O.K. so it's not really "underrated" given that it's won the Golden Globe for Best Drama on TV and Best Lead Actor in a Television Series. With all the shows that I go nuts over - "24," "Lost," "Prison Break" - I'm usually chatting away about the last episode during the morning after. "The Shield," however, is an exception. There isn't a single soul I know who watches that show and so in my own little world, it's as if I'm the only who appreciates it.
I got into "The Shield" just before Season 3 started in 2004. That was when I was in Jersey and had the days to myself to pretty much do nothing, A friend of mine, Jon, in L.A. recommended that I take a look into the show when a conversation about boredom came up. So I got Season 2 of the show from a friend and started watching from there. As Season 3 started airing, I had to download each episode online and watch alone in my studio basement in Jersey. As timing worked out, I crashed in L.A. with Jon during the "Spider-Man 2" junket and he had a "Shield" Season 3 season finale party. That was the last time I had ever watched the show with another person and certainly, the last time I ever talked about the show with other people.
The last couple of seasons have come and gone. That's the weird thing about me and "The Shield." Whenever "24" or "Lost" starts up, I usually make a spectacle of it, usually even if it's just for me. And that high goes on for 8-9 months, depending on how the show is scheduled. But "The Shield"? Well, it airs on the FX network and usually I don't watch anything on FX which means I don't even catch the commercials advertising that it's on. So there have actually been one or two years that I didn't even know the show was starting up again. Also, a season for "The Shield" usually runs 10-13 episodes, which means that the continuing saga of Vic Mackey and the Strike Team only runs for two or three months before the show vanishes into obscurity for me.
Last week, Best Buy had a deal for the Season 1 DVD set and since I had never seen Season 1, I purchased it and for the past week, have gone through all the episodes in its debut season. When I was finished, I found myself popping in Season 2 afterwards and so far, I'm just about done and will start rewatching Season 3 again.
"The Shield" is one of the most unique shows on television. Although I have never seen "The Wire" or "The Sopranos," it has a similar theme: people in power that cross moral lines in their daily lives. "The Shield" isn't glamorous or high budget. Camera shots are usually shaky with a lot of film grain. Actors are unknown and made up to be uglier than they actually are. That's what I think I love so much about the show; it doesn't aim to please a mass audience. Glenn Close, Forrest Whitaker and Anthony Anderson are really the only name actors that have ever been on the show. The suspects, criminals, officers are of different races, sizes, age. And the writing for the show is absolutely top notch. We're on Season 6 now and if you watch every episode since the Pilot episode during Season 1, you will see that creator Shawn Ryan has crafted an intricate storyline centered around a cop who makes tough choices everyday. And since Vic has usually gotten away with a lot of the things he's pulled off in earlier years, this year has proved more gutsy in that the consequences for many of his actions - including a major shocker in the show's pilot - are starting to manifest themselves.
So this summer, if you find yourself seeking a great television show with everyone on reruns, holler at me. I'll send Seasons 1 -4 your way.
