WTF is up with the Shield threads? Doesn’t anybody watch this show?
Anyway, this episode was so intense I swear my stomach was actually churning. Jesus. It just gets worse and worse.
Definitely. Just when I think this show can’t get any more intense, next week comes along and proves me wrong.
It was good to see Gina Torres on TV again.
But I think Cavanaugh just screwed up by going to Antwon for dirt on Mackey. Vic’s got too many people on the inside he can either call in favors from or otherwise pressure (through bribes or intimidation) to off Antwon. And as soon as Cavanuagh starts coming after Vic with the “Antwon Dirt,” Vic’s going to figure out who’s talking.
And shut them up for good.
Eventually, I think it’s going to be the $65,000 he gave Corrine that does him in.
Hell, yeah, I do. The most intense show on TV?
Antwon made a point of saying, both last season (when he was busted the first time) and in this latest episode that he effectively runs the prison where he’s serving time. Given that the prison is apparently a bit far from Farmington, it seems unlikely that even Vic’s juice extends far enough outside to shut Antwon up.
Was Claudette’s condition even mentioned this episode? I kept waiting for some grand reveal that she was all right or Dutch going to see her at the hospital, but aside from the “previously on…” I can’t remember anything.
I believe Dutch commented to Kavanaugh in the bathroom that “she’s doing o.k.”. That was all we got on Claudette.
Lem seems to be really sticking by Vic, but did you see the look he gave him when Vic commented that they had found Kavanaugh’s weakness? You could tell that Lem was upset by that. Then Lem gets arrested as he and Vic run out of the viewing room like a couple of school boys who got caught sneaking out of class. Lem could actually turn at this point I think, but he might not get the chance…
How about Kavanaugh going psycho on Dutch when he brought up his wife’s mental illness? I’m beginning to wonder if “special K” doesn’t have some issues of his own upstairs. That scene with his wife was unreal—great acting.
Nothing from Aceveda in this episode, but I still say he is the ace in the deck for the strike team. Right when Kavanaugh has the team put away–Aceveda will throw his political wieght around to get them out of trouble.
Technical question: What are the rules in these threads about discussing previews for next week? Spoilers or no?
Also, just for the sake of accuracy, Kavanaugh is spelled with a “K”. They showed his name in the newspaper a few weeks back when they were looking for dirt on him.
I agree woodstockbirdybird. 24 gets multi-page threads, and posts before the show airs. The Shield gets a couple dozen posts.
Mackey learned exactly what he was dealing with when Kavanaugh wouldn’t bend for his wife (the always-delicious Gina Torres). I agree with RYBTP that Lem didn’t seem comfortable with Mackey’s cold heart regarding Kavanaugh’s weakness (and that Claudette only had one line of dialog addressing her situation).
When Kavanaugh put Corinne on the spot, why didn’t her lawyer step up to the plate? I thought that was a little weak. I know why, from a story advancement point, but if I lawyered up, I would want him standing in-between me and the questioner as a shield. Guess that’s the difference between a cop show and a lawyer show. 
I didn’t like Kavanaugh’s meltdown so soon after Lynn’s (24) meltdown. Someone sitting above FX and Fox entities should have realized that these shows likely have a crossover audience and that they had very similar meltdowns on the same week, 25 hours apart. Poor planning. This would have been a good time to give The Shield a two-week hiatus, as 24 is a bigger property and earner and part of its gimmick is that you get 24 episodes in succession with no weeks off.
Kavanaugh sure didn’t like a taste of his own medicine as far as using your enemy’s ex-wife against them. Then he lost his temper and fucked up by moving too soon. This after Lem was insanely heroic and saved Kavanaugh’s life.
I’m new to the show this season. Why would Dutch backstab Vic?
Vic has always played the bully to Dutch’s “nerdy” character. When Dutch first joined the force, Vic constantly played gags on him to embarass him in front of the entire barn. I think the first running gag was that Dutch’s chair was always missing when he would come back to his desk (can someone verfiy that one for me?).
Also, Dutch is a good guy overall, and he knows Vic is dirty. He hates dirty cops and wants Vic to go down for what he has gotten away with.
