The Shield

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This new cop drama is on C5 at 10pm. It has already won praise in the US and an Emmy. Channel 5 do seem to be sneaking out some good stuff that the other channels miss, so maybe worth a go. The radiotimes sais:

Pilot episode of a gritty new 13-part drama series about a morally ambiguous but effective band of Los Angeles cops. Strike Team tackle the case of a kidnapped little girl. The Shield is frequently uncomfortable viewing, mainly because we're led into an unutterably sleazy and grubby world. It will be interesting to see how this modern morality tale will develop during coming weeks.

 

[Garrett]

I just replied to your reply in Mute Witness and mentioned it. I think I will be watching it, it could be good.

 

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Spooky

 

[James45]

Good programme but how are you suppose to sympathise with the main character when he murders other cops?

 

[Garrett]

Wouldn’t have been bad as a bent cop who gets the job done, but as you say killing an other cop was a no no. I also hate the style of camera work the have started to use on American cop shows swinging all over the show. 50/50 whether I watch the show again.

 

[PoochJD]

HI,

I too thought it was only so-so. I really wanted to like the show, but it just wasn't as good as I had been led to believe. However, I do hope it improves.

Also, whilst I am grateful to Channel 5 for airing the show, I was annoyed at the fact that the Pilot Episode was not a double-length episode when aired in the USA. What happened was Channel 5 took the Pilot Episode (duration, approximately 45 minutes) and added-on the second episode "Our Gang", (also about 45 minutes), to make it into a double-length episode.

As such, last night was actually Episodes 1 and 2 of 13! C5 also did this with "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (Season 1), and it annoyed me. Why? Because the versions we saw last night seemed disjointed at about the half-way mark. Suddenly we go from a young girl being rescued from a paedophile (the end of episode 1) to the hunt for a youth gang member (the beginnig of episode 2).

Shame they decided to do this, rather than just run the two episodes one-after-the-other, (10pm-10:55, then 10:55-11:50pm), complete with their proper opening and closing credits and intro/pre-opening-credits scenes!

Pooch

 

[Latman]

That guy in The Shield, was he brother of mitchel brothers? Can't believe how much he looked like Ross Kemp!

 

[James45]

I thought that as well, I can't imagine English audiences taking him as seriously as American audiences (who don't know Ross Kemp) because of that.

 

[juboy]

I watched the whole show and thought overall it was worth a watch and will probably stick with it now 24 has long since finished on Sunday nights.

The major problems with The Shield in my view - 'gritty realism' for the sake of it, I mean I love a bit of violence but it actually felt like the little hispanic kid getting a kicking scene was drawn out far too long for no other reason than to offend meaker viewers.

Agree about Vic Mackey (I wish I could stop hearing that as 'Big Mackey'...) being someone you can't very much like or identify with. I guess it's that whole 'he protects his men' thing but if he's happy to shoot any of them that might let him down, it's hardly comforting for them. I reckon he'll off the weird looking guy next, the one who basically gave the game away by 'squinting' too much.

 

[James45]

I read an interview with the guy who plays Mackey and he said the show is trying to portray a guy who will go to any lengths to get the job done and put the bad guys away, but he also said its supposed to be ambivalent.

But there was nothing ambivalent about the murder Mackey carried out which instantly portrayed him as the bad guy, he absolutely cannot in anyway be seen as heroic from now on. And did anyone notice the victim used to be in Homocide:Life on the Streets?

 

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Yeah I noticed Kellerman from Homicide. The show had several 'knowns'; the black woman detective was in ER and Face OFF, the Internal Affairs balck woman cop was the reporter in Magnolia, the guy who got busted for hookie vcr's was in Blow amongst others.
The story seemed to get a drive off of Denzel Washington's Training Day but like that film I never really got to like the main cop character. As touched on above, I doubt whether the threat of execution can be present for a portrayed tight ruff-an-tumble outfit to realisticly be believed for obvious reasoning. However, the show further heavy handedly employed the 'join us or else' tenet for the duty cops in it's 'B&B' set piece.
Vic is too much of a self-centred bully for most people to 'appreciate' his 'good' deeds IMO. I'm interested to see if we will see him on the take also, as of yet it's certainly possible with his pooled-up house etc. Perhaps Americans where more willing to accept a 'ballsie' result getter, who also gains the extra mile by having women swoon at his iresistable sexual prowess (what a cringe-some scene that was with the woman cop) and machismo. I doubt whether the more discerning UK viewer will see him in quite the same light.
What also got me was the cops entrance to where the little girl was being held hostage in that it was so clumsy. The so-called expertly trained detective never announced himself to her to put her at ease and nor did the Captain or female detective 'till they'd scared her further. Not exactly sterling stuff.
Ho hum.