For fans of the show who always thought that Kenneth Johnson (Lem) didn’t play a big enough part can rest easy. It looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of him over the next few weeks, especially considering he’s the guy that behind the wheel of the Strike Team’s destiny. His loyalty is a bit shaky, especially considering his ulcer-causing conscience, but no matter what happens, he’ll pull through for the team by the end of the season; even if it means killing Kavanaugh himself. The unbalanced IAD agent doesn’t seem to have much effect on Lem, but his head will be on chopping block as soon as Vic discovers that he’s sweet-talking his way to the truth via Vic’s ex Corrine.
In fact, Lem doesn’t seem to believe any of the bullshit until Aceveda walks through the door and convinces him of it. By doing so, both Aceveda and Kavanaugh discover that Lem really doesn’t know about Vic’s cop killing, and it looks as if Lem is even a little pissed at the prospect of not being kept in the loop. And while Kavanaugh continues to bear down on Lem with threats of a twenty-year prison sentence, Vic and Co. track down a psycho El Salvadorian (called Doomsday) with the hope that they can regain some respect on the streets. This is less important as a subplot than it is as a reason for the Strike Team to be busy while Kavanaugh convinces Lem to wear a wire. Lem finally agrees, if only to uncover what he believes to be the truth, but when he confronts Vic about the death of Terry (sans wire), he receives a concerned look that tells him all he wants to know. Lem finally learns the truth about Terry, but Kavanaugh still doesn’t, and unless the IAD agent can bring in another suspect (like, say, Antwon Mitchell), he probably won’t get much more cooperation from his little rat.
And while not much else took place this week, it would be impossible to come away from this without at least mentioning Tina going apeshit with her baton, as well as the obvious problems Claudette is experiencing. I failed to touch on this subject after the season premiere, but it looks as if that mysterious collection of pill bottles on Claudette’s bathroom counter is set to play a big part in the season five. We still don’t know exactly what she’s on, but leave it to super sleuth Dutch to investigate the situation.
