the shield

[beyelzu]

season three.

I have spent the last couple of days watching 14 of the 15 episodes.

episode 9 wont play for me, looks like someone put a bad copy in the torrent, anyway, great fucking show.


I loved mara, tagging tavon in the head with an iron but I felt the whole vic killing the armenian foot fetish dude was kind of anticlimati the captain being raped and dutch killing the cat was just fucking disturbing.



all in all, I love the fucking shield.

[beyelzu]

am I the only person that likes this show?

come on you people.

[livius drusus]

Sorry, bey. I watched the first season all in one night but I haven't watched it since. It just bugged me.

[beyelzu]

Sorry, bey. I watched the first season all in one night but I haven't watched it since. It just bugged me.
why did it bug you?

it is extremely well written.

was it the disjointed camera action?

I found it took some getting used to.

[livius drusus]

Disjointed camera action is definitely a pet peeve of mine. Yes, it was well-written. Yes, I can see how it would be very gripping. In the end, I just felt like the Michael Chickliss character is a huge asshole and yet is being glorified for it.

[beyelzu]

Disjointed camera action is definitely a pet peeve of mine. Yes, it was well-written. Yes, I can see how it would be very gripping. In the end, I just felt like the Michael Chickliss character is a huge asshole and yet is being glorified for it.
all the characters are complex and have a host of motivations.

and yes vic mackey is an asshole who tramples of the rights of people regularly. he regularly does good and bad shit such is the joy of the show.

but I think I understand having qualms about a show that glorifies a corrupt cop,. I dont have such qualms myself.

[livius drusus]

It's not like I'm boycotting it for moral reasons or anything. I just don't groove on it, is all. That sort of thing is not my bag, baby. /:austin:

[TomJoe]

Disjointed camera action is definitely a pet peeve of mine.

I guess you're a fan of The Blair Witch Project then too, eh?

[Sock Puppet]

I'm resurrecting this old thread, since there appears to be just one other active thread in here (Adora's re Supernatural) about a fictional TV show. Page One of A&L definitely needs to increase the ratio of fiction to reality. Okay, truth be known, I almost started a new thread before realizing there just had to be one on this show here already.

This is the only show that I absolutely can't miss. Sure, it goes out of its way (sometimes too far, IMO) to be "hard-hitting," "gritty," or whatever the current buzzword is. But the story is just too damned compelling. Vic seems just like a Stephen R. Donaldson antihero -- he does shit that's inexcusably wrong, yet somehow manages to remain sympathetic. Or, like the characters in noir films like Asphalt Jungle -- you know they're doing bad stuff, but for some perverse reason you want them to get away with it. I don't think it's really "glorifying" corrupt cops at all; the tone of the series seems a lot more complex than that.

I'm a late comer to the series; last season was the first I was able to watch as it aired (or shortly thereafter via TiVo, anyway). I was spoon-fed enough of the backstory to know what was going on, and I'm slowly getting caught up on previouslies. The current plotline has an Internal Affairs lieutenant (Forrest Whitaker, whom I can barely recognize as the same actor who used to play softhearted dweebs) investigating Vic and the Strike Team over the seminal dirty deed (killing a fellow cop) he did back in Season One.

Councilman Asshole sums it up nicely: "You've never had [Vic] lie right to your face and make you doubt yourself." The recent scenes with him lying outright to Lem were fantastic. The multiple levels of sincerity and dishonesty make for an emotional complexity that I have almost never seen on a TV show.

[Adora]

I fucking love this show. For me, this is how cop drama should be. I mean, I watch Third Watch and I don't mind it because yes, a lot of them are corrupt and fucked-up, but the Shield just takes it to that next level. Also, it's set in LA and actually has some sort of decent racial representation of such, even if you have to wonder about the codings (Latino guy in position of power is super-corrupt, sexually fucked-up and generally an arsehole, African-American guy is conflicted over his sexuality and religion, but then everybody else is fucked up as well so I guess it's all equal in the end). I don't mind the hand-held cameras, because I think a cleaner filming technique wouldn't suit the style of the show ("gritty", or as much as TV drama can be).

I think they're showing season 4 on TV here at present, with Glen Close as the chief because Asaveda got his council position or whatever (but he's still meddling! Oh how he meddles!). She is so awesome, and they even show her freckles instead of covering them up with a tonne of makeup. There needs to be more freckled people on TV, damnit.

Also, Vic is love. No, I do not have a thing for angry little bald men. Shut up.

[Sock Puppet]

Glenn Close was fucking fantastic. The whole of Season 4 rocked, and Season 5 is shaping up to kick just as much ass, or maybe they'll raise the bar again.

