The Shield: Serious Finale

I'm sad.

After I finished watching last night's 90-minute (plus commercials) series finale, I was actually surprised by how sad I felt.

I've seen every episode of this show, so I obviously wasn't expecting any sort of lighthearted finale that ended with something like Vic and Shane high-fiving each other and then driving off together to watch "The Day the Earth Stood Still". (Think you've got enough commercials for that one, FX?)

I also wasn't expecting a "crowd-pleasing" finale, because there's just no such thing. Ok, maybe there is for "Sex and the City" and "Friends" fans, but not for a show like "The Shield" where so many of the central characters have done truly deplorable things. They don't exactly get to ride off into the sunset, but we may not necessarily want to see them catch a bullet either.

Of course, part of the sadness is the fact that I'd just finished watching the final original episode of one of the best show's of the decade, one of the best cop shows ever, and the most consistently excellent and underappreciated drama in the last 20 years. ("The Wire" doesn't count because people talked about how it was underappreciated all the time — most of the time people don't even remember to forget about "The Shield.")

Still, the main reason I was sad was because, as the series finale progressed, it became increasingly clear where each character was headed, and almost all the results were tragic. We knew there was no way Shane and Mara would go to jail, we knew Claudette would die before she would be able to arrest Vic and we knew that Vic — well, we'll talk about him a little later. Whereas other episodes this season have been packed with tense "wow" scenes and moments, the series finale was packed with incredibly tense moments of dread, where you just kept waiting for something terrible to happen. (I'm sure the guy who got bit in the face by the snake would disagree with me that there weren't as many "wow" moments in the finale.)

Let's just get the minor complaints out of the way. I don't have any problem with Andre Benjamin's performance as Robert Huggins, the comic book store owner from a few seasons ago who was sick of the crime in his neighborhood and decided to run for mayor. In fact, I thought he was pretty great and I understand that the show wanted to reiterate its commentary on the relationship between the cities, police departments and the "prison complex."

I just selfishly wish some of his screen time had been devoted to Danny — really a glorified extra these days — or that Julien had more to do than longingly glance at a happy, openly gay couple. These two were a major part of the show at the start, but by the end only uttered a few lines per episode. I know some people out there were hoping for an appearance from Antwan Mitchell, Monica Rawlings or Jon Kavanaugh, but I commend creator Shawn Ryan for not going for a big splash return of a major character from the past (although he did slip it in over the closing credits mini music video). Fitting them into the story wouldn't have worked organically and I guess the same can be said for the likes of Danny, Julien and Tina (though Tina isn't a huge loss).

However, there were more pressing matters to get to for our main characters. Vic had to broker the Beltran bust, Corinne had to get herself into witness protection (I liked the "he's got his whole life to figure out what I did to him" line), Dutch had to try one more time to get Lloyd and Shane had to reach the destination he's been heading towards for a long time.

I've already talked, at length, about how much Walton Goggins deserves an Emmy for his performance as Shane, so I won't bore you with that. Though the Vendrells have been inching toward their tragic demise for a long time now, it was still heartbreaking to see the moment where Shane realized that he couldn't save Mara or Jackson (the dirty old man/druggie already knew he couldn't save himself).

The couple had returned home and, with Mara in agonizing pain, their current situation was pretty much the exact opposite of the idyllic scene from a few weeks ago with Shane playing piano and Mara and Jackson dancing while they were on the run. As a result, it's no great shock that Shane would want a little piece and serenity for his loved ones, but watching him blow his brains out in the middle of his surprisingly eloquent suicide note and seeing Mara and Jackson peacefully lying in bed was still jaw-droppingly awful. Still, as Shane would undoubtedly point out, he died with his loved ones nearby.

In contrast, Vic didn't even realize he was seeing his family for the last time, in what was probably one of the finale's more underrated scenes. Cathy Cahlin Ryan played this perfectly. Corinne knew she wasn't going to see Vic — a HUGE part of her life — ever again and the kids would never see their father again, but she couldn't show even a hint of those emotions, Ryan still had to convey said emotions for the audience.

At least one of my finale wishes came true. Dutch didn't get shot by Lloyd. Instead, the budding serial killer appears to have framed Dutch for the murder of his mom. I thoroughly enjoyed the ambiguous ending to this storyline over a cut-and-dry "Dutch gets Lloyd" or "Lloyd kills Dutch" resolution. We know Dutch has dark impulses (RIP strangled alley cat) and we also know that Lloyd is just not right in the head, so a case can be made for either scenario (though Claudette's confidence near the end seemed to suggest they had something). Heck, Rita may even still be alive — as Claudette said, "no body, no murder."

Another thing I loved was the generous amount of screen time given to CCH Pounder last night. The scene where she tells an in-denial Dutch that she's dying was unsentimental, yet touching, and her one-sided conversation with Mackey in the interrogation room was fantastic. (Chiklis also gave a master class in acting without dialogue in this episode.)

In fact, Vic just seemed to be out of words by the end of the episode. It appeared that he'd used up all his lies, excuses and justification by the time he ended up in an awkward-looking suit and tie, listening to the oppressive drone of the I.C.E. office he worked at.

He should maybe consider himself a bit lucky for even getting that. The first drug bust with Beltran didn't pan out when the heavy hitter declined to show up, so Vic and Ronnie set about finding him and the drugs and delivering the huge bust I.C.E. wanted (though I DID enjoy how completely disgusted Agt. Murray continued to be with Vic.)

Of course, the drug bust only earned Vic immunity, which led to the second biggest show of emotion from Ronnie as he tried to go after Vic for betraying him while yelling "I was gonna run!" The biggest display of emotion from Ronnie came a few minutes earlier as he cried with a bit of sadness, but mostly relief upon hearing about Shane's suicide. On the other hand, Vic's reaction was a mix of horror and guilt (I didn't see any joy or relief in there).