Lastly, Dutch dated Corrine (Vic’s ex) a couple of times. This brought up a lot of tension between them of course–and Dutch feels that Vic forced the relationship to come to a halt.
Keep in mind that 90% of the posts in the 24 threads are making fun of the show and how unbelievable it has become. We can’t do that with The Shield, nor would I want to start doing so.
Are you picking on my posts 
I’m not so sure of that. The relationship ended, IIRC, when Corinne confronted Dutch about his reasons for dating her. He admitted that sticking it to Vic was a bonus.
Yeah, 24 is the goofy dumb show I watch and mostly mock.
This episode was interesting because it finally settled the question of whether Kavanaugh is a super-intense super cop who wants justice above all, or a crazy-intense psycho cop who needs to control and punish people because of his control freakiness. Such a fine line! Abandoning his wife because she had mental issues makes him pretty damn low in my estimation. He couldn’t handle being with her because he couldn’t control the situation, and his intensity only elevates her crazy factor. It really pissed me off though, and now I hope something really bad happens to him.
Yeah, I’m not real sure on that, either. I will say, though, that the previews, to me, only intensified the feeling I got from this episode (which others have already brought up) that Lem might be considering turning on the strike team. Does anybody know if this is the last season? That would definitely make a difference in how this all plays out.
Great point! He is a complex character for sure. We also saw in that scene that he was going to do the “right” thing by the book–even though it was his wife. However, he turns on this soon enough by going back to Antwoin and serving up the strike team to be killed off in jail. He wasn’t willing to do this earlier in the show, so we know that he is acting out of his personal hurt and anger over someone seeing him in a weak position.
All of this shows that he wants to be in complete control, and wants everyone else to see him as always in control.
It’s your thread birdman, you make the call.
Then I say everything is up for discussion. There are so few of us that seem to be fans of the show anyway that I can’t imagine we’re getting a lot of random people reading the threads who are going to be upset about us giving away plot points. And I assume most viewers are like me - after an intense episode (and they’re all intense), you’re all sticking around to get a teaser of next week’s show.
So: Lem in jail? How long will that last, do you think? The fact that Vic and the rest of the strike team just stood there while he was being put into the cage at the department (not that there’s much they could have done, I suppose, but no one even said anything) is going to stick in Lem’s mind for a while, I imagine.
Yeah-best show on TV, best show since OZ.
I think Dutch may have realized that Kavanaugh is bad news. I predict that Dutch will ultimately save Vic and bring Kavanaugh down. Motivation is Vic is a good/bad cop and Kavanaugh is a bad/bad cop. But what a great charter. Also, Lem might have to kill Antwon. Antwon will not be around next season and we will need some new bad guys.
What is gonna happen to Lem? Yes, Lem looked upset with what Vic said about finding K’s weakness, but he has got to be pissed off at K for busting him after he saved his life. Who would you trusted for help now K or Vic?
And finally Aceveda will have to side with Vic when K gets to close to the cock for murder motivation.
Good choice. I couldn’t believe he put him in the cage with some of the same guys I’m sure he had busted. I was just waiting for Julian to refuse and tell him to do it himself–not one person said a thing or stood up for Lem.
Lem might be in a position now that when Kavanaugh talks to him he would want to deal to get himself away from Mr. Mitchell. I only see two options for Lem now, and that is dealing or getting killed in his cell.
Vic knows this though, or will soon enough, and will be pulling in every favor and low down, dirty trick he can think of to get Lem out of there. It might all come down to the fact that Kavanaugh never read him his rights! Lawyer girl comes in and gets him out of prison right before he gets hit?
One way or another, next week should be a great episode.
Vic’s got the juice; all he has to do is find one of Anton’s rivals on the Outside who has one of his peeps on the Inside, and cut the deal; Antwon then gets shanked by a lifer who has nothing else to lose.
Generally: Lem might walk; or at least get Kavanaugh (with a “K” 
) in serious trouble. I may be wrong, but as I understand things, cops never get put in “general population,” even in a rinky-dink place like The Barn. He has put Lem’s life in jeopardy by doing that, and if most of the Barn testifies to how Kavanaugh was “tweaking” at the time…