Vic Mackey
Encyclopedia
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
on at least three occasions. While two of the victims were violent gangsters, one was a fellow cop who was secretly working to expose Vic and his unit. Mackey saw his tactics as a means to an end
. He is a devoted father and also saw himself as a family man.
(possibly only because he was making a joke). In Season Five, he told Lt. Jon Kavanaugh
that he had been a police officer for at least 14 years. In one of the DVD commentaries for Season Four, Michael Chiklis mentions that the main characters on the show are from the same areas as the actors who play them, which would imply that Mackey is a native of the Boston, Massachusetts area. In support of this theory, during the Season One episode "Cherrypoppers", Vic approaches a suspect outside of an underage sex show and, as a ruse, asks if the man remembers him from Boston.
is a classic example of selfish consequentialism
. Mackey feels that his actions are justified if they produce the best consequences for himself and those close to him. While he had a solid status as a family man, he committed adultery
with several women, including his fellow officer Danielle "Danny" Sofer. Mackey's personality is often viewed as amoral or machiavellian, believing that the ends justify the means. However, this ultimately led to his downfall, which he narrowly avoided until the very end of the series.
His brutality is usually directed towards criminals whom he considered deserving of their harsh treatment at his hands-i.e. rapists, drug dealers, pedophiles and mass murderers. Even when he has broken these laws himself, he has often justified it to himself by doing so in order to solve what he regards as more serious crimes. For example, in the First Season finale, Vic cornered a teenaged murder witness and threatened to plant crack cocaine
on him unless he violated the neighborhood code of silence and revealed who murdered two police officers, proving that he would also hurt the innocent when it suited his needs.
treatments as well as alimony
to his ex-wife Corrine. In the second season, Vic helped his ex-partner and training officer, Joe Clark, bring down the man who forced him out of the LAPD, only to take a bullet in the alley in which they busted the perp
.
was Vic's best friend since before the formation of The Barn and the creation of the Strike Team. The strength of their friendship was evident in how they went go to great lengths to save each other from certain situations and how Vic kept Shane in the loop on all of his deals, while he leaves Lem and Ronnie out of some of his more darker schemes. However, their relationship eventually became strained when Shane entered into a serious relationship with Mara, who was very demanding for his time.
After the Strike Team robbed the Armenian Mob of millions of dollars, only to have it burnt by Lem who feared that the money would tear them apart and cost them their freedom, Vic and Shane's issues came to a head with Shane accusing Vic of taking other people's side against him when they are supposed to be best friends, and Vic calling Mara a bitch who has got Shane so twisted that he can't think straight anymore. The two fell out and the strike team is disbanded.
Shane and Vic reconcile after Shane gets involved with drug lord and gang leader Antwon Mitchell
, who kills a young girl using Shane's gun. He offers to hand her body over to Shane in return for the body of Vic Mackey. Shane contacts Vic to meet him alone. After realizing Shane's innocence, the two work together, along with Ronnie and Lem to save Shane's career and get Antwon behind bars. Once this is successfully done, the Strike Team is reunited and become close friends once again.
When Jon Kavanaugh
launched an investigation into the Strike Team after arresting Lem for stealing drugs, Vic went to great lengths to try to save him, even trying to strike up a deal with Antwon to get Lem protection in prison. When the deal went sour, Lem was forced to go into hiding. Vic, Shane and Ronnie planned to escort Lem to a ranch in the mountains of Mexico where he would be safe from the law and any enemies who may want to kill him but the plan went awry when Acevada told Vic that Lem was talking about the Armenian Money Train robbery. Vic confided in Shane that Lem may also talk about the murder of detective Terry Crowley.
Shane and Lem met and when Lem refused to go into hiding in Mexico, Shane blew him up with a grenade. When Vic learned the truth, he confronted Shane and he told Shane that if he ever saw him again, he would kill him. Shane drove off, calling Vic a hypocrite.
At the end of Season Six, Shane kidnapped Vic's family and locked them in a cargo container. Although Shane did this to protect them from Armenian mob boss Diro Kesakhian, Vic was enraged. At the beginning of Season Seven, after he learned the reasons behind it, Vic grudgingly allied himself with Shane in order to protect his family from both the Armenian Mafia and Mexican drug lord Cruz Pezuela. As time passed, however, Vic and Ronnie decided that the time had come for Shane to pay with his life for murdering Lem. They arranged for him to be assassinated by Pezuela's Mexican drug cartel
. At the last second Vic tried to call of the hit on Shane, but was unable to reach Shane on his cell phone. Although Shane's Armenian employers were all murdered, Shane escaped and pocketed the payoff money.
Shane decided to retaliate by blackmailing a small time pimp
into murdering Ronnie and preparing to murder Vic himself. When the pimp revealed the truth to Dutch Wagenbach, Shane fled the Barn and went on the run with his wife and son. The series came to its climax as Vic resigned from the police force and set out to insulate himself from prosecution by hunting down and murdering Shane and Mara Vendrell.
However, Shane began blackmailing Vic by threatening to surrender and testify against him unless he was kept ahead of the manhunt. Ultimately, Shane was horrified to learn of Vic's immunity deal during a cell phone conversation. As a result of Vic's taunts, Shane murdered his pregnant wife Mara and son Jackson by poison. As his fellow officers kicked down the door, Shane shot himself in the head.
to Vic and the Strike Team was tested several times, such as when crime lord Armadillo Quintero burned Ronnie's face and threatened to file an excessive force complaint unless Mackey forced Gardocki to recant his statement. When the Strike Team temporarily disbanded at the end of season three, Ronnie was the only one to stay by Vic's side when Shane and Lem went their separate ways. Ronnie often played Devil's Advocate
to Vic, forcing him to address truths Vic would rather ignore. In particular, in the wake of Shane's confession to Lem's murder, Ronnie pressed Vic to kill Shane even when Vic had second thoughts and tried to halt their first assassination attempt. Gardocki felt justified when Shane tried to murder them a few days later. Captain Wyms disbanded the Strike Team after Ronnie's assailant fingered Shane. As a result, Vic resigned from the Department and Ronnie returned to regular detective duty.
Ronnie felt panic at the thought of Shane, by then a fugitive, being arrested and confessing to the many crimes committed by the Strike Team and even considering running to Mexico
. However, Vic dissuaded him and tried to arrange ICE
(Immigration and Customs Enforcement) jobs for the both of them.