[beyelzu]

in season 5 episode 6 or 7 the one where kavanaugh comes in to arrest vic and it turns out to be a scam by vic to fuck with kavanaugh, wow.


and then last weeks episode of mice and lem when lem actually decides to take a deal, what the fuck

again glad to see that there are fellow shield lovers here, finally.

[Sock Puppet]

Season finale is tonight - 90 minutes. :wriggle:

Spoiler-type speculation:

I'm pretty sure that this will be Whitaker's last episode; they seem to hire the special guest stars for a single-season stretch. So the question is, how does he go out? I think he'll end up losing his own badge, possibly going to jail - either for making a shady deal with Antwon (according to the write-ups, it's spelled like that, not Antoine), or just for sexually assaulting Vic's ex. Maybe they'll kill off Lem. Meanwhile, Vic and company will beat the rap entirely. Again.

[beyelzu]

how are they ever going to get lem back though, that is something that worries me, being on the run now just seems to be a way to keep him around without dealing with the deal. but at some point they will have too.

and you think kavanaugh is going to assualt corrine?


wow that would be just wow.

[Sock Puppet]

Well, the previews showed him putting a hand on her somewhat low, and they didn't show her reaction. So I'm thinking he tries to get back at Vic for screwing his wife by doing the same to Corrine, but it doesn't end up going the way he plans.

Before that development, and before Lem ran, I thought they would catch Cavanaugh in the perfect irony of going to prison for conspiring to murder a police officer. Now, that's doubtful. It might be too unrealistically tidy an ending, anyway.

[Megatron]

Unfortunately in Germany I can't see this until it comes out on DVD... I just finished watching Season 4. For a few years now it's been my favorite show on TV... Adora's post above pretty much hits the nail right on the head as to why I enjoy it so much...

For me, this is how cop drama should be.
Can't wait for season 5... I really had to control myself to keep from hitting those spoiler buttons.

...and yes, Glenn Close kicked fucking ASS. I especially love how they threw her right into the storyline so seamlessly and how well she just hit the ground running, with little or no time wasted on any kind of bullshit.

It's great to see a show like this that not only starts out good, but just keeps getting better.

[Godless Dave]

Yep, they killed Lem. Well, Shane did, and I think Vic suspects that Shane did it.

Anyone else notice that Shane's ringtone is "Dixie"? "I'll tell you all about that banjo-playin' motherfucker." - Antwon Mitchell

[Adora]

Awh, not Lem, he is such a sweetie, which yeah, is probably why he is ded. Nobody nice survives in a show like that XD

[beyelzu]

Yep, they killed Lem. Well, Shane did, and I think Vic suspects that Shane did it.

Anyone else notice that Shane's ringtone is "Dixie"? "I'll tell you all about that banjo-playin' motherfucker." - Antwon Mitchell
really, i didnt think that vic knew. damn, cant believe that lem got killed, i mean i worried about it but damn.

[Sock Puppet]

I just saw it last night. Day-yamn. They keep finding new ways to up the ante, without resorting to shark-jumping stuff.

So what is our sweet, cuddly uber-badass Vic going to do when he finds out for sure? Or are they going to milk this new source of tension for another season or two?

I had a feeling Lem would kick the bucket, but I didn't expect that (until Shane started acting so wiggy, anyway). And a fucking grenade! :eek: Damned weasel didn't even have the decency to put a cap in his head from behind.

But I was wrong about Kavanaugh; looks like Whitaker has signed on for a little while longer, at least.

[Sock Puppet]

:live:

The wife and I are now completely caught up, having rented seasons 1-3 in order (we started watching it "live" at the beginning of season 4). Nice to see that Shane has pretty much always been a fucking weasel.

I had so much fun with this show, I wish I had the time and energy to do Television Without Pity-style recaps of every damned episode. "I'm just hosin' down the ho's." :lol:

I am trying not to think about how long we have to wait for Season 6 in January 2007.

[beyelzu]

yeah, i try not to think about that.

but it is going to be truly awesome.

i mean vic is almost certainly going to kill shane and i cant wait to see it

[Sock Puppet]

:live: Yes, I used that smiley before, in this thread, for the exact same reason. Sue me.

And yes, only beyelzu and I appear to be around enough and interested enough to discuss this show. Bite me.

It is definitely getting interesting. The serial butt-rapist subplot was just waaay too disturbing, especially the conclusion. It wasn't tough to see where it was headed, but still compelling in a slow-motion train wreck sort of way. Interesting also that Dutch's supremely useless partner is finally showing signs of life.

The resolution of the Kavanaugh storyline was horribly anticlimactic. But at least it was original. I definitely didn't see that one coming. I expected Kavanaugh to take hostages or something, rather than folding like a deck chair.

