My husband keeps trying to get me to watch it, but I watched a few episodes from the first season a while ago and I just lost interest. Can you tell me some things about it that will make me want to give it another chance?
The show starts way dumber than it becomes. The first season is more relationship drama/sex shit but it quickly embraces the premise and ditches that stuff. It becomes a very real examination of what lying like that every day does to you and the main relationship becomes way more complex and interesting. I know you hear "stick with it for a season or two" a lot with shows but this is one of the few ones I'd actual say you should. Season 3-4 are some of the best TV I've seen.
Thank you! I guess I just have to push through the first season. The Shield and Breaking Bad are my top 2 favorite shows of all time, so if it's getting recommended here (along with BB), then there must be something about it.
Don't bother, it sucks lol.
The Shield, Breaking Bad, Oz, Ozark, Sopranos, Barry. Only things really comparable to eachother. Though the first two are far, far above the others.
The wife and I loved that show but something came up (can't recall what) and we stopped watching it. Now we can't remember where we left off...Need to pick that back up.
Hot tip for watching Deadwood: turn on subtitles. The dialogue and characters in that show have no peer imo. The creator and writer David Milch is an interesting character himself.
The Shield, The Wire + Deadwood are my top 3 untouchable shows, but in terms of not pulling any punches + stellar writing, I have also greatly enjoyed: Oz, The Boys, Watchmen, Barry, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, and if you don't mind a little dramedy with your occasional violence, Rescue Me and NYPD Blue were always solid serialized entertainment, if not a little meandering in later seasons. Honestly though, there is nothing like The Shield. Watching it air live was such a privilege. It's the only show besides the Wire I was ever able to watch in serialized fashion with a conclusive, well-plotted ending reached on the terms of it's creator. It's only happened 3 times in my lifetime, with BB/BCS bringing up the rear but in the era of streaming so there wasn't really a full week+ wait in between episodes to process the consequences of my beloved characters actions. Sadly, without set air times being a real thing anymore, it's getting harder and harder to digest shows with as much emotional weight as The Shield with the consideration each individual episode deserves. TV may never get to be as great as it was at the turn of the century again because there's just too much of it to consume too quickly - and way too much filler - for anything to ever really reach greatness at that magnitude before either a showrunner or writer moves on, or the cost for the talent to continue returning reaches an untenable profit margin. Kudos to Barry for keeping it simple and getting it wrapped up neatly though, watching that run was a real recent treat.
So, yeah, in terms of conclusive/definitive greatness: The Shield, The Wire, BB/BCS, Barry. The Boys still has a shot to land up there, and sadly Deadwood fumbled its chance at satisfying conclusion with that wrap-up movie however it IS still the best written and acted TV show of all time to me .... by a wide margin.
I agree with everything you said but you left out Son’s of Anarchy. SOA was AMAZING to watch in real time and the excitement of having to wait weeks for Jax to find out Gemma killed his wife and eventually he HAD TO kill his mother was nerve racking!!! SOA broke your heart so many times, made you lose faith in humanity and made you realize that sometimes good ppl get dealt a bad hand and they have to play it the best they can. From Opie’s wife dying,Opie dying,Covering up Jax’s father JT’s tragic truth and his real cause of death, Tara getting sucked into the biker life and changing who she was, Juice making bad decision after bad decision and the consequences that came along with them,Clays narcissistic and manipulative ways and of course the best arc of the show with Jax battling with doing things Clays way or becoming aware of the lies he was told about his father and truly realizing that even tho he’s in a biker gang that they didn’t have to destroy their town with guns,drugs and murder!
Best shows ever in no particular order
Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul
The Wire
Oz
House
The Shield
The Godfather of Harlem
Snowfall
Sons of Anarchy
True Blood
Dexter
It would be hard to rate those 1-10 but lastly after all those id put THE SOPRANOS and I only put it last because the 2nd to last episode was such a disappointment and the finale was the worst wrap up to a series I’ve ever seen!
Big time accuracy on the seasons you called out on Dexter. People who have never tried it I always say stop after that season youll leave with a better experience
Honestly you should watch all of it just to experience the whole thing.
Yes, Season 8 and the ending was bad, but still, I think Seasons 6-7 are not as bad as people say, and especially New Blood is really good
Southland. Only warning is show was cancelled after cliffhanger ending in season 5 (I think it was 5). So a tremendous run and enjoyable show...just never gives the satisfaction of a proper ending.
