The Shield Season 2 Review

Hey, this is Steve Blum, and you are listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. There is nothing

wrong with your podcast player. Do not attempt

to adjust the volume. Hello and welcome back

into our studio. You are now inside Studio 2009,

only on the GeekCast Radio Network. I am, of

course, TFJone Mike. And joining me once again

is Ryan, the Uneven Flow Merkley. Hello, sir.

Hello. And we are here to do the second part

of seven in our 20th anniversary celebration

of FX is the shield. So we're going to talk about

season two tonight. Today, whenever you find

people listening to this, I'm a deal burns out

as competition sends me a message. Me and my

boys will handle this one. Hey, I'm just giving

you information. This is my case. You see that

little piggy with my card spiked to its head.

This is gangland. My domain. I'm already on.

Any reason why the two of you shouldn't pair

up together I just think it would make more sense

if I handle this on my own You're gonna see some

kind of kicking and screaming you didn't know

existed you try pulling me off this both wanted

it's big enough for the two of you Work it together

Season two I like it more than I thought I did,

as in back when, sorry, there's a bunch of different

events that this season follows coming out of

season one. The most notable, Vic's lost his

family, which, oh man, they're better off without

them, but that's a totally other story. Vic's

lost his family. Vic has sort of... They've kind

of, well, actually everybody's kind of lost control

of the barn. So they have an independent auditor

coming in to find corruption, which of course

there's none in the bar, none at all. Pretty

much everybody's corrupt. Anywho, on top of that,

we've got the stuff going on on the streets in

terms of the sort of drug war, which is kind

of the main focus of the season. And there's

what I thought was the main focus of the season

because For whatever reason, looking back at

it, I could have sworn that the money train was

just something that was in the entire season

from start to finish. When it's not, I was surprised

that it only kind of first gets mentioned roughly

halfway in. And yeah, I don't know what it was

for whatever reason. Yeah, I thought it was just

the entire thing. And yeah, it wasn't. And then

we still have some stuff for The other actually

the other characters go through a fair amount

as in like Julian and Danny and Everybody so

yeah. Yeah, I Originally thought the money train

was the tail end of season two going into season

three You were faster than I was then because

yeah Yeah, I thought no I was like like I remember

the money train I remember them stealing the

money train. I remember them, you know Mean if

if Julian was full -time on the strike team I

guess he could be the Wesley Snipes and I guess

Shane could be the Woody Harrelson of the money

Oh wait, that's whoops wrong wrong universe.

That's a movie. Not a not a show. Anyway The

season where Shane debuts the Cletus Van Damme

persona. Yeah, so he's apparently more Jean -Claude

Van Damme redneck Yeah, this season. So I was

uncomfortable watching the first season because

of how, you know, you can listen to episode 36

folks and you'll, and you'll hear my, my explanations

for that if you listen to that. But like this

season, I was like, okay, what's going on with

them and okay, what's going on with Vic and the

fat? Like, I mean, yes, Vic is a bad guy. But

seeing the whole family thing with him and him

just not being able to deal with it. Again, we

said in that episode, we'll say it in this episode,

we'll probably say it in the next five episodes.

At times you want to sympathize with Vic, even

though you know you shouldn't. I think the other

issue is you want to root for him sometimes too.

So most notably in this season, we have Vic team

up with. Wimson Wagenbach. He raped a 12 year

old girl last night to cover the tire murders.

He raped a kid? Why is he in Central by now?

Her brother's uncooperative. I think he took

her back to Mexico. No victim, no arrest. And

they're trying to find a child that's missing.

And he, and this is the second last, so we're

jumping ahead a little, but whatever. This is

the second last episode of the season, but...

And he's working with them and he's still kind

of doing his not so good cop stuff, although

he tones it down because he's working with Claudette.