When ICE offered Vic immunity but not Ronnie, Vic refused to accept unless Ronnie received a similar deal too. However, after witnessing the staged arrest of his ex-wife, Corrine, Vic took the deal and confessed to everything. After a disgusted Agent Murray informed him that he had implicated Ronnie in "enough shit to send him to prison for the rest of his life," Vic promised to "string him along" until after the arrest of Mexican drug lord Guillermo Beltran.
After Beltran's arrest and the largest drug seizure in ICE history, Vic and Ronnie were summoned back to The Barn. Believing that they were both safe forever, Ronnie was shocked when Dutch Wagenbach arrested him for "The last three years." Enraged and devastated by Vic's betrayal, Ronnie shouted profanity at his former mentor and demanded to know whatever happened to protecting the Team. Vic was noticeably crushed by seeing his only friend arrested and denouncing him. In Vic's cubicle, he put a cropped Strike Team photo in a frame on his desk; Lem is the only one still visible. Shane is removed and so is Ronnie.
When the Strike Team eventually returned, Vic had Lem get collateral from a drug dealer to ensure a tip regarding the whereabouts of a body that could implicate Shane was corrupt. The brick of heroin was soon seized by IAD and Lem became a means with which Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh could take down the entire Strike Team. Lem's loyalty was tested when he found out Vic killed Terry, but he remained loyal to the team. After an arrest caused by Vic and Lem's viewing of a personal moment between Kavanaugh and his ex-wife, Lem decided to plead guilty to the charges. But with Vic unable to fulfill a deal with Antwon Mitchell to ensure Lem's safety, Vic made Lem go fugitive. Before Vic and Ronnie could meet up with him, Shane killed Lem with a grenade. In the aftermath, Vic undertook several actions to avenge Lem's death, including torturing and killing suspect Guardo Lima and trying to murder real killer Shane Vendrell on multiple occasions after he learned of Shane's role in Lem's death. Lem remained the one Strike Team member in the Strike Team photo in Vic's cubicle at ICE.
caught Vic and the Strike Team stealing cocaine
from a crime scene. Although Julien approached Captain Aceveda and promised to testify against Vic and the Team, Mackey swiftly obtained leverage against his fellow cop. While arresting a wanted fugitive, Vic noted that the latter was having homosexual relations with Julien. Holding the upper hand at last, Vic threatened to denounce Julien to the entire precinct. However, he offered to falsify the arrest report in exchange for Julien recanting his allegations against the Strike Team.
A terrified Julien immediately caved in to Vic's demands. After this, Vic repeatedly attempted to be friendly to Julien, with varying degrees of reception. However, when Julien was offered a position in the Strike Team, he at first refused, saying that he did not wish to work alongside Mackey. He only accepted the promotion after being told that Vic would soon be fired from the department.
Although Julien continued to serve alongside the Team, the corrupt activities of Shane, Vic, and Ronnie were carefully concealed from him. After Shane was caught in a botched attempt to murder Vic and Ronnie, a horrified Captain Wyms disbanded the Strike Team permanently. Julien was returned to uniformed patrol, but was promised a swift promotion to Detective. When Wyms and Detective Wagenbach confronted him about the possibility of having to arrest his former teammates, Lowe unequivocally stated his loyalty was to the precinct and not to the Strike Team.
has evolved in different ways since the birth of The Shield. Although Aceveda privately detested Mackey, he was not above breaking the law himself. He also frequently blurred the lines between investigating Mackey and protecting him.
In the first season Aceveda was heavily bent on proving Mackey's guilt, putting all his effort into taking him down. While Mackey detested Aceveda's political ambitions, Aceveda continued to label Mackey as "Al Capone
with a badge."
At the start of the second season, Aceveda, not wanting a scandal in the midst of his political career, agreed to watch Mackey's back if he could make the Strike Team appear to clean up their act and exhibit professionalism at all times. This created a very subtle, bumpy friendship between the two. This "friendship," however, ended when Aceveda left for his City Council
position, but not before writing a scathing letter that damaged Mackey's career.
At the end of the sixth season, Aceveda continued to push for progress on the San Marcos
killings, a massacre of several Mexican immigrants by unknown assailants, mostly at the behest of Mexican real estate
developer Cruz Pezuela, who was also financing his investigation committee into a possible run for mayor
. Aceveda also used his political influence to ensure that Mackey was forced into early retirement at a Review Board Hearing. However, events took a wild turn, as a graphic photo taken by Juan Lozano of Aceveda's rape suddenly reappeared in the hands of Pezuela, who gave it to Vic as a way to save his job.
Vic attempted to use the photo against Aceveda, only to have it denounced as a fake and to have Aceveda's lawyer threaten him with a lawsuit for slander and blackmail
. Mackey later returned with the memory card
, the background story of the photo, and all the existing copies. Aceveda was stunned to hear about Cruz Pezuela's involvement in the photo, and after listening to Mackey's theory, agreed to help him in his investigation into Pezuela's activities. The scope of the operation stunned both of them; Pezuela was helping the Mexican
drug cartels buy into Farmington, and planned on using various businesses as fronts for money laundering
, drug trafficking, and prostitution
. Aceveda received the memory card as a symbol of trust between him and Mackey, and the two decided to investigate Pezuela, in hopes of shutting his operation down.
Later, Aceveda met with Vic, who had walked out on a Department Review Board hearing and stolen a car full of blackmail
material from one of Pezuela's couriers. Aceveda was shocked to learn the dirty secrets of many of the most influential people in Southern California
, including public officials, mayoral aides, and the heads of special interest groups.
As the series wound to a close, Aceveda and Vic continued to collaborate in order to destroy Pezuela's drug cartel. Their friendship ended, however, when Vic destroyed Aceveda's attempts to blackmail ICE Agent Olivia Murray with information from Pezuela's box.
After Vic arranged an immunity deal with ICE, Aceveda was enraged that Vic could never be prosecuted for any of his crimes. The two collaborated one last time, however, in order to arrange the arrest of drug lord Guillermo Beltran. While speaking over the phone, Aceveda expressed satisfaction that ICE had realized that, "they have a reptile working for them." Uninterested in Aceveda's views on his character, Vic coldly reminded Aceveda about "respecting each others' endgames", marking the final communication between the two men.
Mackey also had a close friendship with a prostitute, Connie Reisler, whom in an unseen story he found "lying in a bathroom in a pool of bloody crystals," trying to end her pregnancy
with drain cleaner
and a plunger
. He told her if she ever needed any help she could call him, and they developed a deep bond. Connie was killed in Season Two while shacking up with a murderer in a criminal informant
assignment. Since her death, Mackey occasionally checks in on her son, Brian, who is in foster care
.
