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50 free The Shield trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
The Shield opened in March 2002 with a cop shooting a fellow officer in the face and never let up for seven seasons. Shawn Ryan's FX drama, born from the Rampart scandal, made Michael Chiklis an Emmy winner and gave basic cable its first real antihero. This quiz covers the Farmington district and the Barn, the Strike Team's crimes from Terry Crowley to the Armenian money train, the captains and detectives around them, the Kavanaugh investigation, Lemansky's death and the finale that left Vic Mackey at a desk. It also digs into the production: the Donnie Brasco ending that inspired the pilot, the Training Day reprieve, the guest directors and the awards. Every answer is explained, so you can settle arguments about what happened in which season.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01On which network did The Shield air from 2002 to 2008?
FX
It was the channel's first drama series, greenlit to set the tone for the network in the shadow of The Sopranos.
Q 02Who created The Shield?
Shawn Ryan
He had been writing for Angel and Nash Bridges and wanted to write something far darker to get the upbeat scripts out of his system.
Q 03Which real LAPD scandal was the Strike Team loosely based on?
Rampart
'Rampart' was seriously considered as the series title and even used in early promotional ads.
Q 04What is the fictional Los Angeles district where The Shield is set?
Farmington
Nicknamed 'the Farm', it is rife with gang violence, drug trafficking and prostitution.
Q 05The police station known as 'the Barn' was converted from what kind of building?
A church
In season 6 Claudette fights to keep the Barn from being shut down.
Q 06Who plays Vic Mackey?
Michael Chiklis
He shaved his head and lost significant weight for the audition, shedding a soft reputation from The Commish and Daddio.
Q 07Besides Mackey, which three detectives make up the original Strike Team?
Vendrell, Lemansky and Gardocki
They coerce information, stage arrests and skim from drug busts while Captain Aceveda looks on suspiciously.
Q 08Which Strike Team recruit does Mackey shoot dead in the pilot episode?
Terry Crowley
Crowley was a plant placed by Aceveda and the Justice Department; the killing hangs over the whole series.
Q 09Which film's alternate ending inspired the pilot's shocking conclusion?
Donnie Brasco
Ryan imagined Al Pacino's mobster shooting Johnny Depp's undercover agent, having known his identity all along.
Q 10What is the name of the politically ambitious captain who runs the Barn at the start?
David Aceveda
He tolerates the Strike Team's methods because their results help his campaign for mayor.
Q 11What is the nickname of detective Holland Wagenbach?
Dutch
He spends season 1 convinced a serial killer is targeting prostitutes, and the final season fixated on a kid he thinks will become one.
Q 12Which Strike Team member is blackmailed by drug lord Antwon Mitchell in season 4?
Vendrell
Mackey and new captain Monica Rawling get him out of it, reunite the team and put Mitchell in jail.
Q 13In season 2 the Strike Team robs the 'money train' of which criminal organization?
The Armenian mob
The train shipped laundered money out of the country; the heist left the team with millions.
Q 21FX's ten 2007 episodes were originally intended to be what?
The rest of the fifth season
FX chose to label its 10 episodes as a separate season instead.
Q 22In season 6, the Internal Affairs lieutenant is arrested after admitting to what?
Planting evidence
He had kept investigating outside Internal Affairs after the official probe collapsed.
Q 23Which uniformed officer joins the Strike Team in season 6 under Kevin Hiatt?
Julien Lowe
His earlier arc involved the conflict between his Christian beliefs and his homosexuality.
Q 14Who was the highly intelligent immigrant uniting Hispanic gangs in the first half of season 2?
Armadillo
Claudette's investigation into him is hampered by Mackey and Aceveda, pushing her toward a more active moral role.
Q 15In season 3, who impulsively burns most of the money train cash?
Lemansky
Some of the money had been marked by the Treasury; the burning led to the Strike Team's dissolution.
Q 16Which federal agency had marked part of the stolen money train cash?
The Treasury
The team spent season 3 diverting federal attention from their activities.
Q 17Captain Monica Rawling is dismissed in season 4 over which policy?
Seizing assets tied to drug money
Aceveda later exploits the same seizures policy to gain power on the city council.
Q 18Which Internal Affairs lieutenant investigates the Strike Team in season 5?
Jon Kavanaugh
He targets Lemansky as a way in; Mackey tries to humiliate him to prove the probe is personal.
Q 19Which teammate murders Lem with a grenade at the end of season 5?
Shane Vendrell
In season 6 the team at first suspects a gang; when the truth emerges he turns to the Armenian mob for protection.
Q 20What was the 15-minute 'promosode' bridging seasons 5 and 6 called?
Wins and Losses
It premiered on Google Video in February 2007, dealt with Lemansky's funeral and cost up to $1 million.
Q 24In the final season, Mackey trades his cartel bust for immunity and a job with which agency?
ICE
He then learns he will be a desk analyst with no real power, and walks out hearing sirens in the distance.
Q 25Which Strike Team member does Mackey betray in the finale, leaving him to be arrested?
Ronnie Gardocki
Gardocki is arrested for the team's crimes while Mackey is shielded by his immunity deal.
Q 26What does Shane do after his attempt to kill Mackey fails in the final season?
Kills himself and his family
With no leverage left over Mackey, he and his family had become fugitives.
Q 27What does Mackey's ex-wife Corrine do at the end of the series?
Takes the kids into witness protection
She is frightened when she finally grasps everything Vic is.
Q 28Roughly how much in-story time do the seven seasons cover?
Three years
The show ran six and a half real years, from March 2002 to November 2008.
Q 29Which 2001 film's success reassured Fox that audiences would accept corrupt-cop drama after 9/11?
Training Day
Fox had worried viewers would not want police portrayed negatively; the pilot finally aired in March 2002.
Q 30Which FX executive greenlit The Shield in 2001?
Kevin Reilly
He wanted an antihero show but thought the cop genre was tired, until he read Ryan's script.