Excuse me, I think I dropped something.

My jaw.

No, but seriously, God bless Shawn Ryan for giving us this kind of an ending to the series. We're all on record on page 1 of this thread doubting season 7, but these last 3 episodes have been absolutely sensational and I pray to Father Morton for forgiveness for not having faith in the Ryan.

* Aceveda's face when Pezuela promises him the mayor race
* Ronnie and the Vietnamese bartender
* Shane scrambling to cover up his hit
* Vic getting a call seconds before his life is about to end at Shane's gun
* Mara's diarrhea of confession
* Claudette seething with rage at Mackey about Shane
* Dutch getting Two-Man's confession
* Vic knocking the drug dealer's tooth out on the toilet in the final bust of his career
* Turning the badge and gun in

So many epic moments here, so much history careening out of control. And they didn't even address Danny Sofer having gone AWOL or Claudette about to die of Lupus.

The wheels really came off this time; for 7 years the strike team's business was all under wraps, but now there's absolutely no more denying anything. Shane is done. Vic is done. Ronnie is on the ropes. And I buy almost all of it.

And CSI: Miami gets better ratings than this???

I agree with all of this. WOW.

Don't worry, where you're going, all you need are lips.

Also Ronnie needs more love. I know he kinda was the 4th guy because of all the crap with Lem, Shane, and Vic but he has been so awesome this year and especially in last night's episode.

A couple more things about the awesomeness of this episode...

1) Claudette's reaction as the Barn turned into a hornet's nest right as Two-Man called out Shane. She was trying her best to keep control, but there was no way she could do anything to stop all of the commotion. she seemed so angry, helpless, and worried at the same time.

2) Shane's reaction as he was walking out of the barn... that scene was filmed very cleverly, and Shane's face pretty much said it all.

3) Although this was a set-up episode... I'm interested to see if this is the last one for the series. With 5 episodes left, is it going to be all focused on this final showdown or will we have any sidetracking at all? I hope the pedal is to the floor and we roar to the finale straight from here, but I know I'm more than eagerly awaiting next Tuesday.

"Hey Billings- I know about the lawsuit. I don't want this to be part of your half-assed brand of policing"


Ha. Classic.

Amazing episode, too many great scenes to name.

There is no Canadian station that broadcasts the new episodes of The Shield. At 125 AM Noodleman IMs me to say what a great episode it is and I decided to sleep and DL it and watch it first thing when I get up. I am starting to think staying up waiting like a kid Christmas morning for it to finish dling might have been a better call. Incredible episode and there are still 5 more to go.

Does anybody get FXHD? it appears they have it available according to their website, but I don't know of anybody actually having it. FX has some of the best shows, and plays a lot of decent enough movies from time to time.

I get ****ing FOOD NETWORK in HD, thanks comcast.

Blinden,


I am also frustrated with the lack of F/X HD. My new Bravia is being wasted weekly on FX. Verizon does not offer it in the DC area, and you say Comcast does not either.

Its a pain the ass, no doubt.

I get FX HD but The Shield was not filmed in HD so it is still standard. Kinda sucks though... commercials during The Shield are in Hi-Def but then the program isn't. I think the standard definition works for The Shield though because it gets the grittiness it is supposed to have with the camera work they use. I think Hi-Def clarity would actually make the show look too polished which would in a sense detract from the realism.

I strongly disagree with this.

the shield would be amazing in widescreen format, they could still run the proper filters in production to add the correct feel to the show.

Nothing is ever better in SD, period.

I'm kind of opposite. I wasn't really expecting it to play out like that because of last weeks previews suggesting as much. When it did play out like the previews, I was caught off guard. It's like reverse psychology or something.

I thought it was funny she was telling him she went to school during the day and he is just like " good for you" and ushers her into his house.

Another great moment was when Two-Man was giving his confession and Dutch just looked at the interrogation room camera with that baffled look. Just added to overall pandemonium of the scene.

Great episode, possibly leading to a big-time payoff for the series, even if it looks to be one we've all suspected for years.

Maybe because I like the show so much and really dig a lot of the characters, this episode leaves me wondering "what if?".

What if Shane kept quiet about killing Lem? Could he?

What if Vic doesn't change his mind about killing Shane? Or, what if Shane doesn't survive by accident?

What if Shane had gone about murdering Vic and Ronnie the smart way; by himself, no hired-gun?

And, what if, instead of going the murder route, he tells them that "he knows", and they come to some sort of arrangement.


My guess is, if any of these "what if's" had happened, we'd see a happier, and crappier ending to the series. Well done, Shawn Ryan.

I forgot to mention how much I loved the scene where he is telling Mara all the things she has to do to create an alibi for him. Logging on to check the Georgia score, ordering pizza and using his wallet to pay while he is supposedly in the shower... it was both amazing and sickening to watch. The crazy thing, is that if Two-Man didn't suck, Shane was going to possibly get away with it.

I don't get FXHD, but comcast has all the FX HD shows on demand (just figured this out). No dice on the Shield though.

I get FX in HD thru DirecTV....

Loved this episode so much....cool to see Mara and Corrine stand up and show some balls....that scene between them was electric. And where the F is Danny?

Ryan is doing the impossible - we think we know how it's all going to go down and he spins it in a completely different direction.

Great, great show.

From another forum:

The Shield has tested a variety of cameras including HD cameras, but the series is shot on Arri Sr3… this is an s16 camera that is more than capable of hd and ws format. They are doing this to give a doccumentary feel to the show. When they do rehearsals they excuse the camera guys so when they do shoot–the viewer always has this feeling that they are just catching up to the story and feeling always slightly off guard.

If The Shield was going to be on tv for another 2 seasons they were looking at using the Red One ( I am an early reservation holder– I am shooting timelapses this afternoon with mine ) and “dirty it up in post” but we know the answer to that one.

As a professional cameraman, I am still perplexed as to why they still go for the Picture format 480i (SDTV) to air. I do not get it.

I mean it was obviously implied last week that she skipped town in the middle of the night with Lee, intending to quit her job, leave Los Angeles, and raise her child without Vic anywhere near him. But it was rash, out of character, and a bizarre ending to the Danny character if indeed she's really gone. I'm just surprised, as I imagine you are, that nobody acknowledged her absence this week.

Yes.

I missed the "how long you been bartending line" when i watched it the first time and my first impression was that Ronnie got a hooker haha.

Possibly the best Shield episode yet. Of course the pessimist in me is worried that with five episodes left the end of the season will turn into a Prison Break type drawn out thing but I guess after seven seasons of awesomeness I should just trust the makers of The Shield and know that they'll make it good.

Are there talks of a spin-off show?

As soon as I saw vic start jockeying for that fed job that's what went through my head.

Really liked this ep. Just fantastically tense. I almost can't complain about no Tina.