The Shield

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Marlo lived, Omar got taken down by a baby banger...Marlo wins

 

Not when the only thing Marlo cares about is his name, which no longer exists. Obviously of the two, Marlo got the better ending, but in the case of Marlo vs. Omar, Omar was still talked about and mythologized by people on the streets of Baltimore even after what should have been a humiliating death, while Marlo has all the money in the world and got to walk away from what should have put him in prison for a good long while, but the cost of it is that he's now completely out of his depth dealing with shit he clearly doesn't know the first thing about. When it comes to what actually matters to Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little won.

[Youth N Asia 0]

...I can see where you say Marlo doesn't win in everything. But no way Omar wins, and I'm a huge Omar fan

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I saw the ending for Vic as a possibility and I figured Ronnie would get what he got but Shane caught me off-guard (especially the Benoit part of his suicide). The more I think about it, the more I think that that was one of the best series finales I've ever seen. For Tina, Julien, Danny, Dutch etc. life goes on, while the Strike Team has finished tearing itself apart. Aceveda wins once again (with the implication that he may have played a part in what happened to Andre 3000) and will be mayor, while Claudette would rather kill herself through the job than exist without it.

 

Everyone had a logical conclusion and no one betrayed their character.

[The Truthiness 0]

Marlo lived, Omar got taken down by a baby banger...Marlo wins

 

Not when the only thing Marlo cares about is his name, which no longer exists. Obviously of the two, Marlo got the better ending, but in the case of Marlo vs. Omar, Omar was still talked about and mythologized by people on the streets of Baltimore even after what should have been a humiliating death, while Marlo has all the money in the world and got to walk away from what should have put him in prison for a good long while, but the cost of it is that he's now completely out of his depth dealing with shit he clearly doesn't know the first thing about. When it comes to what actually matters to Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little won.

 

So Marlo ducking prison, getting 10 million dollars, and killing all his enemies. Is a lost to you?

 

Wow.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Marlo lived, Omar got taken down by a baby banger...Marlo wins

 

Not when the only thing Marlo cares about is his name, which no longer exists. Obviously of the two, Marlo got the better ending, but in the case of Marlo vs. Omar, Omar was still talked about and mythologized by people on the streets of Baltimore even after what should have been a humiliating death, while Marlo has all the money in the world and got to walk away from what should have put him in prison for a good long while, but the cost of it is that he's now completely out of his depth dealing with shit he clearly doesn't know the first thing about. When it comes to what actually matters to Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little won.

 

So Marlo ducking prison, getting 10 million dollars, and killing all his enemies. Is a lost to you?

 

Wow.

 

When it's made clear that the only thing he actually cares about is his name, which he did lose? Yes. Marlo Stanfield lost; he looked like a lost child at the party with Levy and Krawczyk, for god's sake.

 

I'm not saying that in the end, Omar came out better, because good god no, he didn't. Omar's arc in season five was basically a study in watching the man self-destruct because he just couldn't let Butchie's death go unanswered, and his death was cringeworthy in how pathetic it was that he went down via a gunshot he never saw coming from a prepubescent boy who was unimpressed with the actual man behind the legend. What I'm saying is that even in death, Omar has what Marlo craves and won't ever have again (unless he returns to the drug game, in which case he gets locked up for the rest of his life). Ergo, while Marlo outlived Omar, he didn't win, and the absolute shitfit he threw the moment he learned that Omar had been talking trash about him the whole time and nobody told Marlo in order to protect him was proof of that.

 

EDIT: Though I will say that if you based it on Omar's actual quest for revenge, then he lost in grand fashion since he didn't even manage to kill a single person responsible for Butchie's death (since Savino was just collateral damage in Omar's plan to force Marlo's hand by striking at his ego). But from the perspective of what Marlo actually wants as a character, he really didn't beat Omar at all. Omar talked shit about Marlo, Marlo never heard about it because his own people didn't think he could handle it, and now he's stuck playing businessman which he clearly hates and nobody on the street cares about who he is/was anymore.

