seven seasons. He kept the writing on track as well as the directing. I am sure he must be a hero to everyone who acted on the show as virtually everyone on it was fairly unknown prior to its debut.

There are few likable people in this series. Claudette, who has become in charge and tries to do an honest job; Dutch, the most honest and best detective; Danny, a cop on the force who had Vic's baby; Vic's wife and children; Shane's wife and children; Julian, a gay cop--that pretty much covers it on likable characters. Certainly no one on the strike force is likable. Perhaps the closest to likable left was Ronnie Gardocki. He is the one who remains closest to Mackey all through the final season and Mackey now even uses him at every turn to save himself. In season 1, that would have been unthinkable.

However, the most stunning tragedy which unfolds is the deterioration of the Mackey-Shane Vandrell relationship. Mackey becomes obsessed with getting Shane, taking him down. He sees Shane as the embodiment of all of his problems and in his head thinks if he can get rid of Shane, he can return to the way he was in season 1.

Walter Goggins as Shane Vandrell becomes such a tragic figure in his quest to save his wife and children from all the consequences of what he did with Mackey that he comes close to stealing the whole show. Perhaps the most horrible thing Mackey does is paint a picture for Shane over the phone of "Shane and his wife being in prison and his children in foster care with Mackey there to make sure all of them get the rawest deal". He gloats aloud over the fact that Shane can no longer hurt him because he's got a deal with the feds to save himself. Shane knows it is all really over for him when he hangs up from this phone call. This phone call was one of the most horrible things I've ever heard but the actions which flow from it are even worse.

What happens to Mackey is just brilliant. It is totally fitting and apt. It is one of the best series enders I've experienced. I cannot say a word more about it though without spoiling it.

This is vivid, riveting, rugged drama, shot in a cinema verite style (you are there) and if you are not faint of heart, see it. If you hate violence and unhappiness though, it may not be for you.