Why is The Shield so underrated?

Why is The Shield so underrated?

I mean, I know it gets its love - obviously... and as it should. But it doesn't seem to get the same level of attention as say The Wire or The Sopranos, despite constantly playing at that level throughout its entire run.

Vic Mackey is a superior character to most on any tv show. He easily trumps the likes of Walter White, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, Frank Underwood etc...

Hell, I'd say he even rivals Tony in terms of his depth.

Just wondering where all the fans are at. This fucking show banged on for 7 years straight, and didn't really slow down at any point. Surely you guys haven't forgotten about it...

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It's considered a bit more schlocky than The Wire or Sopranos, but as far as entertainment value goes, I actually enjoyed it more than either of those. Also it's pretty much unrivaled in later seasons at building up and executing a series finale

I've never really watched a show where everything constantly haunts the characters so much. There's not really any resolution to anything until the very very end of their individual character arcs. Everything these guys do seems to stick around as a problem and every time they think they solve one of said problems it always comes back to bite them.

They actually stop doing bad shit after Season 2 really and spend 5 seasons dealing with how the fuck to get away with it. I thought it was great.

I think that it's easily comparable to The Wire, as they are both police heavy shows, and yeah it's quite a bit more fast and loose. But it doesn't really ever do anything that is completely out of the realms of possibility in my opinion. Like sure, when you look back on every story beat it seems ridiculous for cops to be getting away with this sort of shit, but due to how well drawn all (well most of) the characters are - it all feels quite believable at the time.

I also liked how 7 seasons only covered 3.5 years.

I wouldn't call it underrated. It's rarely put up there with The Wire or The Sopranos, but it still gets a hell of a lot of praise, and I see it on "best shows" lists all the time.

Yeah I suppose you have a point. I mean I do know that it's popular of course.

But I just mean from a quality perspective - there's nothing that's aired in... well essentially since The Shield ended!.. that's been of the same quality and consistency. The shows that have done that are The Wire and The Sopranos, I suppose you could maybe add Breaking Bad to that list too even though I would personally disagree so there's one show at least... But it just feels to me that The Shield is very much on par with The Wire and The Sopranos but everyone seems to kind of ignore it? Just wondering why that is? Because obviously there's schlockier (dunno if that's the right word to use desu) aspects to the show that are outweighed by the realism on the the other two, but there's also aspects of The Shield that are far superior to The Wire/Sopranos imo, like the characters...

>The shows that have done that are The Wire and The Sopranos, I suppose you could maybe add Breaking Bad to that list too even though I would personally disagree so there's one show at least...


MAD
E
N

BD release fucking when?

Purest tv kino

imo slightly better than the Sopranos and far better than the Wire

The Shield was like The Sopranos in that it knew how to jump between comedy and drama effortlessly. Some of the biggest laughs I got from a drama came from both shows.

Still one of the best endings on TV.

>that silence before he confesses.

youtube.com/watch?v=II2zX0S9-iQ

Season 1: A little rough at times but essential to get to know the characters and appreciate what they bring to the show.

Season 2: Show begins its stride with two major arcs, the stakes start feeling real. Money Train feels like an ambitious long-term story.

Season 3: Kind of all over the place. New characters aren't great. The Money Train episodes are still great as well as the main characters but there are some questionable choices.

Season 4: A reboot of sorts. Stunt casting with Glenn Close. It pays off and becomes the show's second best season after 2. Antwon Mitchell is a great villain.

Season 5: More stunt-casting, and again it pays off. Forrest Whitaker arrives and brings the first serious threat to the characters. The stakes begin to feel real. Best season yet.

Season 6: Sort of a hangover from 5. Kind of flounders in between major story beats (the Lem dream episode, what?). But the drama begins to get more compelling and takes several interesting turns.

Season 7: Best ending season that isn't The Sopranos. Everything comes to a head and the payoff is worth all the time invested. All of the characters shine and it's sad to see them go. The best final episode period.

Overall, a solid 9/10.

That silence was fucking ruthless. It felt hard to even blink when Chiklis was doing it. whole time you just sit there wondering if he's actually going to own up to it or not, and the fact that the very first thing he starts with is killing Terry is 10/10

Who is best character on the show and why is it this guy?

Ronnie fanboys are almost as annoying as Jimmyfags.

Mad Men was pretty great, I suppose you're right in saying it belongs in the same echelon. I just felt that it lulled a little at times, but maybe I'm just being a bit cynical. There were definitely enough interesting plot points to keep me coming back.

I guess I just don't find it as gripping as shows like The Shield, The Wire, The Sopranos...

BoB, Deadwood and Carnivale are other ones I really enjoyed but unfortunately ones a miniseries and the other two were both rather short lived.

I haven't checked out Justified yet if anybody knows anything about it?

Maybe if you didn't talk in teenage-angsty code I would have some idea what you're trying to say here.

