In all six years of “The Shield,” I don’t believe we’ve ever seen Vic Mackey quite like this before – unless, of course, you count his memorable beatdown of Armadillo in season two – and I have to say, it’s good to see badass Vic is finally back. Picking up right where the last episode left off, Vic continues to bullshit Nadia (Guardo’s girlfriend) as he sets a meet with Guardo. The El Salvadorian thinks nothing of the ransom, dropping off the money with a posse of fellow gangbangers so he can deal with the kidnapper in his own way, but when he’s captured by Vic and taken to an abandoned warehouse, he soon realizes that it’s something much bigger.

The guy actually gives up a name a little too easily (which should have been the first clue that he was lying), but Vic checks it out, only to find that the guy Guardo gave up has been in jail for over a month. With an alibi secured, Vic returns to the warehouse he has Guardo tied up in and tries a new method: torture by way of a thick metal chain to the face. Guardo looked like he was definitely in a world of pain, and there’s no doubt in my mind that Vic never misses a single episode of “24.” Still, it looked like Shane had finally convinced him to back off, because, well, the guy would have spoken if he knew anything (right?), but Vic’s one persistent dude, and so he shoots Guardo in the head.

In the words of Jack Bauer: damnit! Just when the Strike Team had finally been cleared of all suspicion, Vic had to go and ruin everything by murdering another innocent in cold blood. Now, Guardo is hardly an innocent man, but he didn’t have anything to do with Lem’s death, and Shane only feels worse for it. Plus, it almost more than assures that Vic will feel the sting of his brash actions in the very near future. That is, if he’s still around. Claudette is strongly pushing for Vic’s impending retirement, and she’s even bringing in a new guy to begin training as his replacement.

Meanwhile, Dutch and Billings work a multiple homicide involving an ex-Armed Forces meth head running around town stealing amphetamine from pharmacies, and Ronnie jumps onboard to lend a helping hand. It was great to see Ronnie get a little more face time than usual, and we can only hope that this trend will continue through the end of the series. It just might if Tina’s sudden flirtatious behavior around him matures and we see the two become a couple. Though methinks Dutch wouldn’t be too happy about that.

Of course, Dutch Boy already has his hands full. Between partnering with Billings (whose Odd Couple team-up is priceless, by the way) and his newfound static with the FBI (who have ordered him to drop all inquiries into the El Salvadorians), he may not have the time to continue wooing the young up-and-comer. Let’s hope I’m wrong, or he may continue his investigation into the Strike Team.

On a side note, it looks like Danny took the sergeant post she was offered at the end of last week’s episode, but it’s probably safe to say that we won’t be seeing too many repercussions of her decision. That character died a long time ago; right around the time Julian officially became a waste of space. Seriously, though. Is Michael Jace perfectly content with acting as background nowadays? I couldn’t care less, but it’s an interesting observation that needs to be dealt with sooner than later. Just ship the guy off to another station and get back to the good stuff.