I have viewed all but ONE episode of The Shield. I simply forgot it was a Tuesday night and Shield was on (season one).
From the first promos that had Vic muttering "Good cop and bad cop have left for the day. I'm a different kind of cop.", I knew I was ready for something different in a police drama other than the likes of Adam 12 or Dragnet.
Granted, it's a stretch comparing Vic Mackey to Officer's Malloy and Reed from Adam 12 or Friday and Gannon from Dragnet, but the style of the story lines are diametrically different. The closest police series would be NYPD Blue, Hill Street Blues or maybe Police Story.
Sheriff Andy Taylor? Get out!
To avoid a "spoiler", I will say that the way the last season finale ended, was not the way I saw it coming for many reasons. Much the same way that Six Feet Under ended its series run. I had an idea, but did not see it the way the writers did. The writers won.
I will be purchasing the box set of The Shield. All 5.1 seasons. I have to see which episode I missed. I doubt it will have any impact on my opinion of the series.
The ensemble, the writing and the camera shots and movement in no way hurts it. It actually adds to it.
Thanks F/X for picking it up.