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When it comes to TV dramas, FX’s The Shield is undoubtedly one of the best, if not the best. Prime Video subscribers can now binge-watch the series in full after all seven seasons and 88 episodes dropped on the platform on March 25th. The hit crime drama was created by Shawn Ryan and originally aired on FX from 2002 until 2008. Michael Chiklis led the series as Vic Mackey, a corrupt Los Angeles detective leading an elite strike team that breaks the law to combat street crime.
The Shield Is a 10/10 Crime Drama That Still Holds Up Today
There are a lot of reasons why The Shield is so great, but its morally ambiguous nature has to be the best. The series effectively pioneered the anti-hero era on TV by breaking from the ’80s/’90s model of police as pure, heroic figures and presenting the main character as a different kind of cop who often behaved worse than the criminals he chased. Mackey’s portrayal as an officer who was corrupt, violent, and manipulative yet still effective at his job redefined how low a main character could sink and paved the way for other shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men. The moral ambiguity and corruption went beyond just Mackey, though, The Shield posing the question “Do the ends justify the means?” through characters like the narcissistic but technically moral Detective “Dutch” Wagenbach and the entire strike team, which used brutal extortion and illegal methods to fight crime.
