The Shield: Season One

Very few police dramas expand or redefine the genre. Dragnet, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and CSI are among the few that have. Add to that very select list, The Shield.

Although Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue featured police officers straying into gray areas of morality, in The Shield, cops operating outside the law are the center of the action. Like in the Sopranos, viewers are challenged by these characters: Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) isn’t a good guy, he isn’t a bad guy, he’s something in between. To Vic, his rogue behavior serves the public interest. To everyone else, a cop with a pet crack dealing operation who murders, plants evidence and savagely beats suspects is a danger who needs to be taken off the street. But Vic is an old pro at this, and viewers get to watch him attempt to out-maneuver the forces trying to take him down, and not always for the best of reasons.

But the show is an ensemble, as the best cop shows have been, and everyone from beat cops to detectives to the police captain get their moments to shine. Especially impressive is Detective Claudette Wyms (CCH Pounder), who radiates morality, maturity and wisdom. Claudette has to deal with an over-eager partner (who, on paper, the audience should love, but who in practice practically invites the abuse the other officers heap upon him), a politically minded captain and, of course, the Strike Team, led by the obviously corrupt Vic Mackey.

Bear in mind that the series, which will begin its fifth season in January 2006, is constructed in 13 episode arcs. At times, the first few episodes will seem slow, but it’s always building to a shattering conclusion at the end of each season.

This is one of the few television shows that can justly be called a classic. More importantly, The Shield redefines what audiences can and should expect from police dramas in the years to come.

Strongly recommended to fans of police dramas. Be warned that The Shield skirts an R rating much of the time, especially in the adult and dark subject matter.

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