The Shield: Hoover Damned

After what some critics called "the best episode of 'The Shield' EVER" last week, the show naturally (and predictably) came back to earth a bit last night.

Of course, there were still plenty of tense scenes and surprises packed into last night's episode, which featured the recently badge-less Vic's hunt of Shane, Mara and Jackson.

The fact that Vic seemed intent on hunting down and eliminating Shane AND Mara (but not Jackson, he insisted) was actually a bone of contention between Vic and Ronnie. Vic correctly surmised that Mara could hurt the Strike Team just as much as Shane, if she were taken alive by the police, because she knew everything he did. (The tightness of their relationship and how it contrasts with Vic and Corrine's relationship would be highlighted later.) Meanwhile, Ronnie had a real problem with killing a pregnant woman and orphaning a little boy — he's weird like that.

Of course, there was little Ronnie could do (other than relay any info he got to Vic) after Claudette "chained him to his desk" and forbade him from participating in the manhunt. The poor guy couldn't even get updates from Julien, who was back in a uniform alongside Tina (back from a long weekend). This seemed pretty harsh on Julien's part, but totally consistent with his by-the-book, don't-make-waves character that seems to care little about personal relationships on the job (for obvious reasons) and more about keeping his head down and advancing quietly.

The reason Julien was back in a uni was because Claudette dismantled the Strike Team (R.I.P. Strike Team). I get that she wanted to keep Ronnie in her sight (and away from Vic), but it still seemed like a bad decision given that criminals in Farmington haven't taken a vacation just because the police is looking for Shane.

Of course, I didn't mind that Claudette wanted to keep Ronnie around because it led to the excellent scene between the two characters where Ronnie "confessed" to the reason Shane wanted them dead. I love how deftly and convincingly David Rees Snell mixed fact and fiction in his interrogation, giving us the impression that this was a scenario Ronnie had already rehearsed in his mind for a while. Claudette is an excellent detective and pushed hard, but I think Ronnie was able to convince her. His smooth response was probably the opposite of the way Shane would've handled a similar grilling.

Not that Shane doesn't have moves of his own. The plan for his new fugitive lifestyle involved staying put in the city (and not attracting attention by moving around) and getting telephone updates as to what the police was doing from Corrine. Things didn't go too smoothly during the first phone call when Shane figured out that Corrine wouldn't use terms like "50-mile radius" unless Vic was there.

Vic eventually roughed up a counterfeiter and found out the fake name Shane was using. (Shane wisely decided to go with Shaun Hoover, instead of "Cletus Van Damme", his go-to alias.) After a visit to Shane's apartment he discovered the Hoovers had left behind Jackson's medication and almost caught up with them at their motel. He might've been there on time, but working without a badge threw some unexpected road blocks in Vic's way. It probably made him rethink melodramatically turning his shield in last week. The news that Vic wasn't a cop anymore also weirdly spread like wildfire through the criminal underworld.

Either way, he caught up with them as they left the emergency room and was going to take them out (pictured, left). Of course, Mara saved the day by telling nearby policemen that there was a man pointing a gun at them. The Hoovers escaped in the ensuing confusion, but the scene was still tense as hell. More importantly, the sequence also made me realize that, for whatever reason, I'm rooting for Shane to stay alive.

I'm not necessarily rooting for Vic to be killed, but I just know that I'm rooting for Shane to stay alive. Obviously, "The Shield" has shown us that Shane and Vic have done equally heinous things. But all heinousity being equal, I think I want Shane to stay alive because we've seen him display, at least, some remorse for his actions. We've also seen an unwavering commitment to and a willingness to sacrifice himself for his (screwed-up) family. Vic, on the other hand, has a hard time admitting (even to himself) that what he's done is wrong and has become increasingly isolated from his family. As my girlfriend, who is watching the show for the first time this season, said: "What kind of main character is he?"

We saw that last night after Mara (Michele Hicks really has been excellent) informed Corrine about Vic's attempted murder of her family. Corrine, now completely disgusted and horrified by Vic (despite making nice with his daughter), lied about the contents of the phone call and decided to stop helping Vic by telling him Shane and Mara wouldn't be calling anymore (also a lie). There's no way Mara ever turns on Shane in that way.

The Shane manhunt wasn't the only thing occupying the Barn last night. To be honest, I thought we were done with the Dutch/Lloyd storyline, but it made a comeback last night. We learned that Dutch was getting close to Lloyd's mom Rita in an effort to bust Lloyd. (Get yourself some boob, Dutchboy!) Unfortunately, Rita figured out what he was doing (no boob for you!), but became convinced Dutch was right. It's not that I don't find this storyline interesting and well-executed (it is), I'm just not optimistic about its prospects. Either Dutch eventually gets Lloyd to confess (we've already seen him nab a serial killer before), something terrible happens to Rita (big whoop) or Lloyd acts out again (oh oh). I'm just not thrilled with any of these options, and hope the writers have something good planned.

I was actually more interested to see that Billings had an ex-wife who despises him as much as everyone else does. I actually felt a little bad for the guy, who basically got pressured by his ex into eliminating a child molester who'd dared move into her neighborhood. The guy eventually got framed, and Dutch gave Billings a lecture about how that was wrong. Billings impressively shot back with a speech about how he's been indulging Dutch in his quest to catch a future serial killer. Let's hope Billings doesn't suddenly start becoming a crappy partner again when Dutch might need him the most in the near future.

Then there was Aceveda, who's become I.C.E.'s go-to informant since Vic turned in his badge. Pezuela brought along a new, powerful player during his latest visit to Aceveda and embarrassed the mayoral candidate in front of the new guy to assert his power. I.C.E. is excited about the possibility of a major player being in town, while I remain shockingly uninterested in almost anything Aceveda does these days.

I'm not into comparing shows with other programs because I prefer to judge each show on its own merits. However, "The Wire" did a MUCH better job of intertwining the police force and local government. "The Shield" isn't doing a bad job, but, for a while, it's felt like the show is straining to keep Aceveda (and Benito Martinez) in the mix.

So what'd you think of this episode? Where do you think Tina went on her long weekend? (The Napa Valley?) Have we already seen the last of Danny? (She's taking a REALLY long weekend.) Could Shane's motel neighbor have been a bigger dick? Do you really think Vic would have killed Shane AND Mara outside that emergency room? (Um, yes.) Finally, am I the only one worried that Dutch/Lloyd storyline is uncomfortably creeping close to "Lloyd 'accidentally' shoots Dutch" territory?