For many years, Vic had a on-off sexual relationship with Sergeant Danny Sofer, and was the illegitimate father of her son Lee. In Season 6, Vic's daughter Cassidy angrily confronted him after listening to her mother talking about the baby's paternity over the telephone.
In season one, his son Matthew was diagnosed with autism
. Later, his youngest daughter was diagnosed with autism as well. These family problems, and the necessary financial support, are the overriding factors as to why Mackey continues to pursue money illegally.
to build a Federal case against the Strike Team for colluding with drug lord Rondell Robinson. Vic was secretly warned of this by his friend, Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy.
Later, while Vic and Strike Team members Shane Vendrell and Crowley were raiding the home of a rival drug lord named "Two Time," the dealer stepped out of the bathroom with a pistol and was promptly gunned down by Vic and Shane. However, as Detective Crowley walked into the room, Vic picked up Two Time's gun and shot him in the head. Vic and Shane then rigged the crime scene evidence, claiming that "Two Time" stepped out of the bathroom, shot Terry, and was slain by their return fire. Captain Aceveda, however, was certain that Mackey was behind it and set out to send him to prison for it, but he never succeeded.
In Season 5, Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh
of internal affairs
made it his personal mission to send Vic to prison for Terry's murder. He commandeered the Captain's office in "The Barn" and plastered it with grisly photographs of the Crowley murder scene. He even tried to force a confession
from Vic by ordering him to revisit the crime scene
and describe what happened in front of Terry's weeping brother. Vic, however, calmly stuck to his original story and Kavanaugh's crusade ultimately ended in the destruction of his own career.
As the series moved toward a close, Vic finagled a Federal deal for full immunity from prosecution for every crime he admitted to. Using Shane's memoirs as a guide, he spoke in detail about everything the Strike Team had done, including the murder of Terry. As a result, he was regarded as scum by his former colleagues at the Barn and was trapped in a cubicle
by his new employers at I.C.E.
, money laundering
, smuggling
, drug trafficking and obstruction of justice
that would likely earn them long prison sentences.
Jon Kavanaugh
from his game by sleeping with Kavanaugh's ex-wife.
In response, Kavanaugh's hatred of Mackey consumed and completely overwhelmed his conscience, leading him to begin breaking the law himself in destroy the man he regarded as, "pissing all over," the entire police department.
After a failed attempt to seek revenge against Vic Mackey by sleeping with Corrine Mackey and alliance with Antwon Mitchell
, Kavanaugh fabricated evidence, implicating Vic in the murder of Lemansky. When Dutch Wagenbach and Claudette Wyms
exposed his actions, Kavanaugh was stripped of his badge and imprisoned. Soon after, Vic visited Kavanaugh in prison and gloated over his victory, but the disgraced Lieutenant remained unfazed.
, it became apparent that Beltran was the major focus of an ongoing ICE investigation. In exchange for developing a Federal case against Beltran, Vic, in order to protect his ex-wife Corrine, decided to arrange for full immunity by admitting to all the crimes he has committed, including the slayings of Detective Terry Crowley, Margos Dezerian, Guardo Lima, and many others. After he had detailed all of his crimes, a horrified Agent Olivia Murray realized that this immunity deal was certain to severely damage her career.
As Vic then watched in horror, Ronnie Gardocki
, his last remaining friend, was placed under arrest by Detective Dutch Wagenbach inside the Strike Team's former Club House. Enraged and devastated, Ronnie was handcuffed and led away while screaming profanity at Vic, and demanding to know whatever happened to protecting the Team. As his former colleagues eyed him with frigid loathing, Vic left the precinct for the last time.
In the aftermath, Vic begged for the opportunity to say goodbye to his children. Agent Murray, seething in hatred, retorted, "You said goodbye to them the moment you shot another cop in the face."
Murray further vowed to make Vic's three years at I.C.E time a living hell by taking him off of the streets and demanding that he type a ten-page report every day. Forced to attire himself in an uncomfortable suit and tie, Vic was trapped in a cubicle
prison, completely alone. He scattered his desk with pictures of his three children from his marriage with Corinne, and a photo of himself drinking beer with Lem. There were no photos of Shane, Ronnie, Corinne or Lee, the illegitimate child he fathered with Sergeant Danny Sofer.
Hearing police sirens, Mackey looked out the office window longingly. He returned to his desk and fought back tears as he stared at the photographs of his children. Vic removed a handgun from his drawer, holstered it beneath his shirt and walked off into the night. This marked the end of the series.
and Dirty Harry." Vic Mackey was seen as a pattern of more violent anti heroes on television.
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...
, was the antihero and main protagonist of the FX crime drama 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...
. Mackey was a corrupt and brutal Detective in the Los Angeles Police Department
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...
; he stole from drug dealers, routinely beat suspects and committed murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
on at least three occasions. While two of the victims were violent gangsters, one was a fellow cop who was secretly working to expose Vic and his unit. Mackey saw his tactics as a means to an end
Consequentialism
Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness of that conduct...
. He is a devoted father and also saw himself as a family man.
Early life
Vic Mackey is of Irish Descent. Little is known about Mackey's early life, although he once mentioned that his father was a bricklayerBricklayer
A bricklayer or mason is a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...
(possibly only because he was making a joke). In Season Five, he told Lt. Jon Kavanaugh
Jon Kavanaugh
Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh is a fictional Lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department on the FX television show The Shield. He was portrayed by method actor Forest Whitaker.-Kavanaugh's career before the investigation:...
that he had been a police officer for at least 14 years. In one of the DVD commentaries for Season Four, Michael Chiklis mentions that the main characters on the show are from the same areas as the actors who play them, which would imply that Mackey is a native of the Boston, Massachusetts area. In support of this theory, during the Season One episode "Cherrypoppers", Vic approaches a suspect outside of an underage sex show and, as a ruse, asks if the man remembers him from Boston.
Mackey's morality
Vic Mackey's moralityMorality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
is a classic example of selfish consequentialism
Consequentialism
Consequentialism is the class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness of that conduct...
. Mackey feels that his actions are justified if they produce the best consequences for himself and those close to him. While he had a solid status as a family man, he committed adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
with several women, including his fellow officer Danielle "Danny" Sofer. Mackey's personality is often viewed as amoral or machiavellian, believing that the ends justify the means. However, this ultimately led to his downfall, which he narrowly avoided until the very end of the series.
His brutality is usually directed towards criminals whom he considered deserving of their harsh treatment at his hands-i.e. rapists, drug dealers, pedophiles and mass murderers. Even when he has broken these laws himself, he has often justified it to himself by doing so in order to solve what he regards as more serious crimes. For example, in the First Season finale, Vic cornered a teenaged murder witness and threatened to plant 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...
on him unless he violated the neighborhood code of silence and revealed who murdered two police officers, proving that he would also hurt the innocent when it suited his needs.
