(S06E07) "He's not going to say anything to anybody because I know everything he's done." -Shane
There it is folks. The one thing that can actually make Vic Mackey look terrified. The knowledge in Shane's (apparently not so small) brain. We knew this was coming though. It's almost like watching an episode of Survivor. An alliance has been broken and now it's every man for himself. Who knows what and how they can use it to gain leverage.
I'll be honest though. Shane is proving to be far more effective in covering his tracks than I would have ever imagined. It almost makes you wonder how many times he's gone over this type of scenario in his head, even before the incident with Lem. The guy has put plenty of thought into his actions and it seems like Vic may have a legitimate reason to worry. How do you stop a guy that knows exactly what you know?
I'll get back to Vic and Shane in a minute. First I wanted to talk about the San Marcos murders. Up until this episode, it didn't feel like much of a story. Felt pretty on par with some of the other larger cases that The Barn has handled. My opinion is completely changed now. This may very well be the most well crafted, intricate case that the writers of The Shield have ever come up with and we still don't even know how it ends. From the back and forth with Hernan, to the federal involvement and his new handler, and then Dutch and Billings even found Romero alive with his chopped arm all bandaged up! I'm just really excited about this whole conspiracy and how it ties together. Why did Hernan's new handler (Talbert, right?) want him to stop sniffing around Romero? What's up with that?
So back to the real story. Vic and Shane. They're done. I love how Mara has gotten involved too. When she carefully chose her words and threatened Corinne? Great scene. You have to feel bad for Corinne though. The way she hides and pretends to not know what her husband has his hands in is sad. She knows just as much as Mara does. Well... almost.
But as I mentioned earlier, Shane has covered his tracks. He's got files (handwritten!) on everything dirty that he and Vic have ever done. From Terry's murder, to the money train robbery, their dealings with Tio... it's all there and Vic only got a copy of it. The rest is locked up who knows where. Vic knows how to handle himself though. It's probably wrong that this was my reaction, but all I could do was laugh when Vic stroked Jackson's head and gave Mara the crazy eye.
What's Shane going to do with the Armenians though? Use them as protection? Sell Vic out on the money train and hope they kill him? What about Ronnie? Is Shane honestly willing to let them all die? I suppose that's a stupid question. He was willing to kill to protect the team, so why wouldn't he be willing to kill to protect his family?
Other stuff on my mind...
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How much is Claudette going to be able to piece together from her conversation with Nancy Gilroy? My guess is a lot and fast. She's not stupid either.
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Is Hernan dead? Neither Talbert nor Vic were able to contact him. And if so, how the hell did he get compromised? My guess? Talbert had something to do with it in the hopes that it kills the trail on Romero.
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Billings offering "lady advice" to Dutch might be the funniest thing ever.
So once again, The Shield delivers. It's a shame we only have three episodes left this season because so far, this has been nothing short of spectacular. 7 out of 7, good stuff here. See you next week with our review of "The Math of the Wrath."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
5-15-2007 @ 11:59PM
Don said...
I think Hernan is dead and Vic was the one who compromised him unintentionally. He left his "throw away" phone in interogation. The guy who used it could have easily looked at the call history.
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5-16-2007 @ 12:01AM
Jonathan Toomey said...
Don -
That's a really good point, but I'm not so sure the connection would have been made. Santi (the guy who Vic gave the phone to in the interrogation room) is a Byz Lat and Hernan is running with the Salvadorans, so it's doubtful he even knows who he is.
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5-16-2007 @ 12:35AM
resource said...
The Armenian thing is a little weird.
Are they going to protect him? Is he going to rat out the Money Train?
I need to watch it again.
The San Marcos thing is becoming pretty damn great. I feel like Hernan is going to betray them and go Donnie Brasco. He's too deep and he's been there too long.
Vic seemed a little sloppy giving away that phone.
3 more eps.
Can't wait.
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5-16-2007 @ 10:45AM
Borat said...
I don't know how, but the complete season has already aired in France and is already online.
Don't worry I won't spoil anything, but I'll just say that it is very exciting though slightly disappointing.
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5-16-2007 @ 10:46AM
Bill said...
I'm guessing Acevedo compromised Hernan when he told the developer guy about the reason for the sweeps.
My real question about this episode, as it is everytime someone pulls this stunt on TV... what happens if Vendrell gets hit by a bus? Does whoever's got all the dirt on Vic release it?
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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5-16-2007 @ 10:46AM
khamel said...
i hate to agree with the guy that posts a comment with his blogspot blog in every story but thats probably the case. vic even told the agent that the info was "need to know" but since aceveda told some who probably didn't "need to know" , its likely it got out in the open.
another fantastic episode. if only all tv could be like an shows on fx. there wouldn't be very many of them but most of them would be great.
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5-16-2007 @ 10:47AM
zlittle said...
The Armenian thing is interesting but I wonder about what Hyatt is really up to. I.C.E. refused Dutch access to Hernnan but Hyatt gets him easily, and exits quickly when Dutch remindes him he's not a fed any more. ??????????
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5-16-2007 @ 10:47AM
Kevin Stahnke said...
I think Hernan is dead and there are two ways it might have gone down.
1. Vic left his phone with the Byz Lat leader and gave him plenty of time to make any calls as well as go through the call history.
2. Acevedo tells the developer that there is an inside operative with the Salvadorans.
Either of these situations could lead to Hernan's death so one of them is a smokescreen for we viewers. Looking at the situation, both the Byz Lat leader and the developer have reasons to try and make peace with the Salvadorans. Handing over Hernan would be a powerful peace offering.
The gang leader doesn't necessarily have to know Hernan on a personal level, but if he looks through Vic's call history, what name is going to stand out?--a latin name that called in the last 24 hours. That's assuming that Vic's phone as caller-id that shows names and that Hernan would be dumb enough not to block his own name.
