Pilot (The Shield TV Series)
Encyclopedia
"Pilot" is the first episode of the FX crime drama television series The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...

. It was written by series creator Shawn Ryan
Shawn Ryan
Shawn Ryan is a writer, and the creator of the FX Networks series The Shield and the Fox TV series The Chicago Code.-Education/Personal life:...

, directed by Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson , sometimes credited as Clark 'Slappy' Jackson, Clarque Johnson, and J. Clark Johnson, is an American actor and director who has worked in both television and film.-Early years:...

, and originally aired on March 12, 2002. The episode received Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 nominations for both its writing and directing.

Plot

The opening scene of the series consists of new LAPD
Los Angeles Police Department
The Los Angeles Police Department is the police department of the city of Los Angeles, California. With just under 10,000 officers and more than 3,000 civilian staff, covering an area of with a population of more than 4.1 million people, it is the third largest local law enforcement agency in...

 Captain David Aceveda
David Aceveda
David Segovia Aceveda, played by Benito Martinez, is a character on FX's television crime drama The Shield.Originally, he was the captain of "the Barn", a fictional LAPD precinct in the also-fictional Farmington district of Los Angeles, California...

, of the infamous Farmington District, giving a press conference discussing how crime rates as a whole have been down for the past few months. This is juxtaposed with scenes of Vic Mackey
Vic Mackey
Detective Victor Samuel "Vic" Mackey, portrayed by Michael Chiklis, was the antihero and main protagonist of the FX crime drama series The Shield. Mackey was a corrupt and brutal Detective in the Los Angeles Police Department; he stole from drug dealers, routinely beat suspects and committed murder...

, along with his Strike Team (Shane Vendrell
Shane Vendrell
Detective Shane Vendrell is a fictional character on the FX Networks police drama television series The Shield. He is portrayed by actor Walton Goggins....

, Curtis Lemansky
Curtis Lemansky
Curtis Lemansky, more commonly known as "Lem" or "Lemonhead", is a fictional police detective on the FX original drama The Shield, played by actor Kenny Johnson.-Personal life:Little is known about Lemansky's personal life...

, Ronnie Gardocki
Ronnie Gardocki
Detective Ronald Everett "Ronnie" Gardocki, is a fictional character who appears in the FX crime drama The Shield. He is portrayed by David Rees Snell. Ronnie is known for his extremely calm demeanor, well-groomed appearance, and quiet nature....

, and Terry Crowley), chasing a drug dealer through the district. When Mackey and his team corner the dealer, Mackey strips the dealer with various citizens watching. Doing this, Mackey finds the dealer's stash taped to his scrotum, and removes the baggie with excessive force.

Meanwhile, seasoned Detectives Dutch Wagenbach and Claudette Wyms discover a murdered woman in her home. It is revealed that her daughter is missing. Back at the Farmington Precinct (known by the detectives as "The Barn"), Aceveda calls Vic into his office. A Mexican gang member who Vic had previously apprehended is filing a brutality complaint against Mackey, claiming he was harmed with a pair of pliers during his arrest. Aceveda reprimands Vic, saying that this is his fourth excessive force complaint since David was made Captain. Mackey feigns innocence to the pliers complaint. He later accosts the man who filed the complaint, and terrorizes him into dropping the charges.

Later on, Vic and his partner Shane Vendrell pay a visit to notorious drug dealer Rondell Robinson. Unbeknownst to them, they are being followed by fellow Strike Team member Terry Crowley. After this, Terry has a meeting with David Aceveda and an associate from the U.S. Justice Department in a park. It is revealed here that Crowley has been gathering intel on Mackey and the Strike Team's doings for some time. When Terry tells Aceveda about the meeting with Rondell Robinson, Aceveda begins talking about building a federal case against Mackey. Crowley relents, only wishing to do so if he receives a job with the Justice Department, plus a new car and moving expenses. Aceveda agrees to the demands. When Terry asks David what he (Aceveda) is getting out of all of this, Aceveda replies "I just want a dirty cop off the streets." To this, Terry responds "You wanna be mayor someday? You better learn to lie a hell of a lot better than that."