So now Vic is in his worst nightmare — chained to a desk and forced to type and evaluate tedious reports for I.C.E. I'm not one of those guys that either needed to see Vic completely get away with everything or get killed for all his sins, so I believe this conclusion — isolated from all the friends and family he loves — is as good as it gets. (Vic enduring an orientation from an HR woman was probably the comedic highlight last night.)

I'd still argue that working a boring desk job still isn't anywhere near as bad as ACTUALLY going to prison. Still, given the final shot of the episode (and the show) —Vic grabbing his gun and heading out — I don't think it will be very long before he's up to his old tricks. And that's the way we love (and loathe) our Vic.

So what'd you think of the season finale? Is it more likely that Dutch actually killed Rita or that Aceveda actually put a hit out on Huggins? Will Dutch call Billings' lawyer? Finally, where do you like to think Vic was headed as he left the I.C.E. office? To find Corinne? To bust some gang banger heads? To go home and follow Shane's lead?

Thank you very much for reading my rambling recaps. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them after watching this fantastic show.

The Shield: These Are My Confessions

I'm not sure how many times I can claim an episode from season 7 was "the best episode EVER" of "The Shield" before I start to sound like a totally fawning fanboy.

Ah, what the hell!

Last night's episode was THE BEST EPISODE EVER (I reserve the right to change my mind after next week's 90-minute finale). This could easily be my shortest review ever since this episode can be summed up with a simple "wow!"

Ok, fine, you twisted my arm — I'll expand on this fantastic episode.

It opened with a tense sequence in which an increasingly desperate Shane attempted to rip off two druggies, one of whom had just won a lot of money gambling. The two guys knew Shane as "Trap" (not Cletus?) and they didn't know Shane was really a cop.

Or so Shane thought. As soon as his plan blew up and Shane was fighting those two guys hand-to-hand, I was just sitting in my couch waiting/dreading the moment where Mara burst in to help and took a shot in the stomach (I never would've dreamed I'd one day care about what happened to Mara). Of course, this show rarely goes the predictable route. Instead, we saw Mara kill an innocent woman and shoot another guy before the Vendrell/Hoovers made their escape.

The couple didn't exactly get away clean. Mara busted her collarbone (ouch!) while Shane picked up a bit of a drug habit after being forced to smoke some cocaine mixed with speed (yum). I laughed out loud after he told Mara that he did MORE drugs the next day to "even himself out." Shane's always been an idiot, but this is a whole new level for him. Then I realized that Shane was probably coked up when he was pointing the gun at Tina after she and Julien spotted his car — and that she's lucky she didn't get her face blown off (nice job out of Paula Garces in this scene).

Indeed, Vic and Shane seem locked in a race to see who can fall apart the fastest.

Since Shane was getting desperate and sloppy(er), Vic figured Shane would be caught within a few days, which meant he had to have his deal from I.C.E. pronto. That meant he had to convince Beltran to move up his planned drug shipment two days, which he did very easily and very convincingly in that singular way Vic can where he makes it seem like the best possible option in the world.

Unfortunately, his powers of persuasion were a bit less effective with Agt. Murray who refused to fast track Vic's immunity and employment request. I was actually on Vic's side in this instance. Although his purposes were selfish, Vic WAS responsible for salvaging her professional career, so seeing him brush him aside was unacceptable. I'm not really sure I 100% bought Aceveda (Vic's long time nemesis) stepping up to the plate for him, but soon Vic was back on the drug cartel bust and had gotten his deal.

The only problem was that the deal only covered him and not Ronnie. Since we've gotten to know Vic and his fierce loyalty over the last seven years, we knew there was no way he'd take the deal excluding Ronnie with his long time partner standing right there. We also knew this would likely be a mistake.

Unfortunately for Vic, his partner wasn't the one to walk into a Claudette/Dutch setup this week. Vic sniffed out the police, but watched his ex-wife get (fake) arrested. The fact that Vic went back and accepted the deal — and therefore leave his partner in the lurch in exchange for (fake)saving his ex-wife — is probably one of the kindest things he's ever (fake)done for her. It's kind of a tragedy that it's all for nothing.

Of course, this was all merely a buildup to the sequence that will go down with the best in this landmark show's history.

The condition of Vic's immunity and I.C.E. employment was that he was to confess EVERY ONE of his illegal activities. I swear that was followed by the longest dramatic pause this year before, tentatively, at first, confessing to killing Terry Crowley. He knew he'd done it, we knew he'd done it, but it was still jarring to hear Vic say those words out loud. Also, kudos to Laurie Holden, whose shocked/appalled expressions during Vic's confession are her best work on this show.

I know I've been rightfully singing the Emmy praises of Walton Goggins all season, but let's not forget Michael Chiklis. He was unbelievable in the confession scene. As Vic talked about his misdeeds, Chiklis infused the character with only a hint of shame, and a surprisingly healthy portion of defiance and, yes, PRIDE. "I was too good," he said of Acevada and Jon Kavanaugh's failed attempts to nail him. The key word in that statement being "was" since he's been finally forced to spill his guts and throw a loyal partner under the bus. Then again, as Victor Samuel Mackey would say: "I've done worse."

Almost as good was Claudette's absolute freakout after realizing that Vic had wormed away from her clutches YET AGAIN. The fact that she knew the truth and that Ronnie is likely going to prison for the rest of his life was no consolation to her. That's what the Coyote must feel like after failing to catch the Road Runner. She even (temporarily, I think) fired Dutch for his Mackey-esque dealings with Billings and the child molester they had arrested a few weeks ago. CCH Pounder is always incredible (I think it'd be compelling to watch her do a crossword puzzle), but she stood out last night. Hopefully, Emmy voters were watching this episode.

Which happened to be the Best. Episode. Ever. (Unless you can come up with a better one?)

