SHAWN RYAN: [recording begun as he intros screening of episode 1, season six, in progress]: And in my opinion, it's probably one of the three or four best episodes in the entire series. That will be the sixth one of the ten. It turned out really fantastic.

You'll see at the end of this episode, the episode is dedicated to Scott Brazil, who we lost tragically to ALS during the filming of this episode. He was employee number two on this show, the first person I hired. He was our executive producer and, you know, our best director for four seasons. And when you eventually write about the season, I hope that you'll remember to mention him, because he had such a huge creative impact on the show, and was really involved in the early episodes of this season before he passed away.

That's about it. There's a couple of gruesome things near the end, so I'd eat quickly. [laughter]

SHAWN RYAN: And, just thank you for - thank you for being here. Thank you for your support throughout the years. And we really have a blast - oh, and one other thing: we have an interesting piece of casting for the final three episodes of this season of "The Shield." We have Franka Potente, from "Run, Lola, Run" and "Bourne Identity" fame, who is doing the final three episodes for us. And the stuff I've seen so far with her, I've been extraordinarily pleased with. So that's a piece of news.

And I guess we'll have a chance to talk afterwards. But, enjoy your lunch and thanks for coming.

[EPISODE SHOWN: "THE SHIELD" EPISODE ONE, SEASON SIX]

SOLBERG: Hello? Can you get the lights up, please?...Well, that was quite a treat. I want to thank Shawn for allowing us to screen that. It's just a shame that we're going to have wait another six months or more to see it.

Before we get started, I just want to recognize one person who is here with us today. And he's - he's moved on to another show, but I just want to recognize that Kenny Johnson, who has been fantastic for this show and this network [applause] for five seasons - stand up, Kenny - he was terrific last year, and we're grateful to have him. He'll be available to talk to you afterwards, as will John Landgraf, who is the President and General Manager of the network.

At this time, I want to introduce our panel. They are in production right now, so some people are going to join us in progress. But Cathy Cahlin Ryan, David Rees Snell, if you guys can come on up and take a seat on the dais. David Rees Snell, Michael Jace, Catherine Dent, Benito Martinez, Walton Goggins, CCH Pounder, Michael Chiklis, Shawn Ryan. Did I forget anybody here? Jay Karnes is not going to be here today. Unfortunately, he had a previous engagement. But, again, this will be transcribed, and we'll get these out to you very shortly. We're going to go ahead and open it up for Q&A.

QUESTION: Question for Mr. Ryan.

SOLBERG: Back here on your left.

QUESTION: Mr. Ryan, as you know, the FCC is cracking down on language - I'll start again - the FCC is cracking down on language lately, to the extent where the networks have to - the networks have to bleep the President of the United States. And they're talking about cracking down on basic cable as well. Are you concerned? Are you going to make any changes in the show? How is this going to affect you?

SHAWN RYAN: I guess there's a - I guess there's a little bit of a danger in making a show six months before it airs, but we haven't been asked to change anything differently. And Mr. Landgraf, I believe, is somewhere around here - might be able to better answer that question later on.

My personal opinion has been that all that action in D.C. is unfortunate. I've always felt that FX has been extraordinarily responsible in how it markets its shows, certainly ours. The fact that it airs it at 10 p.m. We have an extraordinarily low percentage of people 18 and under who watch our show. And there doesn't seem to be any kind of credit given to networks that are responsibly handling things like that.

I, you know, as someone with two children, I understand, maybe you don't want MTV showing, you know, bikini-jiggling boobs at 3:30 in the afternoon when kids are home from school. That's a whole different issue. We haven't been asked to change anything.

My opinion has been that it's going to affect - maybe not on FX but other shows - it's going to affect newer shows. The fact that we've been established and that people know what kind of show we are and what kind of - what they can expect when they tune in, I think, allows us to maintain that. The chilling effect, I think, comes in the creation of new shows.

QUESTION: Question for the actors, here in the back. After five-plus seasons of doing this, have you become desensitized to all this graphic imagery, or does it still sometimes get to you? And do you ever sort of look at the writers, like Shawn, a little suspiciously?

