The Shield

The Shield follows the activities of an experimental division of the Los Angeles Police Department set up in the fictional Farmington district ("the Farm") of Los Angeles, a district rife with gang-related violence, drug trafficking, and prostitution. Operating out of a converted church ("the Barn"), they work to maintain the peace in the district and reduce crime.

At the center of the division is the Strike Team, led by Detectives Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell, Curtis Lemansky, and Ronnie Gardocki. Mackey and the Strike Team use criminal methods to coerce information and stage arrests and take a share of various drug busts. Although the Strike Team's questionably high success rate leaves the division's head, Captain David Aceveda, suspicious of their methods, he values their success as they help his political efforts to become mayor of Los Angeles.

Attempts to place a fifth member on the Strike Team not in Mackey's circle go astray. The pilot episode concludes with Mackey, suspicious of the loyalty of the latest Strike Team recruit, Terry Crowley, fatally shooting him during an arrest and framing their suspect. This sets in motion events that loom over the Strike Team and continue throughout the series.

The show has an ensemble cast featuring the other officers in the Farmington district. This includes detectives Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach, Steve Billings and Claudette Wyms, uniformed officers Sgt. Danielle "Danny" Sofer, Julien Lowe, and Tina Hanlon. The series has a variety of subplots, notably Aceveda's political aspirations and his suffering a sexual assault; Mackey's struggle to cope with a failing marriage, two autistic children, and rebellious eldest daughter; Danny becoming a mother; Vendrell's rocky, new marriage; Lemansky's growing fear for the safety of the Strike Team; Claudette's battle with illness and Lowe's internal conflicts between his Christian beliefs and his homosexuality.

The Shield and the Strike Team were inspired by the Rampart Division Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums (CRASH) unit within the Los Angeles Police Department.[11] Rampart was seriously considered as the series' name and was even used in some early promotional ads for the series.[12][13]

Characters are portrayed with vices and virtues; Vic's loving relationship with his children contrasts with his thuggish approach to police work. Two of the many examples of Mackey's criminal and sociopathic behavior include an attempt to rob the "Armenian Money Train", a money laundering operation of the Armenian Mafia in season 2 and having a police dog maul a rape suspect.[14]

The timeline of the seven seasons of the show covers approximately three years.[15]

