List of characters from The Shield
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The following is a list of character summaries from the FX Networks television series, The Shield.
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[edit] The Strike Team
[edit] Vic Mackey
(Michael Chiklis) - Leader of the Strike Team.
[edit] Shane Vendrell
(Walton Goggins) - Vic's best friend, and member of the Strike Team. His short temper and racism often lead to trouble as does his intense need for Vic's approval. Shane is the only person who knows that Vic murdered Detective Terry Crowley in the pilot episode.
[edit] Ronnie Gardocki
(David Rees Snell) - The Strike Team's surveillance and electronics expert.
[edit] Kevin Hiatt
(Alex O'Loughlin) (Seasons 6-) - Newest member of the strike team. confident without arrogance. He takes his job seriously but not personally — so he finds something amusing in most everything. He has a sense of humor.
[edit] Curtis "Lem" Lemansky
(Kenny Johnson) (Seasons 1-5) - Member of the Strike Team and the group's conscience, Lem (or "Lemonhead" as he is referred to in the first couple of episodes during the first season) is a good natured detective whose sense of ethics often put him at odds with his fellow teammates, especially Shane, who later kills him.
[edit] Terry Crowley
(Reed Diamond) (Season 1 episodes 1 - 2, Season 2 episode 22)
As a new detective, Terry Crowley is placed in Vic's unit by Aceveda to find out if they are illegally smuggling drugs. Ben Gilroy, however, informs Vic of this plan. It should be noted however that Gilroy didn't expect Vic to take such drastic measures to protect the strike team. To keep him from turning them in, Vic murders him. Shane witnesses the killing, but the other team members, Lem and Ronnie, are not involved in his murder. When Vic, Shane, and Terry entered a room of the house of a drug dealer, Vic and Shane shot and killed the drug dealer after being fired upon. Vic, as Shane looked on, then picked up the drug dealers gun and fired at Terry, making it appear to investigators that Terry had been shot by the drug dealer. The bullet impacted Terry's face and exited out the back of his head. Terry remained conscious long enough to look up at Vic Mackey and realize what had happened to him. The injury was fatal, but Terry did not die until shortly after his arrival at the hospital. The actor, Diamond, was advertised as a main cast member in season 1 (and appeared in the pilot's opening credits), to surprise viewers with his death in the first episode. His only subsequent appearances on the show came in a flashback sequence in "Our Gang" and in "Co-Pilot", a flashback episode in Season 2. Although he is killed in the pilot episode, the effects of his murder continue through the rest of the series, as Vic's superiors try to pin Crowley's murder on him on more than one occasion.
[edit] Tavon Garris
(Brian White) (Season 2-3) A late addition to the Strike Team, Tavon is well-liked by Vic who begins grooming him as a possible protégé. Shane and Tavon develop a deep rivalry mainly based on Shane's jealousy and racism. Their feud ends with a bloody fight in Shane's apartment, with Shane's fiancé, Mara, sneaking up behind Tavon and hitting him in the back of the head with an iron. During that fight, it should be noted that Tavon is the only one to go for the groin. Tavon stumbles away and leaves in his van but in his impaired condition he crashes into a parked car, leaving him in a coma. To protect Shane, Vic and a reluctant Lem convince Tavon (who can't remember what happened) that he nearly killed Mara in a furious rage. The character's fate is unknown, though it is hinted at by Vic that Tavon's injuries were severe enough to have him removed from active duty. Although Tavon was not corrupt, he showed a tendency for brutality and even participated in an illegal wire tap set up by the Strike Team.
[edit] Armando "Army" Renta
(Michael Peña) (Season 4) - A Marine reservist returned from Iraq, Army becomes Shane's partner when Shane leaves the Strike Team at the end of season three. Army allows himself to be drawn into an alliance between Shane and drug kingpin Antwon Mitchell. Eventually, both Army and Shane are framed for the murder of a young girl. Vic helps Army and Shane get out of trouble, but Army refuses to take a lie detector test that would exonerate the two. While Shane and Captain Rawling are livid at Army's refusal to take the test, Vic and Lem both separately tell Army that they agree with his decision and allow Army to walk away from the Strike Team.
[edit] Administration
[edit] David Aceveda
(Benito Martinez) - Politically ambitious former police captain. Gives up his position as captain for a seat on the City Council at the beginning of Season 4, although he remains a regular character.
