Coming the tense and exciting second season, Season 3 of The Shield goes for a different tone. It's darker, more consequence-driven, and unfortunately a lot more uneven.
Season 3 primarily deals with the fallout of the Money Train heist last season. Sure the Strike Team got the money, but between the rising tensions between them as well as their case falling apart, it's fascinating to watch them lose everything they worked so hard for. However, this plot is very much a slow burn, hardly being brought up for much of the season. And with 15 episodes this time around, Season 3 can't help but feel a bit long and drawn out. Thankfully, as per the usual, there are other subplots that this season introduced, some of which are better than others. My personal favorite is the Decoy Squad, a rival team to the Strike Team who I found to be incredibly likable. I also enjoyed seeing Dutch hunt the season's major antagonist, the Cuddler Rapist. Despite Claudette being sidelined a bit due to her promotion, Dutch is still in an incredibly fun and interesting character to watch, and the mystery was intriguing. I really liked how this season explored the unintented consequences of Dutch's psychological approach, at least until that moment where he kills a cat to try and understand a serial killer, a scene that I think went a bit too far. And it's not just that scene, Season 3 as a whole was really depressing and hard to watch. Sometimes it worked like with Tavon's injury and the Strike Team falling apart. Other times, it's a lot more complicated...
If you've seen this season, it's pretty obvious that I withheld talking about one specific storyline, a storyline that I think deserves a whole paragraph for itself: Aceveda's rape. I'm not sure how to talk about Aceveda's rape. If you've seen my reviews of The Sopranos' own third season, you'd know that I am not a very big fan of rape being used as drama. And the big rape in The Shield is awful, it's horrifying, it surpasses that FMA episode as one of the most sickening things I've seen on a TV show. While it's happening, it feels like it's there for hollow shock value, much like Dutch killing the cat. However, what I do admire is the way the show deals with the fallout of Aceveda's rape, because there aren't many TV shows that are actually willing to depict a male character getting raped, and Aceveda's whole experience feels different in a lot of ways. Everyone he reveals the rape too blames him for not doing anything about it, with no one seeming to show the poor guy any sympathy. It's gut-wrenching to watch but sadly very realistic, and it all makes you want to see Aceveda get his revenge. I do think all of this fallout is well-executed and putting my own biases aside, I can't say it wasn't well-done. One thing I definitely can criticize, however, is the show replaying the same goddamn rape scene at the start of every single episode in the Previously On segment. I hated starting every episode of Season 3 wanting to throw up.
While a bit of a slow burn, Season 3 does have some fantastic episodes near the end:
What Power Is: This episode had a bit of a slow start but wow, what a goddamn payoff. That whole interrogation scene between Aceveda and his rapist was a fantastic battle of power, starting off tense but slowly becoming triumphant as Aceveda systematically tears the criminal to shreds. And right after that, Dutch manages to arrest the Cuddler Rapist, making for two wins back-to-back. Given how painful this season of The Shield has been, I definitely didn't expect such a rewarding episode.
All In: It's pretty obvious that the highlight of this episode is easily the ending, where Lem's decision to burn the money leads to an incredibly dramatic confrontation between the Strike Team. But there's also the Strike Team trying to gaslight Tavon, Dutch getting more suspicious about the money train heist, and the surprisingly funny subplot about Aceveda having a rabid fan.
On Tilt: This was another really fantastic season finale that felt equal parts satisfying and absolutely depressing. It was obvious that the Strike Team was going to fall apart by the season's end, but when it actually happened, it was so messy and heartbreaking. It really solidifies Season 3 as a flat-out tragedy, and not just one for the Strike Team. Dutch and Claudette also end up getting the short end of the stick here, both having the Barn turned against them for trying to do what's right. While I think Dominoes Falling felt more finale-ish with its myriad of cliffhangers and resolutions, On Tilt was just a flat-out better episode of television.
Overall, I'm not really sure how I feel about The Shield's third season. It had so much stuff I liked but also a lot of stuff I didn't. The finale was great, the Cuddler Rapist was a solid antagonist, the Decoy Squad was a ton of fun, and Aceveda's rape was kinda groundbreaking. However, this season was also overlong, sluggish at times especially compared to its predecessor, and perhaps a bit too grimdark.
3/5 Stars
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