Post by -|E|- on Jan 7, 2006 16:22:08 GMT -5
Mackey still in deep in 'Shield'
BY FRAZIER MOORE
Posted on Sat, Jan. 07, 2006
Associated Press
To simply call "The Shield" a great drama series damns it with faint praise. Week in, week out, it sets the bar for steadfast excellence that everything -- not just other TV shows -- should reach for.
It always has, with its splendid ensemble led by Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey (plus terrific cast members CCH Pounder, Jay Karnes, Walton Goggins, Kenneth Johnson, Catherine Dent, Michael Jace and David Rees Snell). With its raw, kinetic storytelling. With its gritty vision of Los Angeles, one of resignation bucked up by a fierce resilience.
In sum, "The Shield" never disappoints.
Now it's back for a fifth season, premiering at 9 p.m. Tuesday on FX ([local]cable Channel 31). The saga of a rogue lawman -- and the corrupt, warring precinct where only his brand of law enforcement seems to make a ripple -- carries on where it left off, at full tilt.
A year ago, Glenn Close arrived as the new captain, Monica Rawling, who was full of plans for reforming police practice in the LAPD's blighted Farmington district. She even decided to trust Mackey, despite concern for his vigilante tactics running his anti-gang strike team.
By the end of last season, Rawling's dreams were dashed and she was gone.
Meanwhile Mackey, despite some close calls, was still in place, his four-man strike force intact. Here was more evidence that, in a murky moral climate like this, Mackey has the cunning, brass and charm to sustain his renegade style. In the war against crime, maybe he's a necessary evil.
But during the 11-episode season ahead, he will face new challenges to his crusade -- not to mention challenges staying out of jail.
A major headache comes courtesy of new cast member Forest Whitaker as Lt. Jon Kavanaugh, who's in charge of an Internal Affairs probe with Vic in the crosshairs.
What Kavanaugh suspects and intends to prove is what viewers witnessed to their shock on the series' first episode back in March 2002: Mackey killed a fellow cop he knew had infiltrated his strike force for the feds. Then he pinned the shooting on a dead drug dealer. Case closed.
Or was it?
"I always knew I didn't want to just let that murder fall by the wayside," says Shawn Ryan, who created "The Shield" and continues as its executive producer. "Vic has become in many ways the quote-unquote hero of the show and he's very likable, so it's easy to forget about the misdeeds. But I think it's important to remind viewers of that side of Vic."
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I added [local], cuz here it's channel 60. -E
BY FRAZIER MOORE
Posted on Sat, Jan. 07, 2006
Associated Press
To simply call "The Shield" a great drama series damns it with faint praise. Week in, week out, it sets the bar for steadfast excellence that everything -- not just other TV shows -- should reach for.
It always has, with its splendid ensemble led by Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey (plus terrific cast members CCH Pounder, Jay Karnes, Walton Goggins, Kenneth Johnson, Catherine Dent, Michael Jace and David Rees Snell). With its raw, kinetic storytelling. With its gritty vision of Los Angeles, one of resignation bucked up by a fierce resilience.
In sum, "The Shield" never disappoints.
Now it's back for a fifth season, premiering at 9 p.m. Tuesday on FX ([local]cable Channel 31). The saga of a rogue lawman -- and the corrupt, warring precinct where only his brand of law enforcement seems to make a ripple -- carries on where it left off, at full tilt.
A year ago, Glenn Close arrived as the new captain, Monica Rawling, who was full of plans for reforming police practice in the LAPD's blighted Farmington district. She even decided to trust Mackey, despite concern for his vigilante tactics running his anti-gang strike team.
By the end of last season, Rawling's dreams were dashed and she was gone.
Meanwhile Mackey, despite some close calls, was still in place, his four-man strike force intact. Here was more evidence that, in a murky moral climate like this, Mackey has the cunning, brass and charm to sustain his renegade style. In the war against crime, maybe he's a necessary evil.
But during the 11-episode season ahead, he will face new challenges to his crusade -- not to mention challenges staying out of jail.
A major headache comes courtesy of new cast member Forest Whitaker as Lt. Jon Kavanaugh, who's in charge of an Internal Affairs probe with Vic in the crosshairs.
What Kavanaugh suspects and intends to prove is what viewers witnessed to their shock on the series' first episode back in March 2002: Mackey killed a fellow cop he knew had infiltrated his strike force for the feds. Then he pinned the shooting on a dead drug dealer. Case closed.
Or was it?
"I always knew I didn't want to just let that murder fall by the wayside," says Shawn Ryan, who created "The Shield" and continues as its executive producer. "Vic has become in many ways the quote-unquote hero of the show and he's very likable, so it's easy to forget about the misdeeds. But I think it's important to remind viewers of that side of Vic."
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I added [local], cuz here it's channel 60. -E