Now that’s how you do a season finale. Tie up a few loose ends and get things going for the next season, but no ludicrous cliffhangers.
Does anybody know when Hiatt was signed to do his new CBS show? When he was introduced, it looked like he had half a brain. What he did tonight breaking up the initiation was pretty dumb, but it gave Claudette a reason to let him go. Along with boinking Danni, of course.
I don’t get why Shane thinks Vic’s family is out of danger now. What did I miss? I always miss something.
Diro (Franka Potente) had put out an active hit on Vic’s family, for Vic’s part in the money train robbery back in season 2. Shane sold Diro out to Rezian, her Armenian rival who Shane originally busted for her, and told Rezian where he could send his goons to kill Diro and her comatose father. In exchange for essentially putting Rezian back in charge of the Armenian mob in Farmington, making some evidence against Rezian disappear, and agreeing to become Rezian’s errand boy, Shane got him to call off the hit against Vic and Ronnie and their families (as long as Shane does what he is told). So the short-term danger to Vic’s family is over, but Shane just traded being one Armenian mob faction’s bitch for being another’s.
And I see three out of the five of us at the SDMB that watch this show are here.
I found myself acting all dissatisfied at times with the finale…until I realized that there was another season - I was expecting Sopranos-style resolutions. Once I realized that’s what I was doing I was OK.
I can’t wait for Dutch Boy having too many ladies after him next season. Should be good.
I also like the pure agopny of Shane’s situation. He actually saved Vic’s wife and older daughter, and his price is to be Rezian’s boy indefinitely. What a fantastic character he is.
And now we have Acevedo and Vic going after the same foe for the sake of Farmington. Awesome.
Shane is just the dumbest crooked cop in history. Every time he tries to go outon his own he always gets screwed over. First Antwon and now this. If it wasn’t for Vic he would have been dead a long time ago.
It’s good to see Vic and Aceveda on the same side again. I’m glad the writer’s kind of let the whole oral rape thing drop and didn’t have Vic holding over Aceveda’s head. It would have been out of character for him to do so.
Frankly, I was disappointed by the finale. There was a lot of build-up, and then everything was resolved too conveniently and with no real drama.
Aceveda and Mackey working together was a clever twist, I’ll admit. But having Mackey gamble everything on pulling over the bad guy who just happens to be carrrying ALL the blackmail material? Can you say deus ex machina?
And what about this interesting new strike team leader? He’s intelligent and likable and a different kind of obstacle for Mackey to work around. Let’s have him make a dumb but unimportant decision about gang initiations so that Claudette can turn on a dime and fire him.
Shane (yes, he is the dumbest crroked cop in history) spent the episode going back and forth from hospital room to jail visitation room acting whiny and indecisive. I hoped at the very end that RunLolaRun would pull a hidden gun and shoot him for his betrayal. But, no, she simply slinks off. All build-up and no pay-off.
I love The Shield, but this episode was a let-down.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou, thanks! That’s sorta what I thought was happening. I’ll watch again. I couldn’t figure what Shane did to get Diro to call off the hit.
Is Diro the only Armenian who knows about the money train? Rezian doesn’t know? Yet?
I thought that was a great twist for Billings. I’ve worked with whiny-ass bitches just like him (I’m sure we all have) who’ve threatened to sue over some bullshit claim like that. I imagine that, just like my real-life co-workers, he’ll come slinking back next season without a penny, only to be fired immediately.
I know what some of you were saying about the finale being a let-down, but honestly, I was fine with it. The show’s too intense as it is - it’s nice to close the season without a real cliffhanger and with some resolution to plotlines. The new guy’s firing was a little pat, but so was Kavanaugh’s end, and honestly, that’s the way a lot of things go down in the real world - with a whimper. And I don’t know that Vic’s finding the trunk full of evidence was completely a deus ex machina - he knew something was going on with the driver of that car, something worth at least a couple hundred thousand dollars and a politician’s connection to murders and an arsenal of weapons. They’d been leading up to it, so it didn’t seem to be too tidy IMO.
Also, I don’t see any way out for Shane. He’s got to either die or run away to Mexico next season. Of course, that just means the writers will probably kill Vic and Ronnie and end the series with Shane running the Strike Team.
Not to get nitpicky…alright, to get nitpicky, he boinked Tina, not Danni.
CCH Pounder is a strong presence, and was under-utilized this season. She should have as much camera time as Vic.
Next season we have Shane caught between the Armenians and Vic. I can see Vic and Shane making up, but Ronnie taking up the gauntlet. We also have the Aceveda/Mackey team-up, and the Dutch/Danni hookup.
Lastly, who really thought Dutch had a chance with Tina? Don’t everyone raise your hands at once.
:smack: That’s me, getting the womens’ names mixed up. We didn’t see much of either of them this season. That’s my excuse.
I can see Vic and Shane making up too, if Shane gets a chance to explain why he kidnapped Corinne and the daughter. But what if Vic finds out Shane blabbed to the Armenians about the money train?
I agree that this episode was kind of a let down, and more of a setup for next season. I’m ok with that. I liked how Vic walked out on the appeal, refusing to exploit his children.
Didn’t Dutch make a play for Danni a couple of seasons ago, only to find out she was rubbing uglies with Vic?
While I think the resolution for the San Marcos murders was curt, I like that it was resolved - both the immediate murderers and a good but not final resolution regarding the underlying conspiracy.
Diro’s dad is dead, but I expect her to be back, at least for an episode or three, next season.
I’d really like Julien and Dutch to once again get a meaty story and some camera time - plus, as I mentioned above, Claudette can carry a story quite well on her own and should get equal time with Vic.
