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Ronnie Gardocki

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Ronnie Gardocki
The Shield character
First appearance"Pilot" (episode 1.01)
Last appearance"Family Meeting" (episode 7.13)
Created byShawn Ryan
Portrayed byDavid Rees Snell
Information
OccupationDetective

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Detective Ronald Everett "Ronnie" Gardocki, is a fictional character who appears in the FX crime drama The Shield.[1] He is portrayed by David Rees Snell. Originally a minor character, Gardocki becomes substantially more prominent in The Shield as the series progresses.

Concept and creation[edit]

David Rees Snell was a friend of Shawn Ryan’s, and agreed to play Gardocki for $85 per day, the same amount paid to an extra, with the promise that he would get more lines in later episodes. Gardocki ended up in all but six of the series’ 89 instalments.[2]

Role in The Shield[edit]

Character summary[edit]

Ronnie Gardocki works as a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department. He is a member of Vic Mackey's 'Strike Team,' an experimental anti-gang unit. He is "unreasonably loyal"[3] to Vic, actively participating in his corrupt activities. Originally a minor character, he becomes much more prominent following the death of Kenneth Johnson's character, fellow Strike Team member, Curtis Lemansky.

Series 1-5[edit]

Gardocki appears in about two-thirds of the first season's episodes, including a brief appearance in the pilot for which Snell went uncredited. To explain why a member of the Strike Team would be missing in action so often, it was established that Mackey often has Gardocki run errands.[citation needed]

After Mackey uses a stove to burn the face of Armadillo, a violent Mexican drug lord, Armadillo retaliates by doing the same to Gardocki (after Gardocki's paranoia, which was ignored by the Strike Team), leaving him on the brink of death. Gardocki survives, but is left permanently disfigured. It is hinted that Gardocki will not return to active duty, and detective Tavon Garris is hired to join the Strike Team. Fellow team member Shane Vendrell is initially resentful towards Garris for taking his spot on the team.

However, Gardocki returns and decides to take a more active role in the Strike Team, particularly in planning out a means for the Strike Team to hijack the Armenian mob's "Money Train," a convoy used in a money laundering operation. Gardocki, initially interested in the idea, became a much larger advocate for it after his disfigurement, coming up with an alternate method of stealing the money that bypassed the problems within the original plan.

Lemansky ultimately burns the remaining money from the robbery, fearing that the team's actions will eventually be discovered. When Lemansky's actions cause tension between him and Vendrell, Gardocki attempts to mediate between the two. However, tensions between the team eventually lead to the team's dissolution. Lemansky and Vendrell are transferred to different divisions, but Gardocki remains as Mackey's partner.

After the Strike Team is re-formed, Gardocki and the rest of the team are investigated by Internal Affairs Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh due to their suspected involvement in various crimes. Kavanaugh finds discrepancies in some of the team members' finances, but Gardocki escapes suspicion due to careful management of his share of the money.

Lemansky later becomes a fugitive after Kavanaugh charges him with stealing heroin from a criminal informant's house. On the way to a covert meeting with Lemansky, Gardocki and Mackey are tailed by Kavanaugh's agents. By the time they escape their pursuers and arrive at the rendezvous point, Vendrell had killed Lemansky with a grenade

Series 6[edit]

Gardocki begins to suspect Vendrell's involvement in the murder, but is initially unable to find evidence to justify his suspicions. Eventually, Mackey discovers the truth and threatens to kill Vendrell. Vendrell responds by creating a document detailing the various crimes committed by the Strike Team, informing Mackey that the document—containing enough evidence to put Mackey and Gardocki in prison for the rest of their lives – will find its way to the police if Mackey carries out his plans for revenge.

Vendrell approaches Gardocki with an offer to form an alliance against Mackey. When Gardocki declines, Vendrell informs him of Mackey's involvement in the murder of detective Terry Crowley. Gardocki, unmoved because he had long suspected as much, confronts Mackey to demand why he had been left out of the plot. Mackey, however, refuses to admit to the murder in front of Gardocki.

Series 7[edit]

Vic and Ronnie ultimately decide that the time had come for Shane to pay with his life for murdering Lem. They arrange for him to be assassinated by a Mexican drug cartel. At the last second, Vic tries to call off the hit on Shane, but was unable to reach Shane on his cell phone. Through sheer luck, Shane survives. Vendrell responds by attempting to murder both Mackey and Gardocki; this too fails, and he is exposed for conspiring to murder his two teammates.

Vendrell flees, increasing pressure on Mackey and Gardocki to eliminate him before he tells the police of their involvement in various crimes. Mackey begins working with ICE, hoping that in exchange for bringing down a Mexican drug cartel both he and Gardocki will be offered jobs and granted immunity for any crimes committed as members of the Strike Team.

ICE refuses to grant immunity to Gardocki, extending it only to Mackey. In order to secure his own immunity, Mackey is required to confess to the various crimes committed by the Strike Team. Frustrated at her inability to prosecute Mackey for the heinous actions he admits to, ICE agent Olivia Murray tells Mackey that she has enough evidence to send Gardocki to prison for life and will have him arrested after the conclusion of the cartel investigation. Unable to warn Gardocki for fear of voiding his immunity agreement, Mackey lies and tells Gardocki that he successfully secured immunity for both of them.

