The Shield: Season Seven (2 Viewers)

[PhilipG]

The Anthony Anderson / Forest Whitaker seasons were my favourite, along with the second half of s7 - although it's been so long now since I saw the earlier seasons (marathon re-watch required!).

 

[MattFini]

I just wanted to weigh on here as well:

I would say that Seasons 5 and 7 are tied for my favorite but I don't think this show every had a misstep. I can't say that about any other series that comes into my mind.

And regarding the finale: what a haunting, intense watch! I had several people over the night of November 25th to watch the finale and we hardly spoke during commericals. All of us were literally sick to our stomachs while watching things come to a full on head.

I don't want to sound like too much of a broken record here but the final fate of Shane was something that stuck in my head for DAYS after. I'm not sure I've ever found anything to be as disturbing as that.

But regarding Vic - there's a lot of debate as to what the final shot in the series means. For me, Vic taking his gun home with him at the end of the night didn't signify him running. It seemed like it was the only vestage he had left of his former life and he was going to cling to it out of desperation. In the end he's essentially castrated (for three years, at least), and packing that pistol is the only tie he's got left to being a cop.

Either way, The Shield was brilliant and that finale was a wholly satisfying experience.

 

[TravisR]

I think he's permanently 'castrated' because even in 3 years, his ICE contract is over and he'll never have any law enforcement authority ever again.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Vic could go into the bounty hunting biz.

 

[TonyD]

yes excellent idea.

 

[ScottH]

Yeah, but how long would it be before he "took out" one of his bounties claiming it was for the greater good.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I haven't posted until now because honestly, I'm still processing this episode. (Also I want to go back and watch it again, a little more analytically, without the "what's-going-to-happen-next" suspense of the first viewing.) But I do have a couple of brief comments in response to some of the other posts:


I don't think that shot had anything whatsoever to do with Vic taking the gun home with him. Of course he took it home with him. That's what cops do. They don't leave their guns in their desk drawers at work overnight.

To me it was obvious that Vic was debating whether or not he should simply eat the gun and end it all right then and there. In the end he decided not to, because he's Vic F***ing Mackey and no matter how far down he falls he still believes he can claw his way back up. I don't know if he's fooling himself or not, I just think that's what he believes. But I also think he seriously considered the possibility of just sticking the gun in his mouth, ending his pain and leaving the mess for Olivia to clean up in the morning. In a strange way I wonder if Shane didn't help save Vic. Maybe at the last minute Vic flashed on that picture of Shane and decided he couldn't take the coward's way out like he did.

Speaking of Shane, I seem to be in the minority that was not surprised by his fate. After I posted my speculation about the contents of the finale, where I said I thought Shane and Mara would both die, I kept thinking about how that might happen and finally thought about a number of real cases where a suspect who felt he had nowhere to go killed his family as well as himself to "spare them" the consequences of his acts. Especially given that Mara's killing of the woman in the previous episode ended any chance of her avoiding prison, Shane had only Jackson and his unborn daughter to "save".

So I mentally added, "Humanely executes Mara and Jackson before offing himself" to my list - although at that point I still thought he was more likely to a Kamikaze run at the barn in one final attempt to get Mackey before going out in a blaze of glory. Suicide by cop rather than simple suicide, although the latter was always a possibility.

I think Vic's taunts may have goaded him into action, but Shane's own situation (and increasingly fragile mental state) made the outcome one of the logical possibilities in any case. Even without Vic's contribution I think Shane might have reached that point on his own.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Holadem]

I agree about Shane, he was the type that would off himself when cornered like he was. He was prone to emotional extremes, that's the kind of guy that shacks up with a Mara (an inexhaustible source of drama, whatever else she may be [extremely loyal]). But I disagree with the notion of Vic thinking about doing the same at the end -- I don't see it at all, it doesn't wash with the ultimate survivor that he is. Not with the immunity deal, not when he only has to suck it up for 3 years. A Shane might still have taken his own life out of overwhelming guilt at that point, but not Vic.

What I saw in those last seconds of the show was resolve. Resolve to survive, find a way out of this mess (just another one in a messy life) and move on.

--
H

 

[Brent M]

I watched the series finale today after forcing myself to accept that this was going to be the last episode of The Shield I'd ever get to see. All in all, I was satisfied with the episode, but I didn't feel it packed quite the punch I was expecting(aside from the Shane murder/suicide of course--that was truly a HOLY S**T moment). Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a colossal disappointment like The Sopranos, but somehow I just can't accept that the last time we see Vic Mackey it's in a gray suit leaving an office. Not saying I have a better idea on how it all should have ended, I just don't know that I like the way it did. Maybe after it sets in a little more I'll be able to process everything better.

