The Shield‘ kicked off its final season with every cylinder on fire.
Vic and Ronnie gagged Mara (finally, someone shut her up), cornered Shane, and proceeded to kick the stuffing out of him for his kidnapping of Vic’s family. Then Shane tells Vic the truth, or a variation thereof, and suddenly, disposing of his former protege is the least of Vic’s worries.
Meanwhile, an ICE agent shows up in the middle of a horrific crime scene. We don’t get a whole lot of information on her except that she was eager to help out with the case that involved a Salvadoran banger dragged behind a car. I lay guess she’ll play a prominent role down the line. You don’t need Vic’s glances to tell you more than that.
Some good comic relief amidst the misery comes in the form of Steve Billings, smack dab in the middle of his would-be lawsuit against The Barn for supposed-injuries he suffered when Vic and Kavanaugh went at it at the beginning of last season. David Marciano plays the guy with great gusto; he’s half-shmuck, half… Hell, he’s all shmuck. He’s obviously faking these severe, traumatic injuries to gain a quick buck, but Dutch is quick to call him on it, setting him up to take a swing at bandaging his bruised ego over a case he tanked a few years back. Not wanting to look more the fool than he already is, Billings solves the case, patches up his pride, but loses his lawsuit. So, he’s back to work, but he’s going to coast along on fumes; or, as Claudette put it, “business as usual”.
Elsewhere, Vic hired former-cop Ray Carlson to look after his family over this whole Armenian business. He was the guy who found himself with a broken arm in the third season at the hands of Julien. It was cool seeing an old face, and one thing The Shield is good at is bringing back old faces where you least expect to see them. And, it was amusing watching Vic and Carlson trying to cover up a beatdown with his daughter standing a mere few feet away.
Perhaps the greatest bit of character exposition tonight was with Ronnie. From the beginning, he’s been the quiet, introspective part of The Strike Team. He’s slowly taken on more of a personality as the show has progressed, and tonight, he did something that now puts him into the full Strike Team loop: he killed someone in cold blood. Yes, Sodofian WAS after Vic’s family, but murder is murder, and while he’s been a part of covering up murders, Ronnie has never pulled the trigger. Watch as he calmly collects himself and exits the scene and alerts Vic of his actions later. Vic worries he may be vacant, but Ronnie will have none of it: he’s fine with what he did. Last season, he learned the full truth about Terry Crowley, and didn’t bat an eyelash. Tonight, he outright murdered a helpless human being. You didn’t need the added bonus of him being put in charge of The Strike Team to see where they’re taking his character. I for one am very fascinated by these turn of events.
And maybe it was just me, but Shane’s axe to Sodofian’s feet was a pretty smart move on his part.
Finally, it appears Vic has a 30-day stay of execution thanks to the creepy Pezuela; Vic is using it to start a war between the Mexicans and the Armenians to keep the heat off his family. Who wants to guess it’s only going to add fuel to the fire?
The Shield is back. But there’s only 12 episodes left. How will it all end?
Joseph Henson is a film-critic and would-be screenwriter. If you enjoyed his observations, please feel free to leave him a comment or two.
