Word: mackey
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Mackey may not be one of us either. But he is one of ours. He's a monster who takes down other monsters, in our name. And while the Soprano clan was cozy in a suburban McMansion, Mackey is a civil servant with a crappy paycheck, an ex-wife and two autistic kids who need special schooling. It's not an excuse; he's surrounded by cops who could go the easy route and don't, like Captain Claudette Wyms (the outstanding C.C.H. Pounder), who's investigating Vic but won't cut corners...
When The Shield debuted in spring 2002, it was hard not to see it as a 9/11 parable. Mackey was Dick Cheney with stronger pecs, going to the dark side to do what couldn't get done the pretty way. The Shield asked--as did 24, in a more gung-ho fashion--how much brutality we are willing to accept for our safety...
...Shield winds down, the social trade-offs have yielded the spotlight to the personal ones. From the start, Mackey rationalized his thieving in the name of his kids. The idea--the same big lie that justifies a million little compromises in ordinary lives--was that he could insulate his kin from the consequences of his actions, taking the moral bullet for them...
...Shield's endgame dispels that myth. Mackey's corruption has poisoned every relationship he's had. As police investigators close in on the Strike Team's scams, his former disciple Shane (Walton Goggins) has turned on him, trying to kill him, then going on the lam with his pregnant wife and sick son (concern for whose welfare does not keep Mackey from trying to have Shane and his wife whacked). Another Strike Team member is dead, murdered by Shane for fear he might squeal. And Mackey is almost completely estranged from his kids, who along with his ex-wife--whom...
...made it as disturbing as any HBO drama. The final episodes are even more so. Seeing Shane's toddler on the run with him and his wife is almost unbearable, and Goggins plays the pathetic, mentally overmatched Shane like a cornered rat. Chiklis, meanwhile, is masterly. He defined Mackey with his Mr. Clean physique, but his most valuable body parts are his eyes. To the end, as his options narrow and it becomes clear Mackey has destroyed everything he's tried to build, they dart about, looking for the exit, one last scam that will fix everything...