The Shield

The Shield follows Vic Mackey and the Strike Team, an anti-gang unit working from a converted church in the fictional Farmington district of Los Angeles. Vic is effective, persuasive and willing to cross lines that create problems far beyond the immediate case.

Michael Chiklis gives him an alarming ability to make his own reasoning sound practical. Walton Goggins, as Shane Vendrell, brings a more exposed mixture of loyalty and insecurity. CCH Pounder gives detective Claudette Wyms a steadiness that the louder personalities cannot easily push aside.

Shawn Ryan's seven-season drama is an excellent sustained thriller. Its force comes from accumulation: a decision remains part of the story after the person responsible would prefer to move on. The weekly police work and the longer history keep placing pressure on each other.

Watch it in order and avoid reading ahead. The Wire takes a broader, slower view of policing; Sons of Anarchy offers another group whose loyalties become difficult to escape.