But still, he's not doing everything, you know,

inside the lines necessarily. But because of

the situation, you're rooting for him. And it's

one of the things the show did a really good

job with is that there is Think Sean Ryan was

the one that said this and he said this sometime

right around the time the show ended That Vic's

a bad person and he's a bad cop Mm -hmm, but

secretly deep down we all kind of wish that There

might be a Vic Mackie looking out or that you

know, you kind of wish that person could exist

And I, you know, it comes out, especially in

cases involving kids. And yeah, it comes out

in real life too, for people, I think. And I

don't know. It's stuff with the Punisher in that

part of making the character work is coming up

with people that are so bad. Even this monster

seems kind of okay, at least for a second. Mm

-hmm. And yeah, Vic is So the stuff with his

family. I don't remember how I felt When I watched

it originally, but now obviously and again, we

mentioned this in the first part I know what

happens so in the first couple episodes when

Vic finds his family again Yeah, and by the end

spoiler alert he files for divorce trying to

preemptively get some sort of visitation with

the kids, but uh He's just he's he's not a good

family guy. He's a good family man No, there's

sort of a thing to him especially by the end

of the series Yeah Yeah, absolutely. There's

He wants to do I think he wants to do the right

thing for his family for the most part. But the

hard ass reputation of the cop that he is kind

of interferes with that. I have a hard time figuring

out if he cares about them. He cheats on Corinne

all the time. He isn't home with the kids, one

of which actually, aren't they all? I can't remember

now. So I don't think I don't think Cassidy is

autistic but both Matthew and Megan are yeah

I think it's he had two out of three. That's

right. No. Yeah, we went through this last time

and So anyway He you know, he's not He's not

a good dad to them either and he's an awful husband

and He at best is emotionally distant and yeah,

I think Think it's just a thing for him and it

gets worse as the series goes on because he loses

The group that really is his family. Yeah through

his own actions and then the end he pushes away

his actual family again through his own actions,

so This season kind of feels like the No, he

was bad in season one, too It's just the continuation

of it, I guess. Like I mentioned in episode 36,

it took me until that rewatch when we did that

episode to realize that we see how Vic knew that

Terry was the rat, the mole, the whatever at

the time. You know cuz it's it goes into whatever

in the you know all that but from that first

action from him shooting Terry Crowley Vicks

not a good guy Vick is a he's yeah, but the show

does a decent job of making you forget it Well,

because you have these moments like him, you

know him coming home and the family isn't there

and he You know here's this answering machine

from his future ex wife saying hey don't try

to find us don't this don't that and you see

the emotions on his face you see him breaking

down and as a viewer of television. You kind

of want to root for him in that specific moment

i also think on the top side of it too though

so to get into this a little more so first of

all. The early part of the season, poor Tio has

a real rough time. He gets his HQ burned down,

some of his people get killed, and then he gets

beaten to death. We learned that somebody worse

has moved in, and that's the other part of it.

In terms of the cop aspect of Vic, their methods

stink, and their methods are corrupt. But the

insinuation is that somehow it's protecting The

streets and the people from worse people moving

in his deals with to his deal in season one with

Pretty much everybody Especially Rondell, but

they know he turns on him for real whatever in

any case he yeah he thinks We think he's protecting

them. He's really not. And in the end, each time

somebody worse keeps showing up. But you want

to root for him because it seems like he's protecting

them. And then in this one, he rescues the child.

Hell, in what was in the premiere of the series,

he gets a confession from a pedophile by beating

him. And there's all these things that It's terrible,

but deep down, I think the lizard brain part

of us goes. Yeah, it's fine. Yeah, it's. And

by the way, it's helped to so chickless. And

I think we talked about this a little in the

first one, but he does not get I know he won

the Emmys, but he does not get enough credit

for this for his work in this show. And in a

lot of ways, he is Walter White well before Walter

White. And he has a natural charisma to him.

It reminds me a lot of, if someday we ever talk

about it, of David Tennant and his work as Kilgrave

Purple Man in Jessica Jones, that he's so slimy

and disgusting, but you kind of forget because

you go like, eh, it's David Tennant. He's a nice

guy. And Tickliss has that because... I think

a lot of people remember him as the commission.

And he was kind of a bumbling, like friendly

guy who still got the job done. So I think that's

part of it. And I do think chickless himself

as a real strong, I've noticed in everything

he's done since then to he's very charismatic.

And that certainly helps a lot if they had picked

somebody who Unlikeable as an actor or as a person.

I think the show would have fallen flat on its

face But alternatively the work he puts in is

he's so good in this he's This is a really good

cast and we talked about it in the first time

a bunch of different people kind of broke out

from this show Yeah, but really until we hit

the later seasons and we've mentioned some of

the guest stars that show up He's still so head

and shoulders above everybody. He's so good.

And it's not a slight against anybody else. We've

both mentioned it a hundred times that we absolutely

adore CCH Pounder. She is Amanda Waller for me,

no matter what they ever do anywhere else. And

she's so many other characters. And Claudette

gets so good. That was great in season one. Yeah,

and she's a central character here with the will

she or won't she in terms of taking over the

barn as Captain as the captain s of eight is

Job as his job is seemingly winding down and

we get a lot of where he stands in the polls

in terms of moving up as a politician and by

the end of course, yeah, he Yeah, it gets he

wins. He gets to move on and so we need a new

captain You know, it will not be Spoiler alert.

It will not be Claudette No, no, it won't be

but that's that's that's okay I don't mind because

initially she didn't want like she told him like

no, but But you know what to be and she should

yeah Yeah, no, absolutely. You're right because

she was one of the only people that could Actually

cleans things up and it should be noted that

Some of the stuff that were so in this season

more stuff that Vic is just not a good dude and

the strike team Doesn't care about people Not

only do they damage Claudette's although that's

mostly in the next season Yeah, you know Vic

and the strike teams shenanigans destroy her

career partially But in this season directly,

they destroyed Danny's. I mean, Officer Sofer,

she has a rough go. So she's forced into a scenario

where she shoots and kills a man and is continuously

harassed by the wife. And then as if that's not

bad enough, well, you know what, we should talk

about... Armadillo first, I guess, before we

get to that. Yeah. Yeah. We got to talk about

Armadillo and we got to talk about Tio because,

and I want to start with Tio really quick because

I'm looking at the actor Cedric Pendleton. I'm

looking at his IMDB because I'm, I'm like, that's

the one thing with this show. I said it last

season with Benito Martinez with the, with the

guy who plays Acevedo. This show has so many

people that I look at and I'm like, I know that

person from somewhere. I don't know where I know

him from, but I think I know him from something.

