Tonight’s episode of “The Shield” may not have been as exciting as most weeks, but it was definitely a lot bitchier than usual. First, daft rookie Tina botches yet another arrest, and just when it looks like she’s going to get the ax, candid photos of her changing in the locker room appear on Dutch’s desk. And Dutch, the chivalrous gentleman that he is, investigates the matter further, only to discover that it was Captain Billings who accidentally snapped some shots while trying to catch the Snack Box Bandits. With the prospect of getting booted, however, Tina agrees to drop the matter and instead gets a career boost with the help of Dutch; God help us. The second act of Bitchfest 2006 came later in the show, and couldn’t have been nastier if it was being broadcast on “Jerry Springer.” Corrine reamed into Danny about her fatherless child, calling Vic a cheater, Danny a whore, and the baby a bastard. Sheesh, is it that time of the month already?
Meanwhile, Lem is stuck in jail because Kavanaugh has frozen all of the Strike Team’s assets, and after throwing a curveball that included bringing Terry’s brother to the scene of his death, Vic and Kavanaugh butt heads over his behind-closed-doors deal with Antoine Mitchell to land Lem in the same prison cell. In a desperate attempt to pay bail and get Lem the hell out of there, Vic makes a deal with a drug dealer looking to get some stolen money back, and after they’ve secured the cash, the Strike Team calls on reliable Smitty (I think this guy guest stars at least once a year) to post bail. And since Smitty has a booming surveillance business, the 100k posted won’t look suspicious.
Before Lem is set free, however, Aceveda visits Kavanaugh about launching his own investigation into the IAD agent’s shoddy work, but after being convinced of the evidence that Kavanaugh has squandered together, the councilman agrees to help. This is where things get complicated. Vic goes to visit Aceveda only a few hours later, and after threatening him with the possibility of dragging his name through the trial, Aceveda agrees to help Vic get rid of Kavanaugh. Now, is Aceveda just playing Vic to aid in Kavanaugh’s investigation, or is Aceveda really on the Strike Team’s side? Let’s hope for the latter, because I’d hate to see what Vic would do to him when he finds out he’s working both sides.
And on a quick side note, Claudette returned to the Barn “early” this week to join Dutch on whatever bullshit case he was working. She’s got a cane to help her move around now, what with getting banged up on her stumble down the stairwell a few weeks back, but I seriously doubt her battle with lupus is far from over.