So what'd you think of this episode? Honestly, why the hell haven't Shane and Mara skipped town? (My girlfriend and "Shield" newbie Erica wants to know!) Wasn't it weird that other cops seemed to know that Danny was gone, but the show made us think she was running away? Why do you think Lloyd has been calling Dutch with his mom's cell phone? (Please don't get shot, Dutch, please don't get shot.) Will Vic try to warn Ronnie? Finally, what's the one thing you DON'T want to see happen in the finale? (Please don't get shot, Dutch.)

The Shield: A Walk in the Park

Ok, so I think we can pretty much all agree that there is really no such thing as a BAD episode of "The Shield." Shawn Ryan and his writers, directors and cast have done a remarkable job of sustaining an incredibly high level of quality for seven seasons.

So let's just go ahead and call last night's episode "disappointing."

Of course, there were more than a few things to like and even a couple of noteworthy plot development. However, when you consider that after "Petty Cash" there are only TWO original episodes of "The Shield" left, the hour mostly had the characters stuck in neutral and felt more like a setup for the show's conclusion.

Vic was still running around trying to desperately prove himself to both I.C.E. and cartel bigwig Beltran. Shane, Mara and Jackson were still on the lam, Claudette was still determined to bust Shane and, ESPECIALLY Vic, while Ronnie was still scrambling to help Vic at the Barn while fighting the urge to flee the country. Oh yeah, Billings is still a completely incompetent tool (but we kinda like him that way).

Even the big exchange of money at the (crackhead) park was a big flop for both Claudette and the audience since Beltran's cartel guys prevented Vic from showing up and delivering the money himself. You've gotta believe Vic's luck is going to run out sometime in the next two episodes.

In an effort to become Beltran's new (and effective) Pezuela, Vic offered to facilitate a pact between Beltran's cartel and the area's black drug dealers. The scene (pictured, right) where Vic convinced the group, who looked like they watched "Shaft" everyday and were stuck in 1975, was another triumph for Michael Chiklis. Vic Mackey keeps pulling off near-impossible moves to manipulate others and save himself and a big part of that is due to Chiklis mix of menace, profane charm and intensity.

Of course, Vic got the $200,000 from the dealers, discreetly separated $100,000 to give to Shane and Mara and had Ronnie pick up the cash and deliver it to Corinne at the local sketchy park.

By that time, Shane and Mara had set up Vic to be busted. Mara convinced Claudette that she was working behind her husband's back and that Shane would show up at the park to collect the cash and that Claudette would be able to arrest Vic and Shane. Instead, Vic was supposed to show up with a huge wad of cash he couldn't account for and Claudette could get her man, who still elicited sympathy from his ex-wife.

So when Ronnie showed up instead and dropped the money off quickly, Claudette was furious. I mean, is there anybody who could've said "God damn it!" better than CCH Pounder. On the other hand, they have Ronnie "dead to rights," according to Dutch (thanks to the wire Corinne was wearing) after years of being the one Strike Team member who kept his hands clean. Like I said last week — he should've run when he had the chance.

The way you can tell your world is slowly unraveling is when you have to depend on Billings for ANYTHING. Since Claudette had sent Ronnie along with Julien on a murder, Ronnie was counting on Billings to intercept the letter from Shane to Claudette that allegedly included on of their indiscretions (or an angry letter from one of Ronnie's many conquests, as Billings was led to believe). Of course, Billings completely blew the task, but Ronnie got a hold of the letter anyway, which turned out to be a trick by Shane. The letter mocked Ronnie by telling him he got "punked," but it could've just as easily been written to us in the audience — this episode was a big tease!

The murder of a promising high school football star that Julien was investigating was only slightly interesting. Sure, it was a nice twist to have the killer be a mother who shot the athlete by accident because she was targeting the college coach who rejected her son a year before, but this storyline mostly felt like a throwaway. We've known that places like Farmington are tough ever since "Boyz in the Hood" almost 20 years ago.

I was actually more interested by Julien's increasing distance between himself and his former Strike Teammates. I feel like he has a significant role to play in the final two episodes, though that may be wishful thinking on my part for a character and an actor who was a HUGE part of the show at the start and is now a glorified extra.

Even the Shane and Mara scenes were just ok. Since Shane obviously wasn't going to get himself arrested trying to collect Vic's money, he set about acquiring some cash in different ways. I'll admit that it was amusing watching him unsuccessfully try to rob from a stash house and, for a second, I thought it would've been the cruelest of fates to have him get shot by a random insane homeless guy. On the other hand, the scene where Shane and Mara broke into the safe to steal the cashiers' checks while they held a helpful cleaning crew hostage was just odd.

In the end, the scenes were meant to illustrate how alone Shane and Mara were in the world (Mara's obviously not close to her family either, as we saw in the last episode). But we already knew these two were ABSOLUTELY devoted to each other and that they're all the other person needs, so we didn't need that reiterated.

Finally, Aceveda is annoying us almost as much as he's annoying Vic. He's not buying the story in the paper about Pezuela killing himself and threatened to tell Beltran the truth. I get that Aceveda's always been kind of an ass, but I'm having trouble believing he would actually jeopardize a major investigation and (as much as he hates him) risk Mackey or anyone else's life, just so he can get credit for helping bring Beltran down.

They've been setting up Aceveda to do something major, and he's been increasingly desperate and petty for a good while now. Just hurry up and do something man.

I realize this episode is the classic "calm before the storm," but I guess I just expected more with only three episodes left until the END OF THE SHOW. If they wanted to spin their wheels on the main Vic/Shane storyline, maybe they could've devoted some time to the minor characters. Just sayin'. Either way, can't wait for the next two weeks.

So what'd you think of this episode? Which reference to past "Shield" episodes were you happier to see? Van Bro or the name "Cletus Van Damme" on the envelope Shane sent to Claudette? Do Claudette and Dutch really have anything on Ronnie? (I didn't catch anything really incriminating.) Finally, there are several rumors out there that the finale will feature FOUR significant deaths — who do you think that could be? (I'm going with Aceveda, Dutch, Shane and Ronnie.)

