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.

Contents

[edit] Main characters

[edit] Note

Reed Diamond was credited as a regular for the first episode only. David Rees Snell was listed as a guest star from season 1 until season 5. Cathy Cahlin Ryan was also listed as guest star from season 1 until season 4. Glenn Close was added to the main cast in season 4 as well but also became the second member of the main cast to leave the show at the end of the same season. At the end of the season 5 Kenny Johnson's character was killed off, being the second main character to have died on the show.

[edit] Supporting characters

Contents
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

[edit] A

[edit] B

[edit] C

[edit] D

[edit] G

[edit] H

[edit] J

[edit] K

[edit] L

[edit] M

[edit] O

[edit] P

[edit] Q

[edit] R

[edit] S

[edit] W

[edit] Police

[edit] Tom Bankston

  • Portrayed by Ron Canada
  • Appears in "Coyote", "Breakpoint", "Dominoes Falling" and "Blood and Water"

Chief Bankston is the former LAPD Chief of Police, who started after the Gilroy scandal. He was eventually replaced by Chief Johnson. Bankston was not happy with Aceveda's performance and planned to fire him if he lost the election for City Council. Aceveda won and Bankston allowed him six months more on the job and suggested to Claudette that she replace Aceveda as Captain.

[edit] Steve Billings

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. Billings regards his partnership with Dutch to be a mutually beneficial relationship, as he believes that both he and Dutch negate the others weaknesses. Billings also thoroughly enjoyed working with Ronnie Gardocki on a meth distribution bust, even going as far as to comment that he would "like to log in some Strike Team time", much to Dutch's amusement.

Tension between Billings and Dutch began to rise, however, over Dutch's continuing blackmail over the vending machines, resulting in Billings setting up Tina with Hiatt and arranging for Dutch to meet under the assumption of a dinner date at Tina's house. Billings watched with amusement as the lovestruck Dutch arrived with a bottle of wine, only to witness the pair having sex and being spotted by Hiatt.

At the end of Season 6, Billings informs the department that he is suing the city for over $3.4 million dollars, stating that injuries sustained from hitting a desk during a fight between Vic Mackey and Jon Kavanaugh resulted in headaches and sensitivity to light. In spite of the fact that he has informed Dutch of the headaches, Claudette feels that Billings is merely attempting to defraud the city out of millions and informs him it is a crime to do so.

[edit] Waylon Burke

Waylon heads up the Decoy Squad, a team of undercover officers brought in to serve at the Barn under Claudette Wyms. Waylon develops a semi-friendly rivalry with Vic Mackey when they are assigned to the Strike Team's room. When he loses a bet with Vic and is required to streak through the Barn, he is far from modest. He becomes furious with Claudette when she neglects a memo about a mole when ordering a wiretap and puts Waylon's teammate Trish George in danger. Because of this, he requests for his team to be transferred out of the Barn.

[edit] Ray Carlson

  • Portrayed by Matt Corboy
  • Appears in "Cherrypoppers", "Dragonchasers", "Carnivores", "Two Days of Blood", "Circles", "Dead Soldiers", "Partners", "Greenlit", "Homewrecker", "Barnstormers", "Coyote", "Inferno", "Breakpoint", "Dominoes Falling", "Playing Tight" and "Wins and Losses"

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] Terry Crowley

As a new detective, Terry Crowley was placed into Vic's unit by Aceveda to be a possible replacement if Vic didn't work out. He was to keep tabs on the team's illegal activities. Ben Gilroy, however, informs Vic of this plan, but didn't expect Vic to take such drastic measures to protect the strike team. To keep Terry from turning them in, Vic murders him with Shane as a witness; the other team members, Lem and Ronnie, are not involved in his murder. When Vic, Shane, and Terry entered a room in 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, Reed 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 was killed in the pilot episode, the effects of his murder continue through the series, as Vic's superiors try to pin Crowley's murder on him on more than one occasion.

[edit] Tavon Garris

  • Portrayed by Brian White
  • Appears in "Coyote", "Inferno", "Breakpoint", "Dominoes Falling", "Playing Tight", "Blood and Water", "Bottom Bitch", "Streaks and Tips", "Fire in the Hole" and "All In"

A late addition to the Strike Team, Tavon was well-liked by Vic, who begins grooming him as a possible protégé. However, Shane and Tavon developed a deep rivalry based on Shane's jealousy and racism. Their feud ended with a bloody fight in Shane's apartment, with Tavon kneeing Shane inbetween the legs and getting the better of him, then Shane's fiancé, Mara, sneaking up behind Tavon and hitting him in the back of the head with an iron. Tavon stumbled away and left in his van, but in his impaired condition he crashed into a parked car, leaving him in a coma. To protect Shane, Vic and a reluctant Lem convince Tavon, 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. Tavon showed a tendency for brutality and even participated in an illegal wire tap set up by the Strike Team.