MICHAEL CHIKLIS: I'll take that one. You know, as far as the desensitization of it, every day I go home and I look at my wife and my two children and I realize how incredibly lucky I am. So, no, I don't think that we've become desensitized at all. Every week, we run to our trailers or our homes to read the scripts. And I'm constantly saying to Shawn and to the guys who write the show that they really need to lay down on a couch for a while and have some conversations. [he laughs]

SHAWN RYAN: The show is our couch. [Chiklis laughs again.]

SOLBERG: Walton Goggins is now here, joining us on the dais.

CHIKLIS: [greeting, sounds like:] Rahde Vahde.

WALTON GOGGINS: Starbucks, sorry.

QUESTION: Shawn, straight back here. When the show started off five years ago, you told us that what it was about, in your eyes at least, was just how far we were willing to go to deal with bad guys, which was a particularly relevant topic in the days right after 9/11. It seems to me the show has changed into something quite different after all this time. And we just watched this episode, and there's not anybody up there who could remotely be called a good cop.[laughter] [CCH Pounder stands up.] Sorry, I don't agree. She's - she's, at the very least, a pawn in political machinations. [audience reacts negatively, mixed with laughter] She's the best of the bunch. Anyway - anyway [Catherine Dent stands up] [laughter] Knocked up. [laughter]

CHIKLIS: Knocked up?! Hey!

CATHERINE DENT: Give me the microphone. [laughter] Bring it on! [laughter]

QUESTION: Anyway, I'll sit here while everybody screams at me afterwards. But first, if we could get Shawn to say, has the show - has the show evolved into a very different sort of examination?

SHAWN RYAN: I think it has. I don't think you can ask the same question and answer it interestingly over five, six, seven seasons. So I think the show was a bigger picture, in many ways, in its first season. And as we got to know the characters on the show better, I think, we had one of two ways of going: we could try to outdo ourselves, out-"big" ourselves; you know, create even more outrageous things, or we could focus the stories more on the characters.
I would just say that the show is a more character-based show in season five and six than it was in season one.

QUESTION: How - of this next batch that's going to air in 2007 - how has that arc changed from what you were thinking about, say, a year ago, because you know you're going to be going on and doing more after that? Because - and even in this one we saw today - it really looks as if you're sort of heading toward an end.

SHAWN RYAN: Yeah, I think doing these ten episodes has allowed us to really focus on Lem's death. Focus on the effects it has on the strike team - Shane, who committed the murder; Vic, who doesn't know who committed it; you know, Ronnie, who is caught in the middle of it; everything, everyone else in The Barn. It's allowed us to focus and not rush past that crime, while wrapping up everyone else. So I think what we're going to do is, these ten episodes will really allow us to focus on the aftermath of that, and the final 13 episodes will really allow us to focus on the entire group and wrap all of them up in what, hopefully, will be a satisfying way.

QUESTION: I noticed in the credits - over here in the back toward your left - there was an Autumn Chiklis listed. Are there other Chiklises with acting aspirations?

CHIKLIS: Well, I can't - I don't know about how my seven-year-old is going to turn out yet, but certainly my oldest, Autumn, has been playing my daughter since the pilot, or several - like three shows in, something like that. So she's been in the show a long time. But, you know, as she's grown, she's really shown an interest in it. And, you know, we - I don't push her into the business. You know, this is an opportunity for her to be in the cocoon and learn the professional ins and outs of this business, and work with the likes of Glenn Close, and see how it's done right.

QUESTION: Have you ever had any worries that the nature of the material in this show might be a little difficult?

CHIKLIS: Well, no, I - my daughter doesn't watch the show. She's not allowed to watch the show. And she knows why, because it's inappropriate for her. She's 12 years old; she's going to be 13 in October. You have to talk to your children, and I talk at length with my little girl about this stuff.

And she saw a trailer on television - broadcast network television - of the "Chucky" movies, when she was, like, six years old, by mistake. It was you know, it was on network television, primetime. And it scared the lights out of her, and she had trouble sleeping that night. And I remember very clearly saying to her one day, "Autumn, you know, I don't let you watch this show because it can scare you and disturb you in the same way that that did." And she's, like, "Oh, I don't want to see it."

So, and with regard to the content of the scenes she's actually in, I discuss at length, the dynamics. You know, she's in school. She knows kids who come from divorced families. That, she can deal with. She's getting old enough to understand that that dynamic exists between people. But as far as the ugliness and the real hard stuff, she never sees any of that, has no interest in it. And I'm just - you just have to be an active parent as far as that's concerned.

