TV Verdict

It’s a funny thing about wishes. Sometimes you make them, and they come true. In my last recap of recent events in Farmington, I criticized The Shield for dropping story lines hyped up in the previous season and giving practically no mention of them. Well, whine no more! The Shield is resolving exactly what I wanted it to: troublesome Mexican developer Pezuela’s slow takeover of the city. We’re back on track.

(Author’s note: I am also back on track. Apologies for the inconsistent coverage thus far. I’m back on the trolley, gosh darn it!)

Episode summary and spoilers below.

As Vic’s engineered war between the Armenians and the Mexicans heat up, the squeeze starts up something fierce. Relations with his daughter go south after Cassidy pays a surprise visit to Danny looking for information about who her father really is. The Armenians, terrified by further reprisal from the more powerful Mexicans, seek a truce, which Shane and Vic must defuse. Vic furthers his quid pro quo relationship with an FBI agent looking for an in on the drug cartels, but this proves to be a colossal miscalculation on his part, as we find out she is deep in Peszuela’s pocket. Even worse, Vic tries to manipulate Aceveda into revealing some blackmail box information to cement the Armenian-Mexican feud, but it leads to the murder of a city councilman. Whoops.

Unsure exactly of where he and the strike team stands with Agent Murray, who Vic now realizes in in Pezuela’s pocket due to the blackmail box. Is she an ally or a foe? Things get more suspicious when Vic and the team check out a tip from her about the kidnapped daughter of a drug kingpin–Murray needs to rescue her without tipping off the organization that the FBI is tracking them. Enter Vic and his merry bunch of men to simulate a rival gang robbery gone bad. Shane and Ronnie are mortified, convinced they are walking face-first into a trap, but Vic always has an angle to play.

Aceveda announces his intention to hand in the blackmail box to Justice, which robs Vic all of his leverage with the Armenians. The musical chair game is about to end, and Vic needs to find a chair, immediately. Unfortunately for Shane, Vic and Ronnie have no plans on saving him a seat. An old friend comes to visit the Barn, which digs up some unresolved issues in Shane’s past, both good and bad. At the last possible second, Vic gets cold feet over the plan to deal with Shane.

Oh man. You can really feel the screws coming down on Vic. Until Episode 4, it’s been like the old Vic, narrowly dodging crisis after crisis by the skin of his teeth, but now things are starting to collapse. He looks sweaty, panicked, as if he has no idea how to hold things together, and the pressure just keeps mounting. His ever-winding plan to keep his family, his job and his life safe keeps crumbling away bit by bit. He might be able to keep one of them, even two… but he might have to pick and choose very soon. Very, very soon. And it’s going to be ugly.

We also delve into a nice little Dutch subplot for the first time this season, at least one worth paying attention to. His nutjob radar hones in on a sixteen year-old boy whom he convinces his partner is a serial killer in the making. The two investigate what appears to be a by-the-books home invasion gone bad, but are unable to make anything stick. Dutch reviews the interview tape with an obsessiveness that frankly, is a bit worrying. He’s a funny character, Dutch; very passive, very nerdy, very clever, but also quite damaged. He confronts the kid, but the little jerk is unflappable. Exactly what Dutch’s interests are in the boy remain unclear. I never quite forgave him for that bit with the cat a few seasons ago. Methinks trouble brews here.

As for the Strike Team, things are getting ugly. Shane somehow stopped being the crazy one. That in of itself is cause for great alarm. In the eyes of his friends, Vic has too many balls in the air–he should cut a deal with the Armenians, get out from their thumb, keep his family safe and call it a day, lest they all get taken down in his whirling dervish. Vic is looking to save his job, get Peszuela off the street, save his job and protect family all in one foul sweep. Frankly, Shane and Ronnie are getting nervous. Shane even goes so far to try and flip Ronnie to his way of thinking. When the guy who grenades his best friend starts making sense, you know Vic is off the deep end.

Then in Episode Six, Vic finally decides to live up to his promise and avenge Lem’s death. He sets a complex plan in motion to put Shane in the firing line between Armenians and the Mexicans, but at the last second, Vic chickens out. He takes a look in the mirror and gets a bit frightened about the person he has become. Honestly, it’s the first sensible thing Vic’s done this season, albeit a bit late to change anything. It’s ironic that we first meet Vic way back in the pilot, offing a fellow team member, but now right at the end, Vic can’t bring himself to do the same thing. Maybe there’s hope for Vic yet.

Then again, maybe not. Shane may be a putz, but he’s not as stupid as he looks. After years of running with Vic and weaving the web of lies back and forth, he recognizes a set-up job when he sees it. Now, Shane knows Vic and Ronnie are out for blood. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

One storyline I am painfully uninterested in is Claudette’s confrontation with serial killer Kleavon Gardner, whom Claudette and Dutch spent a merry few episodes chasing down in previous seasons. Uh oh, he knows she’s sick, because he’s been digging through her garbage and found her medication bottles. Since she’s on such powerful drugs, that means she’s not competent as the arresting officer, and all of her cases are put into doubt… right? Man, I couldn’t be arsed with this storyline to save my life–it has the pedantic dullness of a Law & Order spin off. Since she became Captain, Claudette’s been entirely off the dramatic radar if you ask me. Best to concentrate on more pressing issues.

Bringing Tavon back in Episode 6, though? Stroke of brilliance. I quite liked him in the Strike Team, and his sudden removal made for a great short-term plot device, but unsatisfying on the long-term. It’s awesome that we get some closure on his head-smashing adventures and the satisfaction of him tearing into Shane one more time.

Despite a slow start, the final season of The Shield is barreling down the highway at breakneck speed. It is no longer a question of who will get away scott-free, but how many people are going to be taken down in the process. Vic, Shane and Ronnie are headed towards a terrible finale, and it’s going to be glorious television.