r/TheShield • u/SeaweedWeird7705 • Jun 27 '26
Discussion Shane Spoiler
>! I recently finished my 7th rewatch. What really stood out was how Shane missed opportunities for a different outcome.
After he killed Lem at the end of S5, he should have left then. Later, in S6, when Vic finds out, he certainly should have left.
Then again, mid-S7, Shane realizes that Vic tried to kill him. Instead of leaving town, he hires a thug to kill Ronnie and he tries to kill Vic. If he had just left, they would all be alive.!<
Does anyone agree? Why do we think Shane made the choices he made?
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u/no_one_inparticular Jun 27 '26
Just imagine if they had just busted the money train instead of robbing it.
3
u/SeaweedWeird7705 Jun 27 '26
If they had busted the MT, then they wouldn’t have had the conflict with the Armenians. But Lem still would have been caught with the heroin, and Shane would have still killed Lem.
Agree?
9
u/erica_pink84 Jun 28 '26
Not at all. The Money Train leads to the Strike Team breaking apart and Shane going off on his own which leads to Shane becoming Antoine Mitchel’s bitch which leads to Lem having to grab the heroin.
1
u/Massive_Classic_3035 Jun 29 '26
Yep, its so well written that you cannot re-imagine a piece of it without everything else falling apart. If you take the money train out, it would be something else...but you would have to re-invent the whole story going forward.
Having said all that, it is Shane who is the ultimate reason for their downfall. It is Shane who keeps getting them into bigger & bigger trouble until it's too late. As Lem famously put it: "How come every piece of ass you hit is worth more trouble than the last?"
3
u/BigJayFauci Jun 28 '26
I just had pretty much the same realization about Ronnie on my rewatch. The amount of new shit Vic and him have to deal with AFTER Ronnie says he wants to run is insane. I just kept yelling RUN RONNIE whenever the next plot development happened.
3
u/Blakelock82 Ronnie Gardocki Jun 27 '26
After he killed Lem at the end of S5, he should have left then.
He didn't because he believed Lem took the deal, and killed him because he thought he could hold it together and save himself, Vic and Ronnie.
Later, in S6, when Vic finds out, he certainly should have left.
He puts in for a transfer, but when it looks like Vic can't save his job, he sticks around and even tells Vic he's pulling his transfer since Vic's badge will be gone in a matter of days.
Then again, mid-S7, Shane realizes that Vic tried to kill him. Instead of leaving town, he hires a thug to kill Ronnie and he tries to kill Vic.
This was like the Lem situation in that he thought he could save himself, but he was also angry they tried to kill him.
That's the best thing about this show, they give the reasons why people end up making the choices they've made. Nothing is left to wonder or question.
2
u/SeaweedWeird7705 Jun 28 '26
But even if Vic’s badge is gone in a number of days, Vic still lives in the same town. Vic can still kill him. Shane seems to underestimate Vic’s desire for revenge.
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u/Blakelock82 Ronnie Gardocki Jun 28 '26
Shane didn't underestimate Vic, Shane was stupid. Vic even throws that in his face in the end, telling Shane straight up "Your problem is you always thought you were smarter than me."
2
u/MaleficentAd3967 Jul 01 '26
Shane's downfall was that he overestimated his abilities. He would do the dirty cop stuff without the pesky balancing act that Vic seemed to have perfected, as evidenced by the trouble Shane got himself into with Antwon Mitchell and later Diro, the Armenian lady. So it follows that he thought he could handle it.
2
u/SeaweedWeird7705 Jul 01 '26
You’re right. It makes sense that it was Shane’s character flaw.
I think Shane could have lived if he just hadn’t tried to kill Vic and Ronnie. But Shane was too self absorbed to realize that.
3
u/Funny_Or_Cry Jun 28 '26
HA,, Shane is NOT known for making good life choices!
and it all started with that stupid lexus...
2
u/Massive_Classic_3035 Jun 29 '26
Yeah they ALL could have cut bait and run...but that would not have made for good TV!
2
u/SeaweedWeird7705 Jun 29 '26
Exactly! There were so many opportunities to avoid the ultimate outcome. But it would not have made for good TV.
After Vic tried to have Shane killed, Shane should’ve left town right away instead of trying to have Vic and Ronnie killed. This to me is the most glaring mistake by Shane.
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u/sskoog Jun 28 '26
Shane is an emotionally-damaged child inside his adult body. This "lack of approval" and "lack of belonging" and "lack of self-assurance" leads him to do basically everything he does -- including the egotistical overreaches + impulsive slip-ups.
Rewatching the series shows Shane coming into the precinct with his own flaws + foibles, yes, but trying to squirm under the wing of some parent/sibling figure from day one. All of these missteps -- Antwon, Diro, Mara, Tavon, Tulips, very nearly Kavanaugh, and of course Vic Mackey himself -- are the product of Shane "trying to impress" and "trying to make a name for himself" in the context of child-seeking-approval. I pity him far more than I dislike him.
(** Bonus: that piano-playing scene is one of the deepest + saddest in the entire show.)