[edit] Trish George

Trish George is a member of the Decoy Squad, a team of undercover officers brought in to serve at the Barn under Claudette Wyms. Trish is flirtatious with some of the Barn's officers and seems to like Vic. Trish is required to streak through the Barn, when Waylon loses a bet with Vic. Waylon becomes furious with Claudette when she neglects a memo about a mole when ordering a wiretap and puts Trish in danger. In order for her to maintain her cover, she has sex with a would-be killer and sniffs cocaine. He also gives her a beating, but she takes it all in the line of duty. She does not like Claudette and gladly transfers out of the Barn with the rest of her team.

[edit] Ben Gilroy

Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy was a friend and supporter of Vic Mackey. Gilroy often used his power to get Vic out of small jams and helped ensure his position as leader of the Strike Team. The Strike Team was a hard sell to the Chief though, and demanded quick results to allow its existence. This pressure was responsible for Vic and the team taking shortcuts and performing illegal acts to get the job done, which set the path for the Strike Team's corruption. Gilroy protected Vic and his team from new captain, David Aceveda, who disliked Vic from the very beginning. He also informed Vic that Aceveda's addition to the Strike Team, Detective Terry Crowley, was looking to implicate the team in illegal activities, though he didn't expect it to result in Terry's death. When Shane Vendrells Navigator, containing stolen drugs, was stolen, Gilroy told Mackey to let Shane take the fall, since Gilroy couldn't protect the whole team. When Julien Lowe reported the drug theft and Aceveda attempted to bring the team down, Gilroy told Mackey that he didn't have his back anymore. However, Gilroy soon needed Vic's help when he was 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 led Gilroy to become mentally unstable. When it appeared that Gilroy would offer to testify against the Strike Team in exchange for a reduced sentence, Vic arranged both a new identity for him in Mexico and a hit man in California who would kill him if he ever returned. Gilroy eventually died in Mexico, homeless and destitute, suffering cirrhosis of the liver. He asphyxiated on his own vomit.

[edit] Wayne "Scooby" Haimes

Officer Wayne "Scooby" Haimes was first introduced at the scene of a siege where he shot an attacking dog, earning a visit from an angry Assistant Chief Roy Phillips. Vic Mackey helped defuse the situation by saying 'He was reaching...' when the Chief looked at the dog, their was a handgun laying next to its lifeless body. Scooby and his partner Carl Miller were killed by Nigerian thugs organised by Antwon Mitchell's half-brother, Jason Porter.

[edit] Tina Hanlon

Tina arrived at The Barn as 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 lead to her making countless mistakes in the field. She posed 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 failed to identify an undercover officer and allows the real criminal to escape. She was about to be fired, with both Julien and Danny supporting the move, when photos of her undressing in the locker room begin circulating the barn. Dutch discovers that Billings was 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. Very early in Season 6, Tina catches on to Dutch's attraction to her and transfers out of Farmington, to take an assignment with the Department's new public relations campaign. She returned 3 weeks later, with a rather inflated ego, telling Sergeant Danny Sofer that she had met high ranking people in the Department, and was "not impressed with Sergeant's stripes". Tina also turned her attractive eye on Strike Team Leader Kevin Hiatt, much to Dutch's dismay. In the Season 6 episode "Recoil", Tina had sex with Hiatt after both her and Hiatt were encouraged by Billings to pursue each other. This was orchestrated by Billings as a mental attack on Dutch to make him jealous. However, when news spread of the incident, as well as Hiatt's avoidance of her, Tina deeply regretted sleeping with Hiatt, viewing it as "a big mistake." She also admitted to Danny that Dutch indeed stood a chance with her, but he never took it. She later apologized to Dutch for hurting him.

Dutch noted on one occasion that he believes Tina is actually very smart, and she was able to hold her own in a discussion about Occam's Razor during episode 6.02.

[edit] Tommy Hisk

  • Portrayed by Matt Gerald
  • Appears in ""

Hisk was Julien's partner introduced in season three. The two worked well together until Julien was sent back to work with Danny since the quality of his police work seemed to be affected by his beating at the end of season two. Later on Hisk's ex-wife and son were killed in a robbery. When it was discovered that the murderer was a drug addict Hisk had hired to steal a collection of coins from the house a week earlier Hisk was fired. Hisk later resurfaced to try and get his job back with no success. He committed suicide in the station parking lot.

