Has “The Shield” Jumped the Shark?
I don’t watch a lot of television. There is only one show I watch regularly, and that is “The Shield” on FX.
“The Shield” is good character-driven story-telling. It’s not politically motivated like a David E. Kelley show.
However, in the season finale on Tuesday, I think the show has “jumped the shark”.
In the finale, the loose cannon of the Strike Team, Shane Vendrell, kills another Strike Team member, Curtis “Lem” Lemansky, by dropping a grenade in his car. I won’t go into the story that leads up to this event, because it’s waaayyy too involved and complicated. However, we sort of understand why Shane does it.
But Lem’s murder was over-the-top. The foundation of the show and the reason I am compelled to watch, is the tight relationship among the 4 members of the “Strike Team”, whose leader is Vic Mackey, a morally ambiguous police detective. The Strike Team has been split by differences in the past, but there was always the option of reconciliation.
Shane’s murder of Lem destroys any possibility of reconciliation. He also didn’t tell anyone what he did. Lem is dead and can’t be brought back.
The Strike Team is destroyed, along with the main reason I watch the show.
Too bad. “The Shield” was the last of “Must Watch Television”.
posted by The Phantom Republican @ 10:07 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
PR,
It seems I'm always playing devil's advocate to your musings... I don't think "the shield" has jumped the shark. Aside from the pure shock factor of Shane murdering Lem (never saw that coming, him using a grenade!) think of the possibilities for next season.
For starters, Kavanaugh will continue to hang around, the ultimate arch-nemesis to Mackey (and for whom do you root in that match-up!?). Then there's the fact that everyone will think the Salvadorean gangsters did it (very "clever" of Shane to use the grenade instead of a gun), which will touch off an epic gang war. And when Vic finally finds out that Shane did it (and he will), just think of what will happen then!
Additionally there's all the continuing, secondary plot lines. Dutch boy continuing to go down into the darkness (you got a hint of that when he told Tina he wants something in exchange for training her), Claudette's new job as the captain, etc. etc. One of the things that has always drawn me to this show (like other good cop shows, going back to Hill Street Blues) is the ensemble cast and the fact that nobody's perfect, and nobody's really likeable. Well, there was one truly likeable character, but he got blown up by a grenade. What other show would do that?
So, no, I don't think it's jumped the shark, and I can't wait for it to come back!
I'm very late to the party but I never watched the show when it was on. Anyways after Lem got killed I'm with you my interest feigned very fast
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