[edit] Ben Gilroy
(John Diehl) (Season 1 episodes 2, 4, 7, 8, 12, 13; Season 2 episodes 22, 23; Season 4 episode 43) - Gilroy is Vic's longtime friend and supporter, oftentimes using his power to get Vic out of small jams. However, Gilroy is found to be using his political influence to facilitate an illegal real estate scam, as well as running over a Hispanic gang member and murdering the only witness who could link him to the hit and run. Stripped of his power and facing indictment, pressure and alcoholism lead Gilroy to become mentally unstable. When it appears that Gilroy will offer to testify against the Strike Team in exchange for a reduced sentence, Vic arranges both a new identity for him in Mexico and a hit man in California who will kill him if he ever returns. Gilroy dies in Mexico, homeless and destitute, dying of uncertain—but internal—causes, possibly cirrhosis of the liver.
[edit] Monica Rawling
(Glenn Close) - Succeeds Aceveda as captain of the Farmington precinct. A morally strong woman, she tries to redeem Vic and Ronnie by involving them in a controversial asset forfeiture program designed to clean up Farmington. The program, however, is extremely unpopular with the citizens of Farmington. However, she continues to keep the seizures in place, believing that they are doing more good than harm. She also uses the same ideology with Vic and the rest of the Strike Team as she begins to grasp their true nature. Rawling later sacrifices her job in order to invalidate a plea bargain between the federal police and drug kingpin Antwon Mitchell and keep the criminal in prison.
[edit] Claudette Wyms
(CCH Pounder) - A veteran detective, Claudette is the self-appointed voice of morality at the Barn and often butts heads with Vic over his tactics. At the start of the third season, Claudette is supposed to take over as captain of The Barn, but Aceveda stays throughout the rest of the season, and even steals some of Claudette's new ideas. At the end of season three, Claudette is being groomed to take over running the Barn as the new Captain. But she loses the promotion when she charges a public defender with negligence, resulting in countless convictions being overturned. In season 5, Claudette admits to Dutch that she has had lupus for fifteen years and that it has been flaring up recently. Claudette collapses at the end of the seventh episode of season five, following a particularly harrowing interrogation. She returns to the Barn shortly thereafter, and is soon appointed to Captain after bringing Billings' shortcomings to the attention of the Assistant Chief.
[edit] Other police
[edit] Dutch Wagenbach
(Jay Karnes) - An intellectual and highly-effective detective with limited social skills, a rather large ego, and an obsession with psychological profiling of serial killers and rapists.
[edit] Steve Billings
(David Marciano) (Season 4 and 5) - Billings is an underhanded detective who routinely takes credit for Dutch and Claudette's detective work in season four, while the two are blacklisted by the DA's office. When Dutch discovers that Billings stood by and watched a murder take place out of cowardice, his attempt at blackmail ends with the two detectives attacking each other. Later, after Monica Rawling is fired, Billings is promoted to acting Captain. Despite being a powerless figurehead, Billings is able to maintain a working relationship with Vic, giving him total control of the Strike Team in exchange for fast results and for keeping his fellow officers from revolting against Billings. Near the end of season 5, Billings is removed as Captain by the Chief of Police and is replaced by Claudette Wyms. He becomes a detective once again and is partnered with Dutch. It is also revealed that Billings is the owner of the vending machines, which had been an often-featured subplot during the season.
[edit] Danielle "Danny" Sofer
(Catherine Dent) - Patrol officer who aspires to become a detective. She has an on-again, off-again sexual relationship with Vic, and a complicated history with Dutch. Aceveda trusts her, helping her get reinstated after she is fired and arranging for her to be reassigned to Julien Lowe. Sofer becomes a mentor for Lowe, though the two don't see eye to eye on several personal issues and aspects of police work. In season 5, she is assigned to desk duty as a result of her pregnancy. The identity of the father is unknown and is the subject of an office pool among her co-workers. Even though she is driven to the hospital by Julien, in her hospital bed after giving birth, she tells Vic that she will let the baby know --- "When he is old enough."
