The essential episodes of The Shield
Watch these 25 in order and you've got The Shield — each pick states its reason.
- 01
A politically ambitious LAPD captain comes up against a streetwise detective who isn't above bending the rules in his effort to fight crime as he enriches himself and his men.
- 02
As a deployment policy leads to a double homicide that places Aceveda in the hot seat with potential voters, Vic is forced to help Gilroy avoid being implicated in a hit and run.
- 03
An arson attack on a local drug dealer threatens to expose Vic's protection racket.
- 04
An amputated arm sends Dutch in search of a sadomasochistic killer; Vic sets out to help his old mentor on the force get revenge against the thug whose complaint forced him into retirement.
- 05
A murder investigation leads Vic to a massive money-laundering scheme.
- 06
The Barn mobilizes to investigate a murderous rampage at a battered women's shelter.
- 07
As his own life starts crumbling around him, Vic pitches in to help Dutch in the search for a deadly pedophile.
- 08
As he struggles to keep his job, Vic pushes ahead with a new plan to hijack a mob money shipment.
- 09
The rivalry between the Strike Team and the Decoy Squad heats up as they compete to find a murder suspect.
- 10
Vic is enlisted to help save his rivals on the Decoy team from having their undercover operation exposed.
- 11
Captain Aceveda turns up the heat in his search for the gangster who sexually assaulted him.
- 12
As the Strike Team is threatened with exposure in the money train heist, Claudette goes it alone in order to find evidence of a public defender's drug addiction.
- 13
As Vic goes after Margos, Claudette risks her career to see that an innocent man is freed from prison.
- 14
Monica asks Vic to find a way to hold Antwon Mitchell responsible for the murder of two Farmington cops.
- 15
As he and Vic cooperate to head off a gang turf war, Kavanaugh investigates the rape of his estranged wife.
- 16
As his efforts to protect Lem behind bars draw Vic into a trap set by gang kingpin Antwon Mitchell, the search for the assailant who is targeting gay men is undercut by Claudette and Dutch's growing mistrust in each other.
- 17
Vic gets bad news about his career as he comes close to catching Lem's killer. Shane's secret eats away at him. Ronnie works with Dutch and Billings on a case.
- 18
Vic learns he may have killed the wrong person in trying to avenge Lem's murder. Shane tells Mara about what he did in an attempt to save his marriage. Dutch makes progress in the serial rapist case.
- 19
As Vic tries to save his career, he finally learns who really killed Lem. Cassidy confronts her father.
- 20
As Vic and Aceveda work to conceal their complicity in the murder of the City Controller, a serial killer's trial threatens to expose the truth about Claudette's failing health.
- 21
After buying some time to continue his pursuit of Pezuela, Vic hatches a deadly plan to eliminate the Armenian mob and finally avenge Lem's murder.
- 22
As Shane looks to end the threat after realizing that he was marked for death by Vic, Dutch questions a greedy ex-cop about a series of burglaries in Claudette's neighborhood.
- 23
As Shane and his family are forced to run following his failed attempt to kill his former partners, Vic looks to parlay his connection to Pezuela into a job with a federal task force that is investigating the drug cartels.
- 24
As Mara kills in order to keep her and Shane on the run, the confession Vic makes in exchange for immunity and to salvage his career stuns his federal handlers.
- 25
As Vic hopes his immunity deal will help keep his family together, and Shane takes extreme measures to keep his pregnant wife from being charged with murder, Dutch finds he's a suspect in the disappearance of a teenage serial killer's mother.
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