Obviously with Walter Emmanuel Jones, with, with

Rondell. Rondell used to be a Power Ranger in

the nineties kind of thing. And Cedric Pendleton

here is kind of, you know, Tio was kind of the

same thing. And I've got his IMDB pulled up.

You want to know what the first thing he did

for a TV series was? 1999, he was on WCW worldwide

as Looney. Whoever the hell Looney was, he was

in that. He was in Summer Catch as one of the

baseball players. It's a movie from 2001. No,

he was the closer. He was the closing pitcher,

Calvin Knight. I remember that now. Obviously

the shield. He was on an episode of NYPD Blue.

He was on CSI in New York. He's been in House

of Pain. He was on the Have Nots. But again,

it's one of those things where... He's one of

those guys that I'm like, where have I seen him

before? And I mean, Armadillo. Once I recognized

him from the accent and through the weird mustache

and what I'm like, Hey, that's Danny Pino. Holy

crap. So Danny, uh, who plays Armadillo. Originally,

I knew him as Scotty Valens on Cold Case. He

also played Nick Amaro from 2011 to 2021 on Law

and Order SVU. So those are their actors, but

the characters of these two individuals, wow.

That's a little different. Yeah, that's very

different. Patio is Vic's current sort of drug

dealer of choice, I guess we'll say. Yeah. And

they're backing him. Teo is killed by Armadillo.

Yeah. Fairly early on. Yeah. Like first two episodes.

Yeah. And at that point Armadillo kind of takes

over the drug trade. Armadillo is not a good

person. No, not at all. He is a criminal. He's

a very sick individual. Yeah, he is awful. He

does things worse than killing his own brother

when the strike team threatened to out him. Yep.

And yeah, so the strike team, this is the season

two that gives Ronnie at least a little something

to do, although most of it is getting his face

burned off in retaliation for them burning Acevedo,

or Acevedo, them burning Armadillo's face. So

that's the thing with this season is that this

main overall bad guy, Armadillo Quintero, played

by Danny Pino, his signature way of getting rid

of people is that he likes to burn them up. And

Vic finds out about this and whatever and Vic...

Catches him in a house and Vicks like okay. You

want to burn people here? Let's get you burned

And it wasn't until the episode after that happened

That I finally recognized Who you know who the

actor was at the time because I saw you know

parts of his face and whatever else So yeah,

he gets burned up and then obviously, you know

retribution So Ronnie sadly gets burned up. Hey,

at least Ronnie isn't just the driver anymore

At least Ronnie is kind of moving into his tech

phase. Yeah, I mean, yeah, he had something to

do finally. Yeah, exactly. I mean, wow. So that

happens. And this is like within like the first

five or six episodes. I mean, this isn't even

like, yeah, that's the thing with this season.

I the first eight episodes. I was like, hmm.

Each time. Like, okay, this is happening, this

is happening, this is happening. But look at

this. He was making monthly payments to a landlord

when he owns the building. Well, maybe Armadillo's

the landlord. Tio got tired of shelling out.

Buy was a payback. Black dealer, Latino boss

man? Doubt it. Besides, he was making payments

weeks before Armadillo crossed the border. Oh.

Macky's got all these women on the side and whatever

else, and... You know So yeah, the first eight

episodes was just like holy crap They went by

a lot faster than I thought the armadillo dies

Yeah, so spoiler alert again. I mean they kill

armadillo He dies Yep a lot earlier than I remember

Okay. Yeah, I mean he does I mean I thought for

whatever reason I don't know why, because I did

remember that the team was there, but for whatever

reason, I seemed to recall that in my brain that

that was why Vic missed the money train heist.

It wasn't. No, yeah. It was something completely

different. So, oops. Anywho. Yeah. That's what

it does to you. Everything kind of jumps together.

Melts together. It should be noted Armadillo.

So Armadillo is well aware of Tio's relationship

with the strike team. And this is why they can't

just kind of go out and outright murder the guy,

which they would probably normally do. However,

they need to get rid of him and things get worse

for the strike team when Armadillo gives himself

up to the police and gets put into custody. And

this is where I mentioned so Danny we went over

the early parts of the season with her yep, and

Well in a frankly pretty smart maneuver The team

gives a makes a deal with another person that

they're that's arrested They give him a knife.

Unfortunately, it's a perp that is first by Danny.

So she gets blamed for this, by the way. But

they give him a knife and he knifes Armadillo

to death in the pen. And he bleeds out there

and all the strike team's problems are temporarily

solved until they create new ones for themselves.

Yes. So the reason why I keep mentioning this

the first eight episodes of this is because that

was the mid season. I want to say, well, maybe

not. It felt like a, so it's with scar tissue

when Mackie discovers that Gardaki has been burned

as payback and the rest of the team does everything

they can, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah to put

an end to Armadillo. You know, so that episode.