After the drug cartel is brought down, Gardocki is informed that Vendrell committed suicide and killed his own family in order to avoid arrest. Gardocki is distraught at the news, but relieved that Vendrell will no longer be able to threaten him. Gardocki is shocked shortly thereafter when Claudette gives the signal to Dutch to arrest Ronnie in front of his friend (the exact charges are never stated, though Detective Wagenbach references both the Armenian Money Train robbery along with his decision not to come forward with the revelation that Mackey had murdered Detective Crowley as Ronnie is being handcuffed). Incredulous that Mackey betrayed and lied to him, Gardocki explodes with anger at Mackey as he condemns his former friend's now hypocritical rhetoric about "protecting the team" as well as his preventing Ronnie from fleeing the country several days earlier. Ronnie's demeanor during this scene contrasts greatly with his overall personality throughout the course of the series. As he is dragged away, Claudette orders a distraught Mackey to leave the precinct, having destroyed his friendship with Gardocki once and for all.

Reception[edit]

Gardocki evolves from being a "feature player who maybe [gets] a line or two, to one of the show's aces in the hole." With both Snell and Walton Goggins praised for delivering "some of their best work" in series seven.[4] Salon are especially complimentary of the character's role in the climax of the series, writing "In contrast to impulsive, confused Shane, Ronnie was prepared to stand by Vic to the end. What made Ronnie's downfall so heartbreaking was that it had nothing to do with his own bad decisions. He was following Vic's lead, trusting his longtime partner to protect him. He even had a very rational plan to skip town a few episodes back, but Vic talked him into sticking around, in the hopes of securing an immunity deal for both of them. That's why Ronnie's arrest and realization that Vic had betrayed him constituted the most grueling moment of the whole finale, more grueling even than seeing Shane and his family dead, since Shane's short-sightedness seemed to seal their ugly fate a long time ago. Unlike Shane, Ronnie was smart and practical, but he was done in by his trust in Vic, who finally proved that he was willing to sacrifice almost anyone for his own survival." They summarise the character as "steadfast and patient and trusting."[5] Brandon Nowalk for The A.V. Club remarks, however, that "Jay Karnes and David Marciano act David Rees Snell into the background [...] Karnes is letting you know Dutch’s reaction to every last thing that happens. It’s a full performance." Though Grant Nebel describes this as "about as misguided a criticism as you can make." He adds "If Snell gave the kind of busy, expressive, voluble performance that Karnes does [...] his character, would fail completely. [...] Snell plays Ronnie quietly, closed off, giving away so little, because that’s who Ronnie is. He’s someone who could keep this knowledge secret and no one, including the audience, would suspect anything [...] the one who always counsels the most pragmatic approach, the one who, as Kavanaugh said, leaves no traces or vulnerabilities. That’s what makes Ronnie a compelling character, and Snell gives exactly the right performance for that."[6] The Guardian regret that Gardocki remained "underused" until the final two series, initially referring to him as "the other one".[7] Series seven of The Shield has been described as "the finest season of [David Rees Snell's] Shield career as the third Strike Team member, Ronnie Gardocki, and it’s a season described in the commentary as the corruption of Ronnie because in several episodes Ronnie is forced to commit acts worse than he has ever done onscreen before. He’s an extremely likeable character, and it’s nice to see him get more screen time than has been awarded him in the past, and while David’s acting might not be as critically praised as that of Michael Chiklis or Walton Goggins, he easily matches their stellar standard and his performance far surpasses simply being believable, making it easy to feel for his character.[8] SubtleTea describe him as "introverted, but effective."[9] NJ.com is complimentary of Snell's performance, writing that he "turned a non-speaking extra part in the pilot into a crucial role as strike team member Ronnie Gardocki.[10] IGN share similar sentiments, adding "For much of the series, David Rees Snell was underused as Ronnie Gardocki, but the last couple of seasons deftly made use of his portrayal as the quiet workhorse of the team, as we saw more of what made Ronnie tick."[11]

References[edit]

  1. "The Shield – The Complete Series Collection DVD Review". IGN. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  2. "15 Incorruptible Facts About The Shield". www.mentalfloss.com. March 12, 2017.
  3. "Det. Vic Mackey spills his guts". Los Angeles Times. November 23, 2008.
  4. "THE SHIELD: Season Seven - The Final Act DVD Review". Collider. June 28, 2009.
  5. "Damned for all time". Salon. November 26, 2008.
  6. "THE SHIELD, Scenic Route #2: Ronnie in Sixty Seconds | The-Solute". www.the-solute.com.
  7. "Box Set Club: The Shield". the Guardian. August 23, 2011.
  8. Wheeldon, Matt (December 7, 2009). "The Shield: Season 7: DVD Review".
  9. "David Herrle reviews FX channel's "The Shield"". www.subtletea.com.
  10. Star-Ledger, Alan Sepinwall/The (November 23, 2008). "Sepinwall on TV: 'The Shield' creator Shawn Ryan looks back". nj.
  11. "The Shield - The Complete Series Collection DVD Review - IGN" – via www.ign.com.


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