But I wanted to speak real quickly to one thing. You know, the show deals with - it started at the beginning --- and still does deal with what we're willing to accept from our law enforcement, you know, to handle crime. But it also deals with a lot of other themes.

And, you know, one of them is crime and punishment, and this original sin of Vic Mackey coming back, and the idea of how, you know, that whether a person actually gets caught, physically caught doing something, does that really matter. Do they go through punishments? And that's also dealing with Lem's death. You know, that kind of punishment for his actions.

QUESTION: Shawn, following up on Rich's question, I think, it has felt in some ways as if it was sort of winding down, because Vic has escaped so many times, you know, you just thought, oh, this time they're going to get him. Is the idea of wrapping up the show after, I guess you're now calling it seven seasons, partly that there's only a limit to what people will accept in terms of his getting away with¦

SHAWN RYAN: Yeah, there's a limit to what I'll accept, which has been the only gauge I've gone by in the years making this show: what feels real. And I would say that the episodes that started airing last year, and certainly with what happened with Lem, what's going on this year is that we're seeing Vic hasn't escaped. He may not be in custody; he may not be behind bars like Michael is talking about, but he is beginning to pay a very serious price. And the first one is the loss of his friends.

I don't think that ever would have happened if he hadn't given Shane the blueprint for how to take care of a situation like that, as he did in the pilot with Terry. So this is beginning to feel a little bit like the end because we're starting to see that the roadrunner doesn't always escape from the coyote.

You know, the first captor may be himself in his own mind and in his own heart. But it's beginning to feel like an end because he's starting to face and deal with some real consequences, I think.

QUESTION: I'm wondering - I'm sorry, over here - if any of the actors came into this season's episodes with any different feelings; that, you know, like if we did this again sometime, you could be sitting out here at one of the tables [referring to Kenny Johnson] instead of up on the - I mean, are any of you afraid that you might not make it to the last group of episodes?

BENITO MARTINEZ: Yes. [laughter]

QUESTION: Do you have discussions? And I guess maybe we could ask our friend out here if he was warned.

MARTINEZ: Well, one of the - yeah, I mean, I'm sure that the dead guy talking - Kenny - can let us know about that.

KENNETH JOHNSON [in audience]: I didn't - no, I didn't expect it. I - I didn't know, but I think we all kind of had that fear, like, who is the first one that possibly could get offed off the show. And we all joked, I think, because I was kind of low on the totem pole, that if it was going to be anybody, it could be me. You know, but then I thought, well, they hadn't really built my character up enough to maybe affect people. So when the fifth season came around and I thought, oh, my God, you know, I've got so much more to do - I was really excited [laughter] - I had no idea. I just thought, oh, they're really giving me a chance now.
So when that came up, I'm like, No, no, that can't be - But it made sense. It made sense storytelling-wise, and I just thought it made sense for the whole thing to have that kind of effect on where it was going to go after that was a really brilliant idea. So I didn't know, and I was kind of bummed to go, but, you know - because these guys are, like, my best friends. And that was hard. And it still is. But, you know, it made sense, and I think - yeah, I didn't expect it.

DENT: It's going to be a dream sequence anyway, so - [laughter]

GOGGINS: I also think that we do have these conversations. And, you know - and Kenny, kind of, you know, being one of our best friends - certainly one of my best friends - we had a conversation this morning, Dave and I did, about, well, we still don't have the season closer yet. You know, what can happen?
And I don't know. I think that that's kind of smart on the writers' part, on Shawn's part. Because you have to show up every day with your "A" game. You have to bring it every single day. And if - and if you don't, then the people know that it's false, it's not coming from a true place. And if you're secure, then you're - you know, you're comfortable. And I think we've lived in a world that's uncomfortable. And that's a good thing for actors, and for us being actors on this show. So -

DAVID REES SNELL: Walton is not saying that Kenny didn't bring it. [laughter]

GOGGINS: No, no, no, no.

CHIKLIS: No.

GOGGINS: No, it's -

CHIKLIS: He's talking about being on edge.

GOGGINS: I'm saying that that's exactly right. That's a good thing.

SNELL: No, but I - I echo - the idea that there's crime and there's punishment, and we all know that that is hanging over our heads because of what we've done. And I know I feel like it could happen at any time to many of us. And the fact that it happened to Lemonhead, to Kenny's character, the one who, I think, that we would least -

CHIKLIS: [overlapping] He's the conscience.

