I’d be remiss if I didn’t begin by mentioning how tonight’s episode of “The Shield” was the first of the new season that didn’t quite do it for me. Of course, while the events that took place were very Sopranonian (a necessary buildup for the things to come), it’s still a little unusual for any episode of “The Shield” to come off as even a little bland.

Still, we got a ton of info this week that will certainly work toward the Vic and Shane face-off at the end of the season. Of course, this isn’t the first time we thought Vic would kill his best friend. It happened in season four after Vic found out about Shane’s dealings with Antwon Mitchell and, according to Shawn Ryan on the season five DVD, he was supposed to die until the writers chickened out and cut it from the script. If this season doesn’t end with Shane in a puddle of his own blood, I don’t see how else it would.

Anyway, getting back to the episode at hand, Shane is feeling increasingly more guilty about murdering Lem, so when he arrived at the hospital beaten to a pulp, it seemed like maybe he had done it to himself. As Vic soon discovers, however, Shane was beat up for banging Tilly (the black jailbait) by the girl’s step-dad. Even Mara finds out all about his infidelity when she rummages through his things and finds condoms. This, of course, leads Mara to kick Shane out of the house, and when he fails in overdosing on a handful of Oxycontin, he returns to tell her that he is the one responsible for Lem’s death. Apparently, this is supposed to make things all better (since he did it to protect Mara and Jackson), and surprisingly, it does.

The Strike Team (Ronnie all shaved and Julian in tow) have been handed Dutch’s Mexican Massacre case for the week, only to be led right back to the El Salvadorians. This time, they’ve got Guardo’s second-in-command in the interrogation room, but when Vic asks him about the murders, the guy isn’t afraid to confess. He tells him that the motel massacre was only retaliation for the Mexicans killing Guardo, and thus entirely necessary for keeping their reputation intact. This leads Hiatt to doing a little research of his own, and what he comes up with is a name: Hernan. As you might remember, this is the same guy that Dutch tried to contact regarding Lem’s murder (and was rudely asked to stop looking for by the FBI), but when Hiatt pries into the matter, he’s given the green light; as long as he treats the guy like a common criminal. It turns out Hernan knows for certain that Guardo wasn’t involved in Lem’s death, and this time, Vic actually believes him. On a side note, it’s nice to see Clifton Collins Jr. stopping by for a quick cameo.

Meanwhile, Dutch and Billings are still working the serial rapist case, but they aren’t really getting anywhere until a man who helps find lost runaways arrives in The Barn with intel on possible next targets. The guy’s just lost a daughter of his own (which is why he’s so intent on helping), but Billings seems to think he’s suspect number one; and for once, he’s right. After offering to reopen his missing daughter’s case for information on the recent string of rapes and murders, the guy openly confesses. In fact, it seems the reason his daughter ran away in the first place is because he molested her (she looked so much like his dead wife, after all), and the reason he’s been raping and killing these other girls is so that he could convince the police to reopen the investigation. Dude was definitely crazy, but he’s nothing like Dutch’s past cases.

And finally, while the surprise appearance of Collins Jr. was certainly welcomed, the best cameo of the night goes to Carl Weathers (Vic’s old partner), who returned for Vic’s help with a job scaring a couple Jamaican drug dealers out of an apartment complex. The subplot gave Vic the chance to get away from the Strike Team for a bit, and it also showed just how much he’s changed as a person. While his former self would have been more than willing to shove a perp’s face into a toilet he’s just pissed in, he was absolutely disgusted by the concept that Weather’s crazy partner would do it. This will likely factor in to Vic’s decision of what he’s going to do with and while death would be appropriate, I see the kinder, gentler Vic forcing Shane to turn himself in to the police instead. This means Vic would be going to jail as well (since Shane would have to fess up to all of his smaller crimes), but it would certainly be a just ending to a fabulous series.