The worst episodes of The Shield
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
After the death of a member of the Strike Team on a high-risk raid, Aceveda begins to investigate the real circumstances behind the raid. Officers Lowe and Sofer find a dying man being mugged, eventually linked to a Mexican gang.
- 02
In a routine sweep to nab every outstanding suspect, the detectives divvy up the warrants. But when they cast their nets, they bring up far bigger fish than expected. Danny and Julien uncover a gun-smuggling operation; and Mackey and his team encounter a pro-basketball star who's in town to play the Lakers, when they bust in on drug dealers. Meanwhile, Claudette and Dutch try to catch a man who has been raping women in an attempt to procreate.
- 03
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.
- 04
As Dutch tries to understand "The Cuddler" rapist, Vic enlists Danny for an important undercover assignment.
- 05
A confrontation between a local drug dealer and Black Muslims places Vic in danger of being exposed.
- 06
As the department launches a secret investigation aimed at putting him behind bars, Vic learns that a Latino gang in prison has ordered the retaliatory murders of two black victims on the outside.
- 07
A dispute over an up-and-coming singer's success erupts in a gang war that threatens to bring Vic down, too; a case that could help Aceveda's political future sends Dutch and Claudette searching for a missing day laborer.
- 08
As Dutch's theory about a serial killer preying on prostitutes proves true, he convinces Aceveda to launch an all out effort to find him before he strikes again; Julien decides to bring down Vic for stealing drugs.
- 09
When her official arrival at the Barn is greeted by the outbreak of a deadly gang war, Monica assigns Vic the task of ending it.
- 10
As a local gang war heats up, Vic positions himself as a valuable commodity to the warring parties. Corrine and Cassidy confront Vic.
- 11
The murder of seven gang members has Vic be teamed with a Latino detective assigned to crack the case.
- 12
Lemonhead sets out to make things right following his shooting of an unarmed man.
- 13
Vic works an angle to make himself valuable to the Armenian mob. Corrine finds herself in a surprising legal jam. Tina targets a producer of adult entertainment.
- 14
Vic mobilizes the Strike Team to help Aceveda's election campaign; Dutch and Claudette suspect a teenaged girl is lying about the rape accusation she's made against her employer.
- 15
Vic sets out to stop stolen military weapons from fueling a gang war, unaware that it threatens to expose him as the mastermind behind the theft of the Armenian mob's laundered money.
- 16
Vic promises a gang lieutenant the top job if he agrees to set up his boss; Dutch and Claudette's investigation into a gang shooting points to an unexpected triggerman.
- 17
A lynching threatens to ignite a race war between Farmington's black and Latino gangs.
- 18
The pursuit of a gang hitman pits the tight-lipped Korean community against the police.
- 19
A new commander arrives just in time to help with the investigation into the murder of an immigrant family.
- 20
Vic agrees to quietly bring in a teenaged drug user before learning of his role in a deadly armed robbery.
- 21
As Shane enlists Vic and his men in the search for the body of a teenaged informant, the disappearance of two cops on patrol begins to look like payback for Monica's tough new policies.
- 22
As Kavanaugh traces a trail of stolen Armenian mob cash back to Vic, Claudette fights her illness in order to break the case against serial killer Kleavon Gardner.
- 23
A boy is shot at a festival, and Mexican government official is missing, and the newest informant for the Strike Team is a minx.
- 24
The assassination of a city official undermines Vic's plan to fuel a war that will bring down both the Mexican and Armenian gangs.
- 25
As Vic pursues an escaped rapist, A.D.A Insardi sends Dutch and Claudette after a low level drug dealer.
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