SNELL: [overlapping] - like it to happen to, you know, makes you feel, as an actor in an ensemble, that even if you are a pretty good guy, that maybe something bad will happen to you, too. [laughter]

DENT: But I think that - I think that I can - I think that, you know, unfortunately, you know, I just hated it when they gave me the call and said that, you know, Kenny or "Lemonhead" was going to be off. But I think that one of the beauties of this show, and something that Shawn has sort of written from the get-go, is he likes it when we're scared. You know, it gives - there's a tension to the performance that I think that you all see and we appreciate. Because there's nothing worse, you know, as a television actor, being bored. And you've all met a lot of actors who talk about how bored they are on their TV shows. And I don't think any of us - you know, we get the scripts -

CHIKLIS: [overlapping] "Bored" is not an adjective.

DENT: [overlapping] - and we shake in our boots, you know, what's going to happen. And I'm always saying to the writers, you know, "Challenge me, scare me. Please, I want to be scared, I want to be challenged." And that's one of the greatest gifts we can have anyway. So, as horrible as it is, it's also changed the show. And this - the following season that you're going to see, the payoff for that - I was so upset when they killed Lemonhead off - but now when I see the - not only the legal ramifications, but the emotional ramifications of what people are going through because of this loss. You know, it's -

CHIKLIS: See, you think I need to be caught, but I know some retired guys! [laughter]

MICHAEL JACE: [overlapping] [laughing] Boy, before they go -

CHIKLIS: [overlapping] - who obviously went through all the wars. And I do. [he laughs] It could go either way.

JACE: [overlapping] Just one more thing. Before -

CHIKLIS: [overlapping] You've got to know that.

JACE: [overlapping] Before we go to another topic, just on the world that we're trying to create, I think it's inherent that all of the characters understand that there's a possibility that they could die. I mean, if you're working with LAPD, every day that you put on a uniform and you go out, and you're a cop, it's not like some bad guy is going to go, "Oh, no, no, no. No¦ he's not high enough yet; well, no, he's not big enough; no, he's too low." It's wrong place/wrong time, you could die.

And I think as long as we're trying to mimic that world, that's always a possibility. It has nothing to do with how tyrannical the writers may be. I mean, I've never experienced that, that they're, you know - [laughter]

CHIKLIS: They're not tyrannical. That's not -

JACE: You know, place fear in my heart. But, you know, just the world we're trying to create, it comes with the territory, I think.

SHAWN RYAN: I'd like to think that we're not tyrannical.

CHIKLIS: No. No.

SHAWN RYAN: Just real quick. Really, it sounds like we like to keep secrets and stuff. The reality is that they expect really good scripts, and I delay and don't tell them things because we're working on them, and we try to give them scripts that we're really proud of. And sometimes that takes extra time. And it has nothing really to do with, you know, trying to manipulate them, be the puppet master or anything.

But they have - we have high expectations for ourselves; they have expectations. And I don't want them reading something until we can solidly defend everything.

QUESTION: The first episode you had, you know, Vic shoot another cop. And, to me, maybe, you know, do you think this is a show about whether that kind of person can be redeemed? And now, Shane. I mean, is it really possible? And maybe the actors can address this, and Shawn. Is it really possible for a person to be redeemed? And I'm not even speaking legally. But is that - for you, is that what the show is about? And is that possible for these characters now?

SHAWN RYAN: I don't really like to talk too much about what I think the show is about, because I think if you make the show effectively, people like you and people in the audience can figure it out. So I don't like to talk about my goals too much with it. I mean, the actors might talk about whether they think their characters are ultimately redeemable.

CHIKLIS: I've always maintained I will never speak to that until this show is over. It's up to you. That's part of the linchpin of this show, is its ambiguity. There's no moralizing here. You need to decide whether or not this guy is up for redemption or not.

GOGGINS: I think what's interesting, kind of having kind of gone through this grief that I've been able to kind of experience, and had the pleasure of experiencing this year, for me it's not really about how one can redeem himself. It's just kind of about having clarity on who you are as a person, and kind of being able to live with that. And if that's redemption in some people's eyes, well, then I guess that's a good thing. And I think that I, hopefully, have certainly gotten that by the end of this show. So -

QUESTION: Right down here in front. Just quickly, how often is Forest Whitaker going to be around in the coming season?