• Michael Chiklis as Vic Mackey – a corrupt police officer and for much of the series, leader of the Strike Team. Though effective at apprehending criminals, he has no qualms about using illegal or unethical methods, which include beating and torturing suspects, and planting evidence, tactics he regards as a means to an end. Mackey has committed several murders, including that of a police officer, Terry Crowley, which haunts him thereafter. He is perennially under investigation by his superiors, but the Machiavellian Mackey always eludes them; also, on occasions, they turn a blind eye to his tactics when they need him to crack a high-profile case. Mackey's marriage to Corinne, a nurse, failed because of his numerous infidelities (including with Officer Sofer, which resulted in a child). He and Corinne have three children, two with autism, which puts more strain on him. By Season 7, Mackey is effectively forced out of the LAPD. He cuts an immunity deal with ICE in return for confessing all his crimes, including Crowley's murder, implicating Shane Vendrell and Ronnie Gardocki. Mackey discovers that Corinne and the children have disappeared into the Witness Protection Program while, to his horror, his new job at ICE is a desk job. Though safe from prosecution, Mackey has lost his family and best friends and is now ostracized by his colleagues and forced to sit on the sidelines.
• Catherine Dent as Danielle "Danny" Sofer – a patrol officer who aspires to become a detective. She has an on-again-off-again sexual relationship with Vic and complicated history with Dutch. She is assigned desk duty as a result of her pregnancy and takes maternity leave after the birth of her son, Lee. The identity of the father was initially unknown; later, in the sixth-season episode "Chasing Ghosts", it was learned that it was Vic. Shortly afterward, Danny returned from maternity leave early so that she could take the position of Sergeant at the Barn. In Season Seven Vic threatens to force Danny to take a paternity test.
• Reed Diamond as Terry Crowley (season 1; guest: season 2) – an honest, fair, effective, and well-liked detective from the Robbery Division. When the Barn started operating, Aceveda brought Terry in to join the Strike Team to serve as a possible replacement for Vic if he failed as leader of the team. For some time, Terry was the Strike Team's driver. After realizing that his colleagues are all dirty, Terry approached Aceveda who asked him to spy on Vic and the team so that they may build a case against them. After delivering the usual news to Aceveda, Aceveda called an associate from the Justice Department and they asked Terry to testify against the team, in exchange Terry receives a higher-paid job in Washington, D.C., and other expenses. However, Vic learned (off-screen) about the deal through his mentor Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy. After Terry asks Vic to be involved in the team's big busts, he and the rest plan to raid the home of a drug dealer. During the raid, Vic takes the drug dealer's gun and shoots Terry in the face, killing him.
• Walton Goggins as Shane Vendrell – Vic Mackey's best friend and partner before the Strike Team was formed. He has a reckless streak, and his attempts to emulate Mackey's dealings quite often take a bad turn. Throughout the series, he meets and marries Mara, who later bears him a son, Jackson. When it appears that Lem has turned on the Strike Team, Vendrell kills him by dropping a grenade into his car. The ensuing guilt and grief force him to become reckless and suicidal, and when Mackey uncovers the truth, their friendship ends. Vendrell grows to regret his actions as part of the Strike Team and expresses great remorse for what he has become. When it is revealed that he blackmailed someone to kill Ronnie Gardocki in retaliation for Mackey and Gardocki's attempt to kill him, Vendrell goes on the run with his wife and son. However, Mackey's immunity deal with ICE ends Vendrell's hopes of sparing himself and Mara from long prison sentences by testifying against Mackey. He, therefore, poisons his son and pregnant wife and then kills himself. His suicide note, and photos of his family's corpses are shown to Vic by Claudette in a last-ditch effort to taunt him.
• Michael Jace as Julien Lowe – a uniformed officer who is partnered with Sofer for the majority of the series. During the formation of a new Strike Team, Claudette offered Julien to Kevin Hiatt as a possible addition to the team. Claudette made the offer to Julien, who was hesitant, mainly because of the thought of being partnered with Vic on a daily basis. After being assured that Mackey was going to be moved out of the team, Julien accepted the promotion. Despite his desire to become a fully functioning member of the Strike Team, Julien knew that he was on the outside of the clique. When the Strike Team is dissolved for the final time, he becomes a uniformed officer again. He is asked to choose which side he will be on when Claudette finally has a case to go after Mackey and Vendrell. A recurring plotline for Lowe is the conflict between his Christian beliefs and his homosexual desires.
• Kenny Johnson as Curtis Lemansky (seasons 1–5) – a cop with a conscience and an original member of the Strike Team. He has a history of working with kids and maintaining a soft spot for them. His loyalty to Vic Mackey and the Strike Team led him to go along with most of their illegal schemes, although he did not know about all of them, such as the murder of Terry Crowley. He burned most of the money from the Armenian Money Train robbery to keep the team from getting caught. Burning the money caused a temporary split within the team, although they later got back together. Shane Vendrell kills Lemansky in the Season 5 finale, under the mistaken impression that Lemansky was going to rat on the rest of the team. Lem was unmarried and had no children.
• Jay Karnes as Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach – a persistent and successful police detective, but is regarded as a pompous and socially inept nerd. He is often the butt of jokes at the Barn, particularly from Mackey. Along with his partner, Claudette Wyms, Dutch is the moral center of the show as a clean cop who does not engage in illegal activities. He shares a close friendship with Claudette and shows genuine concern for her after learning of her lupus diagnosis. Dutch is usually the first called to investigate violent crimes because he specializes in criminal profiling and serial killers. In Season 1 he receives an impromptu round of applause from everyone at the Barn, including Vic, after he painstakingly proves the guilt of a suspected serial killer. Later, he is seen strangling a live cat after questioning an actual serial killer about what he sees in his victims' eyes.[22] Dutch is unsuccessful with women, but he does have several fleeting romances, including with Danny Sofer, and tries to ask out Tina Hanlon. He embarks on a seemingly vengeful relationship with Vic's ex-wife, which caused even more friction with Vic and leads to Dutch challenging him to a fight. Dutch's investigation into the Armenian money train heist and his suspicions that the Strike Team was involved eventually brought about the quartet's downfall.