Then there's Shane ...

I knew that he had to be talking to his wife when they showed him confessing in the previews, and that it wouldn't go any further. But damn, what a fucked-up bitch. She had every right to throw his cheating ass out, but now that she knows he murdered his friend with a grenade, that makes it all better? WTF? I've always disliked her even more than Shane the uber-weasel.

Speaking of his weaselhood, he managed to outdo himself a couple weeks ago, with his guilt-tripping the rest of the Strike Team for somehow not grieving for Lem properly. That makes it abundantly clear that he hasn't suffered nearly enough (yet).

But the previews for this week were promising. Vic finally puts it together that Shane's the one who logged the grenades into evidence. Now the real tension begins.

[beyelzu]

so what did you think about the rest of the season, sock?

i was mui impressed.

i always thought that vick would get his hands on the pic of the captain taking it in the face but wow, i was so surprised when he teamed up with him.

and yes i just dont know how to spell his name so thats why im not doing it.


and with only one season to go is there just going to be a one day for the entire last season???

[Stormlight]

I never heard of this show before, so went out and bought Season 1 on DVD. I watched the first 3 episodes and love it so far!

Carry on.

[Sock Puppet]

It only gets better, Stormy. Much, MUCH better. Vic's antics in the beginning of the series are just a set-up for when they start biting him in the ass. THAT's when things start getting really interesting.

Bey, I was surprised by that too. They took the "development" over the photo in a completely unexpected direction. That's what I love about this show; every time you think you know what will happen next, it veers off in a different, yet entirely believable, direction.

I was even more surprised that Vic gave Aceveda the entire box. He just made him Emporer of the whole damned city. It'll be fascinating to see what Aceveda does with his newfound power.

And to answer your question, bey -- loved the season, hated the brevity. I want MORE, goddamn it.

[beyelzu]

yeah, stormy it gets better lots better.

one of my friends considers season 2 to be the highlight of the shield.

but i think he underestimates glenn close's season and forrest whitaker's

dont forget sock that aceveda while a cunt is an mostly honorable cunt who tries to do the right thing. vic's action might have been the one thing that could really buy aceveda's loyalty.

and i am saddened that there is just one more season. and i cant wait for it to come on the air damnit.

[Sock Puppet]

dont forget sock that aceveda while a cunt is an mostly honorable cunt who tries to do the right thing. vic's action might have been the one thing that could really buy aceveda's loyalty.Hmm. I disagree with that somewhat.

Remember, Aceveda got Antwon sprung, knowing full well he'd murdered a child and buried her under an outhouse (in addition to being a smack-dealing thug responsible for countless deaths), in return for Antwon's gang killing off the convict who was trying to blackmail him. He tries to do the right thing maybe 20% of the time, with the rest of his time devoted to power-mongering, vindictive revenge and covering his ass.

[beyelzu]

see i disagree with your percentages. on the eve of the election aceveda worked rather than campaigned in a very tight race. and he went up against bic because vic was a bad guy not because it was particularly politically expedient.

and he is going to go up against his financial backer because the guy is evil.

[Sock Puppet]

Well, there is that, yes. Yet I always got the impression that going after Vic was motivated as much by Vic's challenges to his plus-sized ego as he was by Vic's badness. In fact, I think the same goes for his plotting against his patron.

[quiet bear]

was it the disjointed camera action?

I found it took some getting used to.


That was it for me. I tried a few eps in the beginning, but the camera made it tough for me to enjoy it.

Maybe I will give it another try. I did enjoy the story. The main character seems more human than the normal cop shows, simply because he isn't above being a jackass. LOL.


I know this much...it's a lot better than that David Caruso show, CSI Miami. Caruso is unintentionally comical. Count how many times he takes off/puts on his sunglasses during an episode. Also, once I noticed that he puts his hands on his hip every single time he stops walking. Once I noticed it, I couldn't UN-notice it. Even if it's not in the shot, you see his shoulder raise up a bit, and you know he just put his hands on his hips.

Also, when he talks, it's like, c'mon dude, are you Clint Eastwood, or Batman? He can't seem to make up his mind.

[But]

I've watched all previous episodes of the shield, but that said, I was at this guy's place where we downloaded a whole series of 24 and watched it in one day while being stoned off our arses, so I can proudly report that I can't remember shit. Is the series finished so I can download it? :P

[Stormlight]

I'm on Season 3 of The Shield now and Season 4 is on its way. Fucking brilliant!

[beyelzu]

it just gets better, 3 was only ok in my opinion 4 is wow so fucking good and 5 sets the bar even higher.