SHAWN RYAN: He's in the first two episodes. And then we’ll sort of see after that. But definitely the first two episodes.

QUESTION: And Mr. Goggins, can you talk about when you got that final script last year, just what your thoughts were? And was it just like a "holy shit" moment for you?

GOGGINS: Yeah, you know, honestly, we're all - there's only two people in this room, right, so we can be honest? No, we - none of us knew. And when it kind of came down, I was - I had a real problem with it, to be honest with you, for about an hour. And I talked to Shawn about Kenny. And this is, you know, one of my best friends, personally, as well as on the show. And after having this conversation with Shawn and Michael - and Kenny and I talked about it at length - and I thought, you know what, if it's going to happen, I would rather it be by my hand, because we went into this world together and we'll go out together.

And so I really took it as an honor to be able to play that situation. So it was very hard. And it's bittersweet. But it's an amazing opportunity, I think, for everyone involved.

CHIKLIS: I think - I think, you know, what we all felt, you know, because Shawn gave Kenny the first heads-up. Obviously, you guys should know, it's not like Kenny read it in the script. That's not what happened. He gave him plenty of notice. He, you know, called him and told him first. Then he told me and Walton, as we would be the most gravely affected by it on a day-to-day basis at work. And also knowing that Kenny and Walton and I - and really, honestly, from the get-go on this show - became fast, fast friends. Long after "The Shield" is over, we're going to be best of friends. We just - you know, it's sort of bunker mentality. It's like foxhole friends. You know what I mean? We've been through kind of a war together in this situation, and we won. And there's a bond between us that's unbreakable. You know, we're going to be friends the rest of our lives.

So he (Shawn) knew that we - he was very sensitive - knew that we would be affected; told us. And, again, on a personal level, we were, like, "ugh!" - you know, gut-punched. But then, very quickly, you know, because - like Walton might have said - it sounded insensitive almost, you know, "an hour" - it seems like not a lot, right? But what happened was, in the conversation, on a personal level, we were going "ugh!" - and on an artistic level, we were going, "Ooohhh, that's brilliant. You know, that really -

And it was right there on the poster. If you looked at the poster, it said, "Conscience is a killer." And Kenny Johnson has always - his character of Lemonhead has always been the conscience of the strike team. And it's sort of a twist on that phrase, but it was all there. And it was incredibly rich. Shakespearian, in fact. And to be - to have him killed by a friend - by his best friend - under false pretenses - like, it's a mistake - that's all the more tragic.

And we just thought, "Wow, that's going to be incredibly powerful. And that gives us something to - knowing now that we have more to do, it's going to spin the action forward. And we couldn't deny the merit on an artistic level. So, very quickly, we looked at each other and went - you know, we cried about it; you know, we bonded together even greater than before. But we went, you know what? And Kenny was, I have to say, quite frankly, a champion about it, incredible about it, really.

QUESTION: Shawn, what's the determining factor for "The Shield" doing either ten episodes or 13 episodes? Is it the actors' availability? Is it budget considerations? Is it story arcs? And when you finish, possibly the actors can share with us if they prefer the shorter season of ten or 13. I think viewers would rather see 13.

SHAWN RYAN: Well, yeah, originally we were going to make 13 episodes that premiered - when did we premiere this year? Was it March? I can't even remember anymore. January? It was on earlier this year sometime. I can't remember. We were going to do 13. And early on in the season, John Landgraf came and spoke to me about the possibility of doing extra episodes. And Scott Brazil and I talked about it and figured out a way that we could make 11 that would air. We'd be able to take a break and be able to make ten more, which, at that time and still now felt like a real good idea.

I've been heading, with the writers, towards a conclusion to this show. And yet, I kind of dread ending it. It's been such a wonderful experience. I love every person on this dais. I love working with them. I cherish my writers and my editors and my crew. It's, you know - hopefully, I'll be able to work for a while after this, but it's going to be hard to do something that has as much respect from people like you as this show has had for five years.

It's been my baby. You know, I was really a no-one in this town before this show. So it holds a special place. So, while I feel this show deserves an incredible ending - and we're writing towards that - you don't want to rush towards it too quickly. And so, when John offered us this chance to do this, you know, we grabbed it.