• Benito Martinez as David Aceveda – a politically ambitious man who was the captain of the Barn from seasons one to three. He was then elected to the Los Angeles City Council and had ambitions to become Mayor. He is one of Vic Mackey's main rivals, although on occasions they forged uneasy alliances for their mutual benefit. In Season 3, Aceveda was orally raped at gunpoint by two gang members. He tracked down and killed one of his assailants, and struck a deal with drug lord Antwon Mitchell to have the other killed in prison. During the final season, Aceveda and Mackey worked together to bring down Cruz Pezuela, a corrupt businessman who initially bankrolled Aceveda's mayoral campaign and then tried to blackmail him with photographs of his sexual assault, before switching their target to Beltran, a cartel enforcer. At the series' close, Aceveda looked set to become Los Angeles' next mayor after taking credit for Beltran's arrest.
• CCH Pounder as Claudette Wyms – a veteran detective. Claudette, along with her partner Dutch, can be viewed as the voice of morality at the Barn; as a result, she is often at odds with Vic over his tactics. It emerges that Claudette has suffered from lupus for fifteen years and resents Dutch's subsequent over-protectiveness of her. Against the orders of her superiors, Claudette reopened cases overseen by a compromised public defender, which cost her promotion to Captain. She eventually got the job in season 5. As Captain, she did her best to marginalize Mackey and was determined to gather enough evidence to indict him. She was left furious upon discovering Mackey's generous immunity deal with the ICE. During the final season, her lupus returned and began to interfere with her ability to do her job. In the final episode, she admitted to Dutch that her illness is terminal. Despite being unable to prosecute Mackey, Claudette ultimately reveals Shane's suicide note to Vic and also orders Ronnie's arrest in front of him.
• Cathy Cahlin Ryan as Corrine Mackey (main: seasons 5–7; recurring: seasons 1–3; also starring: season 4) – was once married to Vic Mackey and had three children with him, two of whom have autism. She works as a nurse and once had a brief courtship with Dutch. Despite needing Vic in her life, she eventually turns on him and helps Dutch and Claudette build a case to send Vic behind bars. She is moved to witness protection by ICE to keep her and her children away from Vic, fearing that he may try to harm her if he finds out she has collaborated with the police.
• David Rees Snell as Ronnie Gardocki (main: seasons 5–7; recurring: seasons 1–3; also starring: season 4) – the Strike Team's surveillance and electronics expert. Though little is known about Ronnie, he has proven to be the most solid, emotionally stable member of the Strike Team and has remained loyal to Vic out of enlightened self-interest, knowing that divisions between them would only lead to bad ends for both. The scars on his face, given to him by Armadillo in season 2, are proof of his loyalty to the team. In the final season, he becomes the official leader of the Strike Team. He was especially angry when he learned that Shane murdered Lem, and uneasy about working with Shane again. He and Vic concoct a plan to have the Mexicans kill Shane along with the Armenians that knew about the Money Train robbery. Shane survives and hires a pimp to kill Ronnie, which also fails. When Shane flees after being implicated, Claudette disbands the Strike Team, forcing Ronnie to become a "suit and tie" detective while trying to help Vic and stay out of prison. Vic makes an immunity deal with ICE in return for confessing all the Strike Team's crimes, and lies to Ronnie that he has been granted the same deal. Ronnie only discovers Vic's betrayal when he is arrested in the final episode and is led away, cursing Vic.
• Glenn Close as Monica Rawling (season 4) – the appointed Captain at the Barn who took over from Aceveda, after Claudette was rejected. She implemented several changes, such as fixing the Barn's male toilets and, more importantly, creating seizure policies which proved to be somewhat controversial. She had a longstanding hatred of gang leader Antwon Mitchell and was suspicious of Mackey, even having him and his team investigated. She finds out that Shane was solicited by Mitchell to kill Vic. She is fired after she embarrasses the DEA by voiding the immunity deal they granted Mitchell (by getting the Strike Team to catch a Salvadoran cartel leader before Mitchell's information could), and the feds threaten to cut off all federal highway funding to Los Angeles if Rawling stayed. She is mentioned, but not seen in subsequent seasons.
• David Marciano as Steve Billings (main: season 7; recurring: seasons 4–6) – a slack, somewhat cowardly detective who was made acting Captain after the departure of Rawling and later replaced by Claudette. Billings has an uneasy working relationship with Dutch, who dislikes his nonchalant attitude to the job. He and Dutch were partnered together after Claudette's promotion, which prompted Dutch to request a transfer, which was rejected. When he puts his mind to it, Billings is shown to be a competent detective, but he is mostly known for his schemes, such as bringing his own vending machines into the Barn. He usually brings Dutch in on his plots and the two have come to blows on at least one occasion. After being injured during a brawl between Kavanaugh and Vic, he tries to sue the department for $2 million, although he settles for two days' backpay.
• Paula Garcés as Tina Hanlon (main: season 7; recurring: seasons 5–6) – a recruit at the barn, who is trained by Julien. She is very attractive and well aware of her sexuality, which often earns her the ire of Danny Sofer. Tina's constant mistakes would have seen her out of the force had it not been for a bungle in which Billings while trying to see who was stealing from his vending machines, obtained photos of her changing clothes. He involved Dutch and, to protect her old partner, Claudette allowed Tina to remain on the force under Dutch's supervision. She left the Barn after being made a spokesperson for the police force, but opted to transfer back. She had a sexual tryst with Kevin Hiatt, which was organized by Billings, although she later expressed regret and said that Dutch always had a chance with her, only he never took it. The day on which Shane Vendrell killed himself was her first anniversary as an officer, and although he was harsh on her at times, Julien celebrates by buying her a cake and throwing her a little party.

