“The Shield” went back to the days of old this week, where an episode would focus on a single case, and the topic at hand was the San Marcos massacre. After the Biz-Lats retaliate against the El Salvadorians by killing women and children at a street fair, tensions are heightened leading to a personal threat from the Asst. Chief to shut down the Barn. Blaming Hernan for the misinformation that has caused the case to remain unsolved for so long, Vic makes a deal with the undercover agent that will help him earn his stripes within the gang. Even though Vic thinks the guy “is kind of an asshole,” it’s difficult for him to turn down such a promising venture.

I have a feeling that Hernan is just looking out for himself (and quite possibly integrating into the gang he’s supposed to be investigating). Although his intel did land the Barn three of the six San Marcos murderers (who were engaged in a private gangbang when the Strike Team picked them up), his sudden disappearance at the end of the episode doesn’t bode well for the future.

Meanwhile, as Vic wraps up his end of the San Marcos case, Dutch and Billings set out looking for the final piece: Eduardo Ramiro, the Mexican bureaucrat whose right arm was found amongst the eleven other chopped up bodies at the motel. When they finally track him to a seedy hotel (sans right limb and in possession of a luggage full of money), Dutch can’t help but to bring him in, despite the fact that the guy has diplomatic immunity. Claudette chews him out for it, too, but it was definitely a smart move on Dutch’s part. Immunity or not, if this guy is the only surviving victim of a massacre, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s incredibly important to the case.

The rest of the episode was pretty lackluster, filled up mostly by Shane’s counteraction to Vic’s threats. The guy’s hard at work covering his ass (gathering info on every dirty deal from Vic’s past) and he’s even made a request for transfer back to the vice unit. Oh boy, here we go again. Shane’s back to his season four evil self again, including dealing with criminals for some extra cash (this time with the Armenians), and he’s not afraid to let Vic and Ronnie in on his plan. He’s given Vic a copy of all his “notes” (assuring him that the original is in a safe place) and is ready to play ball. The only question is: does Vic have the onions to take the fall himself, taking Shane with him and saving Ronnie from any legal outfall? I think so, but we’ll surely have to wait a whole season to find out.