The Shield: I.C.E. Work If You Can Get It

Was there every any doubt which way Mara would go in the final scene of last night's great episode?

I detailed in this very space last week that one of the main differences between Shane and Vic is that Shane hasn't totally alienated himself from his family the way Vic has. Of course, you can say Shane including his family in his dirty dealings and making his wife and young son fugitives isn't exactly the most honorable thing in the world either. Still, we saw his decision pay off as Mara displayed her undying (maybe a poor choice of word given that there are only three episodes left) loyalty to him.

But we'll get to that a little later, since there's so much good stuff to talk about.

I want to talk about Ronnie, who announced early on in last night's episode that he was going to call in sick to the Barn and run all the way to Mexico and suggested Vic do the same. Never has such a sensible suggestion (Ronnie's always been the sensible one) come across as a punch to the gut. I mean, Len's death was obviously HUGE, as was Shane running away from the Barn for the last time, but Vic and Ronnie splitting up would officially be the end of the Strike Team.

Of course, Vic did that Mackey thing he does and convinced Ronnie to give him a few days to track down Shane (they'd resorted to bribing gangbangers) and parlay his I.C.E. work into federal badges for them (yeah right!) By the time Shane and Mara barely survived a tense encounter with one of the greedy bangers Vic bribed and Shane demanded that Vic replace the $100,000, Ronnie had an "I should have run" look on his plastered on his face.

I touched on it briefly, but I also want to talk about the I.C.E. angle, which became considerably more interesting last night. Vic's influence in the investigation has diminished considerably ever since he lost his badge, so Aceveda has been the feds' go-to guy.

When Vic met up with Aceveda (pictured, right, with Vic) and asked him to step aside because the involvement of cartel guy Beltran was making things too dangerous, it was clear that he was trying to get inside Aceveda's head. After Aceveda beat Pezuela up in a realistic, but curiously funny fight, I thought that Vic's plan had been to question Aceveda's manhood and get him to act up so that Pezuela or the cartel would eliminate him. It turns out even Vic's not that cold as he warned Aceveda that behavior could get him killed.

In the end, Vic went directly to Beltran, who asked Vic to kill the underperforming Pezuela. Instead, Vic kidnapped Pezuela and chained him to Agt. Murray and convinced Beltran that he'd committed the murder in the hopes of gaining Beltran's trust. I get that Vic still has an eye on the future (Vic's knack for always having an "exit strategy" was brought up), but I don't see how this helps him catch Shane.

He'd better get to it fast because the dynamite team of Claudutch is on the case. After meeting with Corrine, they learned about how Vic had used Corrine to try to kill Shane and Mara. They bugged the telephone in Corrine's house to listen in on Corrine and Mara's conversation, leading to the great scene where Vic unexpectedly showed up in case Shane and Mara called (he's supposed to be under the impression they were done calling) and handled the phone while Dutch and Claudette were on the other end.

By the way, this would be a good time to mention that Cathy Cahlin Ryan has been acting her ass off over the last few weeks and her work should erase any talk that she's ONLY on the show because her husband happens to be "Shield" creator Shawn Ryan.

She's been almost as good as Michele Hicks as Mara.

We first saw her looking serene (for possibly the first time) during a late-night skinny dip before she was joined by her husband. That serenity carried over to most of the episode as the Vendrell's played house, danced (Shane plays piano?) and got a preview of what they're life could be like. Of course, that was before that nosy real estate agent showed up, Shane and Mara's clever cover-up attempt failed, and the family had to run again.

After getting jacked of their money (and their dream house off the coast in Colombia) Mara made the call to Corrine. Claudette boldly stepped in and offered Mara immunity if she turned herself in, though she couldn't offer the same immunity to Shane.

Mara listened to Claudette's proposal and appeared to seriously consider it before letting her husband know that Corrine was working with the police. She obviously cares about her kids and Claudette's suggestion would be the best thing for them. What I love about Hicks' performance (in this episode and over the course of the series) is that, to me at least, there was never any moment where I thought she would turn on Shane. And it's not that Mara didn't consider it (she certainly appeared to), but it's more like that character is utterly incapable of turning on him. The end of this episode was great and I can't wait till next week.

So what'd you think of this episode? Are you liking the temporary pairing of Billings and his "man crush" Ronnie? (I know I am.) What exactly is Shane waiting for by hanging around in L.A. for what seems like too long? Finally, what do you think will happen next week during the money exchange teased in the previews?

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?

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?

The Shield: Two-Man Job

Well that didn’t take too long.

It certainly didn’t take too long for Shane to come up with a plan to retaliate after his fellow Strike Team members’ arranged to have him murdered. Unsurprisingly, his plan appears to be a poor man’s version of Vic’s set up (really Shane? A single pimp's apprentice named Two-Man?). What WAS surprising is Shane’s apparent target.

I guess the one thing Shane does have over Vic at this point is a cohesive family unit, as he assured his wife Mara that he had a plan to take care of the problem, said a sweet goodbye to his son Jackson and went about the business of figuring out a way to arrange the deaths of his two closest friends.

Vic’s family, on the other hand, is in shambles (are we even sure Cassidy’s still alive?) — so obviously, now’s the perfect time to add a baby son to the mix! At first, I felt like Vic’s insistence in remaining a presence in baby Lee’s life was purely selfish. Now I just think it’s MOSTLY selfish. Sure, Vic wants a do-over and a chance to raise at least one of his kids properly, but his speech to Danny about a son needing a father figure in his life was pretty convincing. Too bad Danny had already packed her bags and apparently decided to leave town with Lee. That was a genuinely surprising little twist that was well played by both actors, especially in the way Catherine Dent made sure Vic didn’t come into her house.

