Summary
- The Shield is widely considered one of the greatest television series ever made, maintaining its ranking in IMDb's top 100 television shows.
- The Shield Season 6 acts as a placeholder and set up for Season 7, unable to successfully follow up the extraordinary Season 5.
- Season 5 of The Shield is widely regarded as the best season, with consistent excellence, intense dramatic tension, and a mind-blowing finale.
While all seven seasons of The Shield are excellent in their own right, some have clearly distinguished themselves from others. The Shield is one of the most gripping original crime dramas of the 2000s and is widely considered one of the greatest television series ever made. Despite being more than twenty years since its original release date in 2002, The Shield still maintains its ranking as part of IMDb's top 100 television shows. The series also won one Emmy in 2002 for Michael Chiklis' performance as the complicated protagonist Vic Mackey.
While there are some The Shield, the impact of the series on modern television holds true to this day. It's one of the rare shows that got generally better as it progressed similarly to other classics such as Breaking Bad and The Wire. The Shield originally aired on FX and can currently be streamed in its entirely on Hulu. It tells the story of a dirty cop (Mackey) who is entangled in the middle of a corrupt inner-city precinct at the Los Angeles Police Department. Mackey and other LA police associates are inclined to break the rules and even the law in order to protect the community but more importantly, themselves. Here are all seven seasons of The Shield ranked from worst to best.
7 The Shield Season 6
The Shield season 6 is somewhat of a placeholder between seasons 5 and 7 and is good within that context. As its penultimate season, The Shield season 6 doesn't hold up much as a standalone season and largely feels at times like it's trying to figure itself out and how it will end as it's going along. The Shield season 6 is the shortest season of the entire series as it was initially intended to be the final season before season 7 was confirmed. This resulted in much of season 6 acting as set up for season 7. The Shield season 6 was also tasked with following up the extraordinary season 5, a daunting task that it was unable to accomplish successfully.
6 The Shield Season 4
The Shield season 4 introduced Glenn Close's character and switched the tone of the show from a brashly violent spectacle to a tension-building exercise in suspense. Close's ruthless character Monica Rawling poses a serious threat to Vic that ultimately adds nuance to the series altogether. While there was some negative critical regarding Close's casting in The Shield season 4, her character was largely influential in setting up the noteworthy season 5.
The Shield season 4 is not a bad season of television by any means, but compared to the others, lacks in areas of story and pace. The Shield season 4 was a transitional period for the series and as a result, generated mixed but mostly positive reviews. It is widely considered the foundation of the trajectory toward the final outcome of the show.
5 The Shield Season 1
The first season of The Shield broke new ground in television and changed many of the modern cop drama genre tropes in innovative ways. The Shield's pilot episode is one of the best pilots ever done and acts as the highlight of its freshman season. The biggest difference between season 1 and the following seasons of The Shield is its overall feel, which at times makes it feel intensely episodic and weighed down by comparison. Granted that the show was just starting to formulate its identity, there are a lot of aspects that can be overlooked because of its extraordinary impact and its smart writing that set up the rest of the series.
4 The Shield Season 3
The Shield season 3 is ittedly not as visually entertaining as its first two seasons but makes up for it with its exceptional writing and formidable cast. The series really began to find its stride throughout the third season with significant episodes that became some of the best of the entire series such as season 3, episode 11 titled "Strays". Everything about The Shield season 3 is taken to a new limit compared to the first two seasons, particularly in the amount of violence and brutality that was depicted on a cable network. The longest season of The Shield also delivers some of the most exciting and wild events in the entire series, making it one of the best.
3 The Shield Season 2
The Shield season 2 was intensely dark and grim with a newfound confidence that was felt in every element of the show due to the instant acclaim of season 1. Chiklis really dove into his character and found the proper footing in The Shield season 2 after his Emmy win for season 1 that eventually made Vic Mackey a television icon. The explicit content is noticeably expanded on compared to season 1, which established The Shield's incredibly unique place in 2000s television. Fans of The Shield season 1 immediately gravitated toward The Shield season 2 which stayed true to the core of its original premise while making several significant and grislier improvements.
2 The Shield Season 7
Season 5 and the final season of The Shield are nearly interchangeable for the series' number one spot. What separates the two elite seasons of television is some of the creative stretches that the final season takes in its plot developments, particularly in the early episodes following the season 6 finale. After getting over the initial story hump which can be easily overlooked, The Shield season 7 gains momentum to deliver one of the best series finales in television history. The Shield season 7 demonstrates the mastery of its main characters and the ideological themes of the show itself from its creators who successfully deliver a remarkably haunting conclusion to the acclaimed series.
1 The Shield Season 5
It's widely believed that season 5 is one of if not the absolute best season of The Shield. The consistent excellence of the season 5 episodes is what separates it the most from other seasons, placing it in the esteemed class of Breaking Bad season 5 and other noteworthy seasons from classic television shows. The dramatic tension is arguably brought to an all-time high in The Shield season 5 which is enhanced by the fantastic casting of Forest Whitaker as Kavanaugh. The show dives even deeper into the nuances of its characters, particularly the manipulative methods of Vic, and lands on a phenomenally mind-blowing season 5 finale that is one of the most expertly crafted episodes of The Shield.