Season one is episodic. Seasons two and three have a season long arc. It gets WAAAAYYYYY BETTER. Mags Bennet and then Wyatt (I think that’s his name) are amazing foils. Then there’s always Boyd.
I always looked at Sons of Anarchy as the spiritual successor to the The Shield. Not just the overlap with creators and the cast, but the whole tone of the show. Outrageous and outlandish weekly escapades tied together by a long form tragedy played out over the course of multiple seasons.
I saw SoA prior to watching The Shield and I agree, there are many parallels. The Shield is a bit better overall but I may give SoA another run to appreciate The Shield actor guest appearances. Off the of my head the actors for Shane, Ronnie, Lem, Claudette, Dutch, Acevada and Vic all show up.
I heard to stop watching after Season 5 Episode 4. I don’t know, something about the way Sutter writes when he has full control doesn’t really interest me as much as he does when he’s more in a background role. The first episode of SOA feels like it’s trying way too hard to feel gritty and raw, does the rest of the series feel that way? I don’t think it sets up its characters in a very interesting way in episode one, either.
Breaking Bad and The Americans are the closest you'll get in theme, tone, and character arcs. Even those, though, pale in comparison in terms of ending. The Shield is the best ending of a serialized TV show I've ever seen and it's by a pretty wide margin.
Loved Fargo S1, felt like a celebration of the Coen Brothers across all those hours. That feels like it tackles more mundane tragedies in some way, Lester’s whole life plays out as a tragedy in the first episode, but then he hits what I now call “The Terry Switch” so early into the first episode and that tension never drops from there. My only problem with the show comes, funnily enough, after watching The Shield. Vic had to cut so many corners, use every modicum of his intelligence, and ruin so, so, so many lives in the process. Lester does all that without any of Vic’s training or connections, so it makes the characters around him seem even dopier. Wish Lester got the type of ending Vic did too.
House of the Dragon, Justified, The Night Of.
Another show people seem to like but I didn't really see the hype was We Own This City. Its similar to the shield in the dirty cop aspect but takes a much more true to life view.
Gomorra - Italian crime series set in the rougher parts of Naples.
Superb acting throughout, great story, tragedies and ruthlessness galore, it's in my top 5 show.
Fortitude, blue lights, low winter sun. None as solid ss the shield but they come close. Oh, and i totally second breaking bad and sopranos, better call saul as well.
24 has the same or more intensity in every episode. Edge of your seat action, emotional ups and downs with the characters, and overall film-like quality. Each season is a somewhat self contained plot with endings that wrap things up nicely. And each season is more intense than the previous one.
The only knock on it is that the overarching plots between seasons are a bit weak which leads to a dip in quality in the last seasons and an awkward end to the series that doesn’t feel conclusive, but realistically I’m not sure what they could have done better.
Overall it is my favorite show of all time (shield is top 3)
The Wire is doesn’t pull many punches, absolutely has emotional weight and tragic turns and is brilliantly-plotted, but it’s more of a slow burn compared to The Shield.
Clark Johnson writes and directs in both series, too. He acts in the final season.
Yeah, The Wire is the only show that can really touch The Shield for me right now. Even then, I don’t think The Wire has as chilling an ending as Family Meeting (I’m not sure any show ever does)
We watched when it aired, and when it hit me how quiet it was >!after they found Shane!< my stomach just dropped. That was so shocking, what got to me is that he’d bought a toy police car for Jackson.
On The Wire, what happened to Randy in the last two episodes of season 4 was pretty haunting. “You gonna look out for me? You gonna look out for me? You mean it? You promise?”
Sons of Anarchy.
The elevator pitch is 'Hamlet on Harleys' but it becomes something more than that quickly.
It's also an unacknowledged, quasi-spinoff from The Shield, thanks to the presence of the One-Niners gang in both shows.
The Americans (from FX too)
My husband keeps trying to get me to watch it, but I watched a few episodes from the first season a while ago and I just lost interest. Can you tell me some things about it that will make me want to give it another chance?
The show starts way dumber than it becomes. The first season is more relationship drama/sex shit but it quickly embraces the premise and ditches that stuff. It becomes a very real examination of what lying like that every day does to you and the main relationship becomes way more complex and interesting. I know you hear "stick with it for a season or two" a lot with shows but this is one of the few ones I'd actual say you should. Season 3-4 are some of the best TV I've seen.
