The Shield: This Means War

It had been WAY too long since the last original episode of "The Shield" aired.

It'd been so long that I had to go back and quickly reread the recap I wrote for that last episode in June of last year. In fact, it'd been so long that I didn't actually remember when that last episode had aired, so I had to go on IMDb to get the air date so that I would be able to go back and find the recap I wrote.

Of course, absence makes the heart grow fonder, so as soon as the show's jittery opening credits came into view, I was instantly excited. I was also probably a little too delighted to see Shane's wife Mara tied up and gagged because, well, don't we most of us still kinda hate Mara?

On the other hand, there were a few things I wasn't following as well as a I could due to the long layoff, such as the intricacies of Shane's dealings with the Armenian mob. Also, I'd pretty much completely forgotten that Dutch and Danny kissed in last year's finale. Unfortunately, for Dutch, it appears as if Danny has chosen to forget too.

I complained that last year's finale spent a little too much time setting up this final season (and not enough time wrapping up the previous year) and, after last night's episode, I can understand why. Shane's dealings with the Armenian mob and Vic's dealings with the corrupt Cruz Pezuela dominated the season premiere and seem poised to be the season's major factors.

So, to me, it was pretty refreshing to see such funny, entertaining B-storyline involving the criminally underrated Jay Karnes and CCH Pounder and David Marciano, who is somewhat of a comedic genius.

Dutch was dealing with a man who had been acquitted of murdering his wife a few years before, but now wanted to turn in his buddy for committing the crime so he could be with his buddy's boobalicious girlfriend. Part of the reason the man had been acquitted was because Billings had apparently botched the case spectacularly (raise your hand if you're surprised). It just so happens Billings was in the office that same day, wearing sunglasses for his "migraines" and refusing to drop his frivolous lawsuit against the department. Watching Dutch's thinly veiled disgust toward Billings was gold, but Claudette probably had the best (if not the most truthful) line of the episode when she yelled at him, "You're a goddamned joke!"

Since Marciano has been made a series regular, I figured he'd be around for the entire season (though that logic didn't exactly apply to Cole Hauser's character, Terry, in the pilot). Still, it was absolutely delightful to see Dutch and Claudette (love when those two work together) not only trick Billings into solving the murder, but force him to expose the fact that he's perfectly capable of working and making the lawsuit go away. Not a bad day's work.

Of course, that entire storyline was just a side dish to the evening's main course, which involved Vic finding Zadofian, the Armenian assassin who'd been charged with killing his family.

The opening showdown at Shane's apartment was tense for sure (did Vic overreact by tying and gagging a pregnant Mara? Probably) Vic wasn't exactly buying Shane's story (why would he?) that Shane had stashed Vic's family away for their own good, but my favorite part of this scene was the end, after Vic had left, and Shane lamented that all he was trying to do was make things right.

This is especially tragic because I believe him and it could be argued that all Shane's been trying to do for the past couple of seasons is make things right — this would include blowing up Lem. What's always been interesting to me is that Vic and, I imagine, a lot of "The Shield" audience, have vilified Shane for blowing up a fellow member of the Strike Team when Vic put a bullet in the head of a Strike Team member in the VERY FIRST EPISODE and most people still root for him. Is it because Terry was informing for Aceveda? Is it because we got to know Lem over the course of five seasons?

I've referred to Shane (pictured, left) as the poor man's Vic ever since he split from the Strike Team because he doesn't appear able to run around, double deal and finagle his way out messes with the same cold efficiency Vic does. However, the more I've thought about it, the more I realize that Shane's failings to be as good as Vic probably have to do with the fact that he appears to have (or, at least, show) more remorse than Vic ever does for all the dirty dealings they've done — and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Shane was again one step behind Vic in locating the wounded Zadofian at his hotel of choice. Once Vic was satisfied that Shane's story about stashing his family away from Diro Kasakhian's assassin was true, and that, with Diro gone, his family was safe, he had Ronnie coolly dispose of Zadofian by putting two bullets in his chest. Shane later showed up to chop off Zadofian's feet to make it look like Diro's handiwork and to earn the episode its "V" rating for violence. Rezian, with whom Shane made the deal to keep Vic's family safe and who Shane has to work for now, had wanted to question Zadofian about Diro's whereabouts, so Shane made Zadofian's death look like Diro's handiwork.

Still, what seemed most interesting was the emphasis on Ronnie's reaction to the cold-blooded murder afterward. He's always been sort of the good guy of the team (especially, since Lem has been gone), and Claudette has put him "in charge" of the Strike Team while Vic's status is still uncertain. I'm interested to see if Ronnie goes down the road of becoming more like Vic and Shane and I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a major player in that uneasy alliance. (For example, I wouldn't be shocked if he ends up taking out Shane or Vic to keep himself clean.)

The other major subplot of the episode was the box of incriminating evidence on prominent officials belonging to Cruz Pezuela, which Vic had gotten his hands on at the end of last season. It seems Pezuela and the Mexicans are ready to make their move and claim Farmington (and maybe beyond) for themselves.

This was illustrated by a grisly subplot involving the death of two El Salvadorans who had been dragged down a street leaving a trail of blood. As gross as that was, the main purpose of this subplot appeared to be setting up another classic Mackey moment (driving through the store window to create a diversion) and introducing Laurie Holden as Agent Olivia Murray, who assisted on the El Salvadoran case and will almost certainly sleep with Vic at some point.

In the end, Vic convinced Pezuela that he'd sold a copy of the incriminating files to the Armenians and Shane convinced Rezian that Diro was teaming up with the Mexicans, pitting the Mexicans and the Armenians in what's sure to be a nasty gang war. That's weird, I thought cops were supposed to stop gang wars, not start them — such is life on "The Shield."

So what'd you think of this episode? Where do you think Vic's daughter Cassidy disappeared to? Is Julien going to do ANYTHING this season? How long before the Vic/Aceveda alliance falls apart? (Not long judging by the previews.) Finally, is there any doubt that Tina was the officer responsible for not clearing the scene, leading to Danny getting attacked? (How scary was that?)