The Shield - Season 3 [2004] - DVD (Michael Chiklis, C.C.H. Pounder, Walton Goggins - Dir: )

Dramatically speaking, the third season of The Shield is dysfunctional in the best sense of the word. Relationships fester in a quagmire of personal and professional conflict and clashing agendas inspire some of the finest episodes of this volatile series. Detective Mackey (Michael Chiklis) struggles to save his crumbling family (including two autistic children) while his strike team endures internal tensions over their secret stash of stolen drug money. Shane (Walton Goggins) clashes with teammate Tavon (Brian J. White) with near-fatal consequences, and his demanding fiancée tests his loyalty to Mackey. Captain Aceveda (Benito Martinez) suffers unspeakable humiliation en route to city council promotion, engaging Wyms (CCH Pounder) in a battle of wills over proper command of "The Barn." Dutch (Jay Karnes) pursues the "cuddler rapist" case and confronts the dark side of his soul, while Danny (Catherine Dent) revives her career and is re-partnered with Julien (Michael Jace), who suppresses his homosexuality in a desperate quest for conventional marriage and family. After Lemon (Kenneth Johnson) attempts a drastic solution to their "money train" worries, the shaken strike team faces a deeply uncertain future.

As always, The Shield juggles multiple plotlines with relentless pacing and narrative economy, packing substantial character developments into all 15 action-packed episodes. This season's inclusion of a competitive decoy squad offers humour and professional sacrifice, and the pivotal David Mamet-directed episode "Strays" arrives at a shocking conclusion, with Mamet regulars Clark Gregg and Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet's wife) giving outstanding guest star performances. Series star Chiklis (whose pugnacious mug dominates the DVD packaging) makes his directorial debut on "Slipknot," and eight episodes include informative, entertaining commentaries by the principal cast and crew. A generous archive of deleted scenes illustrates the agonising decisions required by the time constraints of episodic TV, and the making-of documentary offers an intimate look at the series' collaborative writing process. With major developments (including a new role for Glenn Close) in store for Season 4, these episodes maintain the high standard of provocative drama that loyal Shield fans have come to expect. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews of The Shield - Season 3 [2004]

Dyspeptic Spirit
Sunny Berkshire
25th August 2008

More of the same...
It's unfortunate that I am writing this review so soon after having watched the second series of The Wire since any comparison between The Shield and The Wire is bound to be detrimental to the former.

Certainly the early episodes of this series are some of the best of The Shield so far. Politics and the money train robbery cause heightened tension within the barn and the arrival of the decoy team only makes matters worse. But as things progress the series starts to fall apart and reverts to the bad old days of series one.

One of the problems with the series is that it tries to deal with difficult subject matter but does so in a such an incompetent manner. When Aceveda is raped at gunpoint he (unsurprisingly) suffers psychological trauma and feels shame at what has occurred. However when he finally gets up the courage to inform his wife, she is unsupportive and disgusted depite him pleading the case for the defence that he was at gunpoint! The issue is finally resolved however when he takes matters into his own hands and exacts revenge on the perpetrators. As is typical of the series the matter is then closed and we move on, the whole issue having been handled in a crass and insensitive manner.

For me The Shield as a series stands or falls on whether you view Vic Mackey as a hard macho maverick dealing out his own form of justice or a bald overstuffed turkey who's swallowed one too many testosterone tablets. The biggest problem I have with him is that he just cannot act. This series contains many scenes involving his difficult family life but it is just so painful watching him trying to emote on screen. It is almost laughable. When he and Shane get together on screen things really do fall apart altogether and only the wonderful Wyms and Dutch pull the show out of the resulting nadir.

But even Duch cannot save some of the later scene as he is at first the writer subjects him to a "penis line-up" in an attempt to catch a rapist (seriously I'm not making this up) and then makes his character strangle a stray moggy to try and understand the mind of a murderer (seriously watch it for yourself!).

Ultimately The Shield is at best average, at worst dire.

almighty

13th July 2008

AMAZING!
What is there to say? The Shield is simply THE BEST TV SERIES EVER. BRILLIANT IN EVERY ASPECT, AND BETTER THAN ANY MOVIE I HAVE EVER SEEN.

F.Dawson
huddersfield,england
25th April 2008

BEST SEASON FOR ME
having read the reviews for season 3,it just shows everybody`s different.i put season 3 way better than the previous 2...they are top class viewing...but 3 is awesome.

SeanLock

18th March 2008

Not the best of the six but when placed on its own merits, absolutely briliant!
I am so pleased i was able to find The Shield, my brother was always into his box set series such as X Files so i decided to find something to keep me entertained.

Firstly i love The Shield, all the series are exceptional models of what good tv should be and series three is no different. All the characters are well explored over the course of the six series, and though 'Vic' is the main character no one is ever overlooked or in the same way over exposed. The script is sharp and the acting first rate and i am often left with a smile at the end of each episode.

You know that a programme is good when you always have to have 'one more episode' before you go to sleep, and with that in mind i would recommend buying several series in one go as the stories are quick flowing, action packed and when left for too long between series can become harder to follow.

Series Three is not my personal favourite, that goes to 1 and 5 as they are truly fantastic pieces of drama, however when based on its own away from the other series' it stands head and shoulders above programmes such as The Unit which is far too middle of the road, The Shield has moments of unflinching violence coupled with swearing, corruption and hidden turns which makes for great viewing.

All in all a fantastic achievement and one which deserves YOUR attention.

BUY IT!! BUY IT NOW!!

J. D. Walpole

24th January 2008

Fantastic !
Series one was outstanding, series two was great, Series three is AWESOME and a must buy if you have seen one or/and two. The team are back to there best and although trying to take down the bad guys they are till trying to sort the slight money problem out whilst also being tracked by Aceveda and the Great geek Dutch boy! They are still dealing with their personal issues aswell and other reviews have said Aceveda played an awesome part in this. You must watch this to find out why. Excellent cliff hanger and a little tough ending that gripped me! can't wait to buy series 4.