I think, usually, you know, a 13-episode season is ideal. You know, I don't know about the actors; maybe they'd want to do it every week; maybe they need the time off to wash themselves off. [Chiklis groans] I don't know. But, you know, we'll go back to the typical 13-episode season for our final one.

SOLBERG: We're going to take three more questions and then we'll stop. They'll be available for one-on-ones. And for those of you who want to walk across to "The Shield" set and tour the set, you're welcome to do so. So, three more questions.

QUESTION: Right here, back here. Question. Two questions, Shawn: Is part of the reason it's hard to sort of have Vic get caught is because you guys look so much alike? [laughter]

SHAWN RYAN: Would it be self-hatred? Is that it? [he laughs]

QUESTION: Right.

SHAWN RYAN: No, no, it's - I consider myself very, very different than Vic Mackey, as I'm sure that Michael considers himself very different. That was just - I've talked about it before - it's just an odd twist of fate. I did not think that Vic Mackey would have even a passing resemblance to me when I first wrote the pilot. And then Michael came in and changed my perception of what that role was. And it's been, you know, television history ever since then.

QUESTION: And my second question is, I wonder, watching it, if you're a good cop, so to speak, does that mean you're automatically not as bright as the bad cops? The bad cops sort of seem to be smarter and edgier.

SHAWN RYAN: I would say that, in many ways, Dutch is one of the smartest cops in the show, and he's, you know, a good cop. He may not be a cat lover, for those of you who are historians of the show. [laughter] But, for the most part, that guy is, you know, very solid as a detective.

And, no, I think one of the things is that we try to show that there are no easy black-and-white answers when it comes to police in very difficult neighborhoods like that.

CCH POUNDER: I am so chomping at the bit.

SHAWN RYAN: Go ahead.

POUNDER: I am just chomping at the bit. This is the second "good cop" question that people just don't seem to get. Now, obviously it's not much different than the flashier boyfriend who is a fuck-up, but you're fascinated by him more than the person who actually shows up for you! [laughter] And the fact that you cannot recognize, to this day, goodness, means every one of you need to go back to your mother and remember what she said! [laughter] It's amazing!

CATHY CAHLIN RYAN: I will say say to that, that that's an interesting point. Because, To this day, as well, for my character and for me, people are always saying, "You ratted out Vic! You bitch! You ratted out Vic!" And all this stuff. And I am thinking, "This guy is a murderer, okay? He's a murderer and she's grilled to the wall by somebody!"

And the anger is still never really directed towards this character. And partly because of the brilliant way it's portrayed by Michael, it's the orbiting people around him that just get the - you know, it's everybody else's fault that he's in this predicament. And it's an interesting dynamic, I think, for the show.

POUNDER: Fantastic -

CHIKLIS: [overlapping] Also, I think something needs to be said, addressing that second question, that I have always thought that what Shawn and the other writers have done particularly well through the course of this show, is taking what could be very cliched characters. It could be like "Aceveda, the bumbling captain who can't - who's always two steps behind the brilliant Vic Mackey." That's never been the way it is. It's always - these people have personal agendas.
I mean Dutchboy could be, you know, the nerdy, goofy cop. But he's not. He's much more than that. He's brilliant. He's self-absorbed. You know, there's just so many different layers to all of these characters. It takes an archetype and really has turned all of them on their ear. And I just think that they've done a brilliant job with that.

So, no - no, no, no - just because someone is, you know, questionable, doesn't mean they're sharper, by any stretch. It just has to do with personal agendas and what suits the person at that particular time. There's this constant pushing and pulling and power manipulating, you know.

DENT: Although, every time I get pissed off at you, they cut that scene out. [she laughs]

CHIKLIS: Is that true? That's not true.

QUESTION: Miss Pounder - sort of in the back, to your right - first of all, I want to say before I ask my question, your character is a terrific cop who would never do anything morally reprehensible, just so we're on the record with that. [laughter]

POUNDER: All right.

QUESTION: But, over the years, she has changed.

POUNDER: Yes.

QUESTION: Because as she's moved up, she maybe now accepts some things she might have wrestled with in the past. Could you talk a little bit about that and how she's changed, in your mind?

CHIKLIS: Oh, thank you so much at least for noticing that. I mean, I like to think that there are, portrayed by all of the characters here, shades of everything. There are times when you have to compromise. It doesn't make you a bad person. There are times when you have to shut up. There are times when you have to let things slide. You're running a business. You're in a very dangerous business as well.