Ronnie is a puss

Nah he stepped up big time in the later seasons. He's stone cold in S7.

>Nah he stepped up big time in the later seasons.
So? There's a reason why Vic was so quick to throw him under the bus: He couldn't buy a personality.

I actually think that was the single most uncharacteristic thing Vic has ever done.

>we run together
That cut pretty deep imo.

This was sick. And brutal. I totally thought that's how it was going to end.

Ronnie is legitimately great though. Especially since he seemed to exist as a character the entire series but actually had none of the fleshing out of any of the other cast. He simply existed as a background character in the forefront. But once he got his face burned on the element he seemed to actually be a character

He was backed into a corner. When it comes down to it, Vick was a selfish person and sacrificing Ronnie was the only way to save himself.
If you wanna talk uncharacteristic then the first episode where he murders his new partner is a better example.

You see I'd agree with you but I feel that the only justification of him murdering Terry is that he truly cares for the Strike Team (as if they were literally his family) and it was in their ultimate best interests.

Vic is definitely a selfish person but that's constantly been counterweighed by the fact that he cares about his family more than anything. So if you do look at the Strike Team as an extension of that then his actions are usually justified... whenever something threatens the Strike Team he'll do whatever it takes to protect them... since they're family. Even when that threat becomes Shane he's constantly looking out for him and Ronnie. For him to just 180 on that in the last two episodes was kind of an undoing in my opinion. Because then it means that everything I said is off the mark and Vic really just did everything out of selfish personal motivations... which doesn't really make sense... for example then why did he murder Guardo?

WHEN YOU TURN OUT THE LIGHTS
AND WALK OUT THE DOOR

Seems like you kind of missed the point bro. Vic only cares about "family" to the point where it doesn't endanger him.

He ends up without both of his families, Strike and literal, because he prioritises himself above both of them. He could've run with Ronnie easily. He could've saved Shane too, but he cared more about the money and violence and adrenaline and himself more.

Probably mainly because it wasn't paid cable so it never had that level of critical prestige attached to it. Nobody wants to praise something as art if it's edited to designate certain slots for commercials. Still my second favorite show of all time after Sopranos.

I think we can all agree that Dutch vs Billings rivalry is kino within a kino

>it's a Dutch turns into a serial killer episode

>it's a Billings where's the glasses because he's light sensitive since the accident

>it's a billings tricks Dutch into watching his love interest get banged by a chad through a window episode

>If you wanna talk uncharacteristic then the first episode where he murders his new partner is a better example.

For sure. It made for a great shocking ending to the pilot, but you can tell the writers sort of backed away from making Vic that easily murderous pretty much immediately afterward. Like from the pilot you get the sense this dude is literally just Tony Soprano with a badge, but it's obvious how much the writers backed off from that and made him more of a cop afterward. The episodes where cops get killed and it turns into a huge existential crisis for the main cast definitely clash with Vic wasting another cop in the pilot, but honestly that kind of thing is generally characteristic of pilots.

I stopped watching when the Kid Rock song started playing at the end of Episode 1.

BAW WIT DA BAW
DA BANG DA DANG DIGGY

Yeah the first episode was insanely uncharacteristic to the rest of the series.

Nah sounds like you're missing the point too

The Shield is a real Garden of Eden story. The murder of Terry is the apple, the original sin. Nothing really compares to that afterwards because it's the event that sets everything into motion. It's a seven season descent into hell because of one decision. It's not meant to escalate after that, it's just a slow march towards punishment.

Fuck off, Vic didn't see Terry as a real cop.

You might just have a point. I withdraw my statement

>tfw dutch was hungry, ya know like a wolf

I don't think I did.

This sums it up a bit better than I did. The only truly bad thing they ever scheme beyond Terry's murder is the Armenian Money Train heist.

In fact that is the only thing that all four strike team members are involved in. Vic offing Terry wasn't uncharacteristic it just set a very bad precedence for himself and the rest of the team (especially Shane who is literally just a more unhinged mirror image of Vic), one that Vic evidently ended up not liking.

"I don't believe in God"

Pretty fedora scene desu

He was a great character, though. It's pretty cool how he's pretty much a background character in season 1 and 2, and then ends up being one of the most likeable characters. Down to earth and capable.

I liked that he is proven to be the most capable and intelligent of the team simply by being around the longest.

It's The Wire mixed with 24, what's not to like?

>it's a Ronnie suddenly becomes handsome episode

24 not even once pushed out something of a similar calibre to The Shield

first season was pretty good, never shield quality but 24s1 was solid

Another ? That I'm curious about what y'all think, How does it compare to SOA? I've seen both and I feel like sons might have the upper hand. Only comparing them cuz obviously Kurt Sutter had his hands directly in both.

no idea only watched the first few eps and it seemed cliched and average, I would have kept going for Pearlman but I heard he died so I just dropped it, does it get any good?

Infinitely better than SOA

Took me the whole first episode to get into it but once you're in, you're commited.