I went in with solid expectations considering the current status of The Shield as one of the best shows of all time, although I had heard the first season was generally considered the worst, so I kept my expectations in check, not only were they met, but surprisingly surpassed, very easily too.
From the first episode, The Shield establishes itself as a show willing to cross boundaries and subvert the audiences’ expectations. We are presented with Vic Mackey and his team of unlawful lawmen, The Strike Team, as they navigate the criminal underworld of the Farmington District, located in LA. Most of these episodes are made up off different plot lines between different groups of characters, The Strike Team, Dutch and Claudette, and Julian and Danny, which sometimes interweave with each other. Surprisingly most of the time each of these plot lines were interesting and entertaining, which is something I was pleasantly shocked about, as I thought as part of the series is episodic, it would get tiring and towards the end a retread of past cases. One flaw I do have with this season is that sometimes when The Strike Team isn’t on screen, it can drag or feel a little out of place, possibly due to the fact that their plots are pretty much always interesting, thanks to the cast.
Something I truly loved about this season and can’t wait to see more of is the cast. Vic is an amazing protagonist already, with some great character work to do with his family conflicts and the way he approaches cases and his moral compass something that has intrigued me the most so far. He’s already set up several great dynamics with various characters, such as Aceveda, Shane and Dutch. Although some characters such as Lem and Ronnie haven’t been explored too much yet, they have still played their part and have integrated their roles into the story. I’ve heard characters such as Shane and Lem get much more depth later on in the show, which I’m super excited to see.
Not to mention some truly standout episodes so far, such as the pilot or the finale which were both incredible. Also some episodes throughout the first season that are really great. Although there are some episodes which aren’t the best, they’re definitely still very entertaining.
The Shield sets itself up with a great first season, with some very impressive television already. Some fantastic episodes and character work, a very well utilised cast and excellent camerawork, The Shield is a show with massive potential. If this season is truly the worst in the show, then I’m super excited to see what’s in store for the rest.
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