# The Mamet-Ryan showdown: The Shield vs. The Unit **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771 "2008-03-26T06:16:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/1 "2008-03-26T06:16:21Z")
A while back I got into the series “The Shield” and promptly decided I loved it. So after watching all of the seasons back to back over a short period of time, I wanted to see more. However, since season 7 of “The Shield” seems to be on an indefinite hold (despite the fact that the episodes have actually been filmed!) I decided to check out Ryan and Mamet’s military action drama “The Unit.” The characters on each show aren’t really all that alike but still make for some interesting matchups. For example, I would square Jonas Blaine against Vic Mackey. They’re both the leaders and all-around toughest bastards of their respective teams. However, while Mackey is a dirty cop, Blaine is a hardened combat veteran who has been in fierce firefights around the world. If they were to face off in Farmington, I give the advantage to Mackey, who would probably just stay off the streets and bribe/extort some Byz Lat bangers to take Blaine out. Anywhere else in the world, the advantage goes to Blaine, who is very good at adapting to rapidly changing circumstances. In the strategy department, we have Col. Ryan running The Unit and somehow successfully hiding a decent sized contingent of Special Forces soldiers by posing them as logistics clerks. Who at the Farm could possibly be his equal? I nominate Dutch, who has broken cases on nothing more than a broken taillight or the shoes a woman was wearing when he interviewed her. If anyone could tie together all the strange happenings around Fort Griffith and come to the conclusion that it’s actually home to an elite counterterrorist strike team, it would be Dutch. The question is, would Ryan scare/kill/discredit Dutch first? On the homefront, I would give the advantage to the Strike Team wives if ever facing off against the Unit wives. True, the Unit wives can occasionally band together to become a powerful team. However, they’re also… well… kinda dumb. Every other episode they seem to be falling for an obvious scam or blabbing their husbands into imminent danger or bickering over something silly. Corinne Mackey is a hard-nosed broad who has taken a lot of crap over the years and she can dish it out as well as she can take it. I’d put Mara, Shane’s wife, up against Tiffy and I’d be delighted to see Mara wiping the floor with Tiffy’s sorry ass. The Unit wives may be used to danger and death being around them all the time but The Shield wives just seem way tougher under any circumstances. Of course, in a straight-up gunfight, The Unit massacres the Strike Team in about ten seconds. However, this assumes The Unit guys are carrying their usual heavy artillery. If it was men running through the back alleys of The Farm with pistols, it would be a very down and dirty fight and I think both sides would lose. So, any other Ryan/Mamet fans want to chime in? ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/2 "2008-03-26T13:37:28Z")
I just wanted to come in here and say I miss The Shield. Hurry the fuck up with the last season already! I’m jonesin. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/3 "2008-03-26T15:57:31Z")
Don’t expect much discussion here. Unfortunately, everyone is way too obsessed with _The Wire_ here to care about The Shield. I’ve tried to talk about it here and it never got much traction. Maybe _The Wire_ is more cerebral and complicated and intellectual and deeper and everything, but it’s just not entertaining to me like _The Shield_ is. Yeah yeah I know, it’s a totally different show, etc etc. I just want to see guys kicking down doors and kicking ass. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/4 "2008-03-26T16:14:18Z")
I haven’t seen _The Unit_ either, but _The Shield_ may be my favorite TV drama of all time. I just came in to echo **Flander** ’s sentiment about jonesing for the final season. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/5 "2008-03-26T22:06:47Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Don’t expect much discussion here. Unfortunately, everyone is way too obsessed with _The Wire_ here to care about The Shield. I’ve tried to talk about it here and it never got much traction. [/QUOTE] True, I’m not sure if there would be many _The Unit_ fans here either… the show’s a bit jingoistic. [QUOTE=Argent Towers] Maybe _The Wire_ is more cerebral and complicated and intellectual and deeper and everything, but it’s just not entertaining to me like _The Shield_ is. Yeah yeah I know, it’s a totally different show, etc etc. I just want to see guys kicking down doors and kicking ass. [/QUOTE] Amen. I’ve been told that the tension builds very very slowly in _The Wire_, to the point where it’s exciting in the first season when the police get to do a wiretap. _The Shield_ has hard takedowns almost every episode. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/6 "2008-03-26T23:14:41Z")
