Shields Up

The Shield on DVD

with all the hype surrounding the start of the final nine episodes of The Sopranos, the 6th season premier of The Shield on fx might have been missed by many out there. or at least it hasn't gotten the hype it deserves.

the show, about a team of corrupt l.a. cops is one of the best shows on tv and it has been consistently good throughout its 5 seasons already. in case you aren't completely caught up i don't want to give away how season five ended, but needless to say it was intense and season six has picked right up where it left off last year.

forest whitaker is back this season, playing the internal affairs detective determined to bring down michael chiklis' character, vic makay, if it is the last thing he does. while the main characters, makay and his crew, are bad and corrupt the show manages to make you root for them (and this is a guy, makay, who we saw murder another cop in the pilot episode).

a lot of that has to do with the idea that they are doing bad things to bad people (except for the cop of course): they might take money from drug dealers to let them ply their trade and they might kill and forgo the law in order to cover up their misdoings, but if someone is dealing drugs to kids or importing a mass amount of weapons into the country, etc... they are right there knocking down doors and knocking in faces to get the bad guy. and you don't want to mess with their families - they have a strong moral code (albeit a very selfish one most of the time) but it works to complete the picture of who these guys are. things aren't black and white and playing in that gray area is one reason the show is so good. (the characters are based on actual l.a. cops who were convicted on many charges years ago, and i have heard that the the cops on The Shield are not as bad as the real ones they are based on)

of course there is also the great acting, writing, directing and the hand held camera work that adds to the intensity of the show.

if you are a fan of the show then i'm sure you were right there when season six started a few weeks ago, and if you haven't been watching it then get yourself all the past seasons on dvd and catch up before you start watching season six. enjoy!!!

grade: A+