[edit] Paul Jackson

  • Portrayed by Frank Grillo
  • Appears in "Our Gang", "Dragonchasers", "Breakpoint" and "Dominoes Falling"

Carlson's partner and fellow tormentor of Julien Lowe. He was fired with Carlson and also took part in the beatdown of Julien.

[edit] Chief Johnson

Current Chief of Police for the LAPD.

[edit] Jon Kavanaugh

Main article: Jon Kavanaugh

[edit] Carl Miller

Patrol Officer Carl Miller and his partner "Scooby" Haines were kidnapped and stabbed to death by Nigerian drug dealers acting on the orders of the Russian arms dealer on whom they issued a parking ticket. Farmington drug lord Antwon Mitchell and his half-brother, Jason Porter hired the Nigerians at the Russian's request. The two policemen's bodies were dumped in an abandoned house as a deliberate attack on Captain Monica Rawling's asset forfeiture policy. Captain Rawling's obsession with seeing Antwon prosecuted for his part in the murders led her to deliberately sabotage his immunity deal with the DEA, thereby leading Chief Johnson to fire her from the Department.

[edit] Roy Phillips

Phillips replaced Ben Gilroy as the Assistant Chief of Police. He's apparently an acquaintance of Vic Mackey's, though their relationship has never been clarified—in a private conversation, Mackey said they "have years" together. He appears to be honest, and prefers to wear a full uniform (as opposed to Gilroy's suits). "The Cure" revealed that he is a dog lover who sent a missive ordering them not to be shot. This led an officer into trouble when he shot a dog that was biting his leg. He has often been the bearer of bad news, such as Monica Rawling's termination and Vic forced retirement.

[edit] Armando "Army" Renta

A U.S. Marine Corps reservist returned from Iraq, Army became Shane's partner when Shane left the Strike Team at the end of Season Three. Army allowed himself to be drawn into an alliance between Shane and drug kingpin Antwon Mitchell. Eventually, both Army and Shane were framed by Mitchell for the murder of an 11-year-old girl. Vic helped Army and Shane get out of trouble, albeit Army refused to take a lie detector test that would exonerate the two. While Shane and Captain Rawling were livid at Army's refusal to take the test, Vic and Lem both separately told Army that they agreed with his decision and allowed Army to walk away from the Strike Team. Army was never officially on the Strike Team—he worked in Vic's anti-gang unit to head up the seizure policy.

[edit] Criminals

[edit] Margos Dezerian

  • Portrayed by Kurt Sutter
  • Appears in "Blowback", "All In" and "On Tilt"

Margos Dezerian was a powerful and high ranking hit man for the Armenian Might. He amputated the feet of his victims to satisfy a foot fetish. Margos was first seen with several of his gangster associates during a drug deal. He killed one of the associates just as the Strike Team broke in. He was brought to The Barn for questioning but refused to say a word. Instead, he broke another prisoner's neck and later escaped by jumping out of a moving prison van. After the Strike Team stole millions of dollars from the Armenian Might's money laundering operation, Margos's bosses ordered him to find and murder the people responsible. Margos then left a trail of grisly murders, first two Armenian mobsters, then Diego Leyva (Byz Lat leader) and finally O'Brien (a man who found marked money), amputating the feet of his victims to indulge a fetish. Margos also kidnapped Sosi, a young Armenian girl, as insurance. Once he was located by the Strike Team, he stabbed her in the back of the neck and left her for the Team to find. Vic decided to bring the dying girl to the emergency room, which allowed Margos to escape. However, Vic decided to murder Margos before he could target the Team and spread the word that an Armenian Might associate (Goma) planned to become an informant. When Margos went to Goma's house to kill him, Vic ambushed him at gunpoint. After Margos dropped his gun and surrendered, Vic shot him dead and rigged the crime scene evidence to look like self defense.

[edit] Santi Galas

  • Portrayed by Benny Hernandez
  • Appears in "Baptism by Fire", "Exiled" and "Recoil"

Leader of the Byz Lats in Season 6. He maintains a firm relationship with Vic, although he was pressed for information about Lem's killer and was thrown out of Vic's car in the beginning of Season 6. He was also seen with Gusano, a Salvadoran drug kingpin, and tried killing Lem in Season 4, Episode 13 "Ain't That a Shame," but Lem took hold of the shotgun and pinned him down.

