I watched the last two episodes of this show tonight and I felt compelled to mention it. If you’re familiar with the show and would like some additional thoughts, you can check out The Watcher’s take. If you already know the show, haven’t seen the finale, and think you might be interested, I highly recommend you skip that link and enjoy it spoiler free.

First a little history on how I got acquainted with The Shield. In the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college, I stayed in Manhattan and worked as a “Cool Cat.” It was a silly name for a group of about 20 of us that basically ran the residence halls for summer students and conferences. The job came with a lot of free time, so we were always looking for things to keep us occupied. There were also a few summer RAs who had similar schedules and responsibilities, so we spent a lot of time together. We started having watch parties for movies and TV shows on DVD on nights thatwhen many of us were free. After a few nights with good turnout, Jake (one of the RAs), suggested we start watching The Shield. I had a vague idea that Michael Chiklis was in a new show, but I didn’t really know anything about it. I’d watched him in The Commish as a kid, so I knew who he was. Jake assured me that The Shield was, in fact, totally awesome and that I would get hooked if I gave it a chance. He also warned me that the show was different than most in pretty much every way. He was right on both accounts.

From the opening scene, the show was something new that I’d never seen before. The first chase almost made me sick due to the camera work, but I couldn’t stop watching. And then, less than 45 minutes into the series, the main character shot another cop in cold blood. That pretty much set the tone for the entire show, and I knew I couldn’t stop. I asked Jake if I could borrow the rest of the DVD set and started watching. The first two seasons were already out, so I caught up quickly and only had to wait about 6 months for season 3 to start. The wait between seasons was always excruciating. I will never forget my disbelief after the strike team successfully stole millions from the Armenian money train, or the moment when Shane dropped a grenade in Lem’s lap and walked away.

I’ve enjoyed this show immensely for reasons I’m not even sure I can explain. Despite the craziness of the scheming and plotlines involved, the writing, acting, and execution was always top notch. The actors made the characters real to me, and after spending almost 90 episodes with them, I was right there feeling their every emotion during the finale. I’ve always been impressed when an actor/writer/director uses nothing but silence to convey a characters thoughts and emotions. Vic says almost nothing for the last 10 minutes, and yet you can almost hear his brain working and see the waves of realization wash over him. I’d never heard of Walter Goggins before this show, but I won’t soon forget his performance here. Escaping into the world of The Shield has been my guilty pleasure, letting me root for the bad guy (’cause let’s face it, Vic Mackey was a cop, but he is definitely the villain, not the hero).

The Shield is certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you think you can stomach it, I encourage you to give it a chance. The finale wrapped up the majority of story lines and gave a fitting end to most of the characters. There were a few shocking moments (I was not expecting Shane’s last moments), and a few predictable ones (Aceveda seems a shoe-in for his coveted post), but all in all a very fitting end to one of my favorite shows ever. Thank you to Shawn Ryan, Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, and everyone else who made this show a joy to watch. And, Jake – wherever you are – thanks for getting me hooked.