Tuesday night saw the series finale of The Shield.  It’s place among my top five television shows is secure for a very long time.

The pilot episode of The Shield was magnificent.  Following that mighty start, the conclusion of just about ever season (number six being the exception, due to interruption from the writers’ strike) had me enthralled.  The creatives built a complex, compelling, charismatic anti-hero for us to root for/against.  They populated his world with characters we cared about, each occupying a shade of grey.  Then they threw one intense conflict after another at those characters.  Good things happened to bad people, bad things happened to good people, and everything in between.

Through it all, I wondered how it would ever be possible for this show to end.  No conclusion would satisfy if there wasn’t collateral damage.  The man we wanted to see come out on top didn’t deserve to.  And yet, they pulled it off.

Bravo.

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