The Shield: Snitch Way is Up

Last week, I was very excited to have the show back and the episode didn't disappoint, delivering the gritty action and black humor we've come to expect from the show.

However, I wasn't too thrilled with this week's episode. Sure, it had great acting and some intense moments between Vic and Shane, but we're used to that by now. Last night seemed like a placeholder episode as a couple of storylines were stuck in neutral.

For example, while it's always impressive to see Vic (pictured, right) work out of a tight jam, how many times have we seen the "Vic and Shane run around behind the captain's back to make a shady deal over the course of one day to protect their asses" thing before? At least 12 times, right? I totally get that the hectic nature of Vic's actions are supposed to illustrate just how deep he's gotten himself (and his family) into the shit, but that doesn't change the fact that we've seen this before.

This time Vic and Shane had to keep Rezian alive (and his family safe) after Cruz Pezuela put a hit on the Armenian in prison. I'm not exactly sure why Vic seemed so surprised that Pezuela would put a hit on Rezian right away after he incited a gang war between the two factions, but whatever.

It just so happens that same day saw the publishing of the ten "Most Wanted" gangs list in the newspaper which (as Vic predicted) only inspired lesser gangs to step up their games. Unfortunately, "stepping up their games" in gang speak, apparently means killing some white people.

As if that wasn't enough to deal with, the shooters were then thought to have a connection to Al-Qaeda and terrorism. Like Vic, we all knew that would turn out to be bogus (some offhand remark by a Spook Street gang leader that got taken seriously), so it kind of seemed like a waste of time and yet another unnecessary hurdle for Vic to jump. I guess it also kept Laurie Holden's Agent Murray around until her storyline really kicks in.

I hate to sound like I'm complaining about everything because there WERE some good things about this storyline. I thought the scene where Shane had to intimidate Rezian's accountant into backing off his testimony while appearing to comfort him was one of the episode's more clever moments. I also really liked the scene between Shane and Vic at the end, where Shane really stood up to Vic a bit after asking if they were cool (calling Ronnie Vic's lapdog was interesting, as was Vic's reaction).

In the end, we figured Vic would find a way to keep Rezian alive (he arranged for protection courtesy of a rival gang), but my favorite parts of this episode were two of the guest actors Mackey and Co. met up with along the way. I only wish I could find their names on IMDb to give them their proper due.

First up was the elderly black woman who gave the Strike Team valuable information on locating the Spook Street shooters. She just acted the hell out of that scene (while a younger black girl yelled "Snitch!" repeatedly). Still, the real star of the episode was the hella-punky shooter who loved to use the N-word (I'm gonna be smarter than Claudette and NOT repeat it). The scene between him and Claudette in the interrogation room is the highlight of the season and I was impressed in how the kid stood up to a powerhouse like CCH Pounder (who brought it, as usual).

The scene also inspired the funniest line from Dutch. After Claudette got in trouble for using the N-word (gotta love lawyers), Dutch asked her, "So you're a racist now? How's that working out for ya?" Please keep giving us at least one "Clutch" moment every week.

That might not be possible, since Dutch has about 180lbs of deadweight dragging him down called Steve Billings. This week, Dutch and BillingsBillings were investigating the death of a girl who was killed by a falling cinder block on the street. It soon became clear her death was no accident, but the problem was none of the tenants in the apartment building wanted to admit they saw anything. The second problem was that didn't give a damn and was more interested in getting a cute witness' phone number. Finally fed up, Dutch hauled everyone down to the station.

Now, I think Dutch and Billings are hilarious together, but this sort of felt like a retread of last week's storyline — Billings doesn't give a damn for 90 percent of the time and then magically turns on the switch and helps solve the case. Billings' "Aha" moment (that no one was speaking because they liked the culprit, who turned out to be the building manager) felt like it came a bit too much out of leftfield.

More interesting was the Danny/Tina dynamic. After being attacked last week, Danny got a little jumpy while trying to clear an apartment in the building during Dutch and Billings' investigation. That led to a tiff between Danny and Tina in the break room, where Danny accused Tina of not clearing the room she was attacked in and Tina accused Danny of not trusting her.

So what'd you think of this episode? How long before Tina gets Danny killed? Do you think anything will come from Cassidy's trying to have Vic arrested? Finally, who do you see coming out on top of the Armenian/Mexican war? Next week's preview looks kinda great. I'll see you then.