As for the developer, the only piece of info that he would have is that there is an insider. He wouldn't have the name. Nevertheless, if he handed this info over, and then Hernan starts making talk of peace, that would throw suspicion on Hernan. It wouldn't be taken as coincedence that right before everything starts going bad for the Salvadorans, Hernan gets a lot of attention from the police. I'm willing to believe the developer would hand over this info. He's already shown that his loyalty is to his community first and that he has a certain adversarial perspective toward the police.
At any rate, I think all these clues are another example of the brilliant writing on this show. I love the fact that every detail has meaning and that plot points are never irrelevant. How many shows do you know where questions raised in the first season are still finding answers 5 years later?
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5-16-2007 @ 12:50PM
j annis said...
Can anyone explain the "gas station " plot. I'm lost.
Thanks
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5-16-2007 @ 12:51PM
Gordy said...
I'm sorry, but, I'm just not into that Hernan storyline at all. The only reason I watch this show is to see VIC GO DOWN! Let's hope Shane & Claudette do a squeeze play on Vic, and he quits, confesses, or offs himself.
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5-16-2007 @ 4:34PM
Rudebwoy381 said...
I think Shane's deal with the Armenians went something like this: he nudges that gas station owner, and in return, the Armenians keep his file on Vic in the 'warm, safe place' he was talking about.
Because if you remember back to S3, the Armenians' treasury mole got hold of all the Strike Team's info: home addresses and what not. Aceveda and the brass thought it was because they'd been knocking Armenian heads to find the footchoppers, but they were really after the people who stole their money train cash.
Plus, Goma offered the team Margos's deal to help mule drugs up north in exchange for dropping the manhunt. I'm almost positive that the Armenians knew the Strike Team took their cash.
That was why I thought it was so strange that Shane was hopping into bed with them.
As for this San Marcos thing, I think Mackey's gonna crack it wide open and PROVE his invaluability to the department. If he did that, it would almost singlehandedly save the Barn.
I can only hope that Aceveda is somehow connected with the Mexican bureaucrat who's just floating around the nastiest part of L.A. with $230,000 in his suitcase.
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5-18-2007 @ 4:03PM
cazart said...
Aceveda definitely gets Hernan killed. He's got to put either Vic, Shane or even Julian on the developer guy to see who the developer leaked to. Big time politics ensue - saving Vic's job for a while longer.
INRE: Shane.
Just how, exactly does his confession get out if he gets killed? Mara?
What if they both get killed in an unfortunate traffic accident?
The smart play is just to leave him the hell alone, but I don't see that happening.
What I do see happening is him coming crawling back.
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5-18-2007 @ 4:04PM
cazart said...
Shane will suck up to the Armenians, (that's the "gas station plot") but it "ain't gonna work out," if you know what I mean. When they're about to kill him, (because they know he was one of the money train hitters,) the Strike Team will swoop in - only because he's got the dirt on them.
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5-19-2007 @ 2:14AM
cdawg said...
Regarding the gas station plot, tt was very short or maybe I missed part of it but I thought it was Hernan. I haven't watched a rerun yet.
How could Acevedo be so stupid as to tell the developer the reason for the warrent sweep?
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5-21-2007 @ 3:36PM
z-man said...
Hyatt is still a fed - he's investigating corruption in the Barn, specifically Vic. He's been on good behavior trying to avoid early retirement - should weasel out of federal charges. Aceveda's developer buddy got Hernan killed - there's more than meets the eye with that guy.
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5-21-2007 @ 4:28PM
KRISTEN said...
I really think that Mara played good part with in getting
herself involved in on too.But I also do think there are alot of other different things like for once why would Shane even think of doing such thing and especally putting togather the Terri's murder case file and sending those documents right back at Vic to piss him off even though it has name and Ronnie's name on it and now Ronnie thinks that he's trying to blackmail them about the money train deal and why would Lem even think of
turning on them.
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5-21-2007 @ 5:58PM
steven said...
I think Hernans death is directly related to Aceveda's big mouth. Does anyone think the terrible thing Aceveda was forced to do in a previous season will come back to haunt him?
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5-22-2007 @ 6:54PM
joctorre said...
I wonder if the password "honeycomb" had anything to hernan going missing. maybe it wasn't a real password, but more of an emergency one so that he knew something else was up... and i guess talbert has to play the part somehow?
i don't remember the details on the throwaway phone part of the episode, but i do remember wondering why it was brought up so many times.
why did vic rub jackson on the head? does he know something about him? like maybe he's not really shane's kid? it can't be vic's -- he can't have more than one kid away from corinne, PLUS he and mara always hated each other. remember, shane was involved in a little bit more than just vic... the tayvon thing and teaming up with antwon mitchell...
only 3 more episodes??? are we getting shorted again? will there be another season or will this be it????
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5-22-2007 @ 11:09PM
cdawg said...
Speaking of Aceveda's mouth, I thought about his little episode ordeal from several seasons ago last week as well. Not sure how they would bring it back up. Seems like it was only done as a way to get his wife off the show.
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5-24-2007 @ 6:38PM
Rudebwoy381 said...
Cdawg:
I've thought about it as well. I long for the day Aceveda gets his, and I think The Photo of The Incident is still going to come back to haunt him.
I'm thinking that Mackey and the team are going to be investigating some random case, and they happen to end up searching the home of Juan Lazano's old girlfriend. Mackey's rifling through drawers looking for evidence or a murder weapon or whatever, when he suddenly pulls a cellphone photo printout of Our Fair City Councilman sharpening Lazano's pencil. All of a sudden, the ball is in Vic's court. He can do anything with this photo, including get his job back...
Tell me that wouldn't make for one of the greatest subplots ever...
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