liquid--what did you think was left unresolved? I thought this show wrapped better than any series finale I have ever seen. I also had something happen that has never happen b/w me and a T.V. show--I was speechless, not once, but TWICE. The 'Confession' scene and the 'Fate of the Vendrell Family' were both so, disturbing and, powerful that I could not say...anything. Weird. Creepy. Awesome.

If Chiklis doesn't score an Emmy for this final season then the right people aren't watching the progrums.

SPOILER ALERT










Just a couple minor things like did the kid (who Dutch was investigating) kill his Mom?
And was Vic accepting his desk job or walking away from it at the very end when he takes his gun from the drawer despite the immunity deal?
Some people are saying that a movie might be in the works. Ehhh.

Guys, to save Dean and others from being spoiled, and because I love this show, I'm splitting The Shield discussion into a different topic.

Shawn Ryan addresses the thing about Dutch here:

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/11/shi ... s-ans.html

I think that the way the writers did it, on the surface it's a pretty clear cut case, that Dutch's instincts were right and the kid really is a killer. But in the back of our minds we're supposed to remember him strangling that cat in his back yard and that there could be something sinister beneath the surface.

I have no doubts that the kid did it. I believe he lets slip that the mother's clothes were burned without Claudette mentioning it.

If Vic really is walking away from that desk for good at the end of the episode, then he must be going to Canada, because he screwed the Mexican cartel (who have their fingers deep in the Mexican government), he did the same to the black power guys, and every law enforcement agency knows that he's a cop killer. There's nowhere for him to go and nothing that he can do. He's in a hell that he created.

And I think Walton Goggins definitely deserves an Emmy after this. That final scene is even more unsettling because his real-life wife committed suicide a couple of years ago. I wonder if he and Ryan came up with that development together.

I've also watched the finale a couple of times, but the first time around I got really weepy during Claudette's revelation to Dutch and when she confronts Vic with the photos of Shane and his family.

Who wants to see Beverly Hills Billings? ;p

Oh, yeah, and Billings' lawyer (who hits on Dutch) is Dutch's real-life wife.

Roger,

Thanks for the cool tid-bits--I didn't know that about Goggins' wife or Dutch-boy's real wife.

Also, my two-cents on the final image...I think it is Vic's 'fuck-you' to everyone. Like, he is just accepting it and giving the same 'I can take whatever you dish out' attitude he eventually exhibited toward any situation. (I only base this on the fact that the cameras really concentrated on Vic's inability to shed a tear in the most horrendous circumstances--e.g., being confronted with Shane's death photos.)

Chiklis and Goggins and Ryan agreed (in an interview) that Vic Mackey's best and worst quality was his ability to 'compartmentalilze'. If you go through nearly every episode (Season 1 to 7), Vic is the only one who can jump from scene to scene to scene, and completely remove himself from how he 'feels' with regard to another issue going on at the same time. That is...until the final two or three episodes. Chiklis was incredible showing/acting Vic's 'breakdown'.

And YES...Bev Hills Billings...PLEASE!!!!

One more family connection: The actress who plays Corinne is Shawn Ryan's wife (although you probably already knew that). I thought she was great this season, too.

You're right, Vic's key attribute is that he can find a place inside him for all of the crap that comes his way (which is mostly self-inflicted). That scene where he's in the interrogation alone, and Claudette watches him shake his head and sort of "swallow" the situation (almost choking it down), priceless.

Oh, and CCH Pounder is up there for intense acting chops as well! Her reaction when Chaffee (the ICE Agent) tells her and Dutch-boy that Vic got full immunity--OMG!! It is awesome!

I'm really late to the party here, but I FINALLY watched the last episode while I was on vacation in Chicago. I was on an entertainment media-blackout, and managed to save some of the more powerful moments. It's a superb show and I'm sad to see it end. I agree with you guys for the most part, however, I personally felt like Shane's murder/suicide was pretty predictable. BUT, that's alright. I like how it was done, totally chilling. And of course, the confrontation between Claudette/Mackey and then the crushing arrest of Ronnie, man, crazy... I was totally stunned. Man, what awesome television.

Awww, man. Now I am totally bummed again! How could Ronnie go to the can!!!

My sis-in-law made a good observation: The first three minutes of the very first episode pretty much dictated the course of 7 seasons. And they did a helluva a job carrying it...that murder of Terry Crowley was the first thing we see Vic do. So, basically, from minute one we SHOULD think this guy is a total shit-bird. The one thing that made Vic 'likable' was his devotion to his partners, and doing anything to make sure they were 'okay'. In the end, Vic became so unlikable as he abandoned his one saving grace of a good quality.

That is a good observation. I read an interview with Shawn Ryan where he described the show as a sort of "Stockholm Syndrome," where the audience would be forced to spend an hour each week with someone they knew committed a horrible act, and eventually decide whether or not they could sympathize with him in any way.

The interesting dichotomy to me was how many fans expressed such hatred for Shane after he killed Lem. At that point, there really wasn't any difference between what he and Vic did by murdering other cops, it's just that we got to know and love Lem, and we never got a chance to know Terry.

And I still didn't expect the Strike Team to end up where they did in the finale. My prediction was a gunfight between Vic and Shane that would kill them both, Ronnie running to Mexico, and Mara and Corinne dead as collateral damage.

Hmmm, I felt like there was a difference between Lem and Terry beyond the time given for character development...Terry was deliberately placed into the Strike Team and was going to tattle on them from the start... It's true that Shane thought Lem was going to do the same thing, but you certainly didn't see any tears from Vic when Terry went down.

