Amazing opener, was so nervous to watch this first episode but wow this did not disappoint. The writing is so much sharper, the pacing is so much cleaner, and this show is no longer leaning into its strengths, but rather completely dedicating itself to them.
"who do you think i want?"
(SPOILERS)
i knew this was getting real when, in the "previously on the shield" prologue, we were recapped on terry's death. I honestly think that the first two episodes, as good as they are, act as somewhat bad representations of this show in its first four seasons. Like i was expecting this show to be centered around them committing more corrupt acts, with the main focus of the show being them trying to protect themselves. I would say most shows have a discernable "prime" to them: you can tell by reading a summary of breaking bad, better call saul, succession, the sopranos, etc when their primes will be. For example, breaking bad's prime would seem to be when walt is at his peak in wealth and is completely transformed from the innocent man he is at the beginning: which IS the shows prime (season 5). The shield's prime seems to be what the first episode brands the show as its focus, (dirty cops protecting themselves, killing criminals and cops, etc) and it looks like we've reached that point. When aceveda told kavanaugh about terry, it hit me that this show is keeping its promise 😭 i'm in the endgame now bro.
Kavanaugh is an amazing edition to the cast due to his dialogue and the PERFECT acting by forest whitiker, but what really excites me about him is how he can actually break our characters. This show has had a major problem in avoiding pushing characters to their limits, that although season 4 improves upon, this just ANNIHILATES it. Pushing characters to their limits, watching how they crack under pressure and betray eachother, how they panic, how they scramble to shut down situations, THAT is where drama and crime shows, and ESPECIALLY a show about crooked cops should be focusing in on. Kavanaugh is the outlet for this to happen, and the final scene really looks like it's foreshadowing more of this.
Outside of kavanaugh are the detectives and the on-the-ground cops (julien + tina i think is her name), who are now treated less as major characters and more as side-characters. This is definitely the right move because they've always been written like side-characters but given the screentime of main characters. Like the only thing i can remember about season 1 was julien. Bro did not need that much screentime. Not only is there an obvious better use of time, but the side-characters also seem to be written to have more simple and digestible arcs then they have in the past. Like tina (again i think that's her name) is already very likeable and seems like all she needs is a few minutes per episode to properly develop her arc of struggling with the job. Give her a short scene or two an episode, as they did here, and she'll work great this season. Danny is majorly improved by now having the gimmick of being pregnant, which i honestly really like. Her dynamic with julien had been going in circles for quite a while, so the decision to backseat her and replace her with tina was definitely the right one. I don't wanna see her disappear from the show though i really think she's a great actor, hopefully she can act as a mentor to tina and give her advice on being a female cop.
Amazing episode very very excited to binge this.
SERIALZD: shaww.