[edit] Kleavon Gardner

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] Hagop

  • Portrayed by David Caprita
  • Appears in "Carte Blanche"

Hagop is one of Alex Schenenik's top associates in the Armenian mob. Hagop follows Vic around while Shane Vendrell is left as insurance in the custody of Alex. Hagop gives Vic some addresses to check out in order for their operations after believing that Hrach was taken out by Vic. However, when Hagop sees Hrach at the station, he is attacked by Vic so that no message is sent to Alex involving Hrach still being alive. Vic manages to take down the entire organization under Alex and pull Vendrell out safely.

[edit] Hrach

  • Portrayed by Aron Kader
  • Appears in "Carte Blanche"

Hrach was an associate for Alex Schenenik's Armenian mob until things went sour and he gunned down another associate. Once Alex decided to have him taken out, Hrach gave himself up to the Strike Team. Vic sets up Alex by assuming the role of a bad cop, which wasn't too hard for him to begin with, and shows the body of an already dead victim to Alex. Alex falls for this, thinking that its Hrach, and this leads to his eventual capture, along with all his men. Although Hrach gave up some details, his most important peace of information was about the Money Train operation. The first actual time that the Money Train operation is mentioned to the Strike Team is by Hrach. After finding out that this operation truly exists, Vic and his team try to pull off the heist themselves, resulting in furthermore problematic situations in upcoming seasons.

[edit] Diro Kesakhian

  • Portrayed by Franka Potente
  • Appears in "The Math of the Wrath", "Recoil" and "Spanish Practices"

A young college girl and devout Orthodox Christian, turned boss of an Armenian Mafia Family. After Shane was booted from the Strike Team by Vic, he took to moonlighting as an enforcer for Diro and her dying father. After Shane uncovered the names of three African-Americans who were robbing the Kesakhians' stable of Russian hookers, Diro arranged for the trio to be castrated. Vic, however, attempted to drive a wedge between Diro and Shane by revealing his stormy past with Antwon Mitchell. Panicking when Diro attempted to end their arrangement, Shane told her that Vic and Ronnie robbed the Money Train. To his horror, Diro responded by putting out contracts on Vic, Ronnie, and their families. When Shane pleaded with her to leave the families out of it, Diro coldly responded, "We can't leave the people we love out of the choices we make." Shane responded by transferring his allegiance to Ellis Rezian, her main rival. Together they forced Diro to flee to Germany, where she had been attending college, but not before euthanising her father. Before catching her flight, she told Shane, "Your sentiment will destroy you."

[edit] Diagur Leyva

  • Portrayed by Frankie Rodriguez
  • Appears in "Playing Tight", "Blood and Water", "Mum", "What Power Is..." and "Fire in the Hole"

Former leader of the Byz Lats gang. Replaced former leader Garza when the Strike Team took him down. Allied with Vic, but was murdered (his feet chopped off) by the Armenian Might, most likely Margos Dezerian, when they connected him, through Vic, to the Money Train Robbery.

[edit] Guardo Lima

A Salvadoran drug lord falsely believed by Vic to be responsible for Lemansky's murder. After a kidnapper (in actuality Vic), kidnapped his girlfriend, Guardo came out of hiding and attempted to find the kidnapper. However, no one arrived to take the ransom and Guardo was instead captured by Vic, who followed him to his safe house. Guardo was taken to a secluded area, where, after giving Vic a false lead, he was beaten bloody with chains, and shot in the head by Vic as "retribution" for Lem's death. His body was later burned in order to keep his fate a mystery. Guardo was later revealed to have ordered the grisly murder of 11 Mexicans at the San Marcos apartments.

[edit] Kern Little

Former leader of the One-Niners gang and a rapper. Was assassinated on orders of Antwon Mitchell in a robbery involving the Strike Team, as he posed a threat to Mitchell's leadership of the gang.