Even if Vic DID get another crack at raising a kid, there really isn’t too much evidence that he would do a better job. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Vic over the course of six and a half seasons is that he’s probably gone too far down the abyss to ever come back out into the light. Part of the reason is that he’s stubborn to a fault and set in his irredeemable ways no matter what attempts he makes to change.

For example, as soon as prostitute Farrah showed up (the first time we’d seen her since season 3’s “Bottom Bitch”, which echoed this episode’s title, “Bitches Brew”), we knew Vic would end up helping her, no matter how many demeaning insults he hurled her way (though Vic’s language was particularly salty last night). We also knew that Farrah would end up manipulating Vic and the Strike Team to kill her abusive pimp. Of course, if the show weren’t ending this year and Farrah showed up again, he’d probably help her out again.

My favorite part of this storyline was watching Walton Goggins convey Shane’s tentativeness in working with Vic on another case. He seemed convinced that every time he and Vic opened a door or turned a corner, someone would be waiting to gun him down (can you blame him?) In the end, Shane enlisted the help of Two-Man, a suspect Ronnie took his Shane-centered aggression out on, to take out Ronnie, making it look like a simple case of pay back. I find it interesting that Shane targeted Ronnie (pictured, left) — we, the audience know that Ronnie has been a lot more gung-ho about eliminating Shane than Vic, but Shane doesn’t know that.

Meanwhile, with the Armenian/Mexican gang war over, Aceveda turned in the blackmail box to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (minus Agt. Murray’s file). Unfortunately, they had Vic on a surveillance video talking with Pezuela cronie Armando Rios and reamed him for sitting on the blackmail box for too long. That didn’t do Vic any favors during his review, where he found out he’d be off the job in 10 days (and had more salty language for his PBA rep).

Fortunately, (as usual) Vic had a plan. After foiling an I.C.E. raid and frustrating them, he convinced them to let him have the box so he could turn it into Pezuela, get closer to him and use it to bring him down. Of course, to make the box seem complete, the info on Agt. Murray had to go back in. That might buy Vic more time on the job (since he rejected Claudette’s cold offer to clean out his locker immediately), but, to me, the Pezuela storyline has lost some heat since the war with the Armenians is over.

Then again, if Vic ends up getting expelled from the police force, he could always go into home security. That’s what Lester, back from his douche-ish outing (“If you think he did something s---ty, he probably did.”) from last season’s episode that also featured Carl Weathers as Vic’s mentor. Turns out Lester and his new partner were behind a series of breaking and entering crimes to drum up interest for their security business. In the end, Lester came out relatively clean (as Vic probably would have) after selling out his partner.

I thought the Dutch and Billings dynamic was also interesting. After imploring his partner to be more present last week, Billings delivered. The character hasn’t been changed radically (he’s still pushing his vending machine scam), but he did just enough (not complaining too much when Dutch went after an ex-cop) to let Dutch solve the case.

More interesting, of course, was the Claudette and Dutch dynamic, which was terrific, as always. Dutch ended up breaking into Claudette’s house after believing she was in danger, and found her house to be a complete mess (which is different than a hot mess). I LOVE that Dutch wasn’t too shy to hire her a cleaning lady AND that Claudette wasn’t too proud to accept one. We haven’t seen her take a swan dive down the stairs lately, but it’s obvious the job is taking a serious toll on her. It makes me wonder whether she or Vic will be the last one standing at the Barn.

So what’d you think of this episode? Are you surprised Shane’s going after Ronnie instead of Vic? Will Julien be in any sort of real trouble after killing Bombay? Does any other law enforcement agency have a cooler acronym than I.C.E.? Finally, have we seen the last of Danny and will Vic hire a P.I. to find her the way he hired one to find Corrine and the kids after she left him at the end of the first season?

The Shield: Deathtrap

Last night's episode of "The Shield" wasn't just the best episode of this season, but it was the best episode since Shane decided the best thing for himself and his Strike Teammates would be to blow up one of their friends. (I'd also argue it's in the top 3 non-season finale "Shield" episodes.)

It makes sense that "The Shield" would hit such a high with this episode, since much of it was devoted to Vic and Ronnie honoring their vow to get Lem's killer. As the hour progressed, and Shane (pictured, right) inched closer to Vic and Ronnie's trap, I honestly had NO idea what was going to happen. I could see a scenario where Shane was murdered (even with more than a handful of episodes left in the show's run). I could also easily see Shane surviving unscathed, or being seriously injured in a gun fight. I repeat: I had NO IDEA WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. And I loved it!

The plan was spurred on by Aceveda announcing he was turning the blackmail box into Justice. With the blackmail box out of play, Vic would no longer have any sway over the Armenians or over Pezuela and the Mexicans. Aceveda gave him an extra day to tie up his loose ends and bust Pezuela on a more serious charge than would come from the blackmail box.

Now we've definitely seen Vic improvise complicated plans and set-ups in a short amount of time before, but even this one was a doozy. This time, the idea was to eliminate the Armenians by telling them a fictitious group of Mexicans wanted to sell them the blackmail box for $100,000, but instead sending a Pezuela hit squad led by Armando Rios to kill them. They would also kill Shane (who would be with the Armenians to help broker the deal), eliminate the top Armenian brass (anyone who might be a threat to Vic's family), and keep the Armenians' $100,000 (what's a Vic Mackey plan if he can't get some $ in return).

Of course, Vic wasn't counting on the few curveballs that came his way. The least interesting of which was Agt. Murray's desire to turn herself in so Pezuela would no longer have any influence over her. Pezuela's people asked her to get Rios and his men out of the country after they took the Armenians out and Vic convinced her not to do it. To be honest, I didn't really care and instead worried that my prediction about Vic sleeping with her might not come true. I was actually more interested in Vic's family drama this week, since it turned out Corrine was popping downers to deal with bad girl Cassidy (and autistic Matthew, who is suddenly invisible). The irony of Vic questioning Corrine's parenting skills was completely lost on him.

