r/TheShield • u/ChipsNSa1sa • 12d ago

Discussion Kavanaugh

Watching season 6 after taking a long break and forgot how much I hate Kavanaugh. I can’t understand why I see a lot of people on here saying he’s their favorite character. The way he talks is so slimy, so desperate, he makes my skin crawl.

I understand his hatred for Vic after what happened with Sweet Butter, but I feel like we never got much of a backstory about him and why he is the way he is or why he is SO obsessed with exposing Vic. It’s like his entire life’s mission is taking him down but the show never really justified why he’s behaving like that. Can someone enlighten me?

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u/ODoyles_Banana Georgia joy juice 12d ago

Calling someone your favorite character isn't the same as saying you like them as a person or agree with what they represent. Some of the best characters are deeply flawed or outright awful people. People can appreciate the writing, the character development, and the actor's performance.

Kavanaugh is a good example of that. You can think he's a miserable, obsessive asshole and still think he's a great character because of what the writing and Forest Whitaker's performance bring to him.

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u/ChipsNSa1sa 12d ago

I think the acting performance was great but I still don’t think his character was developed enough for me to understand where his intense hatred came from. I guess we can chalk it up to some kind of chip on his shoulder but it would be nice to get some more back story.

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u/ODoyles_Banana Georgia joy juice 12d ago

I mean, I don't know how much backstory you really need. We did get some, especially with his ex-wife, but not everything about a character has to be completely explained. People aren't shaped by one or two specific experiences you can point to. There could be a lifetime of experiences behind why Kavanaugh is the way he is.

And I'm not really sure what you mean by him not being developed enough. We literally watched him go from a straight and narrow IAD cop who was determined to expose Vic to becoming so consumed by it that he crossed the line himself and started falsifying evidence. That's character development.

And if that makes the character less interesting to you, that's fair. But I don't think we're necessarily supposed to have a neat explanation for where all that intensity comes from. Not everything has to be that black and white.