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You gotta spend more time with your family, Vic. You'll lose 'em before you know it...
~ Gilroy threatens Vic's family over the phone.

Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy is the overarching antagonist of the television series The Shield.

He was portrayed by John Diehl.

Biography[]

Season 1[]

Gilroy is the assistant police chief and a longtime friend and supporter of Vic Mackey. Gilroy is the architect of the Strike Team and he is fully aware of Vic's activities. The Strike Team was a hard sell to the Chief though, and Gilroy demanded quick results to allow its existence. This pressure was responsible for Vic and the team taking shortcuts and performing illegal acts to get the job done, which set the path for the Strike Team's corruption. When the team commits illegal acts, Gilroy actively protects Vic as well as the rest of the team, using his power to get Vic out of small jams and ensure his position as leader of the Strike Team. Gilroy protected Vic and his team from new captain, David Aceveda, who disliked Vic from the beginning, and also tipped off Vic that Terry Crowley was a spy sent to collect evidence against Vic and the strike team. However, he did not expect to result in Terry's death, for which he became furious with Vic.

When Shane Vendrell's vehicle, containing stolen drugs, was stolen, Gilroy told Mackey to let Shane take the fall, since Gilroy couldn't protect the whole team. When Julien Lowe reported the drug theft and Aceveda attempted to bring the team down, Gilroy cut ties with the Strike Team, including Vic. However, Gilroy soon needed Vic's help when he was found to be using his political influence to facilitate an illegal real estate scam, as well as running over a Hispanic gang member and murdering the only witness who could link him to the hit and run. Stripped of his power and facing indictment, Gilroy planted the gun that he used to kill Rosales in Vic's home and planned to testify against the Strike Team in exchange for a reduced sentence for his own crimes.

Aceveda refused to serve the search warrant on Vic's home, since he knew that Gilroy was the one responsible for Rosales's murder, and he confronted Gilroy with this information. Enraged, Gilroy told Aceveda that he was fired and if he would not serve the warrant, he would would find someone who would. Vic learns from Gilroy's girlfriend that he has planted the gun in his home, and the team tears his home apart looking for the gun. They find it in an air vent inside Vic's daughter's room. Enraged at planting a loaded gun in his child's room, Vic and the rest of the team ambushed Gilroy at his home while he was preparing to flee the country. Furious at the betrayal by his friend, Vic prepares to kill Gilroy with the gun, but was unable to bring himself to do it. Gilroy begged Vic to do it, yelling at him that he is no better. Vic said that he was better than him, and arrested him, taking Gilroy to the Barn.

Season 2[]

Gilroy spent four months in jail while waiting for his sentence. After posting bail, he was sentenced to house arrest with an ankle transmitter, on the condition that he gather evidence against Vic and the Strike Team as Lanie Kellis and the DA wanted to make a case against Vic. To achieve this, they sent him to meet with Vic to ask for his help to get out of the country. Gilroy, drunk, eventually breaks down to Vic, revealing the plan and begging for his forgiveness. Instead of killing Gilroy or sending him back to prison, the Strike Team takes pity on Gilroy and help him escape to Mexico, but they promise to kill him if he ever returns.

Season 4[]

Years after he fled to Mexico, it is revealed that Gilroy had died, suffering cirrhosis of the liver after having asphyxiated on his own vomit. His funeral was sparsely attended, and Shane refused to attend at all.

Season 6[]

Shane asks Gilroy's widow, Nancy, for the money contacts she used to wire money to Ben when he was on the run in Mexico. Later it emerges that this was a ruse to get Nancy to ask Vic for protection; Vic then waits for Shane at Nancy's house, where Shane delivers a package to Vic.

Personality[]

Ben Gilroy is a complex character whose personality is shaped by pragmatism, and self-preservation. As the architect of the Strike Team, he is fiercely protective of Vic Mackey and his crew, often using his power to shield them from legal consequences. However, his protective nature is deeply tied to his own interests, and when his own misdeeds—such as his involvement in illegal real estate scams and murder—come to light, he abandons the Strike Team to save himself. Gilroy is manipulative and morally compromised, willing to betray his closest allies when cornered, yet deeply aware of his own downfall, as seen in his desperate pleas for forgiveness and ultimate demise.

Trivia[]

  • Gilroy can be viewed as the overarching main antagonist of the series as a whole. In Season 2, it is revealed that Gilroy created the Strike Team and personally vouched for Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell to be his two guys on the team. Because of Mackey's reputation and previous insubordination, Gilroy had to use one last favor the Police Chief owed him to get them on the team. However, Gilroy demanded quick results from the Strike Team or he would replace him. Because he created the Strike Team, put Vic and Shane in their positions and then put them in a position to break the law to get immediate results, Gilroy inadvertently caused the events of the show to happen, including the deaths of Terry Crowley, Curis Lemansky and Shane.
  • Although he only appeared in six of the thirteen episodes of the season, Gilroy is also the main antagonist of Season 1. Because Ben was the one who informed Vic of Terry Crowley's betrayal, this led to Vic murdering him, which became the catalyst that caused the rest of the series to happen. Ben then used his knowledge of Vic's murder of Crowley to blackmail him into covering up a murder he was responsible for. Ben also was responsible for allowing higher crime rates in Farmington so he could profit from lower housing costs. This resulted in the deaths of many people, as well as the titular "two days of blood". Finally, Gilroy threatened Vic's family and attempted to send him to prison by planting the murder weapon in his home.
  • Despite being arguably The Shield's most important villain (aside from Shane Vendrell), Gilroy said many things to Vic that ultimately proved to be prophetic. Gilroy declared that Vic was no better than him, a claim which Vic flatly rejected, causing Gilroy to respond with "not yet". This did come to pass, as Vic ultimately resorted to attempting to murder Shane's pregnant wife and young son in cold blood. Also, when threatening his family, Gilroy said he would lose them "before he knew it". Vic ultimately did lose his family, after they found out about his criminal activities and wanted nothing to do with him.

Navigation[]

           Shieldlogo Villains

Main
Vic Mackey | David Aceveda | Shane Vendrell | Curtis Lemansky | Ronnie Gardocki | Armenian Mafia

Season 1
Ben Gilroy | David Aceveda | Sean Taylor | Rondell Robinson

Season 2
Armadillo Quintero | Lanie Kellis | Alex Eznik | Armin Chorekian | Ben Gilroy

Season 3
Margos Dezerian | Cuddler Rapist | Goma Magar | Kail Saffian | Lyor Slavok | Juan Lozano

Season 4
Antwon Mitchell | Halpern White | Alex Kozodav | Kleavon Gardner | Emolia Melendez | One-Niners

Season 5
John Kavanaugh | Antwon Mitchell | David Aceveda | Doomsday | Kleavon Gardner

Season 6
Shane Vendrell | Cruz Pezuela | Diro Kesakian | Guardo Lima | Ari Zadofian | Ellis Rezian

Season 7
Shane Vendrell | Mara Vendrell | Lloyd Denton | Ellis Rezian | Guillermo Beltran | Cruz Pezuela

The Game
Hagop | Mardig | Reuben Diaz | Antwon Watts | Jorge Cruz | Margos Dezerian

See Also
S.W.A.T. Villains

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