What when i was watching this i was like okay

so the armadillo thing is continuing okay okay

okay i get to the next episode which is episode

nine. Yeah i was gonna get to the end yeah so

oh okay well i didn't realize you were to get

to the end yeah i'm just kind of i mean as we

continue on the overall kind of right right i

guess yeah and i'll bring this up at the end

because yeah it's a little uh yeah. One thing

we haven't gotten to and this becomes much larger

in the last Well four episodes, sorry 10 to 13

is Julian Julian low is gay and he has Started

really figuring that out essentially Yep, and

in this season he gets harassed he Ends the season

being beaten severely Yes, I don't I Feel like

it's weird. I feel like it's handled. I mean

it's handled Unfortunately in a potentially realistic

manner Especially for 2003. Yeah, which sucks.

Yeah And then it kind of further gets complicated

with the actor, but that's in the whole other

story I don't want to talk about ever again.

No, no. Look, Michael Jace, the actor, is not

somebody I'm going to be singing any praises

at all. I will talk about the character of Julian

and... What he goes through in this series, but

as far as my lecture doesn't exist. Yeah, he's

Like no race from the old history for a variety

of reason anyhoo Yeah, if there's a reunion he

will not be part of it There was a reunion and

I don't know if he was a part of it part of it

or not There was a reunion in 2018. I watched

her on YouTube. I'll have to send it to you.

Damn it, but anyway Why did that not come up

when I was watching? Whatever. Anywho, that's

another story. So there's his storyline and then

I mentioned it before, the bulk of the last few

episodes is the independent auditor report and

everything coming down on the barn. And that

threatens Acevedo who makes a deal with Vic.

Next of all is... I mentioned the stuff with

Julian. And then lastly, the other really big

part of it is the money train. So there's an

Armonian, or Armonian. They wear really nice

suits. There's the Armonian money train. And

they just, it's a random placement. They move,

use it to move money around. And the strike team

wants to hit it so they can essentially retire.

And they do the end. Yeah. I mean, well, I mean,

you know, it's, so they have the retirement fund

that they have and all the shit that keeps coming

up in all of their lives, whether it's Roddy's

face being burned or Shane being a stupid idiot

to or, uh, family excitement. Yeah. Yeah. So,

I mean, the, so I know in real life cops, whether

they are beat cops or detectives or whatever

they do. You know, they do side work. They do,

you know, security work and things like that.

Sometimes to make up extra cash because being

a police person is not, you know, it isn't the

richest job in the world. It's a public service

job and, and all that. But what Vic and the team

do to. pad their pockets and have their retirement

fund. The way they explain it in the show is

that it's the Armenian mobs money, their entire

West coast distribution of cash going all the

way up from Seattle, Washington, all the way

down to San Diego and into Mexico and whatever,

whatever, the whole West coast. And it's like,

holy crap. and they get it done somehow, sort

of, kind of, almost, but they do it. I like the

fallout of the money train as far as how they

have to be careful and how obviously Shane's

gonna be dumb, but I'm, so, I'm, Overall so far

okay with the character of Shane Vendrell But

I'm not a super fan of him So his paranoia and

that kind of thing hasn't started to go out of

control or anything yet. That's something that

happens later on Yeah, we kind of don't know

him. He's not a good guy, obviously Yeah, he

and Vic are easily I think the worst of the team

Oh easily. Yeah, and especially at this point

in terms of as human beings Yeah, we haven't

really quote -unquote gone home with Shane or

anything to kind of learn a lot about him It's

high. Yeah, well, but yeah. Yeah. All we know

is he's not a super great cop or a super good,

dude He's kind of a goofy Doesn't care. He's

He's kind of like Like, and I don't want to,

I hate that I'm making this comparison, but I'm

going to make it. It's like Vic is the Lone Ranger

and Shane is Tonto. You know, Lone Rangers say

Tonto no go to town. What does Tonto do? Tonto

goes to town and gets beat up by the bandits.

Like Shane does the stupidest, dumbest, like

he's not careful. He's not this, that, and that

whole, what we'll get into later in, you know,

season three, four, whatever. the Cletus Van

Damme bullshit. Well, yeah, he's opened with

that here, but yeah. Yeah. But like, all of that

and then finding that... He's season one and

two Jesse Chinkman, kind of. Kind of, except

I have to say season one and two, Jesse has much

better quotes than Shane does. Also, their character

arc is the exact opposite. Jesse kind of gets,

tries to be more moral and Shane just kind of

goes further and further down the toilet. Yep.

Oh, Shane's going down the toilet throughout

this entire until, you know, whatever, like,

but right now he seems, it seems normal that

right now the strike team is everybody's getting

along. They're all working together. Everyone's

on the same page about the money train to the

point that they hit it. Well, that is not there.

Yeah. And the only one. even at this point when

they're discussing the money train that has reservations

about it, is Lem. Because Lem is by far out of

the four of them. I mean, Ronnie too. Well, Ronnie

we just don't know yet. Until later on, we finally

learn more about Ronnie, essentially in the last

season. Sort of it. It also helps. I mean Ronnie

was gone for a portion of this season as he recovers

Yep Yeah, I mean, you know and did they know

that was the third I've already watched ahead

folks because I just I got caught up I got to

the point where I was like anything Anyway, yes,

but like when we were going to record this I

watched the second season and then that season

finale I was like okay click next oh this is

where we're starting okay so like I'm in the

middle of season four right now like I could

not I just can't it's so a lot of the characters

are bad and you don't want to root for them specifically

the strike team and there is another character

that Don't see him getting any better but Here

too, I'd argue I don't know Danny doesn't seem

like a great officer in this season. I mean despite

being set up by I mean, she doesn't seem to be

not corrupt. She's just She's not corrupt, but

at the same time, she's not, she's a seasoned

officer who doesn't know where she is. Like,

yes, she is okay being a patrol officer. I believe

at one point or another Acevedo mentions to her

in this season about the detective's test or

something. And she did or didn't take it or whatever.

