(S06E10) "...but understand, you are nothing more than a fly on one of my many shits." - Pezuela
The beginning of the end. We've got one more season of The Shield to go and I have to say that I'm pretty excited for what's been set up. It's going to be a lot to cover with only thirteen episodes remaining in life of the series. Then again, this season only had ten installments and look how many different stories came out of it. From the aftermath of Lem's death to the biggest conspiracy the Farmington district has ever seen, we got it all in season six.
The episode definitely had two distinct plots. The division between Vic and Shane is clearer than ever, despite the fact that Shane's actions continue to blur that line. After last week, I said that Shane was starting to act colder and far more calculated now that he was forced to fend for himself. I take it all back after what he did in this episode. He's just as emotional as ever and the way he kept flip-flopping between Rezian and Diro was almost comical. He's clearly not as skilled as Vic when it comes to playing both sides.
That being said, it's been hard to watch his character deteriorate this season. The memory of Lem was never forgotten as we were reminded of it every time we saw Shane, but he clearly isn't the heartless bastard many would like to think. Shane truly believed he was doing the right thing when he killed Lem. It's for that reason that he can't deal with the thought of more blood on his hands. Putting Corinne and Cassidy in that storage container seemed liked a bit much, but again - Shane felt as though he was doing the right thing. When that Armenian "repair man" showed up at the Mackey house, it became clear that he was. He saved their lives and the unfortunate thing is that I don't think Vic will ever actually see it that way.
It'll be interesting to see Shane's relationship with Rezian from here on out though. I've said it before, but I'm still confused about the Armenian knowledge of the Strike Team's involvement with the money train from season three. I guess their intel wasn't as solid as we thought. They know now though.
Elsewhere, Vic has once again teamed up for an uneasy alliance with the one guy who never saw eye to eye with him: Aceveda. It only seems appropriate that the two of them should work together for the final season. The conspiracy they dug up is incredibly well-laid out and interesting though. It's going to make for a great plot I think. Feels very much like something out of The Wire.
See if you can follow this. Cruz Pezuela, a developer, along with an ex-military intel expert have dug up dirt on everyone. Local and federal. They have ties to the Mexican mob and because of all the dirt, no one is even bothering them. Except Vic. They're buying up land and starting legit businesses to clean all their dirty money. Not to mention all the new state-side income they'll generate through the low-income housing and hospitals like prostitution and illegal prescription drugs. If it goes untouched, the Mexican mob would be running half the city in no time. Without thinking too much about it, this feels like it could get bloody and fast. It already did if you count San Marcos. The Salvadorans got angry because they were being left out of this huge profit machine.
Despite all the great stuff that has been set up for the seventh season, I was disappointed by some aspects of this season. A lot of things got short-changed if you ask me. For starters, Lem's murder. It almost felt like it got dropped completely. Which directly leads to Dutch. He got short-changed too. Why weren't some questions left open, so he could keep doing what he does best and dig up more stuff on the Lemansky case? I think things would have been infinitely more tense if Vic and Shane had Dutch breathing down their backs after Kavanaugh's departure.
Fortunately we're left with some good questions to ponder in the meantime. What's going to happen to Billings? Is he really going to win a suit like that? Will Vic actually get to keep his job since he essentially walked away from his own hearing? I'm not so sure Aceveda has the pull. Claudette might though, especially since she gave Hiatt the boot. Someone has to run the Strike Team. And if that happens, how do Vic and Shane ever work together? Speaking of Vic, how's he going to react to Dutch cozying up with Danny? Lots of questions, plenty of time to wonder. 7 out of 7.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-05-2007 @ 11:47PM
ThornRage said...
GO DUTCH!!! Finally he gets the girl! I havent been this happy for him since he took down the serial killer a few seasons back.
I am totally pumped for the next season! I hate that I have to wait a full year. This show is the best on TV anyway ... way better than the tired Sopranos.
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6-05-2007 @ 11:48PM
Kevin Stahnke said...
Man, am I blown away by the final episode and I'm going nuts knowing I'm going to have to wait a year to find out how everything ends.
The writing on The Shield keeps my emotions dancing a tightrope. One week I'm hating Shane and this week I'm feeling pity for him as he tries to protect everyone his poor judgement has endangered. I also see him putting himself deeper and deeper into danger with his actions and I wonder if he realizes that. If he does, does his sacrifice provide some redemption? He's already on Vic's must-kill list so he must know that grabbing Corrine and Cassidy will not be understood but he did it anyway. Now, even though he saved their life, his actions will only be seen as further provocation by Vic so he's in it even deeper with Vic.
To me, this episode really does have a redemptive quality to it. No matter how much dirt all these characters have on them, no matter how much anger and distrust they have in their hearts, they still have something in them that rises above it all and makes it clear that there is something larger than themselves. Shane has to put himself in greater danger to protect others. Vic has to turn to Aceveda and admit he can't tackle Pezuela alone. Aceveda has to recognize that what Pezuela is doing to Los Angeles is greater than his own hatred of Vic or his own political career.