 

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[Yee-Ming]

Absolutely agree. It's just not Vic. If anything, he'd want to bear the next three years, then go looking for his kids, wherever they may be in witness protection. What odds he tries to use his federal badge and find them somehow? Although the US Marshals are completely separate from ICE and an ICE badge would cut no ice (sorry, bad pun) with them in getting info on protectees.

And Aceveda keeps rolling on his merry way. It's not certain he'll be mayor, but taking credit for a big drug bust would certainly help.

One small side point in an earlier episode: whilst on patrol, Julian and Tina drove past a gay couple, and you could visibly see the conflict on Julian's face. Nice touch to recall that issue, even if he's appeared to have buried it and moved on.

I'm surprised Tina didn't get more flack for losing her gun to Shane. Even if he's another trained officer etc and it was relatively easy for him to 'get the drop' on her, isn't losing your gun a cardinal sin?

 

[TravisR]

I think in the case of Shane, the department knows that he's not the run of the mill bad guy. He was a strike team member, highly trained, knows police procedure and he has killed or tried to kill the entire strike team so it's a big mistake but it's not like losing her gun to some random punk either.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I agree, that's what the last few seconds showed. After Vic decided not to eat his gun. I'm talking about that long pause when he simply held and looked at the gun before getting up and holstering it. Granted, he overcame it, but I'm talking about the moment of doubt, that wondering, "would this be the better way?" after losing his family, betraying Ronnie, getting Shane's family killed and ending up, as has been said, symbollically castrated. (As Stephanie Brush said of the famous "family jewels" scene in The Valachi Papers, "Compared with castration, most men feel that death is merely Hightly Unpleasant.")

I think Vic considered the option. I think he had that moment of doubt and weakness. I don't think he would have been human if he hadn't. Then he decided "No" and moved on.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Regards,

Joe

 

[ScottH]

I never got the impression that Vic even thought about offing himself either, but I guess we'll never know. The answer is probably whatever you want it to be.

 

[Harpozep]

Just to bring the thread back from is inevitable sleep..

Am I the only one thinking Vic is now a target for Terry Crowley's ( The cop he shot in the face in the first episode ) family/brother?

Crowley's brother felt Vic had done it and was paraded before him by Forrest Whittaker. The situation was eventualy defused, but to me Crowley's brother was never emotionally over it. All it takes is one anonymous call from Justice ....as I think they would never really let Mackey's full extent be known to the public.

Then again how much of this would naturally come out in Ronnie's trial/sentencing. I think the public would find out some of these details. Or am I wrong there?

 

[TravisR]

I'm not a lawyer but I assume that Crowley's family could file a wrongful death lawsuit against Vic if they got the info. However, I don't know if the info would come out. Ronnie wasn't involved in Crowley's murder so it wouldn't come out at his trial. I assume only higher ups at ICE know the actual details of Vic's confession (but I'm sure it would be common knowledge that he was a scumbag) but they probably don't want it known that a massively corrupt murderer tricked them into giving him a job so I don't think it would come from there. Although I suppose Dutch or Claudette could grind an axe and give Crowley's family the info just to add one more problem to Vic's life.

 

[Yee-Ming]

If they knew Crowley's brother was looking for vengeance and would probably try to kill Vic, I'm guessing they wouldn't, precisely because they are not the sort to take the law into their own hands, or allow someone else to do so, no matter what they thought or felt about Vic and the deal he scammed out of ICE.

 

[mattCR]

I just finished S7. Actually, I spent the last two weeks and just watched the whole series at once

I also got the impression he got the idea of killing himself but decided in the end he'd claw himself back. But, the more I thought about this, I thought the bigger point was that it's really doubtful to me he's still anywhere near farmington.

From his initial walk-in, to his "HR walkthrough" I'm wondering if he was re-assigned to some other office, which would be the logical action if he was given full immunity.

Remember, regardless of anything else, Vic has the 3 year deal because he's got a lot of testifying to do against Beltran and others. You'd think they wouldn't keep him in the same spot where people know him.

As to Crowley's family.. I don't think they'd get the inside scoop on that. I think this was alluded to in the meeting with Corine when she decided she needed protective services. Dutch made sure not to tell her what "Vic had done' only saying "terrible s---" Because what happened in that meeting is the same as attorney-client privelege; it can't be discussed outside of that room, Vic is just protected by the feds if any of those issues ever come up as part of a prosecution.

He's well insulated. Just is it the insulation he wants. And yeah, I think after 3 years, he goes hunting for his family. Or at some point his screw-loose daughter decides she wants to look for him