Category: The Shield (Page 9 of 11)

Fans of HBO’s western drama “Deadwood” and FX’s crime drama “The Shield” can rest a little bit easier tonight. Both shows have been renewed for new seasons… kind of.

In lieu of the third (and final) season of “Deadwood,” creator David Milch made a deal with HBO to produce two, two-hour movies that would act as a way of conveniently wrapping up the series set to air following the new 13 episodes of the show this summer. According to the source, Milch was actually offered a six episode fourth season, but he turned it down in favor of the four-hour wrap-up.

Meanwhile, TV Guide is reporting that a sixth season of “The Shield” has been greenlit to go into production following the filming of the final ten, season five episodes slated for early 2007. This is actually bad news for fans of the show, who have finally come to cope with the fact that their favorite show is finally ending. Is there really enough story here to continue the series? I think not. Following the death of Curtis Lemansky at the end of season five, I can’t imagine creator Shawn Ryan not wanting to finish up the drama before it gets out of hand.

*SPOILER ALERT: DO NOT READ THE FOLLOWING BLOG IF YOU STILL HAVEN’T WATCHED THE SEASON FINALE OF “THE SHIELD”*

… < ding! > Kill off the most loved character on the show.

Seriously, what was Shawn Ryan thinking when he came up with that one? I know, I know, the series is on its way out (with a presupposed final ten episodes airing this fall), but did it really have to end this way? With Lem getting blown to bits by a grenade – A FUCKING GRENADE – no less by his best friend? I mean, Shane used to be my favorite character on the show, and though he was a bit of an arrogant asshole, he always made things right at the end of the day. The biggest problem with all of this, of course, is that throughout the show’s five years on the air, the writers have always made a point of emphasizing the eternal brotherhood between these four guys. What happens to all of that history now? Is it just flushed down the toilet for the sake of edgy television? And if it comes down to that, then shame on you Shawn Ryan for taking the easy way out.

On behalf of all the “Shield” fans still at home shaking their heads in absolute bewilderment, I’d like to exclaim how heartbroken I was to see this betrayal in action. I would have much rather seen Lem killed in prison by Antoine Mitchell than by his best friend, and the writers have turned what would have been the best season in the show’s history into quite possibly the most disappointing. I can only hope that this travesty will be rectified come this fall, but my doubts are abounding. What good can come of this? I see only one solution, and it’s not the one we all hoped for…

In what had to have been the most pivotal, jam-packed episode of the season, Vic also managed to get laid not once, but twice, by two different women in about as many days. The first was Hot Lawyer Chick, whose obvious sexual attraction yielded in some much-needed action for a bald friend, while the surprise bang was with none other than Kavanaugh’s ex-wife. And I don’t care how wrong that might have been, because any day you get to see the beautiful Gina Torres’ naked ass is a good day. And speaking of sex, everyone’s favorite gloryhole assailant is back with a whole new line of dangerous mouse traps including ones with serrated edges. Ouch is right. Claudette and Dutch are given the pleasure of investigating the matter further, while Billings drags Julien into the mess as well. And now that Tina is out of his life, Julien’s past dabbling with homosexuality is sure to come back and haunt him by the series’ end. Why else would he go apeshit on the gloryhole suspect when he had him all alone in the investigation room?

Meanwhile, Lem has just about had enough of playing cat and mouse with Kavanaugh (i.e. throwing up blood), and in an attempt to close the investigation, makes a deal with the Chief of Police to plead guilty to the theft of the block of heroin. With it comes a five-year jail sentence, or 18-months with good behavior, but the rest of the Strike Team aren’t as confident with his decision, and so Vic visits Antoine Mitchell to talk with him about Lem’s “comfort of living” should he land in prison. The deal includes Vic and the other guys helping out Antoine’s One-Niner lackeys with a heist at the police warehouse, but when the job goes south, Antoine withdraws his offer. And since the chances of Lem staying alive for more than a few weeks is slim, Vic convinces him to go on the run until they can smooth out all of the details. Like the good boy that he is, Lem listens, but it’s probably only going to spell even more trouble for him in the long run. He would have been better off sticking with his first deal, but lobbying for incarceration in another state. I don’t know if that’s even possible, but it would have been worth a shot.

And in a very surprising turn of events, Claudette’s sitdown with the Assistant Chief about her undisclosed lupus went from a lecture about getting work approval from the city’s doctors to getting offered the captain’s spot once again. This time, however, Claudette actually takes the position (only because there’s a new Chief of Police) and Kavanaugh gets booted out of the Barn. Somehow, he ends up on Vic’s ex-wife’s steps. Is this revenge, or is his attraction the real thing? Also, we already know that Corrine’s an ugly bitch, but would she really fall for a guy like Kavanaugh? I think not, but then again, it would make for some pretty interesting television.

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.

The price of discovering more about Kavanaugh’s past was a hefty one: Lem has officially been arrested, but not before the Big K made a royal ass out of himself in front of everyone at The Barn. Didn’t we just see this happen, like, yesterday, when CTU agent Samwise Gamgee was relieved of duty for going apeshit on “24”? I can’t decide if this behavior makes Kavanaugh look less credible or just more menacing, but one thing’s for sure: he means business. This includes running to prison lifer Antoine Mitchell for help with the investigation, but Antoine won’t dish out the dirt until Kavanaugh agrees to send the Strike Team to the same prison cell. And to think that just moments before all of this went down, Lem saved Kavanaugh from getting blown up into tiny little bits by a grenade.

The events leading up to Kavanaugh’s public breakdown weren’t all that exciting, including some bullshit case that sent the Strike Team running around town looking for some crazy El Salvadorians throwing live grenades into former drug hideouts. And with Claudette out of commission (was there even any mention of her throughout the entire episode?), Dutch teams up with Kavanaugh on a rape call involving his ex-wife Sadie (played by Amazon beauty Gina Torres), who, for the record, seems a little too shaken up from the incident. What isn’t already implied, however, is made quite clear only a few moments later when Dutch uncovers Sadie’s former history of mental illness. Um… duh! It was pretty obvious that she was a bit whacko, but did anyone really think that she was crazy enough to stick a soda bottle up her hoo-hoo (a “Scrubs” term, not mine)? Yeah, well, me either.

All in all a pretty disappointing episode, especially since it appears that the writers have given up on developing the show’s many other subplots for the time being. Remember when Danny and Julien were considered major characters? And what happened to Aceveda’s role in all of this? Is he still even a suspect in Kavanaugh’s case, and if so, when will Vic call a truce with the shady bastard? Hopefully, these questions will be answered over the next few weeks, and not left to mull over while the show is on hiatus until the mysterious mini season set to air in the fall.