Here is where I fill in some content free information for the DVR crowd so that they aren’t accidentally spoilered on mouseover. While this episode is fair game, I respectfully request other posters to spoiler box anything from the previews.
I’m glad they got to a point where Lem’s murder is ‘solved’. Shane showed some intelligence when telling Vic it was like he (Vic) was looking into a mirror, even if Vic doesn’t realize it. Shane learned from Vic - too well, in the case of Lem.
Enjoyed the little love square they had. Looks like both Dani and Dutch are on the outside looking in. 24 should take notes from this show about how to mix in family/relationship drama without breaking the whole pace of the show.
INS guy seems to be fitting in well into the strike team, but Julian sticks out like a sore thumb. He doesn’t have any moral ambiguity, which is a good trait in a police officer. INS guy is willing to bend, but he’s no Vic Mackey (so far).
I really think Vic will be off the force by the end of the season, and I wonder how that will be handled. I’m pretty sure they’ve already signed for another season, but I’m not totally sure. I also wonder how the Shane situation is going to be resolved. Shane is now persona non grata in The Barn, but his story isn’t over.
Another great episode. I had the same feeling about Julian on the Strike Team - last night, while watching, I turned to my girlfriend and said “Who the hell decided to put him on the Strike Team?”. The Shane storyline has the potential to go in any of several directions, and should add enough tension to make up for the loss of Kavanaugh. Although Shane’s been in a similar situation with Vic before (when he was off the team, during the whole Antoine Mitchell season) and come back into his good graces, so maybe Vic will forgive eventually - as you said, Shane made some good points when talking to Vic, and I even felt myself feeling for him near the end.
At this point, I can’t imagine how they’re going to wring another season out of this, but they’ve had storylines where everything seemed to be falling apart before (hell, that’s basically been the case for the entire series) and managed to keep things going, so I’m sure they can keep it up a bit longer if they stretch it out to next year.
I laughed when Shane looked at Julian as he said “Let’s make sure they don’t ass-ream us”. It was almost a throwaway, but perfectly in character.
I wonder, now that the Lem thing has been solved, if Vic’s going to look more into Aceveda’s rape - he seemed to be heading that direction last season, before things got too out of hand for him. I’d love to see Aceveda have to face up to that somehow.
I can’t believe we’re only halfway through this season. Usually a huge blowout like this would be the season-ending cliffhanger. Not on this show! It’s a pleasant surprise that I have no clue where this story is going, and I really never have. I can’t say that about most TV shows, even the really good ones.
I noticed this episode that Ronnie still has the stove burner scars on his face. That’s good continuity, especially since that probably happened 2 seasons ago back when Antoine was the main bad guy.
Not really much to say about the show, it was great as usual. I agree with most of what Shane was saying, so it’ll be interesting to see if Vic comes around and realizes he was right. I don’t really see how Shane can just stop showing up for work without it being suspicious, maybe he’ll take time off or something.
I think it was in Season 2! I’ve lost track of how much time has passed in the show’s world, but obviously Vic’s kids (and Shane’s) are quite a bit older. It’s been at least three years or so since Ronnie got burned. At the time, didn’t they say he was getting skin grafts too? After a few years, most scars do heal to about the point they’re showing with Ronnie.
Yeah, Ronnie got burned by Armadillo Quintero (still the show’s best and scariest villain) back in Season 2. I recall him saying he was going to get skin grafts from his thigh, some time around Season 3, back around when Tavon joined the Strike Team. And after all that time (at least a couple years in continuity), facial scars like his would have healed pretty well.
That reminds me… that could be how they’re going to keep Vic around for another Season. That guy was in charge of the money that pays for the strike team? So I guess he can basically threaten to cut the funding unless Vic stays.
That was my thought. My guess is that he will go to Aceveda to inquire about Vic’s appeals hearing. Once Aceveda finds out from Claudette that there really is no appeals hearing, he may insist that one be conducted and rigged in favor of Vic. Voila! Vic’s back in business.
Let’s assume that is how Vic stays in. Does he regain the top spot? Or does the new kid take over?
Did they advance the 12 murders this episode? Last I heard, one of the guys was a Mexican politician. There is supposed to be pressure to close this case to make the numbers look good.
Chiklis (sp?) may be ready to move on. A (partially?) recast show with INS guy gradually descending to Vic’s level could be good for another 6 or 7 seasons.
He’s the executive producer and star! I doubt he’s trying to leave. In fact, I think Shawn Ryan has gone on record saying the story has one more season in it, and then they’re done. It’s not an ER-type show where they can just rotate the whole cast in and out as necessary and keep churning out the generic crapfest.