The Shield: On the Run

Wow.

So you remember how two weeks ago, I said the episode where Vic and Ronnie set Shane up to be murdered was the best episode of "The Shield" in years? Last night's ep, "Parricide," kinda blew that one out of the water.

Wow. There were almost too many moments to count which gave long-time "Shield" viewers (and maybe even some newbies) chills.

Let's start at the beginning. The episode didn't waste any time enacting the plan Shane (pictured, left) put into place at the end of last week's hour (and 6 minutes).

Two-Man was to kill Ronnie, so that it looked like he was taking revenge on him for the beating Ronnie gave him last week. The one wrinkle I didn't see coming was that avid Georgia Bulldog fan Shane was working hard to establish that he was at home with Mara during Ronnie's shooting because he was planning to take Vic out at the exact same time.

If I had one problem with last night's episode it was the fact that Two-Man was a spectacularly terrible shot (what kind of self-respecting banger is he?) and missed Ronnie completely, but DID manage to graze his date and throw a solid cockblock in the process. Ronnie phoned Vic right before Vic walked into his apartment to have his face blown off by Shane.

The rest of the hour (and the rest of the Farm) was dedicated to tracking down Two-Man and proving he did the shooting. While this show usually has some excellent B-storylines, I was happy to see the overwhelming focus of the episode fall on the Shane/Two-Man storyline (nice job out of Billoah Greene as Two-Man).

I mean, the episode DID have a B-storyline (Vic's church errand for Pezuela), but it mostly existed to convey that Pezuela is getting jittery thanks to pressure from his cartel. I also enjoyed the brief moment where Aceveda, after being offered Pezuela's support and going to I.C.E. with the information, was told by Vic with a smile that if Pezuela wanted to kill him, Vic would be the guy he'd send. I also didn't pay much attention to Vic angling for a job with I.C.E. once his days at the Barn were done because there was no chance in hell that was every going to happen. And that was even before Vic turned his badge in — but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I've raved about Walton Goggins' performance almost ad nauseum, but he was brilliant again last night. Watching him scramble to recover the murder weapon that could convict Two-Man before anyone else did, and silently hoping he would keep his mouth shut was fantastic and tense as hell. We've seen Vic expertly scramble like this time and time again, but Goggins' gave Shane's actions a heavier touch of desperation.

After dodging Julien and Claudette at various times, Shane thought he was in the clear after recovering the murder weapon and after Dutch and Billings' interrogation yielded nothing (and this was with Billings TRYING!), but, Vic, as usual, had a trick up his sleeve. He used the information he learned last week to trick Two-Man into believing some of the women he'd beat up had given him up.

As Two-Man was about to confess, I LOVED the way the camera lingered on Shane as he slithered away from the observation room. The sequence with Two-Man detailing Shane's plan, and Shane desperately trying to get away was fantastically edited. In the end, Shane slipped out before Vic, Ronnie and the other could stop them. And you know what? I was happy he got away. I don't know what that says about me — that I'm rooting for the guy who killed a close friend, and conspired to kill his two other closest friends — but I like that this show can make us feel for a guy like that.

But that was just the first moment that gave me chills.

Like many other "Shield" fans, I've never been a fan of pain-in-the-ass Mara. However, it was still striking to see her turn up at Corrine's door and lay down everything Vic, Shane and the Strike Team had done.

Cathy-Cahlin Ryan, not exactly a fan-favorite either, probably had her shining moment in the entire series when Corrine confronted Vic and Ronnie about what they'd done and laid down the law. Maybe when she leaves Vic, she can stay in the "I'm Running from Mackey Inn" with Danny and Lee.

I thought Vic and Ronnie's reactions to Corrine's accusations (Terry's murder, the Armenian money train) were perfectly indicative of those two characters. Ronnie avoided eye-contact in shame, while Vic didn't deny what they'd done, but STILL couldn't exactly admit (and, by extension, take responsibility for) what he'd done.

With Claudette promising to keep him chained to the Barn to avoid any vigilante stuff, Vic turned in the badge he's been fighting desperately to keep all these years to go after Shane.

Wow.

So what'd you think of this episode? Who's going to play centerfield for the Barn's softball team now? Will Aceveda do anything interesting before the end of this season? How long until Vic catches up with Shane? Finally, was this the best episode of "The Shield" this season or the best episode of "The Shield" EVER?