The Shield - Season 1

I watched the first two episodes of The Shield some time ago, and then forgot about it for a while. I can't say why for sure. I know I didn't find it as compelling as I did when I picked it back up. I guess I just wasn't interested in what seemed like a normal cop show with a bit of a manufactured edge. That's not really fair though, and giving it a bit more time, it didn't take long before I was hooked and momentum carried me through the rest of the 13 episode season. The Shield definitely revels in being a cable show. It swears a little bit, there's some pretty sexual and violent stuff, and the plots episode to episode are nothing if not always attempting something you can't see on the networks. And while it's entertaining enough to run on its shock value and competent cast alone, what makes it so engrossing is what turned me off a bit when I first saw it - the dark side of star Michael Chiklis' character, Vick Mackey.

He's not morally ambiguous. That suggests some level of remorse over what he does. Vick and his strike team are downright bad men. He cheats on his wife. He makes deals with criminals. He steals evidence for his own profit. And in the first freaking episode, he kills someone he shouldn't just to keep the status quo. He's an anti-hero along the lines of Tony Soprano, except with the added despicableness of having the law on his side to protect him. And yet... when he's confronted with his corruption, I found myself justifying his actions to myself. When I first realized I was doing this, I couldn't believe it. But at least early on, the show's greatest strength is this. Despite his crimes, Mackey and his team do make the city a bit of a better place. They limit gang violence by brokering deals, they use unorthodox methods to take down criminals they might not have had a chance to stop otherwise, they're fiercely defensive of their fellow law officers. Is what he does okay when put next to all of the good he definitely does? Probably not, but that the show even makes you ask this question is a small miracle. It helps that the people trying to stop him are often not quite on the level either, but it's definitely an accomplishment. I don't know how they're going to keep it up, but I'm certainly interested in seeing.