Lay Down My Shield

With trembling fingers, I loaded the vcr with the final episode of one of my favorite television shows ever. The Shield wrapped up its seven year run two weeks ago and I was a little late getting to the final episode. I kept putting it off wanting to savor it a bit, but eventually I tore into it around midnight one evening that I should have been catching up on some much needed sleep. Oh my. I didn't get any of that sleep I needed. The finale was so wrenching that it has haunted my dreams, not to mention my waking hours, since. I'm not big on cop shows, but 2008 saw the wrap up of two of the best ever, The Shield and The Wire both debuted in 2002and revitalized the television crime drama, but where The Wire was measured and methodical, The Shield was balls to the wall every time out, and that's a special special thing. Miss 'em both already, but I'm so glad they wrapped up on their own terms and weren't prematurally cancelled or just spun into eternity hashing over the same material till it was stale. Hope it goes well for all the talent involved with both shows, but I see great things to come from Walton Goggins, no problem. Anybody familiar with his turn as damned and doomed, (the difference is self-awareness)Shane Vendrell knows he can take dark dark shit and spin humanity and compassion from it. He's a partner in Ginny Mule productions along with the multi-talented Ray McKinnon, (Deadwood anyone?) and Lisa Blount, (Starman - she's also from Fayetteville, Arkansas where I spent some formative years). They've already won an academy award, for the short film The Accountant and put out a killer Southern gothic, Chrystal w/ Billy Bob Thornton. Walt and Ray have each got a piece of I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down, based on the William Gay short story of the same name, starring and producing and if they're track record, (not to mention Gay's - holy cow) is worth anything, it should be a corker. Also look for Randy and The Mob, a Southern-fried comedy from the Ginny Mule team. Now we need some better projects for Dominic West.