Notes

The series was created by Shawn Ryan. Ryan served as an executive producer for all seven seasons and was the series head writer and showrunner throughout its run. Prior to creating the series Ryan had been working as a producer and writer for the supernatural detective series Angel. He began his television career as a writer for the crime drama Nash Bridges. Nash Bridges was a more up-beat show, and Ryan was required to write scripts that showed the hero succeeding in a positive way, and Ryan sought to write something far different to get that out of his system.[23] He had considered what a cop drama would be like on a premium cable network like HBO and Showtime, taking into account the edge that shows like Homicide: Life on the Street and NYPD Blue had brought to the genre. While trying to decide a direction, the Rampart scandal within the LAPD was exposed, and Ryan took inspiration from those events to craft out a pilot script.[13] He also recently became a father, and wrote into the script his concerns about raising a child in a crime-ridden world.[23] The pilot script had ended with Mackey shooting Crowley; Ryan had the idea of an alternate ending to Donnie Brasco, of where Al Pacino's mobster character would have shot Johnny Depp's undercover FBI character, revealing that the mobster had known his identity all along. He used this ending idea in the pilot for The Shield, not expecting to have to worry about any consequences as he was not sure the script would be picked up.[23] Ryan later commented in 2017 that if he had known how long The Shield would have run for, he would have had a few more episodes to help establish Crowley's character before having Mackey kill him off.[23]

Around 2000, the FX network was looking to find what would be the network's first drama series to help set the tone for their network, given the ongoing success of The Sopranos on rival network HBO. FX's Kevin Reilly wanted a show about an antihero but believed that the cop genre had become tired. However, Reilly was amazed by Ryan's script, and greenlit the show in mid-2001.[13] Reilly worked with Ryan to help determine how much violence and nudity could be used within the show, as unlike HBO, FX was an ad-sponsored cable channel and beholden to certain content considerations.[13] As they were working towards this, the September 11 attacks occurred, and in their aftermath, Fox was concerned if the show would be appropriate at this time, believing that audiences would not be receptive to seeing police officers portrayed in a negative light.[13] The situation changed following the theatrical release of Training Day in October 2001, a film centered around corrupt cops that was a financial success. Fox was assured by Training Day's reception from audiences that The Shield was allowed to continue, with the pilot first broadcast in March 2002.[13]

Ryan had written the part of Mackey for someone with a young Harrison Ford personality.[23] Due to the complexities of the character, he was uncertain they would have found a suitable actor for the role, and cast his own doubt on his writing.[24] During casting, Ryan had been surprised with Michael Chiklis's audition. Chiklis had gained a soft reputation within Hollywood based on his roles from The Commish and Daddio, and felt that he needed to have a change of pace in future roles, as he was finding himself cast for older, overweight parts.[13] Chiklis spent six months away from acting and losing a significant amount of weight, and for his audition on The Shield, had shaved his head.[13] Ryan was taken by this new appearance feeling it was not appropriate, but found that Chiklis had a certain charisma in his delivery that worked well into the Mackey character. This allowed Ryan to write Mackey as a compassionate figure, able to get away with certain improper actions through his charisma, which served to draw fans to sympathize with Mackey throughout the series.[23] Ryan recognized that with Chiklis as his star, it validated his success as a writer.[24]

Scott Brazil was a co-executive producer for the first season. He became an executive producer for the second season. He was a regular director for the series until his death during production of the sixth season. Brazil and Ryan had worked together on Nash Bridges.