[edit] Julien Lowe
(Michael Jace) - Begins the series as Officer Sofer's trainee but quickly goes on to be her best friend, despite their constant bickering over moral issues regarding Julien's conservative views. A closet homosexual, Julien was blackmailed by Vic when he saw the Strike Team stealing drugs from a crime scene. The deeply religious Julien undergoes sexual reorientation therapy at his church and is now living as a "heterosexual" (and is even married), in spite of Danny's doubts. After being outed by a former lover, Julien is brutally beaten by a group of police officers who thought they had been laid off due to anti-gay slurs against Julien and threats to not back him and Sofer up in case of danger. After undergoing several surgeries for his injuries, Julian seeks revenge against his attackers after Vic tells him that he needs to stand up for himself. As his aggression grows, Aceveda reassigns Danny as his partner, to try to bring him back into line. During season four, he grows more confident as a police officer and begins openly opposing the policies of Captain Monica Rawling during her tenure as Captain. In season five, he has become a training officer himself, although nowhere near as patient as Sofer.
[edit] Tina Hanlon
(Paula Garcés) (Season 5) - A young, attractive, female police officer, and Julien's trainee. She speaks Spanish fluently, and as such is sometimes utilized as an interpreter, but her inability to take her job seriously leads to her making countless mistakes in the field. She poses as a prostitute in order to help the Strike Team take down a sex slavery ring, trying to prove that she can hold her own, but later, back on patrol, she fails to identify an undercover officer and allows the real criminal to escape. She is about to be fired, with both Julian and Danny supporting the move, when photos of her undressing in the locker room begin circulating the barn. Dutch discovers that Billings is responsible for installing the camera, in an effort to catch thieves who were vandalizing the vending machines, so one of Billings' last acts as captain is to offer Tina a deal to remain on the force, overlooking her mistakes to prevent any charges against him. She will remain a patrol officer, but will also work with Dutch for further training.
[edit] Jon Kavanaugh
(Forest Whitaker) - Internal affairs officer determined to take down the Strike Team using any means at his disposal. Has degrees in both criminology and psychology, and frequently plays mind games with people under surveillance to find out what their motivations Are.
[edit] Ray Carlson
(Matt Corboy) (Seasons 1-3) - A police officer from the Farmington station, who appeared to make immature jokes, and was usually accompanied by his equally childish partner, Officer Paul Jackson (Frank Grillo). After a transvestite bit Danny Sofer and there was concern she could have contracted HIV from it, Carlson and Jackson helped Officer Julien Lowe orchestrate a "blanket party" beating of the transvestite. When Julien was outed as a homosexual by his former lover Tomas, Carlson and Jackson put up posters ridiculing him. Carlson later organizes the beating of Julien by several officers. When Julien recovers from the attack, he assaults Carlson and breaks his arm. Carlson has not been seen since then.
[edit] Joe Clark
(Carl Weathers) (Season 2) - Vic's first partner and training officer. Makes an appearance in a single episode that sees Vic taking a bullet for him. Was once a respected police officer, but was booted from the force after attacking a young man who assaulted his partner. Soon after, his family left him and he also lost his pension.
[edit] Criminals
[edit] Antwon Mitchell
(Anthony Anderson) (Seasons 4-5) - A drug kingpin who, having been released from jail after a lengthy prison sentence, tries to reinvent himself as an upstanding black community leader out to aid the black citizens of Farmington, while secretly securing power as the main drug boss in the district.
[edit] Margos Dezerian
(Kurt Sutter) (Season 1 episode 5, Season 3 episodes 40-41) -
Dezerian is a powerful and high ranking hit man for the Armenian Mob. He amputates the feet of his victims to satisfy a foot fetish. Margos is first seen with some of his mob associates in the middle of a drug trade. He kills one of the associates and the Strike Team breaks in on this instant. He is brought to the precinct for questioning but doesn't say a word. Instead, he kills another prisoner by snapping his neck. The first time Margos is arrested, he manages to escape after jumping out of a moving prison van. After the Strike Team steals money from the Armenian Mob's money train operation, the Mob sends Margos after them. Margos leaves a trail of murders by amputating the feet of his victims. To stop Margos before he gets to them, Vic spreads the word that a mob associate plans to become an informant. When Margos goes to the informant's house to kill him, Vic ambushes him. When Margos surrenders, Vic kills him and changes the crime scene to make it seem like he shot him in self defense.