Still on the hunt for the missing girl, Dutch and Claudette dig up info on her father, Lonnie, who has become a crackhead. After bringing him in, an interrogation reveals that the crackhead broke into his ex-wife Nancy's house, killed her, and kidnapped his daughter. The distraught father reveals that he sold his daughter to a pedophile named George Sawyer to feed his crack cocaine
Crack cocaine
Crack cocaine is the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked. It may also be termed rock, hard, iron, cavvy, base, or just crack; it is the most addictive form of cocaine. Crack rocks offer a short but intense high to smokers...

 habit. After bringing in Sawyer, Dutch proceeds to manipulate him in the interrogation room; he's polite, brings him refreshments, and levels with him by claiming to have a desire for one of his daughter's thirteen year old friends (in reality, Dutch is childless). It is also during this sequence that an animosity between Dutch and Vic is revealed (Vic steals some Ding Dongs from Dutch's desk, which Dutch was planning to eat during what he expects to be a very long interrogation). The interrogation is successful, however, as Sawyer reveals that he didn't have the little girl in his possession, stating that she was "too young," and that he preferred them a little developed, like what Dutch was talking about. So he traded her to another pedophile, a Dr. Bernard Grady, for "a girl to be named later."

Dr. Grady is brought in, but denies any knowledge of the girl to Wyms and Dutch. Reluctantly, Aceveda brings Vic in as interrogator. Vic brings in a telephone book to the interrogation room. A smug Dr. Grady says to Vic, "Are we playing 'good cop, bad cop' now?" Vic then retorts and smiles, "Good cop and bad cop left for the day. I'm a different kind of cop." He then proceeds to beat Dr. Grady senseless with the phone book as the other cops look away nervously. Afterwards, Vic gives the girl's location to Aceveda.

At a cookout at Vic's home, Crowley approaches Vic about going along on an upcoming raid. Vic agrees. The Strike Team prepare for the raid, on a dealer (and rival of Rondell's) nicknamed Two Time, at his apartment near Dodger Stadium. Two Time is caught unaware, with Vic, Shane, and Terry confronting Two Time directly, and Lem and Ronnie covering the other exit. Two Time becomes trapped in his bathroom where he fires several shots at the Strike Team. Vic and Shane return fire, killing him. Vic lifts Two Time's gun out of his hand, looks Terry right in the eyes, and shoots him in the face. As Terry Crowley lies dying, Vic Mackey stands over him, shaking his head with a smirk.

Cast

  • Michael Chiklis
    Michael Chiklis
    Michael Charles Chiklis is an American actor, voice actor, occasional director and television producer. Some of the previous roles for which he is best known include Commissioner Tony Scali on the ABC police drama The Commish, LAPD Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield, Thing in...

     as Detective Vic Mackey
    Vic Mackey
    Detective Victor Samuel "Vic" Mackey, portrayed by Michael Chiklis, was the antihero and main protagonist of the FX crime drama series The Shield. Mackey was a corrupt and brutal Detective in the Los Angeles Police Department; he stole from drug dealers, routinely beat suspects and committed murder...

  • Walton Goggins
    Walton Goggins
    Walton Sanders Goggins, Jr. is an American actor best known for his roles on the FX Networks series The Shield and Justified, portraying Detective Shane Vendrell and Boyd Crowder, respectively. He is also known for his character roles in the films Miracle at St. Anna and Predators...

     as Detective Shane Vendrell
    Shane Vendrell
    Detective Shane Vendrell is a fictional character on the FX Networks police drama television series The Shield. He is portrayed by actor Walton Goggins....

  • David Rees Snell
    David Rees Snell
    David Rees Snell is a television actor cast as Detective Ronnie Gardocki, on the FX Networks' crime drama The Shield.When The Shield was picked up by FX, Snell was initially hired as a supporting cast member on the show...

     as Detective Ronnie Gardocki
    Ronnie Gardocki
    Detective Ronald Everett "Ronnie" Gardocki, is a fictional character who appears in the FX crime drama The Shield. He is portrayed by David Rees Snell. Ronnie is known for his extremely calm demeanor, well-groomed appearance, and quiet nature....