Kern Little, an aspiring rapper, was a friend of Detective Vic Mackey's CI (confidential informant) Rondell Robinson. In the Season One episode "Dawg Days", a dispute between Kern and a rival rapper from another gang known as 'T-Bone' is brought to the attention of the Farmington Division after causing a number of fatalities out on the street. After repeated warnings from Mackey and the Strike Team to stop the rivalry before it was in danger of escalating into a full blown gang war, Kern and T-Bone could not stop their dispute. In a dilemma, Mackey and Lem decide to send hoax calls to each rapper, informing each one that the other was unaware of the other's next move. Kern and T-Bone were then instructed by Mackey to meet at a rendezvous point, where it became clear he was leading each one to the other. Mackey and Lem tricked the two rappers into walking into a large storage depot, which both men were then locked into together under the instruction that they would have to settle their differences or finish things once and for all. Mackey opened the door of the storage unit early the next morning, where he was surprised to see Kern emerge looking bemused. As Lem asked Kern what happened to T-Bone, the rapper calmly replied that there was nobody else coming out of that unit, having killed T-Bone during the night. Kern offered to have his associates clean up the mess but Lem volunteered instead.

Kern would work with the Strike Team several times over the next few years. He eventually was killed while Mackey helped Antwon Mitchell's associates break into a police warehouse in exchange for Mitchell's mercy on Lem during his prison stay. Antwon hadn't told Vic that Kern was a threat to his power in the gang, and so Kern was shot dead by the other man Antwon had sent with Vic, much to Vic's shock. A guard was killed as well and Mackey covered up both incidents, though he was very distressed.

[edit] Juan Lozano

Member of the Byz Lats. Was assaulted by the Strike Team and would later attack and orally rape Aceveda. Worried about the embarrassment and humiliation this incident would bring Aceveda, as Lozano was threatening to speak publicly of the incident, Aceveda made an DEA immunity deal with Antwon Mitchell in return for Antwon murdering Lozano. Lozano was then murdered by Antwon with a 50 pound weight from a barbell.

[edit] Goma Magar

  • Portrayed by Michael Benyaer
  • Appears in "On Tilt"

Goma is one of Margos Dezerian's contacts. He has connections with the Armenian Might. However, once Vic pinpoints him as a traitor to Margos, he fears for his life, as the entire Armenian mob might try to kill him for trying to help Vic. Vic uses this as a method of setting up Margos, who goes to Goma's house to execute him. Vic takes this opportunity to kill Margos.

[edit] Antwon Mitchell

Main article: Antwon Mitchell

An overweight drug kingpin who, having been released from a lengthy prison sentence, tried to reinvent himself as an upstanding Black community leader out to aid the African-American citizens of Farmington, while secretly flooding those same citizens with black tar heroin. He is currently imprisoned for personally gunning down an 14-year-old police informant, ordering the kidnapping and stabbing deaths of two cops from The Barn, and trying to blackmail Detective Shane Vendrell into murdering Detective Vic Mackey.

[edit] Moses

  • Portrayed by L. Michael Burt
  • Appears in "Of Mice and Lem", "On the Jones", "The New Guy" and "Haunts"

Leader of the One-Niners on the street in season 6.

[edit] Tomas Motyashik

  • Portrayed by Brent Roam
  • Appears in "The Spread", "Blowback", "Pay in Pain", "Cupid & Psycho", "Carnivores", "Inferno" and "Breakpoint"

Was briefly Julien's lover and small-time crook. Disappeared into the penal system after season 2, following his public outing of Julien.

[edit] Theodore "T.O." Osmond

  • Portrayed by Cedric Pendleton
  • Appears in "Carnivores", "Circles", "The Quick Fix" and "Dead Soldiers"

T.O. took the place of Rondell Robinson as the Strike Team's way to control the drugs in Farmington, using his comic book store as a front for his operations. His store was burnt down by Armadillo Quintero, but his safe recovered intact by Claudette Wyms during the investigation. The safe contained evidence pointing to a suspected illegal arrangement with Vic Mackey, though T.O. denied any connection when questioned. He was later murdered by Armadillo Quintero, which infuriated Mackey, leading him to beat and torture Armadillo.

[edit] Cruz Pezuela

  • Portrayed by F.J.Rio
  • Appears in "The New Guy", "Haunts", "Exiled", "The Math of the Wrath", "Recoil" and "Spanish Practices"

