Being in a deserted body shop makes perfect sense, as Lem needed deserted places to stay. Guardo being there makes none. Guardo knowing Lem was there makes none. I was stretching to try and make sense of the focus.
What a great ending to a great season. I confess that I did not foresee what would happen to Lem, or that Shane would be involved. Frankly, I had no idea what was going to happen in this episode.
The scene between Kavanaugh and Vic’s wife did not disappoint. I saw the scene as Kavanaugh’s ham-fisted attempt at seducing her, and when she denied him he tried to make it into something else – some sort of expression of his concern for her. But I think the contrast between his success with Vic’s wife and Vic’s success with Kavanaugh’s wife underscored one of the themes of the season: Kavanaugh is in many ways the “good guy,” but his style is so grotesque and awkward that we (and the people around him) end up repelled by him. Vic is in every sense a criminal, but is a so charismatic that we end up sympathising with him. Very well done characters.
Anyway, I’m sorry to see this season end. Has anyone actually heard from a reliable source that there will only be one more?
I heard an interview on NPR with Shawn Ryan, the creator of The Shield. He said that viewers were starting to sympathise with Vic, and he wanted to remind them this season that he wasn’t necessarily a good guy.
I think he succeeded.
I don’t see how they could milk it longer than one more season. As much as I hate to see the show go, stories have endings.
Shane isn’t exactly the braintrust of the Strike Team. His unilateral action is probably going to bring them all down in the end, and is further evidence that Vic should’ve killed him last season when he had the chance. He’s too much heart and too little brain for his current lifestyle, and he’s probably going to leave two orphans. Nice going, Shane.
I’m glad Danny got the baby-daddy pool money. She’s going to need it.
I see that I misspelled Thief above. I before E except after H, I guess. I know how to spell, I swear.
Considering that the episode title was “Of Mice and Lem,” I did really love Shane telling Lem about the beautiful ranch in the mountains that he was going to get to live in someday.
I have to confess that as much as I enjoy this show, I usually fall asleep due to my early schedule. I’ve noticed that they have a “guest boss” each season. I thought they’d kill off Forrest Whitaker so they could bring someone else in. Now it looks like they’ll have to bring him back next season (not that I mind…I love him). Has anyone heard anything about a new guest for next season?
So we know that Vic is Danni’s baby daddy, which did suprise me. I thought they would go with someone less obvious. Vic sure does get alot.
Dutch is headed for disaster next year, as the rookie cop will take down the “super detective” by seducing him and filing a sexual harrasment lawsuit.
Claudette is finally where she belongs–in control. She handles herself very well, and is great at taking comand of a situation. She will be a huge problem for the guys next season–as if they don’t have enough to worry about.
I predict that Shane will eventually fess up to Vic about what he did. I know that seems crazy–but I think it will happen.
I was so hoping that Vic would get a few good slugs in against Kavanaugh. I want to see that guy get hurt.
How uncomfortable was the wailing of hot rookie when she saw Lem’s dead body? That was crazy.
The only person to benefit at all in this situation? Aceveda. Kavanaugh has no more leverage to investigate the strike team now that Lem is gone. Shane’s wife will be all to ready to provide him with an alibi, and Vic and Ronnie already have theirs. Aceveda no longer has to worry about Special K connecting him to Antwoine knocking off that dude in prison for him.
Perhaps there will be some connection to Lem trying to escape the country by getting Guardo’s help? Things go bad, then Guardo decides to blow him up? Who knows, but it could go that route.
I say next year has to be the series finale–and I think I’m actually ready for that. I don’t want to see them take this show too far–where it becomes unbelievable (a.k.a. “24”).
I will definitely be tuning in to watch Thief, and then Rescue Me, and then Nip/Tuck, and then back to The Shield. Thank you FX!
I completely don’t understand this perspective. Vic is slimy and evil; how in the world does Kavanaugh come off worse in most viewers’ eyes?
Kavanaugh was willing to execute Lem to get to Vic. And while a good tactic, he didn’t win points going after Corinne either.
Still, at the top of Vic’s “I’m a bad man” list is cop-murderer. Yet people still feel for him.
And that’s what makes this show so great. The writes make us sympathize with the villian and villify the hero. But even then that is too simplistic. As we can see there is greater evil than Vic out there and he does his best to take that evil down, or at least control it. And while K may have been on the side of right he didn’t actually go about it in a noble way like the heroes of old.
Guardo does have a connection to Lem, the strike team got his grenades twice already. It’s possible that he would go after the strike team at this point. Also, it’s possible Claudette didn’t want to mention the strike team as suspects in front of all the other cops, and she’ll be talking to Dutch about it more privately.
I was actually surprised to see Shane so broken up about it, actually crying and stuff. I knew what was coming, but I expected it in cold blood.
I think next season needs to be the last one. Losing Lem is huge.
Yeah, and if Lem died anywhere other than sitting in his car in an out-of-the-way area with no sign of fighting or struggle, I could maybe see it. As it is, it’s obvious to everyone and their blind grandmother that the Strike Team (or one of its members) should be, if not the suspects, at least the prime suspects in Lem’s death. And if they open the sixth season with everyone (including Vic) legitimately scratching their head about who could have done this terrible thing, that’ll be really sloppy writing.
Definitely a good point.
No kidding. Clearly, this leaves us with many, many questions, perhaps too great a number to address in this single thread, though a fair number have been posed and speculated upon already. Still, there is one question, one dilemma, one key, driving plot point caused by this recent development that has as yet remained unaddressed. In the next season…
Who will hold the shotgun?
Vic had it during the bust on this episode, which looked okay, I guess – definitely a better choice than Ronnie – but we must admit that Vic’s coolness is, if not entirely wasted, then at least substantially diminished if he does not enter the building brandishing his pistol in the trademark next-to-the-cheek T.V. Cop Fashion. Shane must follow him, wielding a smallish revolver in a similar manner, and Ronnie must sneak around to the back (or some other alternate ingress). Lem…Lem held the shotgun, dammit! He’d hold the shotgun, kick in the door, put the stock to his shoulder, sweep the room, and clear it for Vic and Shane’s entry. This was As It Should Be.
Now, though…Og only knows what chaos-twisted happenstance will be forced to occur thanks to Shane. Perhaps the writers will have Shane repay some small fraction of his karmic debt by designating him the new shotgun holder, thus forcing him to look utterly ridiculous in all his future busts. But, while perhaps a just choice, this would do little to fill the void so conspicuously left by the death of poor Det. Lemansky.
Hey, maybe they’ll bring back Tevon. Tevon could hold the shotgun. Yeah, that might work. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…
I don’t think Vic will suspect Shane in the least, although Shane is using Vic as his role-model. Obviously Vic and Ronnie know each other didn’t do it.
How could he not suspect Shane? He’s not stupid; he can connect the dots. A third-grader could connect the dots.
A part of me was kind of hoping that Vic would realize it at the scene, and then turn around and shoot Shane in the face. Of course, that would make it the last season, which it apparently isn’t.
I agree with whoever said Shane will probably confess. Either that or Vic will figure it out right away.
How about Shane giving Lem food (“my favorite!”) as he dropped the grenade in the car? What a touch.
Damn it! I TiVo’d the show last night because we went to a concert, and I only watched half of it tonight because my girlfriend’s friggin’ sister came over for some computer help and she still hasn’t left, so I haven’t been able to finish the episode or read the posts in this thread, but I’m dying to! Hopefully tomorrow.