This feels like a morality play--no matter how bad someone is, there's still something of value in them. Maybe the death of the homeless guy was a smaller version of that moral.
I got the sense in the scene with Claudette and Vic that even she had her eyes opened a little about the good that Vic can do. As for Dutch and Danny, I really hope we're seeing the start of something. I've always felt like both of them were essentially decent people a little confused in the world.
I can't wait to see how this all shakes down. The next season has a story worthy of great literature laid out for it and I have absolute confidence that the creators of The Shield are going to pull it off.
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6-06-2007 @ 12:35AM
khamel said...
man, i am already jonesing for more shield. i even went online to make sure there were no more episodes this year. it was a very 'shield' ending, in that nothing is clear any everything is up in the air.
amazing show. probably in my top 5 ever.
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6-06-2007 @ 12:36AM
malren said...
Not sure Aceveda has the pull?
Umm...did you not hear the line Vic said? "Does this go far enough up the chain to save my job?" It's senators and judges and the chief of police. Aceveda is only going to be the messenger.
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6-06-2007 @ 1:59AM
Matt said...
Anyone else hoping for a little bit more of a...conclusion, I guess, to the episode?
It feels like it just kind of...ended. It didn't feel like a season finale ending. It felt like an ending to a mid-season episode.
That was the only disappointing part, really. Great episode to close another fantastic season.
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6-06-2007 @ 2:00AM
vince dell 420 said...
ya the episode was pretty good but it definitely could have been better.. it was jus like eehhh.. i gueess i was expecting more..
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6-06-2007 @ 9:29AM
Borat said...
Yeah I was sort of disappointed too....I mean, it was tense and everything as usual, but I think the fact that they extended it to one more season didn't bring a "satisfying" conclusion.
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6-06-2007 @ 9:29AM
Wil said...
This episode seemed a little underwhelming to me, like the season as a whole. No resolutiong with no meaningful cliffhanger. We know Vic is going to keep his job. Where was the season ending song montage?
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6-06-2007 @ 9:29AM
ScreenwriterGuy said...
Yes, this episode was slightly flat, as has this entire season been. (I sure would have loved a slightly bigger order of episodes from FX.) But, let us not forget that last year's season finale was one of the most incredible every made. If we go into this episode expecting last season to be topped, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. In a way, I think season 5 was so messy and intense that season 6 had to take its time leaving that behind and setting up for an amazing season 7. It's like this season was The Two Towers, and we're about to watch Return of the King.
I've been wondering how they END a show like this one. Every season has been dirtier and dirtier, as Vic and the strike team barely manage to cover up their messy secrets. How do you end a series for an anti-hero like this? What message do you send if he wins? But can we stand to see him lose?
http://www.screenwriterguy.com
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6-06-2007 @ 9:29AM
resource said...
I loved the ending because it was so open ended.
Everything cant end with a death threat and an explosion.
They set the stage for the biggest showdown ever.
Vic/Acevada vs. Mexican Mafia and real estate mogul.
Not to mention Shane, Dutch and whatnot.
What more do you want?
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6-06-2007 @ 9:30AM
Diego M said...
Did y'all think maybe tina will try to get some Dutch? I hope the Billings goes down with perjury and fraud. i really hate that dude even before what he did to poor dutch.
I"m in awe, not as bad as it was last season but i am just eager to see what will happen. season 7 will go all out, no byz lat or one niner beef can be as big as the one mackey will be in. him and aceveda vs the mexican mafia. that's crazy. plus shane and the armenians. i can't believed i have to wait a year. DAMN
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6-06-2007 @ 9:30AM
Ronald said...
Screenwriter guy nailed it! There was no way to top season 5's finale with Lem getting killed, so they opted to leave alot of loose ends so they could prepare for a BANGIN final season 7. Still some of the most intense TV Ive ever seen. The w hole Miracle Joe portion was just a blurb to show that these guys and girls are human afterall. ..Great show with alot of loose ends to pull together in season 7. Vic/Assaved vs Mexican Mafia, Vic vs Shane, Shane vs, Rezian and the Armenians, Vic vs his job/Claudette, Dutch and Danny sittin in a tree, k-i-s-s-i..oh well you get it...BEST SHOW EVER! Im goin back to season 1 and starting all over!
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6-06-2007 @ 9:30AM
Jim said...
I thought the Pezuela quote that begins your post was heavy-handed and a little unbelievable. To me, the quote of the episode -- and perhaps a theme for the entire season -- was Shane telling Diro: "That's what a good partner does, right? Looks out for his partner's family and best interests?" (Or something to that effect -- I'm not in front of my DVR right now.) It was then you knew Shane still had an allegiance to Vic.
As for the conspiracy plot that has been laid out for next season -- it feels a little *too* big to me.
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6-06-2007 @ 10:00AM
slutty_whore said...
