DVD Review: The Shield, Season Seven

*****

In what is already being looked back upon as one of the most consistently impressive decades for quality US TV drama, The Shield has without doubt proven itself to be the series with the finest long-game plan and the most rewarding pay-offs for loyal viewers.

Those of us who recall sitting down to watch the pilot back in 2002 will remember the shock that came from watching Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) carry out the act of violence which would turn The Shield into a must-see series rather than a must-try-to-remember-to-see one, making that return visit seven days later guaranteed.

The machinations of this final season will mean little to those unfamiliar with the world of Mackey and his Strike Team, the Armenian Money Train, Dutch Boy and his hunches and the myriad of lowlifes inhabiting Farmington, LA who make watching each episode such a visceral thrill.

It’s perhaps worth stating that by around season three The Shield had already become something of a Members Only club, if not actively turning away new recruits then certainly encouraging them to try a one day trial membership first, sampling the goods before committing to anything more.

Whatever your relationship to the series, be prepared for a run of episodes which act as both a continuation of the previous season and a new lease of life for the programme. There are no “Previously on The Shield” style recaps here: you either get it or you don’t.

The Vic/Shane battle of wits takes up the majority of the season’s run time, outstanding performances from Chiklis and Walt Goggins threatening to overshadow the rest of the cast as they play a game of cat and mouse around LA which it’s clear none of them can hope to win.

Having been a part of their lives for seven years, we’re aware of what the feud means to them. We’ve watched their friendship strengthen through adversity and witnessed it destroyed through misunderstanding and greed.

We feel their pain, and it’s down to the work of Chiklis and Goggins – and the series writers – that we still want them to patch up their differences, head to a strip joint for a few beers and go get the bad guys. Of course in The Shield there are no happy endings.

The feeling of desperation and hopelessness which has always permeated the series continues unabated,  few characters given any sign of light at the end of the tunnel, merely the odd glimmer of hope that what they’re fighting for will be worth it in the end.

Jay Karnes, always impressive as Dutch Boy, continues to bring some morals to The Barn, his Odd Couple-style relationship with the excellent David Marciano’s Captain Billings adding some humour to proceedings as the latter attempts to sue the precinct for damages.

Mention must also go to CCH Pounder as Claudette, matriarch of the piece, whose physical health may be worsening while her disgust at Mackey’s ability to evade justice on a weekly basis is clearly strengthening.

Subterfuge, double dealing and lies are part of the very fabric of The Shield, this season racking them up from episode to episode. The final moments are a fitting way to end the series, events tying right back into those in episode one of the first season. This is storytelling at its finest, the allusions made to the works of Shakespeare in the episode commentaries not far off the truth.

The commentaries also offer an insight into the sense of family built up by the cast and crew during the making of the show, a real end-of-an-era feel coming through in their discussions about how the programme changed their lives.

If you’ve read this far and haven’t yet seen an episode, you’re in for a treat, though you might want to invest in the season one box set first. If you’re a fan who hasn’t yet seen this season then you don’t need me to tell you to buy this. And if you have seen it but want to relive the final act, you could do a lot worse than ordering the set now.

The Shield Season Seven is out to buy on Region 2 DVD from Monday 8 June.