More interesting was the reappearance of the last person I expected to see again (other than Lem, of course). Tavon, the former Strike Team member who was hospitalized after one of the fiercest fictional brawls EVER with Shane, returned to get his help. He needed Shane's cooperation because of Shane's rapport with a 16-year-old girl who was going to help them catch a murderer, but it turns out he was really there to tell Shane that he knew the truth about their fight — Tavon hadn't hit Shane's wife Mara and instead had been hit by Mara in the head by a golf club.

Besides the fact that Tavon's reappearance left a dangling plot thread that will probably be resolved soon (nothing happened after Tavon's confrontation), I liked it because his interactions with the girl allowed us to see a softer side of Shane, and that side that IS a good cop.

More importantly, Vic saw that side and had a crisis of conscience. He tried to back out of killing a close friend ("I'm not Shane"), but I was most struck by how ice cold Ronnie was in his insistence to go through with the plan. In the end, Shane survived because he was fortunate enough to leave the warehouse a few minutes before the Armenians were executed. However, the entire sequence was one of the most wonderfully tense few minutes on television in a while.

Of course, the best twist came at the end when Shane revealed to Mara that he'd figured out that Vic and Ronnie had set him up to be killed. Walton Goggins played this scene with the right mix of subtle anger and hurt feelings. Shane had an uneasy alliance with Vic and Ronnie the last few weeks, but that's out the window now, so it's going to be fascinating to watch them interact from here on out. I also liked that Shane found a way to get away with the money, which is totally a Vic move. That right there underscores how similar Vic and Shane really are, no matter what Vic might say.

The main Vic/Shane storyline was so strong in this episode that it made everything else look relatively weak.

I was a little disappointed to see Dutch and Billings revert to Dutch working on his own and Billings not giving a damn mode (no matter how funny he is). Dutch was working on a case of a sleepwalker who'd apparently committed a murder. I WAS excited to see Dutch and Claudette team up since Billings was more preoccupied with his lawsuit. However, their scenes together didn't really crackle. In fact, my favorite Claudette scene was when she tore Ronnie a new one for being a puppet leader for the Strike Team.

Despite Dutch not having his best storyline last night, it DID yield some interesting forward movement. After it turned out that sleepwalker guy was innocent, but still killed himself because Claudutch convinced him he'd committed murder, Dutch had a heart-to-heart with Billings, in which he implored his new partner to challenge him so he doesn't become indulgent in the way Dutch does when he starts to feel particularly smart. We'll see if Billings steps up next week.

So what'd you think of this episode? Did you think Shane was a goner? Will we see Tavon again, and will he have a hand in getting Shane? Finally, when will Vic and Ronnie find out that Shane is on to them?

The Shield: Serial Offenders

So last week, I talked about how much I enjoyed the storyline with Dutch and potential serial-killer-in-training Lloyd. I also expressed my hopes that the storyline would be a one-episode ordeal because not knowing whether Dutch was right about Lloyd is a lot more chilling.

That being said, I wasn't completely disappointed with the return of the storyline last night (it's more interesting than another standard Dutch/Billings case) because the writers are having it play out in an interesting way. However, I did feel a little let down that the writers have all but confirmed that Lloyd is a sick puppy.

Wanabee profiler Dutch first sought counsel from an actual FBI profiler and, when that assessment proved inconclusive, he did what most of us do when we feel strongly about something — he asked someone else hoping they would agree with them.

That person was Kleavon Gardner, the convicted serial killer who also happens to be Claudette's nemesis (more on him in a bit). Kleavon told Dutch that Lloyd had the "look" of a killer and, when Dutch showed up at his house to confront the teen about the murder, we saw that "look" as Lloyd coolly lied to his mom and pretended everything was ok as he taunted Dutch. As I mentioned, I would've preferred not knowing about Lloyd for sure, but since this storyline is obviously not going away, I'm definitely interested to see how it ends.

When he wasn't consulting for Dutch, Kleavon — defending himself during a deposition — was being a general pain in the ass for Claudette (pictured, left). I thought guest star Ray Campbell had been excellent in his previous appearances as Kleavon, but last night, he may have topped himself. I mean, have we ever seen Claudette more flustered or intellectually overmatched than we did last night? (CCH Pounder played those emotions just as well as she plays Claudette when she's in control.) Maybe Claudette was just off her game due to the drugs she's been taking for lupus (and, according to Kleavon, make her paranoid and insane).

In the end, Claudette and the DA agreed to take the death sentence off the table in exchange for keeping Kleavon's testimony and Claudette's illness a secret. The bigger picture is the fact that Claudette may now be a bigger liability than asset. It was ugly to see such a competent, proud cop get taken apart bit by bit. Maybe, with Danny now by her side (another competent cop) and aware of her knowledge, Claudette can make it to the end of this series relatively unscathed.

The odds that Vic and his Strike Team make it to the end unscathed get worse and worse every week.

Last week, Vic and Aceveda found out Agt. Murray was in Cruz Pezuela's pocket, and this week was all about finding out how much information Murray had fed Pezuela about Vic's shenanigans and his inquiries into Pezuela associate Armando Rios.

When Murray showed up the next day with a high-difficulty job for the Strike Team — recovering a drug lord's kidnapped daughter and avoiding the drug lord's murderous henchmen without hinting at police involvement so the drug lord would walk into a federal sting operation — Shane suspected they were being set up for a fall by the fed.

The case DID involve a pretty kickass car chase and one of Vic's patented highly dangerous and highly ingenious plans. Vic arranged to make it look like a rival gang tried to rip off the gang that had the girl, while letting the captive girl escape in the confusion. And wouldn't you know it, it worked perfectly.