Character history
Early in the series, Mackey extorted money from drug dealers and openly stole their money or drugs, though he cut back on such corruption as the series progressed. The purpose was to support him and his team's retirement and provide a legacy for their children. Later, he justified stealing gang money to help pay for his kids' autismAutism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
treatments as well as alimony
Alimony
Alimony is a U.S. term denoting a legal obligation to provide financial support to one's spouse from the other spouse after marital separation or from the ex-spouse upon divorce...
to his ex-wife Corrine. In the second season, Vic helped his ex-partner and training officer, Joe Clark, bring down the man who forced him out of the LAPD, only to take a bullet in the alley in which they busted the perp
PERP
p53 apoptosis effector related to PMP-22 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PERP gene.PERP is a direct transcriptional target of p53.-Further reading:...
.
Relationship with Shane
Detective Shane VendrellShane 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....
was Vic's best friend since before the formation of The Barn and the creation of the Strike Team. The strength of their friendship was evident in how they went go to great lengths to save each other from certain situations and how Vic kept Shane in the loop on all of his deals, while he leaves Lem and Ronnie out of some of his more darker schemes. However, their relationship eventually became strained when Shane entered into a serious relationship with Mara, who was very demanding for his time.
After the Strike Team robbed the Armenian Mob of millions of dollars, only to have it burnt by Lem who feared that the money would tear them apart and cost them their freedom, Vic and Shane's issues came to a head with Shane accusing Vic of taking other people's side against him when they are supposed to be best friends, and Vic calling Mara a bitch who has got Shane so twisted that he can't think straight anymore. The two fell out and the strike team is disbanded.
Shane and Vic reconcile after Shane gets involved with drug lord and gang leader Antwon Mitchell
Antwon Mitchell
Antwon Mitchell is a fictional character from the FX television show The Shield, portrayed by Anthony Anderson.-Character overview:Mitchell is a former drug lord who, having been released from prison after a lengthy sentence, tried to reinvent himself as an upstanding community activist...
, who kills a young girl using Shane's gun. He offers to hand her body over to Shane in return for the body of Vic Mackey. Shane contacts Vic to meet him alone. After realizing Shane's innocence, the two work together, along with Ronnie and Lem to save Shane's career and get Antwon behind bars. Once this is successfully done, the Strike Team is reunited and become close friends once again.
When Jon Kavanaugh
Jon Kavanaugh
Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh is a fictional Lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department on the FX television show The Shield. He was portrayed by method actor Forest Whitaker.-Kavanaugh's career before the investigation:...
launched an investigation into the Strike Team after arresting Lem for stealing drugs, Vic went to great lengths to try to save him, even trying to strike up a deal with Antwon to get Lem protection in prison. When the deal went sour, Lem was forced to go into hiding. Vic, Shane and Ronnie planned to escort Lem to a ranch in the mountains of Mexico where he would be safe from the law and any enemies who may want to kill him but the plan went awry when Acevada told Vic that Lem was talking about the Armenian Money Train robbery. Vic confided in Shane that Lem may also talk about the murder of detective Terry Crowley.
Shane and Lem met and when Lem refused to go into hiding in Mexico, Shane blew him up with a grenade. When Vic learned the truth, he confronted Shane and he told Shane that if he ever saw him again, he would kill him. Shane drove off, calling Vic a hypocrite.
At the end of Season Six, Shane kidnapped Vic's family and locked them in a cargo container. Although Shane did this to protect them from Armenian mob boss Diro Kesakhian, Vic was enraged. At the beginning of Season Seven, after he learned the reasons behind it, Vic grudgingly allied himself with Shane in order to protect his family from both the Armenian Mafia and Mexican drug lord Cruz Pezuela. As time passed, however, Vic and Ronnie decided that the time had come for Shane to pay with his life for murdering Lem. They arranged for him to be assassinated by Pezuela's Mexican drug cartel
Drug cartel
Drug cartels are criminal organizations developed with the primary purpose of promoting and controlling drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the largest trafficking...
. At the last second Vic tried to call of the hit on Shane, but was unable to reach Shane on his cell phone. Although Shane's Armenian employers were all murdered, Shane escaped and pocketed the payoff money.
Shane decided to retaliate by blackmailing a small time pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
into murdering Ronnie and preparing to murder Vic himself. When the pimp revealed the truth to Dutch Wagenbach, Shane fled the Barn and went on the run with his wife and son. The series came to its climax as Vic resigned from the police force and set out to insulate himself from prosecution by hunting down and murdering Shane and Mara Vendrell.
However, Shane began blackmailing Vic by threatening to surrender and testify against him unless he was kept ahead of the manhunt. Ultimately, Shane was horrified to learn of Vic's immunity deal during a cell phone conversation. As a result of Vic's taunts, Shane murdered his pregnant wife Mara and son Jackson by poison. As his fellow officers kicked down the door, Shane shot himself in the head.
Relationship with Ronnie
The loyalty of Detective Ronnie GardockiRonnie 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....
to Vic and the Strike Team was tested several times, such as when crime lord Armadillo Quintero burned Ronnie's face and threatened to file an excessive force complaint unless Mackey forced Gardocki to recant his statement. When the Strike Team temporarily disbanded at the end of season three, Ronnie was the only one to stay by Vic's side when Shane and Lem went their separate ways. Ronnie often played Devil's Advocate
Devil's advocate
In common parlance, a devil's advocate is someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with, just for the sake of argument. In taking such position, the individual taking on the devil's advocate role seeks to engage others in an argumentative...
to Vic, forcing him to address truths Vic would rather ignore. In particular, in the wake of Shane's confession to Lem's murder, Ronnie pressed Vic to kill Shane even when Vic had second thoughts and tried to halt their first assassination attempt. Gardocki felt justified when Shane tried to murder them a few days later. Captain Wyms disbanded the Strike Team after Ronnie's assailant fingered Shane. As a result, Vic resigned from the Department and Ronnie returned to regular detective duty.
Ronnie felt panic at the thought of Shane, by then a fugitive, being arrested and confessing to the many crimes committed by the Strike Team and even considering running to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. However, Vic dissuaded him and tried to arrange ICE
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security , responsible for identifying, investigating, and dismantling vulnerabilities regarding the nation's border, economic, transportation, and infrastructure security...
(Immigration and Customs Enforcement) jobs for the both of them.