A Mexican real estate developer and diplomat, Pezuela has a great deal of land and construction interests in the Farmington area and is backed by several wealthy investors in Mexico, many of whom hold positions of power in the Mexican Government. Pezuela seeks out David Aceveda, seeking to use him to not only get the feel of the Farmington area, but also to allow him access into the local government and police. It is at Pezuela's behest that Aceveda begins to push for the San Marcos murders to be solved, especially when Pezuela offers to make a generous donation to fund Aceveda's mayoral campaign. As time passes and Pezuela not only begins to appear at the Barn, but also to offer information and leads into the killings, Vic Mackey's curiosity is aroused and he begins to investigate Pezuela's possible involvement in the San Marcos killings. Pezuela realizes the threat Vic poses and attempts to convince Aceveda into testifying on Mackey's behalf in order to keep him employed. When Aceveda declines, Pezuela instead offers Vic another form of compensation to get the detective off of his back: the camera phone picture of Aceveda performing oral sex on a gang-member. Pezuela reveals his secret contempt of Aceveda, telling him that the Councilman "instead of standing up to his attacker like a man, he got on his knees and took another man's dick in his mouth." He gives the picture to Vic to use at his disposal, but advises him to "stop digging." Vic, however, used the picture to build an alliance with Aceveda in an attempt to prevent his own forced retirement. After revealing Pezuela's close ties to the Mexican drug cartels, Vic stole a car containing Pezuela's blackmail material on high ranking City officials, thereby scuttling the Cartels' attempt to take over the neighborhood and saving his own job.

[edit] Armadillo Quintero

  • Portrayed by Daniel Pino
  • Appears in "The Quick Fix", "Dead Soldiers", "Partners", "Greenlit" and "Scar Tissue",

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 who had offered to testify against him. He would mark his rape victims with a tattoo of a dove on their face. Vic Mackey becomes enraged upon learning that Armadillo is responsible for burning his drug dealer ally and friend T.O. 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 eventually 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] Connie Reisler

  • Portrayed by Jamie Brown
  • Appears in "Pilot", "The Spread", "Cherrypoppers", "Dragonchasers", "Greenlit", "Homewrecker", "Scar Tissue" and "Co-Pilot"

A crack-addicted prostitute and single mother. Vic was very sympathetic to her due to her having a baby son. Near the end of season 1, Vic helped Connie go through detox for the sake of her son. Despite the process, Connie relapses and sneaks out to get high. When Connie disappeared after her relapse, Connie's son is put into foster care. However, Vic checks on him repeatedly to make sure the foster family is treating him appropriately.

In season 2 she appeared at the Barn one day completely clean and wanting to scrape up some money by working as a C.I. for Vic. Vic reluctantly agreed. Later, during a fugitive case that the Strike Team was working on, Connie got involved without Vic's consent. A hostage situation ensued, resulting in her being fatally shot. A horrified Vic, unable to help her, was forced to watch her die.

[edit] Ellis Rezian

  • Portrayed by Ludwig Manukian
  • Appears in "Exiled", "Recoil", and "Spanish Practices"

A leading figure of the Armenian mob. He is set up and arrested. However, even from prison, he does not want to allow Diro Kesakhian to become the boss of the Armenian mob. Therefore, he teams with Shane near the end of the sixth season in order to stop Kesakhian from unleashing retribution on Mackey's family.

[edit] Rondell Robinson

A major drug dealer in the Farmington neighborhood with links to the Farmington One-Niners. Rondell was Vic's major supplier of drugs, he was used by the Strike Team in order for them to keep track of what was put on the street. Rondell was murdered at the end of Season 1, after a series of confrontations with rival dealers and the Nation of Islam forced Vic to switch his support to T.O.

[edit] Kail Saffian

  • Portrayed by Vahe Bejan
  • Appears in "All in"

Kail Saffian is a high-ranking member of the Armenian mob. He is rather overweight. Meanwhile, Vic needs to take out Margos Dezerian before he takes out the entire strike team. Saffian is caught in a parking lot along with many associates, with a ton of drugs being carried in Middle Eastern carpets. Vic tries to interrogate Saffian on the whereabouts of Margos by taking him to some canisters full of tar and shoving his face into the tar. Once Saffian struggles to breathe, Vic realizes that the strike team is being watched by Dezerian from afar in a high level building. By the time they get to the top, Margos is gone and Sosi, a young girl whom Margos had kidnapped, was stabbed by him.

[edit] Alex Schenenik

  • Portrayed by Shaun Duke
  • Appears in "Carte Blanche"

Alex is an Armenian mob boss who owns his own dance bar. He wants an associate, Hrach, to be executed for killing one of his hitmen. Vic promises to kill Hrach, but takes an already dead victim and blows his face away with a shotgun in order to deem him unrecognizable. Once Alex agrees furthermore to go along with Vic's plans, Vic takes down the entire Armenian mob operation in that region.

[edit] Halpern White

White is the second in command of the One-Niners gang under Antwon Mitchell. He was a go-between for the gang leader and the cops when Shane and Army started their relationship with Mitchell. When he threatened to report their relationship, Shane and army badly beat him. White would return the beating when Antwon's thugs jumped them and killed Angie while Shane's and Army's guns. Later, when trying to get White to overthrow Antwon, he was accidentally shot in the shoulder by Army and spend some time in the hospital. He recovered and eventually worked as an informant for the Strike team.