So this is about management, about ambition, about getting from point A to point B without leaving too many scars on your body or other people's. So, you lose some -

CHIKLIS: [overlapping] You're dealing with bureaucracy.

POUNDER: Exactly. And as a bureaucratic person in a suit who still manages to maintain some iota of dignity and some kind of baseline honesty with herself and the people around her, I think Claudette has managed to be an unusually fit character.

And the problem with goodness, in general, in the real world and in the fake, we kind of want good and bad still as a quick, easy package: that's the good guy, that's the bad guy. When the bad guy - perhaps it's not him - does something a little like - "Ooh, he gave that ho some milk. Isn't that sweet?" [laughter] Then all of a sudden, you start to get little doubts that nip at you.

Well, thank goodness you do, because within everyone, we are looking for a sense of decency. Is it there? What level of decency is there? Does it exist in this person? Does the good person have to get "bad-ass" to get things moving? It's all these questions rolled into one, in so many balls. And I think that that's the juggle that we do here every week in terms of what we're - what's written on the page, and what we try to throw up and give you, all these different layers and levels of humanity.

CHIKLIS: We play the advocate every week, you know. I mean, we're the devil's advocate. We're constantly, you know, challenging and questioning without giving you an answer. I mean, you say you dismiss her [indicates Dent] as a good cop because of her moral choice to get "knocked up" as you put it. Well, you know, I mean, to play the advocate, does that mean that Clinton was a bad president? You know, I don't know. Does one thing have to do with another? These are all the questions that we're posing. And I don't have an answer for you. Ask.

MARTINEZ: There's something I think that a lot of people are hitting on. I think I'm hearing the same question in, like, a lot of different ways. You know, does the mood feel different, and have the characters changed, and now everybody - I think, as well, this year, the overall thing that's coming back, this theme, is this growth. These characters have been so well-written, in my opinion, and have been examined on so many different levels, that over the course of these years, the characters have truly grown.

And through that, lots and lots and lots of change has happened between characters as well as on their own journeys. And it does feel this year very much that this very long year of filming that's going to be two seasons for you guys to view has been an incredible growth time for the show, both behind the scenes and as well in front of the scenes: the writing, the directing and performances. And it really feels now this level of maturity that's coming through the show is an undeniable feeling.

I, for one, am very excited for the stories that continue to come down the line, and can hardly wait to get back in front of the cameras for our Season Seven, because this level, this growth, this maturity, is being noticed, is taking us in different directions, and the chemistry feels incredible.

QUESTION: Why does the show have to end?

CHIKLIS: I love that question. [laughter]

SHAWN RYAN: I think the show needs an ending. It's not "Law & Order." It's not "CSI." It's not something that you can just sort of swap some new actors in and keep telling these cop stories. I think all these characters deserve some kind of conclusion. And it feels like season seven is going to be the right time. It feels like - it certainly feels like long enough that we can take a great deal of pride in what we were able to do as a show, what we were able to do for FX, what FX was able to do for us, and end it appropriately.

When I think of the great shows in television that affected me, they all had really strong endings. You know, they had a definitive point. And I think people are going to want to know what - you know, what happens to Vic Mackey, what happens to Claudette Wyms, what happens to Dutch Wagenbach, and everybody on this thing.

And I think, you know, we had - Lem's death really fueled a creative spark for us in this current season six that's going to come next. I think without something to really propel for a season seven, we would, frankly, be tap-dancing. And knowing that that's going to be our last season, my hope is that the writers and I are going to be able to be fueled with, like, okay, every last thing we've got to leave on the film. You know, we don't hold any stories back. It just feels right to me.

GOGGINS: Can you imagine?

CHIKLIS: No, I know, just -

MARTINEZ: When he says something like that, all of the actors go, "Ooh."

SNELL: You mean you've been holding back a little bit?

MARTINEZ: Please, please.

SOLBERG: All right. We want to thank you all.

GOGGINS: Thank you, guys, for coming.

SOLBERG: They're available for one-on-ones. [applause] John Landgraf - John, stand up and raise your hand. He's available to talk to anybody. Whoever wants to go over and check out the sets, everybody is available to walk you over there. Thank you all for coming. We'll see you next Tuesday at our "Nip/Tuck" panel. Thanks.