And then Dutch and, oh, I can help you study

or whatever. Maybe that was the season. But the

point is, is that she hasn't moved up yet. Dutch

kind of starts hitting the honor on this season.

By the way, Dutch's complete love life failure

is a fun kind of thing that happens through the

series. As bad as Vic and the strike team are,

so far Dutch is my least favorite character out

of all of the characters. I'd argue that's later,

but that's something we'll talk about later.

Yeah. Right. But what I'm saying is like Dutch,

I felt creepy about Dutch the first time I watched

the pilot when we first were going to do this

and I had not watched the show in 20 years. The

last time I saw this show was 2002. It's something

we'll get into much later with certain events,

especially one in particular that I think it's

really interesting that Michael Chiklis was absolutely

dead set against, he was dead set against a couple

things with Dutch. I think he thought he was

a little too creepy too. Yeah, any who back to

this season so the season I mentioned it ends

Danny loses her job Julian is beaten for being

gay Acevedo wins and becomes is now a politician

Claudette is in sort of a She oversees the barn.

She is not the captain. She's a supervisor is

essentially where it ends the strike team hits

the money train and I think that's where everybody

well, yeah And Dutch is still a detective. There.

That's where everybody winds up. Yeah. I mean,

I forgot that Dani lost her job. I remembered

that Julian got beat to high hell, but I did

not remember that Dani lost her job. And I remember

why, obviously, you know, because of her shooting

the... Armed or unarmed person or whatever in

his whole what I didn't remember Nowadays would

be you know, ten minutes at your desk and then

that's fine. Oh, anyway I have forgotten that

she was involved in the armadillo storyline.

Yeah. No, I know that's what yeah, I Had forgotten

about that too, and that's ultimately why she

loses her job Yeah, the last straw Yep And then

we have co -pilot. Yeah, right. Yeah, this is

exactly... You beat me to it, what I was gonna

do. So ninth episode. Sorry. Can I help you?

I'm Detective Mackey. I'm running the strike

team. We're still interviewing for that position.

I hope not. Assistant Chief Gilroy told me I'd

start tomorrow. I figured I'd settle in early,

hit the ground running. Gilroy told you that?

I'm Captain David Acevedo. You said your name

was Mackey, right? Yeah. I read your file. We

have a chance to do something real special here.

Oh, you let me know how I can help. Ninth episode

of the season, 22nd episode of the series, and

it splits up the armadillo storyline into the

money train storyline. Yeah. Why? So what it

is is it's an addendum to the pilot of the series.

It happens before then. And it's everybody's,

it's the first day of the barn and it's Claudette

and Dutch working together for the first time.

It's Acevedo becoming captain of the barn. It's

the first day for the strike team. It's not a

bad episode. It just doesn't remotely belong

here. I don't know where I would actually put

it. That's the thing. So when I just look back,

the pilot, the very first, the series premiere

takes place 18 months into the Farmington thing.

So they had already been there for a year and

a half. This has flashbacks to the very first

day where everybody gets set up and everybody

this and everybody that and. I like this. I just,

it was really good, but it's weird placements.

And I'm looking at C I'm okay. So I'm looking

at season one where you end it with circles,

which is, you know, the season one ender you

start with. The quick fix, while Mackie searches

for his wife and children, blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah. Dead soldiers, partners, carte blanche,

green lit. Let me see here. So between five and

six, green lit, Acevedo works with Mackie in

the strike team to take down a dealer, giving

heroin to school kids. A home wrecker, which

is episode six of season two. Wagenbach, wacky,

wacky. Wow. Wagenbach? Mackie and whims Investigate

a massacre of women's shelter Which to be fair

that one is So I don't want to say it's it's

a little I don't know it feels out of place To

a certain extent. It's a weird one as well It

doesn't there's just not as much in terms of

the overall arc be it Armadillo and this is before

the money train and I think Yeah, I think episodes

like that and co -pilots are why I thought the

money train was more of a central theme to the

entire season is that I think If good, sorry,

I was just saying the home record feels a little

bit like the spread in that it's kind of a It's

a bit of a throwaway episode in terms of the

entire season as a whole But then you have copilot

which is just it's a gigantic throwaway episode

that I Think it's a solid episode again, but

I don't feel like we learn anything about Any

of the characters that we didn't already know?