[edit] Friends and family

[edit] Aurora Aceveda

Aurora is David Aceveda's wife and supporter of his political campaign. She is certain to remain by his side during his campaign, no matter how their personal relationship is at the time. Their relationship hit a rough patch after David was raped but they eventually moved past it. The Acevedas have a young daughter.

[edit] Joe Clark

Vic's first partner and training officer. Makes his first appearance that shows 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. He got over his rough patch and is an enforcer for apartment owners.

[edit] Becca Doyle

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] Jorge Machado

  • Portrayed by Efrain Figueroa
  • Appears in "Dawg Days", "Cupid & Psycho", "Carnivores", "The Quick Fix", "Coyote", "Breakpoint" and "Bottom Bitch"

Jorge Machado, the "Kingmaker" becomes Aceveda's political ally and supports him on his bid for city counsel. He even looks past some of Aceveda's major blunders and eventually leads him to nomination.

[edit] Cassidy Mackey

Vic's oldest daughter. Cassidy recently confronted Vic about his unethical past, after hearing some vicious rumors from the father of one of her friends, who is also a defense attorney. Vic was obviously ashamed that Cassidy was aware of some of his past, but denied everything. Cassidy also met her half-brother, Lee Sofer, the son of Sergeant Danny Sofer and Vic. Cassidy refused to hold Lee, and wanted to leave right away, almost feeling ashamed of her father.

[edit] Matthew Mackey

Vic's son. He is diagnosed with autism, requiring expensive doctors and therapy.

Note: Joel Rosenthal's final episode was "On Tilt"

[edit] Megan Mackey

Vic's youngest daughter. Megan also has autism.

[edit] Corrine Mackey

  • Portrayed by Cathy Cahlin Ryan
  • Appears in every season of the series

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 had a relationship with Dutch Wagenbach during the Fourth Season.

In Season 5 she was unwittingly brought into the Internal Affairs investigation against Vic. When Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh interrogated her she told him about the bag of $65,000.00 Vic gave her for their autistic children. Kavanaugh then asked her to turn over the remainder of the money as evidence for his investigation. On Vic's suggestion, Corrine hired an attorney, but Kavanaugh refused to offer her a deal for cooperating and later froze her assets to prevent Vic from using her for money to bail out Lem. He also told Corrine about Danny Sofer's longtime affair with Vic and her pregancy. Corrine confronted Danny about the child, angrily calling her a whore and saying that her unborn child is a bastard. Later, after Vic slept with Lieutenant Kavanaugh's ex-wife, Kavanaugh tried to follow suit by seducing Corrine. When she rejected him in disgust, Kavanaugh tried to rape her, but could not bring himself to go through with it.

In Season 6, after Vic was charged with the murder of Lemansky on evidence fabricated by Kavanaugh, Corrine stormed into The Barn, angrily confronting Kavanaugh. She then filed charges of harassment and attempted sexual assault on the investigator, who was later stripped of his badge and imprisoned.

Clearly viewing all of Kavanaugh's accusations against Vic to be completely groundless, Corrine brought both his children to appear on his behalf at a Department Review Board in the final episode of Season 6. She assured Vic that they will always be there for him

[edit] Emolia Melendez

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. Emolia, however, returns to the lives of the Strike Team when Kavanaugh finds Emolia and, with an offer of witness protection, feeds her a false story in order to indict Vic Mackey for the murder of Lemansky. However, her story is later disproven by Dutch Wagenbach, who discovers that Kavanaugh and Emolia never met at the meeting place that was designated and, after a lecture from Claudette about how she would look back at this period of her life and how she has been used by both Mackey and Kavanaugh, is prepared to overturn her testimony until a guilt ridden Kavanaugh confesses to feeding her the story. Her fate is unknown, though it's possible she may be in police protection.

[edit] Mara Sewell-Vendrell

  • Portrayed by Michele Hicks
  • Appears in "Playing Tight", "Blood and Water", "Bottom Bitch", "Streaks and Tips", "Mum", "Safe", "Cracking Ice", "Slipknot", "What Power Is...", "Strays", "All In", "Bang", "Jailbait", "Haunts" and "Exiled"

Mara Sewell-Vendrell was introduced at the opening of season 3, though it was not clear how Shane met her. Mara and Shane began a romantic relationship, but things began to get difficult as Mara expressed great dislike for Vic Mackey, Shane's partner and best friend. Mara felt as though Vic was holding Shane back from success. The truth was that Mara was jealous of the close bond between Shane and Vic. Mara and Shane were about to break up, until Mara announced very unceremoniously that she was pregnant. Shane, having old-fashioned Southern standards, immediately wanted to get married. Mara agreed and the two were married in the middle of season 3.

