I haven't been blogging much about "The Shield," probably because I'm fairly certain just about no one who reads this blog watches the show (but it's still likely more watched in my readership than "The Wire" is.)
Anyway, somehow the show has managed to get better every season for the past four or so- the Glenn Close year was great, the Forrest Whitaker season even better, and this past year- with former allies Vic and Shane gunning for each other- was the best yet. It actually seems like creator Shawn Ryan actually planned out, years in advance, exactly how the show would end, and how to build for that in the best way possible.
I noticed something during the season that I'm sure no one else did- a story arc involving hyper-ambitious pol David Aceveda (Benito Martinez) was lifted almost directly from the little-seen Kevin Smith-produced comedy "Vulgar"- starring Dante from "Clerks" as a clown- which was so awful that LilB and I have taken to calling it "that movie that we did not see." But "The Shield" arc was almost the same thing: A man suffers a rape at the hand of violent thugs, he's traumatized afterward, and years later, when he's begun to put it behind him, photos emerge of the rape itself, which are used against the victim for blackmail purposes.
I'm sure that Ryan and the writers didn't steal this, mostly because -like LilB and me- "Vulgar" was a movie that they did not see. But one thing is for sure- "The Shield" had a great year. In fact, the returns of that show and "The Sopranos" really put across, around March, just how bad "24" has gotten.
Posted by Stephen Silver at June 8, 2007 12:31 PMMy wife & I love the Shield - unfortunately, since I don't have cable, we watch it on Netflix, which means we're a season behind the modern world.
As far as dated Shield discussions go - I actually preferred the Glenn Close season, both Close and Whitaker were awesome - Anthony Anderson as the heavy gives the edge to the Close season.
Posted by: Gib at June 11, 2007 09:40 AM