When ICE offered Vic immunity but not Ronnie, Vic refused to accept unless Ronnie received a similar deal too. However, after witnessing the staged arrest of his ex-wife, Corrine, Vic took the deal and confessed to everything. After a disgusted Agent Murray informed him that he had implicated Ronnie in "enough shit to send him to prison for the rest of his life," Vic promised to "string him along" until after the arrest of Mexican drug lord Guillermo Beltran.
After Beltran's arrest and the largest drug seizure in ICE history, Vic and Ronnie were summoned back to The Barn. Believing that they were both safe forever, Ronnie was shocked when Dutch Wagenbach arrested him for "The last three years." Enraged and devastated by Vic's betrayal, Ronnie shouted profanity at his former mentor and demanded to know whatever happened to protecting the Team. Vic was noticeably crushed by seeing his only friend arrested and denouncing him. In Vic's cubicle, he put a cropped Strike Team photo in a frame on his desk; Lem is the only one still visible. Shane is removed and so is Ronnie.
Relationship with Lem
A running theme in the last few seasons of the series was Vic's regret towards what happened to Lem. As a result of the Money Train robbery the team convinced a reluctant Lem to participate in, he developed great fear and health problems from having to live with the aftermath of the robbery, which included innocent lives in the crosshairs of the Armenian Mob, Captain Aceveda, Detective Wagenbach and the Department of Treasury all looking for the culprits. His burning of the money to elude capture ignited antagonism between him and Shane Vendrell, which ultimately brought the entire team's existence to an end.When the Strike Team eventually returned, Vic had Lem get collateral from a drug dealer to ensure a tip regarding the whereabouts of a body that could implicate Shane was corrupt. The brick of heroin was soon seized by IAD and Lem became a means with which Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh could take down the entire Strike Team. Lem's loyalty was tested when he found out Vic killed Terry, but he remained loyal to the team. After an arrest caused by Vic and Lem's viewing of a personal moment between Kavanaugh and his ex-wife, Lem decided to plead guilty to the charges. But with Vic unable to fulfill a deal with Antwon Mitchell to ensure Lem's safety, Vic made Lem go fugitive. Before Vic and Ronnie could meet up with him, Shane killed Lem with a grenade. In the aftermath, Vic undertook several actions to avenge Lem's death, including torturing and killing suspect Guardo Lima and trying to murder real killer Shane Vendrell on multiple occasions after he learned of Shane's role in Lem's death. Lem remained the one Strike Team member in the Strike Team photo in Vic's cubicle at ICE.
Relationship with Julien Lowe
In the early days of the Strike Team, Mackey was nearly taken down when rookie Officer Julien LoweJulien 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:...
caught Vic and the Strike Team stealing cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
from a crime scene. Although Julien approached Captain Aceveda and promised to testify against Vic and the Team, Mackey swiftly obtained leverage against his fellow cop. While arresting a wanted fugitive, Vic noted that the latter was having homosexual relations with Julien. Holding the upper hand at last, Vic threatened to denounce Julien to the entire precinct. However, he offered to falsify the arrest report in exchange for Julien recanting his allegations against the Strike Team.
A terrified Julien immediately caved in to Vic's demands. After this, Vic repeatedly attempted to be friendly to Julien, with varying degrees of reception. However, when Julien was offered a position in the Strike Team, he at first refused, saying that he did not wish to work alongside Mackey. He only accepted the promotion after being told that Vic would soon be fired from the department.
Although Julien continued to serve alongside the Team, the corrupt activities of Shane, Vic, and Ronnie were carefully concealed from him. After Shane was caught in a botched attempt to murder Vic and Ronnie, a horrified Captain Wyms disbanded the Strike Team permanently. Julien was returned to uniformed patrol, but was promised a swift promotion to Detective. When Wyms and Detective Wagenbach confronted him about the possibility of having to arrest his former teammates, Lowe unequivocally stated his loyalty was to the precinct and not to the Strike Team.
Relationship with Aceveda
The tension between Mackey and David AcevedaDavid 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...
has evolved in different ways since the birth of The Shield. Although Aceveda privately detested Mackey, he was not above breaking the law himself. He also frequently blurred the lines between investigating Mackey and protecting him.
In the first season Aceveda was heavily bent on proving Mackey's guilt, putting all his effort into taking him down. While Mackey detested Aceveda's political ambitions, Aceveda continued to label Mackey as "Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
with a badge."
At the start of the second season, Aceveda, not wanting a scandal in the midst of his political career, agreed to watch Mackey's back if he could make the Strike Team appear to clean up their act and exhibit professionalism at all times. This created a very subtle, bumpy friendship between the two. This "friendship," however, ended when Aceveda left for his City Council
Los Angeles City Council
The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles.The Council is composed of fifteen members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The president of the council and the president pro tempore are chosen by the Council at the first regular meeting after...
position, but not before writing a scathing letter that damaged Mackey's career.
At the end of the sixth season, Aceveda continued to push for progress on the San Marcos
San Marcos, California
San Marcos is a suburb of San Diego in the North County section of San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 83,781. Outside the San Diego region, it is best known as the home of California State University, San Marcos...
killings, a massacre of several Mexican immigrants by unknown assailants, mostly at the behest of Mexican real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
developer Cruz Pezuela, who was also financing his investigation committee into a possible run for mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
. Aceveda also used his political influence to ensure that Mackey was forced into early retirement at a Review Board Hearing. However, events took a wild turn, as a graphic photo taken by Juan Lozano of Aceveda's rape suddenly reappeared in the hands of Pezuela, who gave it to Vic as a way to save his job.
Vic attempted to use the photo against Aceveda, only to have it denounced as a fake and to have Aceveda's lawyer threaten him with a lawsuit for slander and blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
. Mackey later returned with the memory card
Memory card
A memory card or flash card is an electronic flash memory data storage device used for storing digital information. They are commonly used in many electronic devices, including digital cameras, mobile phones, laptop computers, MP3 players, and video game consoles...
, the background story of the photo, and all the existing copies. Aceveda was stunned to hear about Cruz Pezuela's involvement in the photo, and after listening to Mackey's theory, agreed to help him in his investigation into Pezuela's activities. The scope of the operation stunned both of them; Pezuela was helping the Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
drug cartels buy into Farmington, and planned on using various businesses as fronts for money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, drug trafficking, and prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. Aceveda received the memory card as a symbol of trust between him and Mackey, and the two decided to investigate Pezuela, in hopes of shutting his operation down.
Later, Aceveda met with Vic, who had walked out on a Department Review Board hearing and stolen a car full of blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
material from one of Pezuela's couriers. Aceveda was shocked to learn the dirty secrets of many of the most influential people in Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
, including public officials, mayoral aides, and the heads of special interest groups.