  • Kenny Johnson
    Kenny Johnson
    Kenneth "Kenny" Johnson is an American actor well known for his portrayal of Detective Curtis Lemansky on the American drama The Shield and Detective "Ham" Dewey on Saving Grace.- Early career :...

     as Detective Curtis "Lem" Lemansky
    Curtis Lemansky
    Curtis Lemansky, more commonly known as "Lem" or "Lemonhead", is a fictional police detective on the FX original drama The Shield, played by actor Kenny Johnson.-Personal life:Little is known about Lemansky's personal life...

  • Reed Diamond
    Reed Diamond
    Reed Edward Diamond is an American actor. He is best known for the role of Det. Mike Kellerman on Homicide: Life on the Street and the role of recurring character Laurence Dominic on Dollhouse...

     as Detective Terry Crowley
  • Benito Martinez
    Benito Martinez (actor)
    Benito Martinez is an American actor most known for his role as police captain David Aceveda in FX Networks' acclaimed crime drama The Shield...

     as Captain David Aceveda
    David Aceveda
    David Segovia Aceveda, played by Benito Martinez, is a character on FX's television crime drama The Shield.Originally, he was the captain of "the Barn", a fictional LAPD precinct in the also-fictional Farmington district of Los Angeles, California...

  • Jay Karnes
    Jay Karnes
    Jay Karnes is an American actor, born in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended the University of Kansas . He is well known for his role as L.A.P.D. Det...

     as Detective Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach
  • CCH Pounder
    CCH Pounder
    Carol Christine Hilaria Pounder , known professionally as C. C. H. Pounder , is a Guyanese-American film and television actress...

     as Detective Claudette Wyms
    Claudette Wyms
    Captain Claudette Wyms is a fictional Los Angeles Police Department captain in the television drama series The Shield. Claudette is played by CCH Pounder.-Personal:Claudette has been divorced twice and raised two daughters, Bonnie and Rebecca...

  • Michael Jace
    Michael Jace
    Michael Jace is an American actor. He starred in State of Play with Russell Crowe. He is best known for his role as the bisexual Los Angeles Police Officer Julien Lowe in the FX drama The Shield...

     as Officer Julien Lowe
    Julien Lowe
    Detective Julien Lowe is a fictional Los Angeles Police Department officer and a new member of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit in the television drama series The Shield. Lowe is played by Michael Jace.-Rookie:...

  • Catherine Dent
    Catherine Dent
    Catherine Dent is an American actress who has starred in film and in television. Her first feature film was the 1994 movie Nobody's Fool....

     as Officer Danielle "Danny" Sofer
    Danielle Sofer
    Sergeant Danielle "Danny" Sofer is a fictional Los Angeles Police Department sergeant in the television drama series The Shield. Sofer is played by Catherine Dent....


Awards

  • Emmy Awards: Shawn Ryan was nominated for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for this episode and Clark Johnson was nominated for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for this episode.

Music

  • The song played at the end of the episode is "Bawitdaba
    Bawitdaba
    "Bawitdaba" is a song by American musician Kid Rock, from his album Devil Without a Cause. The song was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2000 and it peaked at No. 10 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks, No. 11 on the Modern Rock Charts, and No. 104 on the Hot 100 on July 13, 1999...

    " by Kid Rock
    Kid Rock
    Robert James "Bob" Ritchie , known by his stage name Kid Rock, is an American singer-songwriter, musician and rapper with five Grammy Awards nominations...

    . Series creator Shawn Ryan
    Shawn Ryan
    Shawn Ryan is a writer, and the creator of the FX Networks series The Shield and the Fox TV series The Chicago Code.-Education/Personal life:...

    claimed, in the audio commentary, that he constantly listened to the song while writing the episode.
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