[The Truthiness 0]

All Marlo wanted to do was have one last night on the streets, and he did when he beat the shit out of those hoppers and took their gun. Marlo didn't lose any way you slice it. I'm from Maryland, everybody knows that if you get killed or go to prison for life, that nobody cares about how big you USED to be, it's all about who is running the show at the moment. I think you're looking a little to hard in to that situation, if you came out thinking Marlo lost in any shape or form.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

"Marlo is cut off from the source of his power, desperate to rescue his name. To me, the great irony is that Marlo ends up being granted what Stringer wanted -- and he has no use for it. To me, to a guy like Marlo Stanfield, hell is a business meeting with a bunch of developers. For Stringer, it was all he wanted." ~ David Simon on Marlo's ending.

 

And honestly, I'm going to leave it at that since arguing about the finale of The Wire in a thread about The Shield is probably getting off track too much. If you want to take it to PMs or revive the thread about The Wire to continue it, be my guest, but I stand by my opinion and absolutely do not think I'm overthinking it, and would argue to the contrary in your case. But, whatever, I guess that's the point of a show as morally ambiguous as The Wire is that people can take different things from how it ended.

[The Truthiness 0]

Fair enough.

[Youth N Asia 0]

You think Marlo's story would end with him packing up, leaving town, and settling down with the white picket fence?

 

I suppose it's open to wonder where he goes from there. But I think Marlo stays in the game

[Madmartigan21 0]

Aceveda wins once again (with the implication that he may have played a part in what happened to Andre 3000) and will be mayor.

 

You're the second person to say that. To which I say, WHAT implication are you talking about?

 

Tina asks him in the ambulance before he dies who did it to him. He says a name that I can't make out. Tina asks him why. He says he organized a picket line around his "rock house" (I believe that's what he says). The crack-heads were afraid to cross the picket line. THAT is why he was shot. It was by drug dealers. It had nothing to do with Aceveda.

 

Why the hell would Aceveda care about him? He wasn't getting any serious news coverage. Aceveda pretty much already has the election locked up. It wasn't implied nor would Aceveda have a good reason to be involved in his death.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Aceveda wins once again (with the implication that he may have played a part in what happened to Andre 3000) and will be mayor.

 

You're the second person to say that. To which I say, WHAT implication are you talking about?

 

Tina asks him in the ambulance before he dies who did it to him. He says a name that I can't make out. Tina asks him why. He says he organized a picket line around his "rock house" (I believe that's what he says). The crack-heads were afraid to cross the picket line. THAT is why he was shot. It was by drug dealers. It had nothing to do with Aceveda.

 

Why the hell would Aceveda care about him? He wasn't getting any serious news coverage. Aceveda pretty much already has the election locked up. It wasn't implied nor would Aceveda have a good reason to be involved in his death.

Aceveda's discussion with Claudette makes it very clear that he is not sad at all about Andre's death (after Andre embarrassed him earlier). He may have not had anything to do with there was satisfaction in his voice.

[Youth N Asia 0]

The way the episode was going I thought it would end with a "one month later" or something kinda deal

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

What did everyone think of the end video package? I was a bit disappointed. I don't think the song fit and I was hoping for something all-encompassing like the season 2 'Overcome' video.

[Youth N Asia 0]

Since it was just clips from earlier episodes I didn't mind it.

[haws bah gawd 0]

I kind of figured Shawn Ryan knew he wouldn't be able to top "Overcome". It's crazy to think that the money train heist at the end of Season 2 was really what fed the show for the following five seasons. Amazing!

 

Even though it was the Season 4 theme, more or less, Johnny Cash's "Hurt" (while Vic was sitting silently at his cubicle) would have been perfect to close the series with.

[ZGangsta 0]

I liked the silence with the buzzing of the overhead lights. I thought that little subtlety beat out any music montage they could have done.

