The Shield ends its run with a 90 minute series finale this coming Tuesday and I couldn’t be more excited. This season has been excellent setting the stage for what is sure to be an amazing end to this fantastic series. We’ve known since the very first episode that Michael Chiklis’ Detective Vic Mackey is a bad cop, but somehow we’ve rooted him on throughout it all.  Chiklis has created the greatest anti hero in the history of television, and hearing Mackey detail all of his sins in the penultimate episode since the beginning of the series till now was nothing short of jaw dropping. I can’t believe that I’m still rooting for this guy. He is the epitome of evil and only truly cares about one thing other than himself, his family. Believing that his ex wife Corinne has been drawn into his web of lies and deceit and is now in trouble with the law, Vic betrays his last remaining friend, partner Ronnie Gardocki (the underappreciated David Rees Snell) and takes an immunity deal in exchange for Corinne’s freedom. This is powerful stuff.

This season has been a long, twisty game of cat and mouse, as Mackey and former partner, Shane Vendrell (the incredible Walton Goggins) try to one up and kill each other. Shane has been on the run with his wife and young son for a few episodes now and I can’t wait to see how this is all going to play out. On a side note, the fact that Walton Goggins has not been nominated for his work as Shane is a crime that needs to be rectified. The guy is unbelievable. No matter what the scene is, if Goggins is in it, you can’t take your eyes off him. While we’re on it, Michael Chiklis did win the Emmy for his work in the first season, but the fact that he has been overlooked every season since is nothing short of shameful. Michael Chiklis playing Vic Mackey is one of those rare, role of a lifetime moments and his performance throughout this series, demands to be recognized.

Of course The Shield would never have been the amazing series it was without the guiding hand of creator, Shawn Ryan. Ryan can proudly say that this series may be the only one in history that never went through a creative slump or even had a bad episode or two. This show has been perfect from start to finish and I look forward to seeing what series he comes up with next.

So how’s it all going to end? I’d be lying if I said I knew, but I have a few guesses. The one thing I know for sure is that the finale will be bloody and characters are going to drop like flies. The question is who? First up, I believe Captain Claudette Wyms (the ever reliable CCH Pounder)will be in a tirade about Mackey’s immunity deal and will succumb to whatever disease she has, sending her to the hospital where she will die and Detective Dutch Wagenbach  (Jay Karnes)will wind up running the barn. Clearly there will be one last confrontation between Shane and Vic, and only one will walk away. My guess is Shane will be the last man standing and he will kill Vic.   The last scene of the series will be of Shane and his family safely living in Mexico, or as I like to call it, the True Romance ending. This leaves Ronnie Gardocki. Ronnie upon realizing that Vic has sold him out, will attempt to flee to Mexico. He won’t make it. He will be cornered by his fellow police officers and my guess is that he will be shot and killed by former strike team member, Officer Julian Lowe (Michael Jace) the only character on the show with a clear cut idea of right and wrong. At least one other character, the slimy David Aceveda (Benito Martinez) will meet his end as well. I don’t know exactly who is going to kill him, but this series cannot end without the slimy Mr. Aceveda getting what he deserves.

Even knowing what a brutal scumbag, Mackey is, I still hope his character will find a way to happily ever after. It won’t happen. The one thing I am sure of, with The Shield ending, there is no happily ever after for me. I will miss this show very much. My only consolation prize is that I have two more seasons of Lost to look forward to.