The Shield (TV Series) Parricide (2008) User Reviews

Shockingly Brilliant!

[851222 · 10/10 · 23 October 2008]

Greetings from Lithuania.

This episode is brilliant!

What a twist at the end! Could someone ever believed that this would happen?

I couldn't even breath at the interrogation scene at the barn - and how unexpected in ended!

Brilliant acting, script, and everything (like always).

This season (the last one) should be nominated for the best Drama series.

Can't wait for the next episode of the most powerful TV show!

Don't miss one the best episodes of "Shield"!

P.S. "The road to justice is twisted!"

Deserves a 10.

[zahubshahid · 10/10 · 31 October 2020]

Not even a 9.5 rating... it's sickening this episode only has an 8.9 at the time of writing this. "Parricide" is the final straw that broke the camel's back of the Strike Team.

This episode just keeps building and building tension until finally it crumbles and you're left with chills all over your body because you can't believe what you just saw.

It's MUST WATCH television for people who enjoy great shows like Breaking Bad or Ozark. Shows that essentially are built around creating tense moments and having viewers on the edge of their seat.

Absolutely Nuts!!

[coasteraddict-16796 · 10/10 · 28 March 2023]

Wow, wow, wow!!!

"Parricide" is an absolutely tense, heart-pounding, and masterfully crafted episode of The Shield. It feels like every moment of the series has been building to this one, and this is where it comes to an explosive and mind-boggling climax.

This episode grips you tight from start to finish. It keeps its focus well-rounded across many plotlines, although the main one is what warrants such high praise. The performances are terrific, and the writing is something else. This one was just twist after twist after twist, and just when you think it's about to end it keeps going on and on.

This is what a 10/10 looks like. Amazing show.

The Final Season's REAL Beginning

[mr_deadly · 15 July 2011]

The central story-line of this episode is terrific. The Shield has always been about Vic--Vic and his family, Vic and the Mean Streets of the Farmington district of LA, and Vic and the Strike Team. By detailing the final implosion of the Strike Team and the end of Vic's career with the LAPD, and by setting in motion the story-line that eventually brings this series to a shattering conclusion, this is one of the most important episodes, not only of the final series, but of the entire show.

The Shane versus Vic story-line is so fascinating and gripping that the other aspects of the episode look pale by comparison. As a long-time Dutch fan it grieves me to say this, but his final serial-killer story is an annoying distraction, as is the Aceveda political corruption story-line, as is the Priest-with-a-secret gang investigation. That's why I gave the episode 'only' an 8--after multiple viewings it is apparent that this show was running out of steam--we have seen multiple variations of all the secondary story-lines.

All that matters is the Strike Team--Lem's ghost is haunting them all. Lem's murder has driven Shane and Vic's relationship to the point of absolute hatred, absolute destruction. Ronnie is also in great danger, but as usual he is the loyal follower, the tragically trusting co-conspirator who obeys Vic (nearly) every step of the way.

I have read elsewhere that the great story-arc of The Shield pivots on the Armenian Money-Train. Before that great heist, the Strike Team is ascendant--despite their profound corruption, the core group of four is basically successful and has the upper hand. Afterwards, the Strike Team is on the decline, and the show is building toward a tragic end. This arc makes sense logically and dramatically--however effective Vic is at controlling the streets and at rationalizing his corruption, he is ultimately a tragic figure who is fatally flawed.

Watch this episode! And watch this series--after spinning their wheels somewhat in the middle years, the last few episodes of The Shield build to one of the finest, and most painful, conclusions in television history. By beginning the final story arc, this episode is the place to return to the series if you got bored during the middle seasons.

The Walls Come Tumbling Down

[jace-rynearson · 10/10 · 7 August 2023]

My title isn't to say this show is losing it's edge, quite the opposite, in fact. It's sharpening it's edge at every conceivable corner. We all knew this wouldn't end happily for them, but it starts to really show that by this episode. Finally, they all start getting punished for their past crimes, especially the ones that they thought they'd successfully covered up, we now know for a fact that they are not immune, and it sets up a new plot that will be the main storyline for the rest of the show, when all their careful planning comes to naught. It's just amazing how they manage to make the plot feel like it's always moving ahead, and deftly balance a bunch of episodic cases with overarching storylines, only now, those overarching storylines are coming to a climax, and it is exciting, to say the least. I'm so glad I chose to stick with this series, because I thought it was too slow for a while, but it's just so interesting, and it picked up pretty quickly, but now that's all coming to a head.