I definitely got the Vic as a shark metaphor that Shawn Ryan spoke of. He is a semi-thoughtless machine-plain and simple. He lives life on the edge, on the brink, and everything else ultimately isn't important. He is definitely no hero, but embodies many heroic characteristics. For me the character definitely has blurred edges. I was truly disturbed and saddened by what happened to Ronnie, and I totally get the parallel between that character and the audience, it's a really cool observation. I guess the Shane murder suicide didn't do that because I felt like the writing was really obvious. I want to go back to the beginning and watch the whole thing again! Stupid Six Feet Under taking up my only TV time! (also a really great show).

Me and my Girl and huge Shield fans- we have been watching it from the start al those years ago and its strange now its actually over.

I cant really say anything that hasnt already been said, the finale was awesome and I am still digesting it.

Love how they left it with Dutch, there is a doubt in everyones mind as to weather he did kill that boys mum or not, or at least if he would be capable or not....

The 'Stockholm syndrome' metaphor for the viewers relation ship with Vic is stop on!

Anyways after it was all over an done we were talking about it at great length and reckon that in the very first episode where Vic kills Terry doesnt quite add up. It worked at the time, but all the series later as we got to know Vic, we see that he wouldnt have killed another Cop ( or anyone?) so likely, it would always have been a last resort. It just seems that they took the decision to kill Terry very quickly, without seeing how the other alternatives panned out- after all in later series they got new members in the Strike team and managed to push them out without exposing themselves. Especially as ultimately the killing of Terry was his cardinal sin that he could never escape and was always over them, and what bought them down. The Vic of later series would have definatly given this more consideration, and would have seen that it would have been more trouble than it was worth. I suppose you could put that down to him being more cocky in those days, and having to watch his back less, as the list of shit he had pulled was a lot smaller.


Amazing show though! has left a big void.

My girlfriend and i are huge Shield & Wire fans.
Didn't read the posts in this thread but will chime in once i've seen the final season.
It's gonna be good.... Can't wait.

Follow-up on Dutch-boy: did anyone else think he was a little whacked? After Season 3 (I think), when he killed that cat and he had that bad relationship, I thought that the writers were going to develop him into some sociopath.

I am curious, how did you infer that Dutch-boy may have killed the mother?

I think the producers intended on planting a seed of doubt in viewers' heads about Dutch with the cat killing scene, and then perhaps a bit later on when he was swooping in on Corinne, and then with the mother of this serial killer kid. Ryan is pretty clear that Dutch had nothing to do with it.

Word. I didn't think so. I always saw Dutch as the 'Willie Lohman' of the law enforcement world. Sort of the means-well-but-down-on-his-luck sort of fellow.

Yeah just that really- the thing with the cat- it makes everyone wonder and it even seems the writers had their doubts about how to finish it with him " joking about having kids locked up in the celler of his house."

What do you guys reckon about the original killing of Terry? out of character?

My two cents, which ain't worth much these days , is that the killing of Crowley was in line with Vic and his general 'get it done' attitude (with regard to the Strike Team). We never really saw things prior to the day Crowley was killed, but during those first interactions b/w Mackey and Aceveda, you get the impression this was not the first time the 'waters of the river were muddied' by Vic's playing fast and loose.

Throughout every season, that ideal is consistent. Vic does everything for the sake of the Strike Team--which, I believe, is why it didn't matter much more that Shane killed Lem than anyone else. At that first moment of Season 6, when Vic says, Whoever did this to Lem, I'll kill 'em, his focus was Lem, but Lem was a part of the whole.

Roger made a 'Stockholm Syndrome' reference earlier in this thread, and I believe he is right-on. We (the viewer) just began accepting every dirty deed, because Vic was 'protecting his brothers'. This is why--for me at least--in that final episode Vic became unlikable, in selling out Ronnie, none of his actions could be justified (in my mind).

I never felt that the killing of Terry was out of character. I also wondered if it wasn't the first time he'd killed someone (not in the line of duty).

i just finished watching the whole things and well it was bloody good

and i think the acting in the final episode was really good and its dam good finish to the whole thing

that is if number 8 is being done? or maybe a new series called ice?

I also just finished the season finale. Was very happy with how things ended especially how drawn out the previous 2-3 episodes were with Shane, Corrine and Claudette storylines. Was worried that the season finale would be crappy, but it did not disappoint.

I was hoping in the last few minutes when Vic got his gun that he was gonna go bust out Gardocki and run for the border. And form a Mexican Strike Team!!!

Sad to see the Shield is no more, but a buddy of mine has recommended Sons of Anarchy to fill my Shield void. And my friend mentioned that Kurt Sutter writes for SOA was also a writer/co-producer on The Shield. Combo of Peg Bundy and Hellboy on SOA kinda remind me of Mackey.

Glad to hear soo many fellow sb'ers are die hard Shield fans. Just curious what is everyone best storyline/arc of the Shield series.

The first one that comes to mind for me is that perp that forced Assaveda to give him a bj and took a cellphone pic of the act.

Katey Sagal is great on Sons of Anarchy.
It's been described as Hamlet with bikers.

Some people having been raving about the Wire so I might check that out next.

The Wire is amazing, on a level with the Shield, and thats somthing I would would not likely!

I remember the story line with the two warring gangs and they locked the two leaders to sort out their problems in one of those shipping containers. One of the guys didnt come out, that was a serious storyline. And obviously that Armenian assasin who cut peoples feet off and then escaped- that was pretty crazy too.

There have been so many storys over the years!