As the series wound to a close, Aceveda and Vic continued to collaborate in order to destroy Pezuela's drug cartel. Their friendship ended, however, when Vic destroyed Aceveda's attempts to blackmail ICE Agent Olivia Murray with information from Pezuela's box.
After Vic arranged an immunity deal with ICE, Aceveda was enraged that Vic could never be prosecuted for any of his crimes. The two collaborated one last time, however, in order to arrange the arrest of drug lord Guillermo Beltran. While speaking over the phone, Aceveda expressed satisfaction that ICE had realized that, "they have a reptile working for them." Uninterested in Aceveda's views on his character, Vic coldly reminded Aceveda about "respecting each others' endgames", marking the final communication between the two men.
Other relationships
Mackey's training officer and first partner was Joe Clark, who taught him how to deal with violent street criminals and also how to bend the laws to his advantage. Clark was eventually dismissed from the force for beating a suspect. Clark's legacy to Vic was the justification that they always "did more good than bad." He rededicated himself to support his friends and family in light of the crimes and trouble he had caused them. In Season Six, Mackey re-encountered Clark, who had become a for-hire enforcer who used his intimidation skills from his days as a cop to earn an income. Mackey participated in one raid, realized this type of occupation was both dangerous and unnecessarily cruel.Mackey also had a close friendship with a prostitute, Connie Reisler, whom in an unseen story he found "lying in a bathroom in a pool of bloody crystals," trying to end her pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
with drain cleaner
Drain cleaner
A drain cleaner is a consumer product or device that unblocks sewer pipes or helps to prevent the occurrence of clogged drains; the term may also refer to the individual who performs the activity...
and a plunger
Plunger
A plunger is a common device that is used to release stoppages in plumbing. The tool consists of a rubber cup with an attached stick "shaft", usually made of wood or bronze. Before use, any objects such as hair in the plug grate should be removed and, if possible the overflow hole should be...
. He told her if she ever needed any help she could call him, and they developed a deep bond. Connie was killed in Season Two while shacking up with a murderer in a criminal informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
assignment. Since her death, Mackey occasionally checks in on her son, Brian, who is in foster care
Foster care
Foster care is the term used for a system in which a minor who has been made a ward is placed in the private home of a state certified caregiver referred to as a "foster parent"....
.
For many years, Vic had a on-off sexual relationship with Sergeant Danny Sofer, and was the illegitimate father of her son Lee. In Season 6, Vic's daughter Cassidy angrily confronted him after listening to her mother talking about the baby's paternity over the telephone.
Family life
Mackey was married for a little over 12 years to his wife, Corrine. However, problems between the two resulted in the marriage disintegrating. Though he had often cheated on his wife, he was devastated when she left him. He loves his three children very much and would do anything for them. At the end of Season 6, he refused to parade his autistic children in front of a department review board, despite the fact that Aceveda told him that it could save his job.In season one, his son Matthew was diagnosed with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
. Later, his youngest daughter was diagnosed with autism as well. These family problems, and the necessary financial support, are the overriding factors as to why Mackey continues to pursue money illegally.
The Crowley murder
Arguably, Mackey's worst crime was the murder of the fifth and then-newest member of his team, Detective Terry Crowley. Crowley had been sent by Captain David Aceveda and the Justice DepartmentUnited States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
to build a Federal case against the Strike Team for colluding with drug lord Rondell Robinson. Vic was secretly warned of this by his friend, Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy.
Later, while Vic and Strike Team members Shane Vendrell and Crowley were raiding the home of a rival drug lord named "Two Time," the dealer stepped out of the bathroom with a pistol and was promptly gunned down by Vic and Shane. However, as Detective Crowley walked into the room, Vic picked up Two Time's gun and shot him in the head. Vic and Shane then rigged the crime scene evidence, claiming that "Two Time" stepped out of the bathroom, shot Terry, and was slain by their return fire. Captain Aceveda, however, was certain that Mackey was behind it and set out to send him to prison for it, but he never succeeded.
In Season 5, Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh
Jon Kavanaugh
Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh is a fictional Lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department on the FX television show The Shield. He was portrayed by method actor Forest Whitaker.-Kavanaugh's career before the investigation:...
of internal affairs
Internal affairs (law enforcement)
The internal affairs division of a law enforcement agency investigates incidents and plausible suspicions of lawbreaking and professional misconduct attributed to officers on the force...
made it his personal mission to send Vic to prison for Terry's murder. He commandeered the Captain's office in "The Barn" and plastered it with grisly photographs of the Crowley murder scene. He even tried to force a confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
from Vic by ordering him to revisit the crime scene
Crime scene
A crime scene is a location where an illegal act took place, and comprises the area from which most of the physical evidence is retrieved by trained law enforcement personnel, crime scene investigators or in rare circumstances, forensic scientists....
and describe what happened in front of Terry's weeping brother. Vic, however, calmly stuck to his original story and Kavanaugh's crusade ultimately ended in the destruction of his own career.
As the series moved toward a close, Vic finagled a Federal deal for full immunity from prosecution for every crime he admitted to. Using Shane's memoirs as a guide, he spoke in detail about everything the Strike Team had done, including the murder of Terry. As a result, he was regarded as scum by his former colleagues at the Barn and was trapped in a cubicle
Cubicle
Тhe cubicle, cubicle desk, office cubicle or cubicle workstation is a partially enclosed workspace, separated from neighboring workspaces by partitions that are usually tall...
by his new employers at I.C.E.
Other crimes
Mackey and his team have committed several crimes like extortionExtortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
, drug trafficking and obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice
The crime of obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, refers to the crime of interfering with the work of police, investigators, regulatory agencies, prosecutors, or other officials...
that would likely earn them long prison sentences.
Murder or accessory
- After a war between two rival dealers escalated out of hand, Mackey shut them in a shipping container overnight to work out their differences; in the morning, one had killed the other.
- Mackey murdered Armenian Mafia enforcer Margos Dezerian, who had been ordered to find and murder those responsible for the Money Train Robbery. Dezerian had been getting closer to the Strike Team and had left a string of grisly murders in his wake, severing his victims' feet to indulge a fetishSexual fetishismSexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
. Vic deliberately leaked the name of an informant to Margos, who broke into the informant's house in order to kill him. Instead he found only Vic. After Margos dropped his gun and surrendered, Vic shot him dead and rigged the crime scene to look like self defense. - Mackey, along with Gardocki, manufactured a fictitious gang war between the Armenian mob led by Ellis Rezian and the Mexican cartel represented by Cruz Pezuela. Mackey set up the execution of Rezian along with some of his top lieutenants in order to remove any knowledge about his past criminal activity and avoid further transgressions by the Armenians against his family.