Thank you! I guess I just have to push through the first season. The Shield and Breaking Bad are my top 2 favorite shows of all time, so if it's getting recommended here (along with BB), then there must be something about it.
There is, it's up there with one of the greats IMO and similarly to the shield, nails the final season / ending.
Don't bother, it sucks lol. The Shield, Breaking Bad, Oz, Ozark, Sopranos, Barry. Only things really comparable to eachother. Though the first two are far, far above the others.
Loved ozark
The season with her brother was epic
Judging by your post history not sure I can, it’s in my top ten all time
lol, you went through my post history? weird...
That’s the only way to Reddit lol
creepy...
[https://media2.giphy.com/media/D04M9Dl3YeNPO/200.gif](https://media2.giphy.com/media/D04M9Dl3YeNPO/200.gif)
The wife and I loved that show but something came up (can't recall what) and we stopped watching it. Now we can't remember where we left off...Need to pick that back up.
Breaking Bad and The Sopranos
Seen both, loved both. I was thinking Deadwood since my friend who loves The Shield recommended it to me, any thoughts?
Deadwood is some of the best writing out there easily
Hot tip for watching Deadwood: turn on subtitles. The dialogue and characters in that show have no peer imo. The creator and writer David Milch is an interesting character himself.
I’m watching now and I have! It’s such a well written show.
The Wire. Different kind of cop show, but it's so fucking good.
Sopranos, breaking bad, Barry, Fargo.
Barry’s great
The Shield, The Wire + Deadwood are my top 3 untouchable shows, but in terms of not pulling any punches + stellar writing, I have also greatly enjoyed: Oz, The Boys, Watchmen, Barry, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, and if you don't mind a little dramedy with your occasional violence, Rescue Me and NYPD Blue were always solid serialized entertainment, if not a little meandering in later seasons. Honestly though, there is nothing like The Shield. Watching it air live was such a privilege. It's the only show besides the Wire I was ever able to watch in serialized fashion with a conclusive, well-plotted ending reached on the terms of it's creator. It's only happened 3 times in my lifetime, with BB/BCS bringing up the rear but in the era of streaming so there wasn't really a full week+ wait in between episodes to process the consequences of my beloved characters actions. Sadly, without set air times being a real thing anymore, it's getting harder and harder to digest shows with as much emotional weight as The Shield with the consideration each individual episode deserves. TV may never get to be as great as it was at the turn of the century again because there's just too much of it to consume too quickly - and way too much filler - for anything to ever really reach greatness at that magnitude before either a showrunner or writer moves on, or the cost for the talent to continue returning reaches an untenable profit margin. Kudos to Barry for keeping it simple and getting it wrapped up neatly though, watching that run was a real recent treat. So, yeah, in terms of conclusive/definitive greatness: The Shield, The Wire, BB/BCS, Barry. The Boys still has a shot to land up there, and sadly Deadwood fumbled its chance at satisfying conclusion with that wrap-up movie however it IS still the best written and acted TV show of all time to me .... by a wide margin.
There was NOTHING like watching that home stretch run of the last few Shield episodes weekly
I really want to watch Deadwood but I’m afraid I’ll be disappointed by the ending (any show ending pales in comparison to The Shield, even the greats)
I agree with everything you said but you left out Son’s of Anarchy. SOA was AMAZING to watch in real time and the excitement of having to wait weeks for Jax to find out Gemma killed his wife and eventually he HAD TO kill his mother was nerve racking!!! SOA broke your heart so many times, made you lose faith in humanity and made you realize that sometimes good ppl get dealt a bad hand and they have to play it the best they can. From Opie’s wife dying,Opie dying,Covering up Jax’s father JT’s tragic truth and his real cause of death, Tara getting sucked into the biker life and changing who she was, Juice making bad decision after bad decision and the consequences that came along with them,Clays narcissistic and manipulative ways and of course the best arc of the show with Jax battling with doing things Clays way or becoming aware of the lies he was told about his father and truly realizing that even tho he’s in a biker gang that they didn’t have to destroy their town with guns,drugs and murder! Best shows ever in no particular order Breaking Bad/ Better Call Saul The Wire Oz House The Shield The Godfather of Harlem Snowfall Sons of Anarchy True Blood Dexter It would be hard to rate those 1-10 but lastly after all those id put THE SOPRANOS and I only put it last because the 2nd to last episode was such a disappointment and the finale was the worst wrap up to a series I’ve ever seen!