[Prophet of Mike Zagurski 0]

The kept playing that Beck song during the promos and I expected to hear it again. The song in the ending is alright though.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I actually shed a tear when Claudette read Shanes suicide note to Vic...

[ZGangsta 0]

Interview with Shawn Ryan.

Apparently Andre 3000 was playing the same character as before. I saw it as that when I was watching the finale.

[Madmartigan21 0]

Aceveda wins once again (with the implication that he may have played a part in what happened to Andre 3000) and will be mayor.

 

You're the second person to say that. To which I say, WHAT implication are you talking about?

 

Tina asks him in the ambulance before he dies who did it to him. He says a name that I can't make out. Tina asks him why. He says he organized a picket line around his "rock house" (I believe that's what he says). The crack-heads were afraid to cross the picket line. THAT is why he was shot. It was by drug dealers. It had nothing to do with Aceveda.

 

Why the hell would Aceveda care about him? He wasn't getting any serious news coverage. Aceveda pretty much already has the election locked up. It wasn't implied nor would Aceveda have a good reason to be involved in his death.

Aceveda's discussion with Claudette makes it very clear that he is not sad at all about Andre's death (after Andre embarrassed him earlier). He may have not had anything to do with there was satisfaction in his voice.

 

Watch the scene again, you're totally wrong. He's upset cause their are rumors floating around that he had do with the "crackpot's" death. Claudette goes to tell him she has to take any bomb threat against his campaign seriously. Aceveda doesn't even mention him again in the scene. He starts talking about Claudette is doing and how they spent so much time trying to get Vic. How he feels emotionally about Andre's death is neither implied nor stated.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

I actually shed a tear when Claudette read Shanes suicide note to Vic...

That was intense. But I still found Shane's suicide as the most intense moment (evenmoreso than the discovery of Mara and Jackson). It's just so sudden and then Danny and Claudette just stare in silence.

 

And I'm rewatching the episode today so I'll check again about Aceveda.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Interview with Shawn Ryan.

Apparently Andre 3000 was playing the same character as before. I saw it as that when I was watching the finale.

 

Okay, that's really cool. I couldn't remember what the characterization of Andre 3000's character was back in that episode, just that he was a comic book store owner. And his performance in the Shield finale was really enjoyable, probably one of the times where I've enjoyed him most as an actor.

[Youth N Asia 0]

I think the only reason Andre was back was because they wrote NOTHING for Julian to do all season.

 

I've never cared much for the Claudette character, but I've always liked her relationship with Dutch. I kinda thought she was going to tell him that she was naming him as her successor when she leave the barn

[AlwaysPissedOff 0]

I actually shed a tear when Claudette read Shanes suicide note to Vic...

When Claudette gets to the part where Shane says Mara and Jackson came into the world innocent and left innocent, I lost it. That entire scene in the interrogation room was just... I don't know how to accurately describe it.

 

What a finale.

[ZGangsta 0]

Marlo lived, Omar got taken down by a baby banger...Marlo wins

 

Not when the only thing Marlo cares about is his name, which no longer exists. Obviously of the two, Marlo got the better ending, but in the case of Marlo vs. Omar, Omar was still talked about and mythologized by people on the streets of Baltimore even after what should have been a humiliating death, while Marlo has all the money in the world and got to walk away from what should have put him in prison for a good long while, but the cost of it is that he's now completely out of his depth dealing with shit he clearly doesn't know the first thing about. When it comes to what actually matters to Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little won.

I think it's kind of funny you make that point when there was that scene at the end of the episode where Omar doesn't even have the right name on the tag of his body bag. I think David Simon made his point about the worth of someone's 'name' in that world with that little metaphor.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

Marlo lived, Omar got taken down by a baby banger...Marlo wins

 

Not when the only thing Marlo cares about is his name, which no longer exists. Obviously of the two, Marlo got the better ending, but in the case of Marlo vs. Omar, Omar was still talked about and mythologized by people on the streets of Baltimore even after what should have been a humiliating death, while Marlo has all the money in the world and got to walk away from what should have put him in prison for a good long while, but the cost of it is that he's now completely out of his depth dealing with shit he clearly doesn't know the first thing about. When it comes to what actually matters to Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little won.

