The ShieldCoefficient of Drag
Original Air Date: September 2, 2008
Tom R - TwoCents Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com
As The Shield enters into its final season, Detectives Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell set off a three way gang war between two warring Armenian gangs and a Mexican crime lord. But don’t think, of course, that the personal war between Mackey and Vendrell is over. Thanks also to Anheuser-Busch for sponsoring the season and providing recaps of previous seasons. The dialogue moves pretty fast, and it doesn’t stop for exposition or “remember when” moments. Catch your breath during the commercials. This promises to be just as hard-hitting as the past six seasons.
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[photo: Prashant Gupta / FX]
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The Shield
ReplyDeleteCoefficient of Drag
Original Air Date: September 2, 2008
Tom R - TwoCents Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com
As The Shield enters into its final season, Detectives Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell set off a three way gang war between two warring Armenian gangs and a Mexican crime lord. But don’t think, of course, that the personal war between Mackey and Vendrell is over. Thanks also to Anheuser-Busch for sponsoring the season and providing recaps of previous seasons. The dialogue moves pretty fast, and it doesn’t stop for exposition or “remember when” moments. Catch your breath during the commercials. This promises to be just as hard-hitting as the past six seasons.
Shane returns home, only to be jumped by Mackey and Ronnie. Shane tries to reassure Mackey that he was protecting Mackey’s family from Diro’s hit man, Zadofian. He also tells Mackey that in protecting them, he fell under the influence of Diro’s rival, Ellis Rezian. Shane realizes he needs to find Zadofian before Mackey does. Vic and Shane follow two different routes to Zadofian, but Vic gets there first, leaving Shane hiding outside the hotel. Vic leaves, and Ronnie guards Zadofian. After Diro calls his cell, Ronnie shoots him and delivers the cell phone with Diro’s number to Vic. Ronnie is very uneasy after the incident, and Vic urges him not to fall into “the same black hole that took Shane”.
Once Ronnie leaves the hotel, Shane finds Zadofian dead. He takes a fire axe and cuts off his feet, which implicates Diro in the killing and gives him leverage with Rezian. Both Shane and Mackey are keeping secrets from each other by the time they meet again.
Back at the Barn, Dutch shares a flirtatious moment with Tina before Danny sends him in to interrogate a man confessing to the murder of his wife. He was tried for the crime, but is protected, as he puts it, by “Final Jeopardy”. He arranged the murder, but he fingers his accomplice, who is now engaged to a woman he loves. Dutch and Claudette realize that Billings was involved in the original case, so they bring him in for clarity. Billings, of course, hits them up for cab fare and continues his disability suit. They also bring in Billings’ partner on that case, and the old rivalry flares until Billings bursts into the interrogation room to question the woman being fought over. His energy, his attention to detail, and his memory of the case all serve to contradict everything he is claiming in his lawsuit, and Claudette orders him to drop the case and get back to work.
Investigating a dragging death, Claudette introduces Vic to Agent Olivia Murray, who is investigating gang warfare. She also tells Vic that until he is cleared for reinstatement, he is not in charge. Vic and Acevedo review the contents of the blackmail box that Vic confiscated from Cruz Pezcuela. Vic feels he can use it to get absolution in exchange for his badge, while Acevedo knows that they can block Pezcuela by blackmailing the councilman who is heading the efforts to get Pezcuela the “hotel” that will become the center of his drug operations.
Yep…All that in one hour. The premiere manages to introduce new characters and lay the groundwork for the coming weeks, while at the same time pulling humor from Dutch’s antagonism toward Billings, and keeping the action up. It’s a balance that has always been the strong point of the show (along with the cast, of course).
So that’s my two cents. Love to hear your thoughts. Of course, you do have the right to remain silent…