Earlier in the episode, Shane had suggested to Vic that he simply give the blackmail box to the Armenians (thereby repaying the money train debt and assuring his family's safety), so the Armenians could turn it over to the Mexicans and end the gang war (less dead bodies in Farmington). When Vic rejected Shane's idea, Shane tried to reason with Ronnie, who, despite hating Shane, sort of agreed with him.

After being confronted by Ronnie, Vic told him the real reason he didn't want to give the Armenians the blackmail box. Other than staying on the job to take down Pezuela and putting a "down payment on his soul"(which is probably how he feels, but may have just been a line he fed Shane), the more compelling reason for Vic not turning the box over is that he has no idea where it is — Aceveda has it.

In the end, Vic confronted Agt. Murray at her apartment and learned that she hadn't told Pezuela anything about his incriminating activities. I thought it would've been a little more interesting if Murray was actually a crooked agent, but the show (conveniently for Vic) made her sympathetic (she broke the law to keep her brother out of jail).

As if Vic didn't have enough to do, he had to dodge Danny trying to get him to sign a paternity waver AND deal with Cassidy, the budding ho/ecstasy dealer. I like the idea that Vic's professional life and choices are wreaking havoc on his personal life. Still, Cassidy's sudden prominence in the final season is a little suspect given how she was mostly a non-factor for the first six years. I can't help but wonder if it has to do with the fact that Autumn Chiklis (who plays Cassidy) is the daughter of the show's star, executive producer and occasional director (Chiklis DID do a terrific job with that car chase).

So what'd you think of this episode? How is the inevitable Dutch/Lloyd showdown going to end? Will Claudette make it to the end of the season? Finally, which semi-regular character were you happiest to see back? Kleavon or Dina, that sassy little car thief?

The Shield: Box-ing Day

It certainly wasn't the flashiest episode of "The Shield" you'll ever see, but I think last night's episode was the best of the season so far.

After a few weeks of slightly redundant plotting, we got some definite forward movement in the Mexican/Armenian gang war storyline, a fresh take on the Dutch/Billings dynamic (a case that didn't involve Billings being an ass for 90% of the time) and, most importantly, a pay off to the question as to why Laurie Holden's Agent Olivia Murray is even there. (Pretty soon, I'm expecting a pay off to all those lingering camera shots of an increasingly disapproving Ronnie.)

I'll start at the end first with the episode-ending revelation by Aceveda that Agent Murray is one of the people in Pezuela's blackmail box, which means Pezuela controls her. Of course, this is a problem because earlier in the episode, Vic asked Agt. Murray to check up on Armando Rios, one of Pezuela's most trusted guys.

Pezuela had burned down a building in Little Armenia (and a couple of Rezian's soldiers along with it) in his search for the blackmail box. Sensing he was overmatched, Rezian demanded a meeting with the Mexicans to tell them he didn't have the blackmail box. Since that wasn't likely to score him a meeting (that didn't involve him being shot), Rezian eventually decided to pretend he had the blackmail box, just so Pezuela would agree to the meet. The only problem is that Pezuela had no intention of going to the meeting himself, and sent Rios instead.

While I've loved watching Vic and his silver tongue improv his way out of impossible situations before, it was also very interesting watching him deal with all the curve balls coming at him (Rezian pretending he had the box when Vic knew he was lying, and Pezuela refusing to go to the meeting). The meeting between Rios' and Rezian's men was tense, especially when Rezian started acting all reasonable and convinced the Mexicans that he didn't have the box and would actually help them find it. I also liked the scene where Vic helped Rios escape arrest after Julien tracked him down (and Murray pretended not to be able too). It's too bad they waited so long to introduce the idea that Julien's do-gooderness seriously interferes with the Strike Team agenda.

Vic's next play was to go to Aceveda and convince him to get one of his colleagues to get an Armenian community project approved, so that it looked like the Armenians still had some sway over city officials. The poor sap chosen was the City Controller who had screwed Vic over last season, so I don't think too many people watching shed tears when the guy was gunned down by Pezuela's men.

Pezuela thinks he's sending a message to the Armenians that, if they use the blackmail box, the person who helps them will be killed. He still has no idea that Vic and Aceveda really have it (or does he, thanks to Agt. Murray?) While Vic doesn't want to play either side of the Mexican/Armenian conflict too strong, what I find disconcerting is that I get the feeling he sort of favors Pezuela, who has the power to let Vic keep his job, over Rezian, who has the power to keep Vic's family alive. Maybe it's because we see Shane dealing more directly with Rezian, or maybe it's because Pezuela seems a LOT smarter than Rezian, but I just feel like Vic seems a lot more worried about appeasing the Mexicans right now.

Then again, maybe Vic is just subconsciously over his family. Oh wait, maybe that's just me. Vic went and apologized to Cassidy for grabbing her too hard, but she refused to apologize for leaving her autistic brother alone and wandering in the street. Now, as you know, this blog doesn't condone violence against women (or children) at all, but I didn't feel like Vic had to apologize to Cassidy at all. All he did was grab her — and she was being an insufferable little bitch. If I sat around waiting for an apology for all the times my mom grabbed me hard, I'd be waiting for a long time.

Anyway, this storyline led the writers to a clever way of incorporating Danny into the show. I wasn't sure what she'd been doing since she'd apparently accepted Dutch's suggestion of more administrative work, so I thought having her receive an unexpected visit from Cassidy (who wanted to see her half brother) was a good way to include her. Catherine Dent played the scene (and the one where Corrine shows up to pick up Cassidy) perfectly too, with the right mix of politeness to her guests and the awkwardness the situation demanded. Despite what Cassidy told Danny she read about Vic (Terry Crowley's murder), having Danny go up to Vic and ask him to waive his parental rights sort of came out of nowhere. Then again, with a runaway teen in her house earlier, I can't say I blame her.