Yeah, I Like it's kind of fun to see it, but

I don't feel like we need it. It didn't feel

necessary And it's weird in what was a pretty

tight season Yeah, I think Okay, so I'm just

looking back at the spread sweep day without

setting Yeah, the spread is the season one episode

right? Yeah season three. Yeah. No, so I'm looking

back at that Right, right, right. So I'm trying

to see between Episode, okay, episode four of

season two is carte blanche, which is now Mackey

is back to work and he had been drugged going

to covers for the cops. But man, man, robbery,

murder, whack -a -mock, whims, track down an

old rival of whims is after turn. So I think

co -pilot could fit in between. Home wrecker

and barnstormers, so between six and seven home

wrecker, I. disagree. It is, it's not a bad episode.

It's not bad as the spread is, but home record

shows us, you know, and that's one thing I meant

to mention when we're doing season one. One thing

I've noticed so far as I've been watching the

series again is how different each episode starts.

Sometimes we start with the detective. Sometimes

we start with the patrol officer. Sometimes we

start with the strike team. Sometimes we start

with Acevedo and whatever. I like that because

it's showing you different aspects of the barn,

of the department that they all work together.

And I think if you put co -pilot Up there between

after home record, but before barnstormers, it

might be okay. I just was shocked because I did

not remember co -pilot again. I haven't seen

the show in 20 years, so I did not remember that

they did this and I love that they did this.

Hmm. Yeah. I've done this. I don't co -pilot

because I mean first fine episode. I just think

the placement is Yeah, I know the placement is

is bad. But overall though the episode itself.

Oh, man. I love the episode Well for context,

it is the second worst rated episode of the entire

series so All right, what's the word? I'm gonna

ask now in season two. What is the worst rated

episode of season two by quite a bit? Okay No,

it's season four has the only two episodes and

they're actually in a row that are low that are

rated lower and they both have the same rating.

Oh, no. And it sort of makes sense. I don't know.

Season. Anyway, that's a. Yes, that's a whole

two seasons away Season yeah, I don't know season

two generally seems well regarded and then yeah

the co -pilot is just kind of It's just kind

of there. Let me put it this way. So I'm going

by IMDB And co -pilot has a seven point five

Every other episode of the season is eight or

higher Okay, well so it's a fairly There's a

decent kind of split there and I think I I'm

not gonna sit here and read all the reviews for

everybody As much fun as that would be for me

and everyone else but okay. Let me ask you this

No, I just think it's the placement. I really

think that's why it it just it breaks up What

is a pretty tightly paced? Season altogether

that tells a really coherent story Right. Okay.

So let me ask you this then You take episode

9 you take copilot You move it down You move

it after dominoes falling so copilot would essentially

be the season finale I said this before that

I don't know where I would put it I think in

the end, even though it's a good episode, it

doesn't do enough to justify its existence. Hmm.

I, I think if you, so just to look ahead folks,

since we end up doing that anyway half the time.

In season three you're just happy to see ron

dell and terry back for the episode anyway sorry

no no no no no no no no so in season three the

first episode of season three is playing tight

the strike team attempt to play by the book and

come to an abrupt and. There attempts to play

by the book comes to an abrupt end when they

discover that two gangs the biz lads and the

one -niners are attempting to. Alter the balance

of power so my thinking is if you put. Copilot

after dominoes falling as the season finale of

two it kind of like you have your full story

of season two and then you have this little asterisk

at the bottom. Of hey here's your full story

of of. I'm at armadillo and teo and the money

train and all that stuff, but you also have at

the end Here's the beginning. I think if you

were to shift it after Playing tight into season

3 that would work better because there's a definite

break between playing tight And then the next

episodes because playing tight is literally sort

of the fallout, the immediate fallout of dominoes

falling. Yeah. Because Vic's trying to stop a,

an arms war essentially, but nobody knows that

the arms wars because of what just happened with

the money train. I think a few of the break there

would have worked better. I don't know. I'm not

a... That's fine. Works for me. I'm playing hindsight,

too, and... Yeah, I mean, there's nothing we

can do about it now. You know, but... Because

I was like... Because literally, as soon as...

So when I watch my episode, when I watch the

episodes on Hulu, I watch Scar Tissue, episode

eight of season two. And at the end of Scar Tissue,

I was like, okay, next episode. Next episode,

I get immediate flashbacks to an empty church

with all these desks and whatever. And I forgot

the barn used to be a church. I completely forgot

that. Didn't even remember it from season one

when we just did our episode a few weeks ago,

a few months ago, whatever it was. So yeah. I

was completely shocked with with co -pilot, but

once I realized what it was I'm like, oh This

is really cool. This is really interesting, you

know 20 years later in hindsight You know, we

can try to fit it wherever we want to but it

is where it is Overall season two It's still

really good Yeah, very good. What the hell do

I give season one? Oh, they give it three and

a half Yeah, season two was better than I thought

so yeah, I would be giving it a four out of five

Like season one, I think it's a high four. It

was easy wasn't it? Yeah A little too easy. Yeah,

I'm right there with you. It's a high four Uh,

there are still plenty of things that, you know,

make us feel uncomfortable and things like that.

And there are going to be plenty of, and honestly,

I think this show was made for that. Like you're

not going to, regardless of what has happened

in the last 20 years in real life. I mean, this

show is not. What was the intention to like Sean

Ryan said that a few times that he wanted a character

that's not very likable. But he needed somebody

who it's funny because they they weren't going

to cast chickless, which is really weird because

in the end he is exactly what they needed, which

was somebody charismatic enough that you could

forget some of the awful stuff he does. And that's

exactly what they wanted. It's just for whatever

reason. Actually, it was mostly the look. Yeah.

