Times Union, Albany, NY
March 13 2005

Close and ‘The Shield’ make sense

By MARK McGUIRE, Staff writer
First published: Sunday, March 13, 2005

Go back four years ago: Could you imagine Glenn Close joining a TV
show and taking second billing?
The star of “The Big Chill” and “Fatal Attraction” taking a
theoretical back seat — on a basic cable show? It would make no
sense.

Makes sense now, especially when you’re talking about FX’s “The
Shield.”

Close plays Capt. Monica Rawling, who takes over the Los Angeles
precinct that includes volatile Detective Vic Mackey (Michael
Chiklis), one of the most indelible characters on TV today. By the
end of the first episode of the fourth season (airing at 10 p.m.
Tuesday), I was ready to declare them to be arguably the strongest
tandem of actors on any current series. You may come up with a better
pair; I did say “arguably.” But Close and Chiklis have to be in the
debate.

Close, who turns 58 on Saturday, is as good as advertised, displaying
her trademark ability to slip into roles without overwhelming the
part. Maybe the best compliment you can give her is that you stop
concentrating on the fact it’s Glenn Close by about the second
episode. (By the way: She looks ridiculously good in jeans and a
jacket.)

Rawling arrives at “The Barn” even as former boss David Aceveda
(Benito Martinez) — who was elected to the City Council last year —
hovers in the background. A street cop who rose through the ranks,
she recognizes the value of a bruiser like Mackey, even as she
realizes his hothead streak can make things go very, very wrong. Then
again, if she knew Mackey like viewers of the first three seasons of
“The Shield” know him, Vic would be in cuffs.

One of her first impressions of Mackey is watching him come close to
a brawl with Aceveda, whose blistering evaluation of Vic submarined a
promotion.

“One happy family, huh?” Rawling says to Wyms (CCH Pounder), whose
own career was stymied last season when she ran afoul of the district
attorney’s office.

“Oh, yeah,” Wyms replies. “You hit the jackpot.”

In the world of “The Shield,” clean cops like Wyms often find
themselves on the outs; the dirty ones get ahead. As season four
begins, Mackey’s strike team has been disbanded, but their past
illicit activities — especially ripping off the Armenian mob — will
continue to have repercussions.

While most of the team attempts to stay legit and keep in the new
captain’s good graces, Mackey’s former sidekick, Shane Vendrell
(Walton Goggins), is working vice and also working the angles.
Without Mackey to rein him in, Goggins and his new partner — a
veritable rookie — are headed for trouble. If Vendrell goes down,
Mackey and the rest are sure to follow.

Close’s addition makes the cast of “The Shield” as overloaded with
talent as the Yankees’ lineup, but she isn’t the only big-screen star
to join up: Anthony Anderson (“Barbershop”) plays Antwon Mitchell, a
former gangbanger and drug slinger who returns to Farmington
preaching community revitalization. In reality, he’s back controlling
the streets.

With its strong ensemble cast and guerrilla-style camera work, “The
Shield” is most remarkable for its portrait of the brutal concessions
decent people make in the effort to seek civic justice and personal
advancement. At the same time, the show’s bad guys carry a streak of
decency; they can’t be dismissed as amoral monsters. The gray area
between right and wrong provides the thematic setting for some of the
best shows on TV, including “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Lost.”
It’s also the terrain where the men and women of “The Shield” patrol.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress