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The conscience behind "The Shield'

 
Published March 17, 2003|Updated Aug. 31, 2005

As originally written, the character of Claudette Wyms, the take-no-mess veteran detective on FX's breakout cop drama The Shield, was supposed to be a man named Charles. In crafting the show's pilot, it never occurred to series creator Shawn Ryan that the character could be a woman, let alone a black woman.

"We were reading a lot of actors for the role, and CCH Pounder's agent called us up and said, "Why does this character have to be a man? Why can't CC play this role?' " Ryan said during a feature included on the series' first-season DVD set. "And we all looked at each other and said, "Hmmm, why can't she play this role?' "

Since The Shield premiered last March, much has been made of star Michael Chiklis, and understandably so. Once known for chubby, cuddly roles on such series as ABC's The Commish and NBC's short-lived Daddio, Chiklis shaved his head, hit the gym and reinvented himself as a Rottweiler of a rogue cop, Vic Mackey. He has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe as best dramatic actor.

Yet, this season, Pounder's intense, incisive portrayal of Det. Claudette Wyms has emerged as one of the most compelling reasons to watch the series, which airs at 10 p.m. Tuesdays. Though most of the cops in "the Barn," as the precinct in the fictional Farmington district is called, are wary of Mackey and his methods with the Strike Team, the fearless Wyms has spent a good amount of time this year letting Mackey know she's onto his game and intends to tear his playhouse down.

After Pounder won the role as the fiery detective, she insisted that the writers not change the script, preferring they "keep the masculine dialogue alive," she said. That way, Pounder said, "right away you know that Claudette was direct, brutally honest and didn't hold anything back."

Pounder's smart, formidable performance is fueled by the tension that comes from trying to do the right thing when everywhere is the easy seduction of the wrong thing.

Perhaps most impressive, Pounder, 50, is sparkling at a time when TV dramas don't have many significant roles for black actors. But don't get it twisted: Pounder's role on The Shield isn't window dressing; she isn't there to deter the NAACP from accusing TV execs of a "virtual whitewash" in prime time, as the organization's president, Kweisi Mfume, has said.

She's there because for years she has consistently been one of TV's best actors. Beginning with her first small-screen job, on Hill Street Blues in 1981, she has appeared on such series as The Practice, The West Wing and L.A. Law. Twice she has been nominated for Emmys, for a guest appearance on The X-Files and as a supporting actor on ER.

It's not a coincidence that the Guyana-born Pounder (her initials stand for Carol Christine Hilaria) has often played FBI agents, doctors, judges and cops. With her dark, intelligent eyes and cut-to-the-chase demeanor, she oozes authority and commands respect. That's why her battles with Chiklis' Mackey are so believable. Mackey may not fear his superiors, civilian complaints or death threats from drug dealers, but he fears Claudette.

Unlike Mackey, who breaks as many laws as he upholds, Claudette is a good cop and a good person, as well as the only person whose respect means anything to Mackey.

Claudette is more than counterpoint to Mackey. She is everything he will never be and has become the show's conscience. As Mackey's id runs amok, Claudette is the reminder that effective police work doesn't have to be brutalizing suspects, planting evidence and conducting illegal searches.