Several of the series more junior writers became executive producers during its run. Glen Mazzara was an executive story editor for the first season and became an executive producer from the fifth season onwards. Mazzara had also worked with Ryan on Nash Bridges. Kurt Sutter and Scott Rosenbaum were staff writers for the first season and became executive producers for the sixth season onwards. Adam E. Fierro joined the crew as a co-producer and writer for the third season and was promoted to executive producer for the seventh season. Veteran television writer Charles H. Eglee joined the crew as a consulting producer for the third season and was promoted to executive producer from the fifth season onwards.

Emmy Award-winning The Sopranos veteran James Manos Jr. served as a consulting producer and writer for the first two seasons. He left the show to develop the Showtime serial killer drama Dexter. NYPD Blue veteran writer Kevin Arkadie was a co-executive producer for the first season only. Nash Bridges writer and producer Reed Steiner replaced Arkadie as co-executive producer for the second season only. Kevin G. Cremin was the series unit production manager throughout its run and became a co-executive producer from the sixth season onwards.

Angel writing team Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain joined the crew as co-producers for the third season and became supervising producers before leaving at the close of the sixth season. Dean White was a producer and regular director throughout the series run. Chiklis became a producer from the second season onwards and also regularly directed episodes. Post-production supervisor Craig Yahata joined the crew in the third season and eventually became a producer for the seventh season.

The series pilot and finale were directed by Clark Johnson; Johnson had previously starred in Homicide: Life on the Street and made his directing debut on that series. Guy Ferland directed episodes for all seven seasons of The Shield. Rohn Schmidt was a cinematographer for all seven seasons and made his television directing debut on the show. Stephen Kay was a frequent director for the series. Gwyneth Horder-Payton was an assistant director for the show's early seasons and made her television directing debut in the fourth season, she continued to regularly direct episodes thereafter.

Film director Frank Darabont directed an episode for the series. Darabont later reunited with several writers from The Shield for his television adaptation of The Walking Dead comics, including Charles H. Eglee, Glen Mazzara and Adam Fierro. Acclaimed playwright and film writer and director David Mamet directed an episode of the series. Mamet and Ryan collaborated as executive producers on military thriller The Unit. Screenwriter Ted Griffin (Oceans Eleven) wrote a single episode of the show. Griffin later created Terriers and was reunited with Shawn Ryan as a fellow executive producer. The series started with real Los Angeles Police Officers as Technical Advisors; Officers Pablo Vitar and Rafael Dagnesses.

Time magazine's James Poniewozik ranked The Shield #8 in his list of the Top 10 Returning Series of 2007[25] and later included it in his list of the top 100 greatest TV shows of all time.[26] Entertainment Weekly named it the 8th-best TV show of the 2000s, saying, "Det. Vic Mackey didn't just clean up the streets—he cleaned up on the streets. Would he pay for those sins? This gutsy TV drama kept us guessing."[27] On the review aggregator website Metacritic, season 1 received high acclaim from critics, with a score of 92 out of 100, based on 28 reviews.[28] Season 7 also received high acclaim from critics, with a score of 85 out of 100, based on 14 reviews.[29] In September 2019, The Guardian ranked the show 77th on its list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century, stating that "a key part...of the golden age of antihero drama, this thriller about likable – and utterly corrupt – cops broke new ground for bold, risk-taking television".[30]

Shawn Ryan with cast members at the 65th Annual Peabody Awards

The series received six Primetime Emmy Award nominations during its series run. For the first season, Michael Chiklis won for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and the pilot episode received nominations for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for Shawn Ryan and Clark Johnson respectively. Chiklis received a consecutive nomination Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for the second season. For the fourth season, Glenn Close was nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and CCH Pounder was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.[31]

For the Golden Globe Awards, the series received five nominations, with Chiklis receiving three consecutive nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama, and winning the award for the first season. The first season also earned the series the award for Best Drama Series. Glenn Close was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama.[32]

For the Satellite Awards, the series received seven nominations. CCH Pounder won two consecutive times for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama,[33] Chiklis received two nominations with one win for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama, and Forest Whitaker was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.[34] The series won the award for Best Television Drama Series and received a nomination for that category the following year.[35]

For the Television Critics Association Awards, the first season received nominations for Outstanding New Program of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Drama, and Program of the Year,[36] and Chiklis won for Individual Achievement in Drama.[37] The series received nominations again for Outstanding Achievement in Drama for the next two seasons.[38][39] For the final season, it was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Drama and Program of the Year, as well as receiving the Heritage Award. Also, Walton Goggins was nominated for Individual Achievement in Drama.[40]

Other awards and nominations include a 2005 Peabody Award and Chiklis being nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for the first season.[41]

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