Finally, there was Dutch (pictured, left, and back in profiler mode) and the case Lloyd, the potential serial killer. Lloyd had shot and killed a classmate that had broken into his house during a presumed robbery attempt. The only problem is that Lloyd and his mom (Frances Fisher) had almost zero money, so Dutch eventually theorized that Lloyd had tricked his classmate into "robbing" his house just to be able to kill him.

For a show that's often intense and hard-hitting, I enjoyed the slow-burn of this storyline. We watched Dutch methodically work the boy and his mom. Lloyd's going to need a middle and last name if he's ever going to become a serial killer (maybe something like Lloyd Alan Kessler). Anyway, the kid was cool as a cucumber and didn't crack under the Dutch man's intense interrogation. While I loved this storyline, I would actually kind of prefer that they leave the question of whether Lloyd is a serial killer in training or not open — I think it's more chilling that way.

So what'd you think of this episode? Did we know that Vic was famous enough that his daughter could look up his exploits on the Internet? Do you think we'll see Lloyd again before the show ends? Finally, how do you think Vic is going to deal with Agt. Murray?

The Shield: Under the Gun

Vic Mackey just has WAY too much to do.

Of course, this has been the case for six seasons (and three episodes) of "The Shield", but last night was one of the few times Vic's multi-tasking overwhelmed him and someone close to him got hurt. Sure, Ronnie's going to be ok (though it's easy for me to say since I've never been assaulted by a mammoth dog), but the fact that Vic wasn't there to back his boy up is a clear symbol of how all of Mackey and the Strike Team's sins have stacked up — with the show ending in a little more than two months, the whole thing will almost certainly come tumbling down like a wobbly Jenga structure after one too many turns.

Since Shane made a deal with the Armenian mob to keep Vic's family safe, this week Rezian asked him to deliver a shipment of police department guns which were to be disposed of. Obviously, Vic wasn't in love with the idea of stealing guns from the department so he went looking for the blackmail box only he and Aceveda know about.

As we all knew thanks to previews from a few weeks ago, Aceveda had taken the box and moved it, correctly assuming that Mackey would eventually use the box for personal gain. Nevermind that Aceveda is also using the box for personal gain (the difference is that Vic isn't kidding himself), but I enjoyed the brief, tense scene between these two uneasy allies, who've pretty much hated each other since the pilot.

As a result, Vic had to find another way to get the guns, which the Armenians promised to ship out of town to Chicago. In what turned out to be a remarkably easy heist, Shane was snuck into the department warehouse with the guns via a confiscated Escalade, and simply drove out with the guns when the security guard wasn't looking (it didn't matter that Vic wasn't there to watch his back). Though the heist itself was easy, the planning was masterful — I loved the way Vic was able to subtly find out the location of the guns and get the Escalade in there without arising the slightest bit of suspicion.

It also helped that the Armenians appear to be a bunch of dumbasses. First they fall for Shane pretending to be scanning for bugs (the device he was using was really so that Vic and Ronnie could listen in), and later Rezian comically fell for Vic's assertion that Rezian's phone had been bugged (Vic had the bug in his hand, and simply turned his back to Rezian while he scanned the room), resulting in the authorities knowing about the gun heist. In the end, Vic made himself indispensible to Rezian, and was able to find out how many Armenians know about his involvement in the money train heist. Things aren't looking good for our friends from Armenia.

I also liked that Laurie Holden's Agent Murray went from a complete non-factor to mostly a non-factor in this episode. I'm still waiting for her to become a more prominent presence on the show, but I was glad to see the character is smart enough to know when she's being used. Of course, that didn't stop her from taking Vic's tip and catching the Armenians red-handed.

Of course, with Vic running around making deals with Murray, having tense confrontations with Shane (I fell for his speech at the end about understanding that Shane just did what he had to do when he fragged Lem — until he scoffed when Shane left), and bailing his ex-wife out of jail, someone was bound to get the short shrift.

Last night, that was Ronnie, who led the sorta Strike Team (Julien and Tina) on an undercover bust of a porn producer who was dealing drugs. Tina did a good job during the operation as an aspiring porn star (though she didn't appreciate the crack about her small breasts) and the porn producer gave them the name of a drug dealer Vic and Ronnie have been trying to catch for years. When Ronnie and the sorta Strike Team to his house, they found out the guy had been tipped off, resulting in Ronnie's arm being mauled by the dog.

With this incident, and Shane's reference to Ronnie as a lapdog, you can't help but sense that Ronnie is going to play some significant part in the resolution to Vic and Shane's stories.

Meanwhile, even the requisite Dutch and Billings subplot was an improvement over last week. Their case — a girl came into the station and said her friend had been kidnapped, though the girl's mom didn't see to want to acknowledge it — started out predictably (Billings being useless, Dutch doing all the work), but the story had some good twists (the girl's brother had her kidnapped so a therapist could "rape the gay out of her," and the girl who reported the crime was her lover) and Billings shockingly started giving a damn a LOT earlier than usual.

Danny (pictured, left) played an important part in cracking the case by relating the real story of her attack a few weeks ago (she lied and told Dutch she'd made it up). Dutch sensed she was lying to him and eventually suggested to Claudette that Danny might feel more comfortable doing administrative work out of the line of fire. I Dutch's assumption was kind of a leap, but Danny didn't seem TOO upset about desk duty, so I guess the new mom will be out of danger for the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, Vic will mostly likely have to deal with the Mexicans (who were absent this episode) and an angry (and clueless) Rezian.

So what'd you think of this episode? Shane told Mara that he had another copy of the file detailing all the Strike Team's misdeeds before giving the original to Mackey. Do you believe him, or was that just something to reassure Mara? Didn't Julien make for a surprisingly convincing boyfriend-of-a-porn star? Finally, wouldn't all of Vic's double dealings feel more urgent if his family were actually likable? For those of you scoring at home, Cassidy tried to have her dad arrested last week and got her mom tossed in jail this week? As my girl Erica (who's just started watching the show this season) said: "I don't like his family."

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.

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?)