Dark Gritty Cop Series On Hulu Changed Television Forever
From Dragnet to Columbo, some of TV’s most iconic police dramas helped define the genre while depicting righteous cops doing the right things at the right times and almost always putting away the bad guys thanks to their by-the-book investigations. When The Shield debuted in 2002, the dark and gritty police series showcased how sometimes the cops can in fact be the bad guys and that doing the right thing isn’t always as easy as the early cop shows made it seem.
Available to watch on Hulu, The Shield should not only be remembered as one of the most influential TV shows of the last 30 years but a show that completely changed the television landscape forever.
Loosely Based On A Real Police Unit
After Shawn Ryan graduated college, he took a chance by entering a contest and eventually won the Norman Lear Playwriting Award, which netted him a cool $25,000 cash prize and, perhaps more importantly, a group of meetings with Columbia Pictures Television producers.
Years later, Ryan found his way into the writer’s rooms of popular TV series such as Nash Bridges and Angel. Feeling the need to write something a little more gritty, Ryan developed the concept for The Shield around the start of the new millennium, using the infamous Rampart scandal inside the LAPD as inspiration for his new show.
Stellar Cast Led By Michael Chiklis
The Shield follows the story of the fictitious Farmington district inside the Los Angeles Police Department, which is home to a no-nonsense team of angst-filled cops with a chip on their shoulders. With its division set up inside a former church nicknamed “The Barn,” the mood inside Farmington is tense due in part to its collective of brutal detectives.
Known as the Strike Team, the anti-crime police unit is led by detectives Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), Shane Vendrell (Walton Goggins), Curtis Lemansky (Kenny Johnson), and Ronnie Gardocki (David Rees Snell).
A Slow Descent Into Corruption
Despite getting positive results, the Strike Team quickly garners a reputation for ruling its area of patrol with an iron fist, often resorting to barbaric methods and corrupt practices. Farmington police captain David Aceveda (Benito Martinez) suspects that the Strike Force is operating beyond the confines of the law, but with an eye on progressing his career beyond the troubled LAPD, he often ignores the issues inside his department.
As the Strike Force continues its descent into corruption and criminal behavior, the walls quickly close in on them as investigations into their unit threaten their livelihood and their freedom.
A Rewatchable Drama
The Shield will never be considered a “feel good” story of wholesome cops putting away the criminals, but there is something inherently entertaining about watching the events of the series unfold. I often find myself heading back to rewatch The Shield year after year, solely based on the fact that it’s always a blast to watch these dirty cops digging their own graves with every crooked decision that they make.
While the entire cast does an outstanding job overall throughout the series, Chiklis and Goggins are standouts with their compelling portrayals of three-dimensional scumbags that can’t help themselves.
Streaming On Hulu
REVIEW SCORE
If you like to watch a classic cops versus robbers story, The Shield, currently streaming on Hulu, won’t likely be your cup of tea. For those craving a gritty drama that is never afraid to push its characters to the emotional brink, then this cop show should be right up your alley. Just make sure that Vic Mackey isn’t following you down that same alley.