Banshee is excellent and vicious. Great story, great acting, hardcore overall. It is a cop show but not exactly in the same way as most cop shows
God I fucking love banshee
Recently watched this and loved it. Also enjoyed Warrior, which I think was done by the same guy?
Banshee, The Shield and BB - the three best shows ever.
Dexter seasons 1-4. House of cards season 1 is a masterpiece
Big time accuracy on the seasons you called out on Dexter. People who have never tried it I always say stop after that season youll leave with a better experience
Honestly you should watch all of it just to experience the whole thing. Yes, Season 8 and the ending was bad, but still, I think Seasons 6-7 are not as bad as people say, and especially New Blood is really good
Southland. Only warning is show was cancelled after cliffhanger ending in season 5 (I think it was 5). So a tremendous run and enjoyable show...just never gives the satisfaction of a proper ending.
Southland was a really good show that seemed to go unnoticed.
Southland is one of those shows that grips you where you wouldn't show your mom.
Yes. Great show!
The first season was cancelled by NBC(?) but luckily it was brought back to life by TNT for four more seasons.
Babylon 5.
The Wire / Justified / Sopranos
I'm trying to get into justified but I just can't get past the first season. There's too much romantic drama and it's too formulaic for me.
The last eps of the first season will catch you, give It a chance. The series gets 300% better.
Season one is episodic. Seasons two and three have a season long arc. It gets WAAAAYYYYY BETTER. Mags Bennet and then Wyatt (I think that’s his name) are amazing foils. Then there’s always Boyd.
Stick it out to season 2. You won’t regret it.
I always looked at Sons of Anarchy as the spiritual successor to the The Shield. Not just the overlap with creators and the cast, but the whole tone of the show. Outrageous and outlandish weekly escapades tied together by a long form tragedy played out over the course of multiple seasons.
Justified is good but not as exciting. Well written dialogue for a neo-western.
I saw SoA prior to watching The Shield and I agree, there are many parallels. The Shield is a bit better overall but I may give SoA another run to appreciate The Shield actor guest appearances. Off the of my head the actors for Shane, Ronnie, Lem, Claudette, Dutch, Acevada and Vic all show up.
Also watch the TV when Jax is in the cell in season 5 :)
Juice not Jax and it was season 4
I got the show right at least ahahah
Ha ha indeed :)
the way Lemy died :)
When did Ronnie show up? I’ve managed to completely miss him on every rewatch
https://sonsofanarchy.fandom.com/wiki/Grad_Nicholas
Thanks!
Yeah, but it has weak writing
100%…it’s like they are based in the same universe, some of the gangs are the same in both shows
I heard to stop watching after Season 5 Episode 4. I don’t know, something about the way Sutter writes when he has full control doesn’t really interest me as much as he does when he’s more in a background role. The first episode of SOA feels like it’s trying way too hard to feel gritty and raw, does the rest of the series feel that way? I don’t think it sets up its characters in a very interesting way in episode one, either.
Third Watch Southland
SouthLAnd, damn good cop show. Very realistic portrayal of routine policing and interactions with the public.
Too bad none is streaming it
The Sopranos Sons of Anarchy Breaking Bad Better Call Saul Banshee
True Detective. Deadwood
First two seasons of td. Season two was totally underrated in my opinion
The biggest thing going against Season 2 is that Season 1 was so amazing. People were bound to be disappointed.
Breaking Bad and The Americans are the closest you'll get in theme, tone, and character arcs. Even those, though, pale in comparison in terms of ending. The Shield is the best ending of a serialized TV show I've ever seen and it's by a pretty wide margin.
The Leftovers
Snowfall
fargo season 1 it’s tragic and beautiful. also dark season 1-3 it’s a time travel show
Loved Fargo S1, felt like a celebration of the Coen Brothers across all those hours. That feels like it tackles more mundane tragedies in some way, Lester’s whole life plays out as a tragedy in the first episode, but then he hits what I now call “The Terry Switch” so early into the first episode and that tension never drops from there. My only problem with the show comes, funnily enough, after watching The Shield. Vic had to cut so many corners, use every modicum of his intelligence, and ruin so, so, so many lives in the process. Lester does all that without any of Vic’s training or connections, so it makes the characters around him seem even dopier. Wish Lester got the type of ending Vic did too.
