I don’t think I’ve ever seen “The Shield” acknowledge a holiday (for the record, I’m still waiting for the Halloween-themed episode), but this had to have been the worst Valentine’s Day ever for our boys and girls at the Barn. First off, I doubt that Kavanaugh’s decision to set up shop in the station was a welcome one by any member of the police force – including Captain Billings, who although has command over the IAD Lieutenant cannot stop him from taking over his office. Bummer. And so the first round of interrogations begins, with Vic playing his lawyer card and Shane treating the investigation as a mockery. We already knew that all of the guys on the Strike Team wouldn’t talk, but Vic’s fugly ex-wife Corrine just had to open her big fat mouth and tell Kavanaugh about the mysterious $65,000 that he gave her at the beginning of last season. Was her nose not taking up enough of her ugly face? Did she have to open her fat mouth and start crying too? Ye gods, and on VALENTINE’S DAY!

That wasn’t all folks. Even poor Danny Sofer got the shake down for having a past relationship with Vic. Not like she’ll get punished for it, but it was a nice zinger to use against Corrine during her investigation. Kavanaugh is good at manipulating the weak, and the cards are in his favor for the time being, but what happens when the bulk of the case comes down to getting one of the four guys to turn? We’ve seen how brutal he can be in the interrogation room, but will Kavanaugh really have the balls to drag Shane’s wife Mara into the mix? If he does, God help us. If Corrine cracked under pressure, Mara will surely be more problematic down the road.

Meanwhile, Dutch and Claudette revisit an old murder case from last season involving the cool and composed killer, Kleevon, when his sister goes “missing” and they think that he killed her. We know she’s okay, of course, because we caught a quick glimpse of her in the previews for next week’s episode, but another black woman was found raped and murdered mere hours after he was released from question, and she bears an uncanny resemblance to Claudettte. Looks like she may have pissed him off just a bit, but the reckless death job may be his final curtain call. And in a short subplot of ouch-that’s-gotta-hurt hilarity, Julien and Tina walk in on a guy who’s suspended at a glory hole because his dick is stuck in a… what for it… mousetrap! Yowzers! That’ll teach you, if nothing else, to NOT stick important body parts into foreign holes.