I love The Shield. It has become my all-time favorite tv drama. I didn’t get into it until season 4, and at that point I really didn’t know what was going on, but I knew that I liked it. I bought seasons 1-3 on DVD and watched them all in about 4 weeks. I love watching shows that way. I was getting to watch 4 or 5 episodes a night. When season 4 came out on DVD I bought it and watched it all too, and since then I’ve been following the show week to week. I hate the wait between seasons. I wish they would hurry up and air the last one. I’ve been thinking about going back and watching the whole show again. I may have to do that this summer if regular tv watching slows. I think what I love best about the show is the great ensemble cast and how everyone interacts with each other. Everyone plays their part perfectly. Soemtimes I channel a little Vic Mackey when I get angry. Now if I could just get as big as him… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/7 "2008-03-27T00:07:28Z")
I believe the final season of The Shield is either finished or damn close to being finished, but FX isn’t airing it until September. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/8 "2008-03-27T04:14:26Z")
I stopped watching The Shield after the third season because the constant bickering during the aftermath of the Money Train robbery was just annoying. Were the subsequent seasons as good as the first two? ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/9 "2008-03-27T04:37:27Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] I stopped watching The Shield after the third season because the constant bickering during the aftermath of the Money Train robbery was just annoying. Were the subsequent seasons as good as the first two? [/QUOTE] Four was great, and five was freakin’ spectacular! Especially in the end. I haven’t seen season 6 yet as I am waiting for it to come out on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/10 "2008-03-27T04:45:32Z")
Is it just me or is Ronnie the ultimate dark-horse character of all time? He hardly ever says anything, but you just _know_ he’s a huge badass. He has the least amount of backstory or personal information of any of the Strike Team characters. He could go in any direction. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/11 "2008-03-27T06:15:38Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Is it just me or is Ronnie the ultimate dark-horse character of all time? He hardly ever says anything, but you just _know_ he’s a huge badass. He has the least amount of backstory or personal information of any of the Strike Team characters. He could go in any direction. [/QUOTE] I’ve seen several hardcore Ronnie fans on other forums. I like him a lot, and hope the upcoming season pairs him up with Dutch again, after their brief successful teamup last season. Ronnie is smarter than he lets on – perhaps even as smart as Dutch, and pretty damn close to being as tough as Vic without being as much of a risk taker. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/12 "2008-03-27T15:31:20Z")
[QUOTE=Justin\_Bailey] I stopped watching The Shield after the third season because the constant bickering during the aftermath of the Money Train robbery was just annoying. Were the subsequent seasons as good as the first two? [/QUOTE] That would be a big YES. ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/13 "2008-03-27T15:47:13Z")
I just saw a commercial for the final season of _The Shield_ on FX a few nights ago. As someone already noted, it won’t be shown until Fall. I absolutely love the show, but this is ridiculous. To me, the appeal of the show is its intensity and suspenseful plot, and much of that effect is lost when I have to wait so long that I’ve practially forgotten why I cared to begin with. I have a hard time becoming emotionally invested in TV shows anyway; pretty tough to sustain it for a year and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mamet-ryan-showdown-the-shield-vs-the-unit/442771/14 "2008-03-27T16:40:48Z")
[QUOTE=hopesperson] I just saw a commercial for the final season of _The Shield_ on FX a few nights ago. As someone already noted, it won’t be shown until Fall. I absolutely love the show, but this is ridiculous. To me, the appeal of the show is its intensity and suspenseful plot, and much of that effect is lost when I have to wait so long that I’ve practially forgotten why I cared to begin with. I have a hard time becoming emotionally invested in TV shows anyway; pretty tough to sustain it for a year and a half. [/QUOTE] I see the long intermissions as them actually spending time carefully writing a good show, not just pumping out garbage (I’m looking at you, 24)!! I will gladly wait a while between seasons if it means exceptional episodes and stories. So far, I’ve not been let down.