[edit] Armando "Armadillo" Quintero
(Daniel Pino) (Season 2 episodes 14-15, 18, and 21) -
Armadillo is a Mexican gang leader seeking control over Farmington's drug trade. He is known for burning his enemies to death. He is also responsible for the rape of a 12 year old girl. Vic Mackey becomes enraged when learning that Armadillo is responsible for burning his drug dealer ally and friend Tio to death, and while attempting to force Armadillo to leave town Vic burns Armadillo's face on a stove in his house. Armadillo responds by ordering a hit on all Strike Team members, and later burns Ronnie's face as payback. Realizing the Strike Team will kill him, Armadillo arranges to turn himself over to the police willingly. Armadillo then threatens to ruin Vic's career by revealing that Vic disfigured him. To keep him from talking, Shane and Lem convince a rival gang leader, who is losing business to Armadillo and wants to go back to prison where he was in charge, to get himself arrested so he can be put in the same holding cage as Armadillo. They slip him a shiv, and watch as he stabs Armadillo to death.
[edit] Kleavon Gardner
(Ray Campbell) (Season 4 episodes 6, Season 5 episode 6 & 7) - A suspected serial killer, Gardner is adept at concealing any evidence of his alleged crimes. He proves to be a difficult case for Dutch and Claudette, seeing through their false claims of evidence and witness testimony. However, Kleavon's previously protective sister finally begins to believe she may be living with a murderer and agrees to cooperate with the police. She disappears, and the detectives tell him they are adding her murder to his charges. While trying to prove he is innocent of his sister's murder, Kleavon confesses to the other murders. As he is being led away, he finds that his sister is alive and has been aiding the police.
[edit] Other characters
[edit] Corrine Mackey
(Cathy Cahlin Ryan) - Vic's estranged wife, and mother to his children. Vic's job and other stressful events puts a strain on their marriage, eventually causing them to separate. Corrine now must balance the challenges of being a single mother and an Emergency Room nurse. She also has a relationship with Dutch Wagenbach in the fourth season. In season 5 she is unwittingly brought into the IAD investigation against Vic. When Kavanaugh interrogates her she tells him about the bag of $65,000.00 Vic gave her for their autistic children. Kavanaugh then asks her to turn over the remainder of the money as evidence in his investigation. On Vic's suggestion, Corrine hires an attorney, but Kavanaugh does not offer her a deal for cooperating and later freezes her assets to prevent Vic from using her for money to bail out Lem. She later confronts Danny about her child and angrily tells her that the child will not be cared for if Vic is indeed the father.
[edit] Becca Doyle
(Laura Harring) (Season 5) - Defense attorney who convinces Claudette to take a second look at a case she had closed with Dutch. She is initially distrustful of Vic after his testimony caused one of her clients to be convicted, but he convinces her to help bring down a sex slave ring. Vic later enlists her to help defend the Strike Team from the Internal Affairs investigation, which she accepts under the impression that Aceveda and IAD are seeking scapegoats for their own misdeeds. When it is revealed that they are under investigation for murder, Becca confronts Vic, who admits to certain aspects of his wrongdoing, including embezzlement, but insists that he wants to change and have a fresh start. Becca believes him and continues to work for the team. Vic and Becca get involved romantically but she eventually discovers, through Lemansky, that the Strike Team was indeed involved in the Armenian Money train and that people were killed because of it. She no longer trusts Vic and refuses to help him.
[edit] Emolia Melendez
(Onahoua Rodriguez) (Season 4, Episodes 10, 11 & 13, Season 5, Episodes 1, 2, 5, 8, 11) - An informant for Vic Mackey, Emolia witnesses Curtis Lemansky steal a kilo of heroin and reports it to Internal Affairs. She remains Vic's informant for six months, giving him information and accepting his favors for her son. Vic becomes attached to her, expressing a wish for her to leave the informant business and to find work for her elsewhere, but ultimately discovers that she was also serving as an informant on the Team for Kavanaugh. Vic manages to get her alone and instructs her to not reveal any more information, under threat of violence. She is nearly killed in a Salvadorian grenade manufacturing plant during a sting and later expresses regret to Vic for reporting Lem. When Kavanaugh's investigation disintegrates because Lem accepts a deal, Emolia tries to convince Vic to accept her as an informant once again. Vic will not be persuaded and, after using her services one last time to obtain information of the Salvadorian Mob's current operations, he cuts off ties with her.
