It didn’t take very long for Kavanaugh to buckle under pressure. Or better yet, the guilt of framing an innocent man. After getting a warrant to search Vic’s apartment – which conveniently led Dutch to a variety of perfect evidence – an APB is put out on the Strike Team leader for further question. It should have been a dead giveaway that Kavanaugh was up to no good when Billings himself stated the obvious (“Vic wouldn’t off his own guy”) – not to mention Shane’s remark about a possible set up– but apparently Dutch and Claudette aren’t as smart as we all thought.
Then again, both proved us wrong later on. First, Dutch tricked Kavanaugh into giving himself away when he interrogated Emolia without his knowing, and then Claudette pulled the old good cop shtick on Emolia that led to Kavanaugh finally confessing. He must have felt pretty darn guilty for forcing all this on the single mother, and as a result, he was arrested and sent to lockup. It was nice to see that he had the courage to confess, but it would have been so much better if Dutch actually caught him in the act. Goodbye, Jon Kavanaugh. We despised thee well.
Meanwhile, the Strike Team continues to search for Guardo, but after they hear about Vic’s warrant over the radio, Shane and Ronnie are sent packing. Vic heads across the border to stir up the pot with some Biz Lat banger named Salsetta, but after taking the guy hostage (in his own territory and surrounded by twenty other Mexicans, no less), he doesn’t get what he needs. Instead, Vic decides that kidnapping Guardo’s girlfriend is the quick and easy route to settling things with the presumed cop killer, despite extreme hesitation from Shane. We all know why, of course, but Vic has yet to find out. The previews for next sure point toward the possibility that Shane will come clean, but I think that it’s still too early for that bomb to drop. Plus, does anyone really think that Shawn Ryan and Co. are ballsy enough to kill another character so soon?
Unfortunately, because most of this week’s episode was dedicated to the sudden implosion of Kavanaugh and his career, not much else happened. Shane has certainly been trying to drop subtle hints that he’s responsible for Lem’s death, but neither Vic nor Ronnie seem to want to listen. We also discovered that Danni passed her Sergeant’s exam, but with one caveat: she has to accept the job. Now. Also, Aceveda stopped by to let it be known that – yes – he’s still on the show, but his pointless discussion with Claudette was nothing but filler material. Maybe he’ll play a bigger role in the case against Vic now that Kavanaugh’s out of the picture. He is, after all, the man that started it all.