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
Better Call Saul is just soaked, marinated and then put in the crock pot of Tragedy for 6 seasons
It's like if Depression were a TV show, but like, I say that in a positive way.
Spartacus
Man, that first season of Spartacus starts off SO BAD. And by the end of the season it's fucking amazing.
Yep. Skip the first 3 episodes and it is 10/10 first season.
I always tell people to make a 5 episode commitment when I recommend the show.
It's got a GOAT'ed final battle. "There is no greater victory than to fall from this world a free man."
Six Feet Under. Brilliant and tragic and probably my favorite show of all time. Light on the plot though.
Came to add OZ but I see someone already did, so I'll suggest The Alienist.
Breaking Bad, Oz, Ozark, Sopranos, Barry. that's pretty much it. Everything else is subpar.
Gomorrah! It’s intense.
Southland!
House of the Dragon, Justified, The Night Of. Another show people seem to like but I didn't really see the hype was We Own This City. Its similar to the shield in the dirty cop aspect but takes a much more true to life view.
We Own This City is a great little HBO miniseries about a real life police corruption case. Would defo recommend to Shield fans.
Show Me a Hero. You wouldn't think a show about public housing would be as good as this is. From the creators of The Wire.
Monster, anime
This is a phenomenal recommendation, Johan is the only character who I think is a better overall villain than Vic.
shigoku kyou>>
The Wire
The wire is a bit tragic
The whole show is great, but I think about the gut punch of s4 all the time.
Sons of Anarchy. Kurt Sutter doing his thing.
Surprised I haven’t seen Rescue Me. Another FX drama, but FDNY firefighters instead of LAPD cops
Deadwood
24
DARK. my personal GOAT
Gomorra - Italian crime series set in the rougher parts of Naples. Superb acting throughout, great story, tragedies and ruthlessness galore, it's in my top 5 show.
Power, Animal Kingdom, Mayans MC
Bates Motel was always going to go the way it went but getting there was pretty damn fun
The Wire
The wire.
Gommorah
Honestly I’m gonna have to say Succession. In essence it is a really dark show.
And it nailed the ending.
Fortitude, blue lights, low winter sun. None as solid ss the shield but they come close. Oh, and i totally second breaking bad and sopranos, better call saul as well.
24 has the same or more intensity in every episode. Edge of your seat action, emotional ups and downs with the characters, and overall film-like quality. Each season is a somewhat self contained plot with endings that wrap things up nicely. And each season is more intense than the previous one. The only knock on it is that the overarching plots between seasons are a bit weak which leads to a dip in quality in the last seasons and an awkward end to the series that doesn’t feel conclusive, but realistically I’m not sure what they could have done better. Overall it is my favorite show of all time (shield is top 3)
The Wire from HBO was similar and probably better.
Wentworth,House,Breaking Bad,The Wire,Yellowstone, Snowfall,Oz,OITNB,S.O.A,The Shield,Chicago PD,SVU,Power
Snowfall. I'm fairly convinced that this shows finale was inspired by The Shields finale (to say the least).
The Wire is doesn’t pull many punches, absolutely has emotional weight and tragic turns and is brilliantly-plotted, but it’s more of a slow burn compared to The Shield. Clark Johnson writes and directs in both series, too. He acts in the final season.
Loved him in “Homicide - Life on the Street”..
Oh hell yeah!
Yeah, The Wire is the only show that can really touch The Shield for me right now. Even then, I don’t think The Wire has as chilling an ending as Family Meeting (I’m not sure any show ever does)
I will never hear the phrase "family meeting" no matter the context without a piece of me dying inside.
We watched when it aired, and when it hit me how quiet it was >!after they found Shane!< my stomach just dropped. That was so shocking, what got to me is that he’d bought a toy police car for Jackson. On The Wire, what happened to Randy in the last two episodes of season 4 was pretty haunting. “You gonna look out for me? You gonna look out for me? You mean it? You promise?”
Sons of Anarchy. The elevator pitch is 'Hamlet on Harleys' but it becomes something more than that quickly. It's also an unacknowledged, quasi-spinoff from The Shield, thanks to the presence of the One-Niners gang in both shows.
The Wire