Things got interesting when Mara discovered the receipt with "Cletus Van Damme" from the storage locker where the Strike Team was storing their money from the Armenian Money Train robbery. Mara helped herself to about $7,000, some of which was marked by the United States Department of Treasury. During an investigation by Dutch, it was discovered that some of the marked money was spent it Indio, California and that the Feds were on the way to investigate. Upon hearing of Indio, Shane's curiosity was piqued. Later in the evening, Shane was on the phone with Mara's mother, where she revealed that Mara had sent her the missing $7,000. At this point, the Strike Team moved the money to another storage locker, without telling Shane the location, fearing Mara would discover it again. The circumstances of the Armenian Money Train Robbery were not revealed to Mara or her mother; they bought Shane's story of just "skimming it off of drug dealers"

Mara put herself on the line for Shane when Tavon Garris and Shane had a physical altercation in Shane's apartment. Tavan had come over to clear up any bad feelings between him and Shane. Shane then called Tavon a racial slur ("darkie") and the fight broke out. Tavon kneed Shane in the groin, causing Shane to practically paralyze. Mara entered the apartment to see Tavon on top dominating Shane, and she picked up a laundry iron, and smashed him across the back of the head with it. Tavon then left the apartment to drive back to the Barn, however, due to his head injury from the iron, he crashed his vehicle into another, and was in grave condition for the remainder of the season. He has not been seen since. This incident with Tavon, in addition to Mara taking the $7,000 from the Money Train, is what began the tension that eventually led to the Strike Team's collapse at the end of Season 3.

Mara played a lesser role through seasons 4 and 5, but she was featured more heavily in season 6. Mara discovered that Shane was having an affair with an underage prostitute, and, in an attempt to come back home, Shane confessed to Mara that he, not Guardo, was in fact the one who murdered Curtis Lemansky. Mara, seeing how badly Shane's guilt was tearing him up inside, took him back.

[edit] Lee Sofer

Vic and Danny's son, and half-brother to Vic's children with Corrine.

[edit] Gangs

  • The Armenian Might: Armenian organized crime syndicate. Members and affiliates include Margos Dezerian, Diro Kesakhian, Goma Magar, Ellis Rezian, and Kail Saffian. Widely feared throughout Farmington due to brutal murder/torture practices carried out by known members, such as foot severing, body mutilation, threats to kill children and wives, and connections (a "mole") to U.S. Treasury Department. The Strike Team stole millions from their money train setting up most of the events of season 3.
  • One-Niners: The most powerful African-American gang in Farmington. Notable members include Antwon Mitchell and Kern Little. Gang color is purple.
  • Farmtown 12: A Black gang. Was very powerful in Farmington until its neighborhoods were overrun with Latino immigrants.
  • Los Magnificos (or "Los Mags"): A Mexican-American gang.
  • Los Toros: A Mexican gang.
  • Los Profetas: A Mexican gang with a strong religious bent. Mackey calls them killers with conscience, they keep to their own small piece of street, but were suspected of lynching a Black child in season 3. At the same time their religious leader was murdered. After it was discovered a member of the One-Niners was behind it all, they got a man in County and (we assume) killed him. They seem to get on peaceful terms with Vic.
  • El Salvadorans: Involved in drug trafficking, extortion, and murder. Known members include Guardo Lima
  • The Torrucos: A unification of the Los Mags and Toros formed by Armadillo Quintero. Despite Armadillo's death they stay together.
  • The Byz Lats: A Mexican gang. Members of the Byz Lats also appear in an episode ("Binary Explosion") in the third season of The Unit, which shares executive producer Shawn Ryan with The Shield.
  • Spookstreet Souljahs: A Black gang.
  • K-Town Killers: A Korean-American gang.
  • The Horde: A national biker gang with a reputation for extreme violence. Their one visit to Farmington was a robbery that ended with the culprits arrested by the Strike Team.
  • Russian Mafia: Frequently referred to as "R.O.C." (Russian Organized Crime). Very powerful and the main conduit for any other gang wanting to work outside Farmington.
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