All I gotta say is wow. I'm a big fan of TV on DVD and have been
searching for my next show to get into. I have all the 24 seasons,
all the Lost seasons (my two favorites...until now), and was looking
for something to watch since I'm all caught up on those two shows
and prefer serial type shows.
I decided to give Shield a shot remembering the glowing reviews (and
controversy) it had when it first came out back in...well, whenever
it came out (sorry, currently too lazy to dig for that particular
fact).
I can say that the first season of The Shield was probably some of
the best stuff I have ever seen in a TV show. It is on par with some
of the best movie dramas ever made. I highly recommend this show to
anyone who has not seen it before (those folks like me looking for
TV on DVD they haven't seen before). I can only hope that further
seasons live up to this first one.
Four months into the "Farmington Project",
Detective Vic Mackey and his Strike Team prepare to take
down a major drug dealer who has never before been caught
with product. Meanwhile, following a homicide, Wyms and
Wagenbach discover that a child is missing, sold to a
paedophile by her drug-addicted father.
After the death of a member of the Strike
Team on a high-risk raid, Aceveda begins to investigate the
real circumstances behind the raid. Lowe and Sofer find a
dying man being mugged, eventually linked to a Mexican
gang.
It's Sweep-day on the Farm, with all
outstanding warrants to be served. Mackey and the Strike
Team move to take down an old foe, arresting a basketball
star in the process, seeing a chance to affect sports
history and make some money in the process.
A gunfight breaks out in a crowded club
between two local rappers which could potentially start a
gang war. To further complicate matters, one of Mackey's
contacts was involved in the shootout. Mackey and the Strike
Team try to prevent the conflict from escalating.
Aceveda insists that Mackey take uniformed
cops in with them to bust an
Armenian gang's drug delivery. After the bust, Margos
Dezerian is caught among the Armenian gang and Lowe sees the
Team take a portion of the drugs for themselves. But in the
end Vendrell ends up having the drugs and the vehicle
they're in stolen from them. While the search for the drugs
and the truck goes on, Mackey learns that his son is
autistic.
When the body of a young hooker is found in
the district, Wagenbach and Wyms get the full resources of
the Barn for 24 hours and the help of the FBI to search for
Wagenbach's serial killer. Meanwhile, The Strike Team busts
an underage prostitution ring, and Capt. Aceveda continues
to investigate Mackey.
7
"Pay in Pain"
Shawn Ryan
D.J. Caruso
April 23, 2002
107
When Mackey and Vendrell hook up with a cop
from another precinct to investigate the shooting, Vendrell
sets off an explosive confrontation with a suspect by making
a racial slur; fortunately, Mackey defuses the situation.
Wagenbach and Wyms search for a serial killer and bring in a
psychic on a complaint from the son of one of her clients,
and Aceveda calls internal affairs after getting Lowe's
affidavit.
8
"Cupid & Psycho"
Glen Mazzara
Guy Ferland
April 30, 2002
108
Allegations against the Strike Team are
front-page news, and the team is broken up pending the
investigation. Mackey threatens to reveal that Officer Lowe
is gay if he won't recant his statement about the Strike
Team. In the meantime, Mackey and Wyms find themselves
following the trail of a batch of "cupid" meth, while
Vendrell and Wagenbach try to get along on a case.
A planted gun in a truck-jacking case causes
complications for the Strike Team, and now they're left to
clean up their own mess. The rift between Officers Lowe and
Sofer deepens, causing Aceveda to intervene. Wyms deals with
the mess of her family during a visit from her daughter.
Mackey helps Connie quit her crack addiction
by going cold-turkey in her desperate attempt to keep her
son, leaving Vendrell and Lemansky to investigate a
strip-club mugging ring. Wagenbach follows his instincts on
a serial killer case and Sofer is bitten by an HIV-infected
perpetrator.
The Strike Team mediates a dispute between
Rondell Robinson and the Nation of Islam while Wagenbach and
Wyms investigate a brutal home invasion in the tight lipped
Korean community. Aceveda revisits his past.
12
"Two Days of Blood"
Kurt Sutter & Scott Rosenbaum
Guy Ferland
May 28, 2002
112
While Mackey answers Assistant Chief Gilroy's
call for help in covering up a hit and run before Wagenbach
intuits the facts of the case, Vendrell and Lemansky follow
the trail of a gunrunner with a penchant for cockfights.
Aceveda turns to Wyms after a double homicide raises ire and
fear within an ignored community.
In the aftermath of a riot, cops are being
lured into ambush shootings by a rash of bogus 911 calls.
Mackey and Captain Aceveda must work together to stop these
attacks and solve the problems in The Grove, while Assistant
Chief Gilroy tries to pit the two against each other to save
his own job.
