Reviewed by Stuart O'Connor
Stars Michael Chiklis, Walton Goggins, Michael Jace, Jay Karnes,
Benito Martinez, CCH Pounder, Cathy Cahlin Ryan, David Rees Snell, Catherine Dent,
David Marciano, Paula Garcés, Michele Hicks, Laurie Holden | Created by Shawn Ryan
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £34.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 594 minutes | Directed by Shawn Ryan & others
The final act of this magnificent cop show plays out like a Greek tragedy. We all know that Vic's downfall is coming - but just what form will it take? Will he live or die? And whatever happens, will he take his family and Strike Team partners down with him?
I'm not going to go into details – the less you know going into this seventh season, the better. Let me just say that the last few minutes of the final episode are some of the best moments of television since the medium was invented. The cast – as well as the brilliant writing team – pull out all stops for these last 13 episodes, but the biggest kudos have to go to Chiklis as dirty cop Vic Mackey and Goggins as Shane Vendrell, his former partner who is now on the run with his pregnant wife and young son. These two give bravura, Oscar-worthy performances as cops who do the wrong thing for what they truly believe are the right reasons.
Chiklis, in particular as the show's anchor, is nothing short of genius; for many of the episodes, especially the final three, much of his acting is confined to just his face, and his eyes. At times, he makes us believe that we can see into the depths of his soul. The story arc for this final season harks back to many events from the pilot episode, rewarding those of us who have stuck with the show since it began. The Shield is over, and will be sorely missed, but what a wonderful ride it's been.
EXTRAS **** Deleted scenes with optional commentaries from creator Shawn Ryan; audio commentaries on every episode; two making-of featurettes - Last Call: The Final Episode, and Nobody Expects to lose, Nobody Expects to Die: The Shield's Final Season. You also get two versions of the final episode, Family Meeting - the original US cut, and the two-part UK version. My advice is to watch the US one, because it's tigher and plays a lot better.