- Mackey, as an accessory to murder, allowed Gardocki to execute Armenian hitman Ari Zadofian in order to prevent further attacks against his family.
- The team kidnapped, brutally tortured, and murdered Salvadoran drug lord Guardo Lima, who was falsely believed to be Lemansky's murderer, and then burned his body to destroy the evidence.
- After the capture of Armadillo Quintero, Shane and Lem had him stabbed to death by another criminal in the same cell to keep him from revealing Vic's involvement in the drug trade.
- Mackey struck a deal with Antwon MitchellAntwon MitchellAntwon Mitchell is a fictional character from the FX television show The Shield, portrayed by Anthony Anderson.-Character overview:Mitchell is a former drug lord who, having been released from prison after a lengthy sentence, tried to reinvent himself as an upstanding community activist...
in order to secure the jail house safety of Lem, in which Vic, Ronnie, and Shane helped the One-Niners to break into a police warehouse. In the course of the crime, the criminals shot and killed the policeman guarding it. They also murdered Kern Little, whom Vic used to work with and was on somewhat friendly terms with. Vic allowed Kern to die rather than help him, and covered up both his murder and the murder of the guard, although Vic was clearly distressed by the ordeal. - Vic also handed over the two Salvadoran gangsters who had carried out the San Marcos murders to a rival MexicanMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
gang to be tortured and murdered. It should be noted this was done to stop the bloodshed and put an end to the gangland war in the aftermath of the San Marcos massacre. - The team tied a RussianRussiansThe Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
arms dealer to a chair wired with C-4C-4 (explosive)C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
plastic explosivePlastic explosivePlastic explosive is a specialised form of explosive material. It is a soft and hand moldable solid material. Plastic explosives are properly known as putty explosives within the field of explosives engineering....
s as a scare tactic for information about the murder of two Farmington cops. However, this caused the terrified dealer to panic and tip himself over, thereby detonating the explosives and blowing himself to smithereens. - Mackey helped his friend and former Assistant Police Chief, Ben Gilroy, kidnap a gang member. This individual had witnessed Gilroy's hit and runHit and run (vehicular)Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
killing of a fellow gangster while the two were dealing drugs late at night. Gilroy murdered the gang member (to Mackey's great surprise and anger) and then insisted that Vic help him dispose of the body. They dumped the body in a rival gang's territory in the hope it would be interpreted as a gang murder. - Vic assisted CI and friend, Connie Reisler, in covering up a murder. Reisler, a prostitute, had murdered a john while under the influence of crack cocaineCrack cocaineCrack 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...
, believing that the john was about to harm her. Mackey told her to tell Homicide that the man assaulted her and she killed him in self defense. Mackey, under intense anguish, physically struck her in order to make her story appear authentic. - Vic and the team planted the remainder of the marked Money Train cash on patsy Neil O'Brien, who was subsequently killed, along with his bookie, by the Armenians.
Assault/Torture
- Mackey beat and tortured a suspected pedophile with a phone book to find out where he was hiding the young girl whom he was planning to sell into slavery. Vic told the man,
"Good cop and bad cop
Aceveda, Claudette, and Dutch watched in silent disagreement, but Vic's methods were successful.Good cop/Bad copGood cop/bad cop, known in British military circles as Mutt and Jeff and also called joint questioning and friend and foe, is a psychological tactic used for interrogation....
left for the day. I'm a different kind of cop." - Vic kidnapped a Russian MafiaRussian MafiaThe Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
boss to prevent him from firebombingFirebombingFirebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....
a building full of Mexican immigrants. - Turned a police attack dog loose on a rape suspect, allowing the dog to mutilate the man's genitals.
- Vic revealed the name of a criminal informantInformantAn informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
of then estranged partner, Shane VendrellShane VendrellDetective Shane Vendrell is a fictional character on the FX Networks police drama television series The Shield. He is portrayed by actor Walton Goggins....
, to the Latino cigaretteCigaretteA cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
-smugglingSmugglingSmuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
boss he was informing on. Mackey wanted to exchange this information for the whereabouts of an arsonist and a Russian MafiaRussian MafiaThe Russian Mafia is a name applied to organized crime syndicates in Russia and Ukraine. The mafia in various countries take the name of the country, as for example the Ukrainian mafia....
boss, both of whom were planning to firebombFirebombingFirebombing is a bombing technique designed to damage a target, generally an urban area, through the use of fire, caused by incendiary devices, rather than from the blast effect of large bombs....
a building full of illegal immigrants for financial gain (an additional benefit was the undermining of Shane's case and the exposure of his CI). The cigarette-smuggler at first refused to believe it, saying of the CI,"He's like a brother to me."
To convince him, Mackey revealed a key piece of personal information that only the informant would have:"He said he popped your sister's cherry when she was only 14. Said it was so tight he thought it was her asshole. Said he told you he was helping her with history
The CI was never heard from again.HistoryHistory is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
homeworkHomeworkHomework, or homework assignment, refers to tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed outside of class. Common homework assignments may include a quantity or period of reading to be performed, writing or typing to be completed, problems to be solved, a school project to be built...
... You do whatever you feel is appropriate with that information. I'll see it doesn't blow backBlowback (intelligence)Blowback is the espionage term for the violent, unintended consequences of a covert operation that are suffered by the civil population of the aggressor government...
on you." - Mackey physically attacked MexicanMexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
drug lord and serial rapist Armadillo Quintero, beating him up with a heavy Law book and severely burning his face on a stove. Vic was enraged that Armadillo had brutally raped a 12-year old girl and ordered a rival drug lord and personal friend of Vic's to be burned alive. - After kidnapping a suspect off the street, Mackey stacked tires around a his body and threatened to light him on fire if not paid $350,000 plus an additional $50,000 for, "ruining my day." These crimes transpired on Mexican soil and the offense would have to be adjudicated by the Mexican law enforcement system.
- To get a confession, he nearly drowned a man in a barrel of used motor oil.
- He threatened to throw a man out a window after forcing him to write a crudely misspelled suicide noteSuicide noteA suicide note or death note is a message that states the author has died by suicide, and left to be discovered and read in anticipation of suicide....
. - Mackey drove a suspect into an enemy gang territory and rolled down his window, telling an enemy gang member that the suspect made sexual comments about his sister, and waited for the car to be surrounded by enemy gang members before telling the suspect that he better tell him what he wants to know or he would, "have to find another ride home".