It's mostly the look I mean you put you put sunglass,

you know, we put a black pair of sunglasses on

that bald guy He's gonna look like a badass and

he does well He had yeah, he had come in and

that's what I don't get. I don't know I guess

I just don't know what he wanted. I know he in

the interviews before the sugar About the start

of the show they were looking for like a Harrison

Ford esque Character and so maybe that was the

look he wanted but in the end I feel like chickless

was exactly the look and the Everything he could

have wanted. That's why I don't get that Initially

they passed on him because of the world and then

they kind of went back to him It's I don't know

it's just one of those things that Everything

in the end turned out the way it should have

but it's a little weird that it took a bit to

get there Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, right.

Hmm. So I'm looking into Michael Chiklis, because

I know the guy. I mean, I don't know the guy,

but I mean, I know of his, you know, his acting

and whatever. You know, I wish that'd be kind

of cool, actually, just to say I know Michael

Chiklis. But I'm looking into what he's done

or doing currently. Yeah, we talked about this

last time though, too. Did we? Yes, we definitely

went into his frankly astounding and extremely

impressive resume. Yeah, I mean, yes, but like

I've noticed recently him talking about on social

media about what he's doing now, you know, and

two things come up and cause I saw him tweet

the other day about accused, which apparently

is going to be a 2023 television series. He is

currently filming. He is supposed to be the role

of Dr. Scott Corbett, but this other series winning

time, the rise of the Lakers dynasty. He plays

red Arbok, the coach of the Boston Celtics. I

now have to watch this show because. Huh, interesting.

Yeah, yeah, so, but yeah, The Shield Season 2,

very good, very well done. Like Ryan said, kind

of high fours all around. And yeah, I mean, this

show, it just keeps getting better. And I don't

want to say better. It keeps. No, it does. It

keeps you on your toes. I think it gets better.

And that's also partially why the first stuff's

kind of lower. I need some place to go. Yeah.

Like season five in particular is really tough

because I need to be able to go up for. Yeah.

Anywho. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we only have a zero

to five scale here around here, but you know,

you can use half points if you want. So technically

we have a zero to 10, but it is zero to five.

Uh, you know, it's one of those things where

I only remembered certain things about season

two and then I watched it and I was like, Oh,

right. That's when that happened. Like you were

saying with the money training with Armadillo

and Tio and all this and all that. And yeah season

three gonna be interesting i don't know when

we're gonna do our season three episode might

be sooner than we think folks cuz like i said

i've been the middle of season four and. Holy

crap season two of the shield twenty years damn

i forgot what was on television in two thousand

three like seriously i do not remember. What

was on tv in two thousand three besides this

show. 19 years ago though. Yeah. Well, okay.

Yes. I mean, no, I know. I'm saying like in general,

it's not so it's been that long. Yeah. We mentioned

it first time and actually, uh, Chickalus liked

the tweet about that. The, how has it been 20

years? Yep. Yeah. And I will, I will be mentioning

him in every tweet that we do when we publish

an episode for this. So, you know, Hey, ultimately

I'd love to get them on here for an interview,

really. I mean, just to talk to him about his

career and how he approaches acting and that

kind of thing and just go through his entire

timeline kind of thing. I think that'd be really

cool. So I think that's going to do it for us

here inside the studio. We are probably going

to take a quick break. You're going to hear some

ads and some other stuff and we'll come back

to close the show after this. The chief wants

me out making cases and that's exactly what I'm

going to do. I gave you an order. You're a goddamn

lame duck. An order you'll goddamn follow. Or

what? You recommend that I'm fired? Been nice

knowing ya. Hello geeks and geekettes! Looking

for a podcast that covers a vast array of topics?

Then check out Altered Geek Unleashed, where

we discuss our thoughts on this week's geeky

news, tech, gaming, television shows, movies,

cartoons, comics, and more. So get Altered Get

Geeky with the Altered Geeks, every Friday on

the Geekcast Radio Network. Like science fiction?

Of course you do, or you wouldn't be listening

to the Geekcast Radio Network. Well the Markhu42's

universe podcast is an award -winning sci -fi

radio show that's been around for over 10 years.

We cover everything from Doctor Who to the MCU

to pop culture and everything in between. A new

show drops on Tuesday mornings on the GCRN website

and all of the major podcast platforms. So listen

to the Markhu42's universe podcast from the universe

and beyond. Because the world needs another movie

podcast. The Geekcast Radio Network presents

for your listening pleasure, The Cinema Geek.

