Julien Lowe

Detective Julien Lowe is a fictional character in the television drama series The Shield. Lowe is played by Michael Jace. He is portrayed as a Los Angeles Police Department officer and a new member of the Strike Team, a four-man anti-gang unit.^[1]

Rookie

Julien is introduced as a rookie in the series pilot and was paired with training officer Danielle "Danny" Sofer. Due to his Pentecostal beliefs and moralistic view of police work, Julien often clashed with his fellow officers.

Early in his career, he observed the Strike Team stealing two bricks of cocaine during a bust and reported this to Captain Aceveda. Danny was enraged that Julien would become a "rat" and told him, "This is a brotherhood." Aceveda warned Julien that the charges were serious and not to pursue them, but Julien went over his head and informed Internal Affairs. Little is known about Julien's life before the series. In the Co-Pilot episode, it is shown that Julien's first day as a police officer was working in The Barn before it opened.

Professional life

Julien was partnered with a new officer after Danny was fired from the Barn and upon her return, he preferred to work with his new partner, enjoying the comradeship. However, his new partner was involved in a scandal and fired from the force so Aceveda again paired Julien with Danny.

During Monica Rawling's tenure as captain, Julien became more outspoken and disapproved of her seizure policy to the point that he was going to transfer out of the department, but when the policy was shut down and Rawling was dismissed, Julien decided to remain. He soon became a training officer himself and was very tough on trainee Tina Hanlon. Due to many mistakes and Julien and Danny's recommendations, Tina was about to be dismissed until a possible scandal kept her in the Barn under the mentoring of Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach.

During the formation of a new Strike Team, Captain Claudette Wyms offered Julien to Kevin Hiatt as a possible addition to the team. Claudette made the offer to Julien, who was hesitant, mainly because of the thought of being partnered with Vic on a daily basis. After being assured that Mackey was going to be moved out of the team, Julien accepted the promotion, becoming official member of the Strike Team.^[2]

During his tenure on the Strike Team, Julien performed admirably. However, due to his reputation for moral integrity, Julien was completely shut out of Vic, Shane, and Ronnie's criminal activities.

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. He later participated in Captain Wyms's attempt to criminally investigate Vic and Ronnie. At the series' close, he threw Tina a party to celebrate her first year on the job.

Homosexuality

After his contact with IA over the strike team's theft of cocaine, Vic Mackey caught Julien in a homosexual encounter with a small time hustler named Tomas Motyashik. When Julien said that he would deny the incident, Vic smiled sadistically and said,

"I don't have to prove you're gay. In this house, all I have to do is say it with all the gory details!"

A terrified Julien reluctantly agreed to recant his story. Mackey afterwards exhibited friendlier behavior towards him, but Lowe never entirely trusted him.

Later, Julien asked his pastor, "What do you do if the man you are isn't the man you want to be?" The pastor retorted, "That's easy. Just give the man you are a good kick in the ass."

Julien's homosexuality placed him at great odds with his devout Christian beliefs, even to the point that he chose not to wear his vest to a bust, hoping the perp would kill him. Through his pastor, however, he eventually went through conversion therapy at his church and married the mother of a young boy caught spraying gang graffiti. Tomas was eventually arrested and when Julien refused to continue their relationship, he outed him to the entire precinct. Two officers tormented him over his sexuality and when they were later fired, they gave Julien a "blanket party," seriously injuring him. He later confronted one of the officers and broke his arm in retaliation.

Danny was once called to his house after his wife's son called the police due to a domestic between Julien and the boy's mother, which turned out to be a verbal argument. The argument stemmed from their frustration over their inability to have a child together. Julien went to get his sperm checked but the results were never shown.

When Juilen goes to a sperm bank to deposit his sperm as part of a medical procedure to get his wife pregnant, he uses a gay porn magazine as masturbation material.

At the end of the series Julien looks longingly at a gay couple, indicating stirring desires that haven't gone away.

References