I think it's kind of funny you make that point when there was that scene at the end of the episode where Omar doesn't even have the right name on the tag of his body bag. I think David Simon made his point about the worth of someone's 'name' in that world with that little metaphor.

 

Definitely, and Beadie's speech in the same episode was pretty much more "it really doesn't matter how great you were once you're dead" evidence; if anything it was Omar's own legend that killed him since it seemed like Kenard's motivation for killing him was that the real Omar Little by that point in his life could never live up to the myth he'd become. I was just saying that in terms of what Marlo wanted, myopic as it may have been, he couldn't actually keep it.

[ZGangsta 0]

Marlo lived, Omar got taken down by a baby banger...Marlo wins

 

Not when the only thing Marlo cares about is his name, which no longer exists. Obviously of the two, Marlo got the better ending, but in the case of Marlo vs. Omar, Omar was still talked about and mythologized by people on the streets of Baltimore even after what should have been a humiliating death, while Marlo has all the money in the world and got to walk away from what should have put him in prison for a good long while, but the cost of it is that he's now completely out of his depth dealing with shit he clearly doesn't know the first thing about. When it comes to what actually matters to Marlo Stanfield, Omar Little won.

I think it's kind of funny you make that point when there was that scene at the end of the episode where Omar doesn't even have the right name on the tag of his body bag. I think David Simon made his point about the worth of someone's 'name' in that world with that little metaphor.

 

Definitely, and Beadie's speech in the same episode was pretty much more "it really doesn't matter how great you were once you're dead" evidence; if anything it was Omar's own legend that killed him since it seemed like Kenard's motivation for killing him was that the real Omar Little by that point in his life could never live up to the myth he'd become. I was just saying that in terms of what Marlo wanted, myopic as it may have been, he couldn't actually keep it.

Yeah, I get you.

Though I never really did see Kenard's motivation. There might have been something there to read and I missed it, but I just figured him to be a psycopath and an illustration of how dangerous the next generation coming down the pipe is.

 

I think The Wire and The Shield are great compliments to each other since they deal with very similar subject matter but deal with it so differently. The Wire is so real and starkly presents all this commentary on the social ills of the country while The Shield is a crazy dramatic Shakespearean tragedy. Because of that, I always found some irony in the fact that The Wire was shot all clean and cinematic while The Shield was scratchy and handheld like a documentary.

[milliondollarchamp 0]

Walton Goggins already has another job.

 

Pilots: AMC Locks Up 'Shield' Star

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I actually shed a tear when Claudette read Shanes suicide note to Vic...

That was intense. But I still found Shane's suicide as the most intense moment (evenmoreso than the discovery of Mara and Jackson). It's just so sudden and then Danny and Claudette just stare in silence.

 

I was more in shock when I saw Shane off himself, didnt know what to think at the time.

 

But when the suicide note was read to Vic, that was very emotional. Because it was the complete truth, although I want to hold the fact the Shane killed Jackson and Mara against him, i just cant. His heart was in the right place, and he felt he had no choice. He knew that if they all continued living they would all suffer a life of depression.

 

The phone call with Vic was problay the most intense scene in the episode to be honest. But I felt the sucide note was the most emotional.

[haws bah gawd 0]

Walton Goggins already has another job.

 

Pilots: AMC Locks Up 'Shield' Star

 

That certainly sounds interesting. I'll have to give that show a look. After seeing Walton play Shane for the past 7 years, it's going to be odd to see him in another role. It's kind of like watching him in 'House of 1000 Corpses', and seeing him just sit there and let Otis blow his head off. It's such an 'out of character' moment to see him sit there in a helpless position.