It seems to me that they are bringing the Danny/Dutch relationship full circle. As I recall, in Season 1, Dutch had a crush on her and offered to help her study for her sargeant's exam.... maybe she now sees his potential as father material, unlike Vic, and she has matured. Dutch has also matured and is not the pushover he once had been earlier in the series.
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6-06-2007 @ 10:19AM
Rudebwoy381 said...
I think everyone can agree that this may be the weakest ending to any of the 'Shield' seasons.
True, other seasons had open-ended finales, but not like this. Think about every major storyline that ran throughout this entire season: Lem's death, San Marcos, Dutch v. Billings, Mackey v. Shane, Mackey v. Hiatt, Mackey v. the LAPD Review Board. Not a single one was resolved, except maybe Mackey's job, and they still kinda left that in the air.
And I GUESS the Hiatt storyline was resolved, but what a weak way for him to go out. I thought for sure he'd get caught up in the New Armenian Foot-Chopping Frenzy, another setup that never delivered the knockout punch.
I realize that the promos for the 'Shield' on F/X are largely subterfuge, and don't necessarily have that much to do with the episode's storylines, but it just felt like I kept waiting for all of that reckoning the previews talked about.
And then there was some waiting.
And then some more.
Without question, I'm salivating for next season, and I do agree to some extent that, after the insanely shattering S5 finale, expecting another one was an awful tall order, but we were definitely left with more questions than answers, and that's a change from seasons past.
http://striketeam.blogstream.com
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6-06-2007 @ 10:52AM
Rudebwoy381 said...
I think everyone can agree that this may be the weakest ending to any of the 'Shield' seasons.
True, other seasons had open-ended finales, but not like this. Think about every major storyline that ran throughout this entire season: Lem's death, San Marcos, Dutch v. Billings, Mackey v. Shane, Mackey v. Hiatt, Mackey v. the LAPD Review Board. Not a single one was resolved, except maybe Mackey's job, and they still kinda left that in the air.
And I GUESS the Hiatt storyline was resolved, but what a weak way for him to go out. I thought for sure he'd get caught up in the New Armenian Foot-Chopping Frenzy, another setup that never delivered the knockout punch.
I realize that the promos for the 'Shield' on F/X are largely subterfuge, and don't necessarily have that much to do with the episode's storylines, but it just felt like I kept waiting for all of that reckoning the previews talked about.
And then there was some waiting.
And then some more.
Without question, I'm salivating for next season, and I do agree to some extent that, after the insanely shattering S5 finale, expecting another one was an awful tall order, but we were definitely left with more questions than answers, and that's a change from seasons past.
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6-06-2007 @ 1:23PM
Ridger11 said...
This is exactly what a season ending episode is suppose to be. It left more questions unaswered than answered and provided several great plot lines going into the final season: Vic & Aceveda vs. the Mexican Mafia, Shane vs. Rezian (and possibly still Diro), Shane vs. Vic.
These three key plot lines don't even include some other key questions that need to be answered and minor plot lines to play. How is Vic going to keep his job? I don't think the whole Dutch vs. Billings plot line is done either. Dutch is going to somehow get his revenge on Billings by destroying his disability lawsuit in some clever way, like the way Billings set Dutch up last week.
To me the most telling moment of the show was when Shane was getting Diro out of the hospital and Diro says something to the effect that Shane is too sentimental and that could be his downfall. I too am not in front of my DVR, so I don't remember the exact line. This could very well be a foreshadowing of Shane's fate.
I wish the next season were starting next week, waiting another 9-10 months is going to be torture.
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6-06-2007 @ 1:24PM
Matt said...
I agree on the Dutch/Billings story. All the hype was built this season for Dutch to just throw down on Billings and knock that asshole's head right off, and what happens?
Billings presses charges against The Barn, and walks out.
Uhhhhhhh...kayyyyyyy.
I hope Dutch hunts the prick down and chokes him out like he did that cat.
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6-06-2007 @ 5:43PM
Chip said...
David's not going to save Vic's job... He's going to go to one of the highly-placed blackmail targets and ask that fine upstanding citizen to do it.
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6-06-2007 @ 5:44PM
Jonathan Myers said...
Okay, I'm getting theoretical on everyone... here's some predictions - lemme know what you think.
1. Dutch - The guy is a sociopath. He choked out a cat with his bare hands, and he KNOWS about Billings. I think we might see Dutch go a bit more rogue.
2. Tina & Danny - OK - so Tina was eyeballing Dutch, and even made the "He had his chance - he just never took it," line to Danny. Now Danny is hooking up. It's the Billings game all over - and with tensions already high between Danny & Tina, you know it's going to get worse.
3. Shane - I think he's going to be in the Armenians pocket for a bit, but no one can do it all. I think by hiding this subplot in the beginning of the next season, instead focusing on Acaveda / Mackey, it can come back to explode (and wrap the show).
4. Ronnie - Notice the line where Vic says Ronnie is the man to replace him (gangstas porch) in 3 days, should he get pushed out? I think this was telling, and my money is on Ronnie as last man standing.
Thoughts?
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