The Shield: Gesetz der Gewalt

I know im late to the party but i just wanted to add my two cents. I have seen a lot of shows in my life from the Wire , breaking bad , sons of anarchy , downtown abbey to GOT and everything in between ( of-course not but definitely all the ones worth watching ) but The Shield has a special place in my heart. First it saw me through the corona virus lockdown and had me baited hook line and sinker like i have never been . I almost cried when it ended because i didn't want it to but also had me enthralled to the point that i couldn't wait to see what the next episode would bring .

I think i cannot offer any compliments and praises that haven't been offered already . All i will say is it is like The Wire in treatment but with its own unique flavour. The writing is crisp , the hand held shooting gritty with each character addng a different dimension to the storyline. Each season brought with it a different commentary on all kinds of issues be it politics , family life, friendship, duty in the line of fire etc

Give it a go and be prepared for one heck of a ride

The story lines weave in and out and stretch from one season to the next, always leaving a little tension.... The characters are more real in their foibles than one usually expects from television fare, and this is probably what makes the series watchable over a long period. The viewer lives along with them, the ups, the downs, the quirkiness (Dutchboy is a little too quirky)... And the acting and language is by and large excellent. Hand-held cameras make the whole thing immediate.

The positives actually manage to drown out the negatives, namely the unreal emotional instability of Vic's crowd, and the contrived emotional structures... Tina and Julian's interactions are exaggerated (no one would stick around Julian the way she does, and her reference to his gayness is simply too much cherry on top of her lack of tact... As for Julian, he is permanently grumpy and his character is, indeed, too 2D for my taste, he never loosens up).

Maybe it's really like that at a precinct, but the tendency of American producers and directors to want to create supermen and -women and then try to introduce failings in their character appears irresistible. These men blow up at the slightest provocation, and my main thought is "They should never wear guns..." .... That is the star that is missing in the line up.

But these are minor errors, and they are natural for a series that is so long. The characters do at least remain consistent, and that does allow them to grow on us.... Chiklis' performance is excellent. Brilliant appearances by Glenn Close and Forest Whitaker... I wonder how many doors were destroyed during the filming .... I lost count.

The Shield is absolutely deserving of its hype and still holds up as much today as it did when it was on over 12 years ago! There are sooo many good police shows out there to choose from but The Shield is among the best to ever do it. It will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout the entire series!

The shield is one of the best cop shows of all time, only behind "The Wire." The story line is rich and the cast is just brilliant. Michael Chiklis had a career defining role as the brutal Vic Mackey. Chiklis is so good that somehow you continue to root for the guy after all of the brutal crimes he has committed. He truly played that role to perfection. The show continues to get better as the seasons progress. They build on each other perfectly which sets up the epic and heart-wrenching series finale.

As the seasons build, life truly seems to be on the line for every member of the strike team. Walton Goggins, who plays Detective Shane Vendrell, continually got better as the show progressed and gave mind blowing performance in the last two seasons.

What also makes The Shield so rich are the other characters on the show other than the Strike Team. CCH Pounder was brilliant throughout the series and Detective Dutch Waggenbach and Steve Billings both helped balance out the show.

Season long guest stints from stars Forrest Whitaker and Glenn Close helped make this show a top 10 drama of the decade.

If you like "The Wire" or "The Sopranos" then you need to check this show out...It will be worth your time

I only heard of The Shield a few weeks ago. I had only just finished watching a previous TV show from start to finish, and was after a new one to pass the time. I typed in "The Best TV Shows Ever", or something similar, on Google, and I noticed that this was on a few lists. I'd never heard of it, but after checking to see that it was given a very respectable 8.7 rating on IMDb, I decided to check it out.

When I started, I was not unimpressed, but at the same time, I didn't really get the immediately-hooked feeling like I did at the start of other TV shows like Prison Break, Dexter and Breaking Bad, amongst others.

However, unlike most TV dramas, The Shield got progressively better throughout its series. The characters were very complex and I can't think of a single main character who I had both rooted for at times, yet wanted to see their downfall in others.

As I said, the series got progressively better, but in no way was I expecting the finale to be as good as it was. I've seen a fair few TV series in my time, but no series finale that I've seen has even come close to matching this one. An absolutely incredible finale of a quality that any series would have been proud of.

I'd definitely recommend this show. For me personally, it was a steady 7/10 for the first couple seasons, 8//10 and 9/10 for the next few, but 10/10 for its final season. To give the actual finale a rating out of ten would do it injustice as I'm sceptical that I'll ever see one as good as that.