Hosted by Amanda, Kevin, Matt, and Dan. Each

week we dive headfirst in the landscape of movies

as we discuss movie news. Play movie games! Go

in depth on reviews. And even have a top 10 countdown

or two. Also, don't miss our director retrospective

series, where we review noted director's movies,

film by film. Bottom line is, if you love movies

and you love podcasts, you need to experience

the Cinema Geeks. You can find us on iTunes,

Blog .Radio, or GeekCastRadio .com. What was

that universal greeting again? Never mind, I

remember. Hey guys, it's Rodimus Primal and be

sure to check out my YouTube channel. Join me

as I have Transformers discussions, retrospectives,

toy reviews, and more. You can also follow me

on Twitter at Rodimus Primal, as well as Facebook

and Instagram at Rodimus Primal Show. Transform

and roll out and be sure to check out my content,

till all are one. Do you like retro cartoons

then Saturday morning rewind is the podcast for

you Join them each month as they talk about classic

cartoons and interview legendary voice actors

like Jim Cummings Cory Burton Rob Paulson We're

only gonna find chaps our size. Nancy Cartwright

and many more. Eat my shorts. So grab a bowl

of Lucky Charms. They're magically delicious.

Put on your hammer pants. Go to SaturdayMorningRewind

.com. And be prepared to feel like a kid again.

Once again, that's SaturdayMorningRewind .com.

Saturday Morning Rewind was voted best podcast

ever by its host, Tim Neidell. So it's gotta

be good. Hi, I'm Terry Smith, the host of Music

Talks, the podcast where I ask guests a simple

but beguiling question. Choose a song from each

decade of your life and tell me why these songs

mean so much to you. Guests and listeners love

this format, and if you want to find out why,

then take a listen at musictalkspod .buzzsprout

.com or use your favourite podcast app. Just

search on Music Talks, Terry Smith. If you'd

like to be a guest on the show and talk to me...

then send me a tweet at MusicTalksPod. I look

forward to doing some music talking soon. Since

2009, we have been the premiere cartoon podcast

here at the Geekcast Radio Network. We are Tooncast.

From taking you beyond the cartoons we grew up

with to seasonal saucy toontalk, and now we get

the origins of toonstars everywhere as we ask

guests 30 questions about their cartoon watching

experiences, plus so much more. Tooncast is back,

join me, TF2 and Mike and the rest of the GCRN

crew as we give you all the Toon Talk you will

ever need, only on the GCRN. And wherever you

consume your podcasts, we are beyond good, beyond

evil, beyond your wildest imagination, we are

all Toons, all the time, here on Tooncast. Hello

all sentient beings. Want the latest on everything

going on in the Transformers multiverse? Check

out the Transmissions podcast network. We've

got weekly podcasts covering everything from

Alpha Trion to Omega Supreme, from Old School

G1 all the way up to Cyberverse and beyond. And

you don't want to miss Empire of Rust, the world's

first and only Transformers Live Play role -playing

game podcast. If you love Transformers, there's

something for everyone at transmissionspodcast

.com. Discover a world of vintage and modern

toys that's more than meets the eye with the

Triple Takeover Toycast. Hosted by toy writers

and photographers Toybox Sobox, Sixo and TF Square

One, this informal and chilled out series of

discussions cover everything from vintage Transformers

to Mask, Diaclone, Microman and more, be it nostalgic

or current. Whether you're a seasoned collector

or a casual robot enthusiast, all are welcome.

Triple Takeover Toycast. On the Simplistic Reviews

podcast, we talk movies. We talk TV. We talk...

Hello, Julie, what the heck are you doing? Trying

to make our spots sound more exciting by adding

explosions. Yeah, I'm pretty sure you could've

got the point across with sound effects, not

the real thing. Car, car. Download the show on

iTunes or at simplisticreviews .blogspot .com.

I'm sure your insurance company will cover that.

No, they won't. No, they probably won't. You

finish the paperwork, return the coat to property,

and move on to your next case. You have a connection

with the drug dealer who's place just got burnt

down? Yeah. Jesus Christ. I asked you if there

was any reason not to bring Claudette into this.

Hey, you're the politician. Learn to read between

the goddamn lines. I told you I want to handle

this thing myself. What does this mean for us?

It just means I'll have to be careful. All right,

we are back to close out The Shield Season 2.

overall 20th anniversary of the program celebration.

And yeah, I think that's going to do it for us.

Thank you for joining us here inside the studio

through 2009. If you'd like to get in contact

with us, leave feedback for the show. There are

several ways to do so. Visit the website, geekcastradio

.com, where you can listen to and comment on

all of our posts. You can send email to feedback

at geekcastradio .com. Here all the ways you

can listen to us nowadays, app on Google podcasts.

leave us reviews please spotify where you can

also leave us a star rating and any other podcasting

client you choose to use follow us on twitter

at geek cast radio is for network at it's ids

studio 2009 all one word for the show i am at

tf2 and mike what is your twitter at night be

become a fan of facebook go to facebook .com

slash geek cast radio network you can also check

out studio 2009 podcast over there as well join

us next time for Something. I don't know what

we're talking about next time. It might be season

three of the shield. I'm not sure For now. I

am TFU and Mike with Randy and even flow. He

could really mix it up and talk season five for

this field Skip forward and then skip back. Why'd

that be? Don't do that. Don't that's That's like

trying to pull the the lowest log out of the

bunch first. Don't do that. You'll hear us back

in the studio soon. Go find Tio, I'll take care

of this. Let's just call Lin, I'll stay here

and help. Did I ask for your help? If we're not

careful, all roads are gonna lead back to us.