- Handcuffed a teenager to a metal pole and shocked him with his own stun gunStun gunStun gun may refer to:*Electroshock weapon, an incapacitant weapon that momentarily disables a person with an electric shock*Directed-energy weapon, a weapon that emits energy in an aimed direction without projectile, if it causes unconsciousness...
. - Mackey used the pointed edge of a murdered police officer's badge to repeatedly stab and torture one of that cop's killers. He did so to extract information on the suspect's partners about the multiple murders of uniformed police officers and then simply to punish the suspect for being part of the crime.
- Mackey assaulted the owner of a pawnshop at knife point to learn about the location of two kiloKilogramThe kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
s of cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
which he and the Strike Team stole (and later lost) during a raid on ArmenianArmeniansArmenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
drug dealers. Earlier in the day, Mackey and his partner, Shane Vendrell, entered the home of a car thief and assaulted him in pursuit of the same information.
Theft
- Mackey and his team hijacked a police evidence van to steal a key piece of evidence (a gun) used in the hijacking of commercial trucks. The Strike Team used this evidence to prove the innocence of an accused man and then to frame three gang members who were actually guilty of the original crime.
- The Team has embezzledEmbezzlementEmbezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
tens of thousands of dollars from seizures, arrests, or other police-related activities. - Robbing a total of two million dollars from a Money Train, a money launderingMoney launderingMoney laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
operation run by the Armenian Mafia, during which several people were killed (although not by the Strike Team). The money stolen was later revealed to be traceable evidence planted by the US Treasury DepartmentUnited States Department of the TreasuryThe Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
.
Blackmail
- Julien Lowe was blackmailed to get him to recant his allegations against the Strike Team.
- Mackey threatened to plant crack cocaineCrack cocaineCrack 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...
on a teenager unless he told who he saw ambush and kill two Farmington cops. - Vic attempted to blackmail City CouncilCity councilA city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
man David AcevedaDavid AcevedaDavid 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...
with photos of his rapeRapeRape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
.
Covering evidence
- The team functioned as a go-between in allowing drugs to flow through Farmington.
Internal Affairs
During the Fifth Season, Vic attempted to throw Internal Affairs LieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Jon Kavanaugh
Jon Kavanaugh
Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh is a fictional Lieutenant in the Los Angeles Police Department on the FX television show The Shield. He was portrayed by method actor Forest Whitaker.-Kavanaugh's career before the investigation:...
from his game by sleeping with Kavanaugh's ex-wife.
In response, Kavanaugh's hatred of Mackey consumed and completely overwhelmed his conscience, leading him to begin breaking the law himself in destroy the man he regarded as, "pissing all over," the entire police department.
After a failed attempt to seek revenge against Vic Mackey by sleeping with Corrine Mackey and alliance with Antwon Mitchell
Antwon Mitchell
Antwon Mitchell is a fictional character from the FX television show The Shield, portrayed by Anthony Anderson.-Character overview:Mitchell is a former drug lord who, having been released from prison after a lengthy sentence, tried to reinvent himself as an upstanding community activist...
, Kavanaugh fabricated evidence, implicating Vic in the murder of Lemansky. When Dutch Wagenbach and 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...
exposed his actions, Kavanaugh was stripped of his badge and imprisoned. Soon after, Vic visited Kavanaugh in prison and gloated over his victory, but the disgraced Lieutenant remained unfazed.
Attempt at Full Immunity and ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Investigation
After Cruz Pezuela persuaded the drug lord Guillermo Beltran to visit from MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, it became apparent that Beltran was the major focus of an ongoing ICE investigation. In exchange for developing a Federal case against Beltran, Vic, in order to protect his ex-wife Corrine, decided to arrange for full immunity by admitting to all the crimes he has committed, including the slayings of Detective Terry Crowley, Margos Dezerian, Guardo Lima, and many others. After he had detailed all of his crimes, a horrified Agent Olivia Murray realized that this immunity deal was certain to severely damage her career.
Homecoming
In the aftermath, Captain Wyms summoned Vic and Ronnie back to their former precinct. She then brought Vic into the interrogation room and read Shane's suicide letter aloud, while showing him photographs of the Vendrell bodies. Although Vic was devastated, he restrained himself from reacting emotionally to the material when he noticed the surveillance cameras that Wyms was watching him on. He then tore the camera off the wall and smashed it on the floor, telling Wyms angrily to bill him for it, before she bluntly responded that the bill was indeed coming due for Vic.As Vic then watched in horror, 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....
, his last remaining friend, was placed under arrest by Detective Dutch Wagenbach inside the Strike Team's former Club House. Enraged and devastated, Ronnie was handcuffed and led away while screaming profanity at Vic, and demanding to know whatever happened to protecting the Team. As his former colleagues eyed him with frigid loathing, Vic left the precinct for the last time.
The end
Frightened by what actions Vic may take for her attempts to send him to prison, Vic's ex-wife Corinne pleaded with Claudette and Dutch for protection from him. In response, they approached I.C.E. Agent Olivia Murray and advised her that taking Vic's children away was the best means of hurting him. Corinne and the children disappeared into the Witness Protection Program.In the aftermath, Vic begged for the opportunity to say goodbye to his children. Agent Murray, seething in hatred, retorted, "You said goodbye to them the moment you shot another cop in the face."
Murray further vowed to make Vic's three years at I.C.E time a living hell by taking him off of the streets and demanding that he type a ten-page report every day. Forced to attire himself in an uncomfortable suit and tie, Vic was trapped in a cubicle
Cubicle
Тhe cubicle, cubicle desk, office cubicle or cubicle workstation is a partially enclosed workspace, separated from neighboring workspaces by partitions that are usually tall...
prison, completely alone. He scattered his desk with pictures of his three children from his marriage with Corinne, and a photo of himself drinking beer with Lem. There were no photos of Shane, Ronnie, Corinne or Lee, the illegitimate child he fathered with Sergeant Danny Sofer.
Hearing police sirens, Mackey looked out the office window longingly. He returned to his desk and fought back tears as he stared at the photographs of his children. Vic removed a handgun from his drawer, holstered it beneath his shirt and walked off into the night. This marked the end of the series.
Reception
On Bravo TV's countdown of the 100 Greatest Television Characters, Michael Chiklis described Mackey as "a cross between Hannibal LecterHannibal Lecter
Hannibal Lecter M.D. is a fictional character in a series of horror novels by Thomas Harris and in the films adapted from them.Lecter was introduced in the 1981 thriller novel Red Dragon as a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer...
and Dirty Harry." Vic Mackey was seen as a pattern of more violent anti heroes on television.