This was a surprisingly very enjoyable episode. I didn't expect the show to keep so much momentum going since there's still quite a few episodes left, making me think it would slow down, especially when it introduced a new plot for the episode aside from dealing with the Strike Team starting to get back together. This brought for so many great scenes and of course, as with every thing The Shield, more intensity and excitement. There's instantly a sense of urgency made when 2 cops are missing, whilst the Strike Team must find the girl's body so Antwon doesn't have leverage on Shane, and a sense of importance bringing all the characters together again in a season that has had them very scattered. I love that even Aceveda is here to help out as a cop himself. The Strike Team is still not fully back together as there's still some tension between everyone, especially Lem and Shane, but these are the steps to mend the team together. It's great that these characters are shown to mature and learn from their mistakes as the show goes on, even if they don't learn from all of them.
Vic under pressure again starts to get a bit more rough, finding Antwon's man that got shot last episode and hurting him literally in the hospital for information. He goes through so many people to find this body, uncovering the vast web Antwon has spun. Later on he goes even harder with Shane stepping on a guy while his laying on rouble and what looked like glass shards. Meanwhile the rest of the characters are desperately looking for the missing cops, and this feels very reminiscent of the ending of season 1. Dutch and Claudette interrogate some potential witnesses and they come across this crazy homeless man who requests to get a badge to talk. That scene was just hilarious, I always love when this show brings in the absurdities of certain people. "Foreign operatives are using the fault lines to destabilize the gravity shelf. 9/11 all over again." And it's made even better when despite all the insanity he says Dutch is able to get through it and use it to find a clue to all of this. There's a lot of other funny scenes too, like Vic talking to a hooker, despite the intensity. Sadly the cops are found dead, coincidentally by the more sensitive Aceveda, and in one of the houses Rawling seized.
I love how well this season has been set up, very small things happened in the first half that felt a bit slow at first but were completely necessary for later, and pays off very well. The overall writing for this season is the best yet with the strongest dialogue, and plotting. Rawling meeting with the wife of one of the dead cops which blames his death on her is another great scene especially with how it connects to Julien. I like how this episode even shows how it affects the force as a whole showing the reactions of some nameless cops we don't usually see, and also how the community is affected by it. There's a pretty sad line dropped in the middle of a ruckus when one of the dead cops is mentioned, "A cop ain't a brother." Aceveda helps out and even gets hurt on the job. He and Danni get shot at, once again reminiscent of the Season 1 finale.
The pressure continues to be on as no one is getting closer to who is behind this and Rawling shockingly suggests to pin it on someone else for a bit to calm the public down and to be able to focus on getting Antwon. I really like how Rawling's character feels like a puzzle and every episode we get more pieces added to her as we see a more complete and extremely compelling character. This puts extra pressure on the Strike Team as they have to find the body first before Rawling talks to Antwon or else everything unravels. Vic and Shane go back to the beginning to interrogate Antwon's man in the hospital and they're finally able to get him. I love how sprawling the plot has been these seasons with now Vic and Shane trying to make a deal with Antwon. There's some really great dialogue here, Antwon is a surprisingly good villain, definitely the best developed so far in the show. There's a lot going on in this episode and its very greatly interwoven, but I didn't want to got deeply into it because I feel as its hard to describe and you'll just better get it as you experience it. This was another standout from this season and it beautifully sets up for the next episode to be sure to filled with pay offs. Brilliant cliff hanger ending the episode right before the interrogation begins with Antwon, Rawling and Vic.
Vic under pressure again starts to get a bit more rough, finding Antwon's man that got shot last episode and hurting him literally in the hospital for information. He goes through so many people to find this body, uncovering the vast web Antwon has spun. Later on he goes even harder with Shane stepping on a guy while his laying on rouble and what looked like glass shards. Meanwhile the rest of the characters are desperately looking for the missing cops, and this feels very reminiscent of the ending of season 1. Dutch and Claudette interrogate some potential witnesses and they come across this crazy homeless man who requests to get a badge to talk. That scene was just hilarious, I always love when this show brings in the absurdities of certain people. "Foreign operatives are using the fault lines to destabilize the gravity shelf. 9/11 all over again." And it's made even better when despite all the insanity he says Dutch is able to get through it and use it to find a clue to all of this. There's a lot of other funny scenes too, like Vic talking to a hooker, despite the intensity. Sadly the cops are found dead, coincidentally by the more sensitive Aceveda, and in one of the houses Rawling seized.
I love how well this season has been set up, very small things happened in the first half that felt a bit slow at first but were completely necessary for later, and pays off very well. The overall writing for this season is the best yet with the strongest dialogue, and plotting. Rawling meeting with the wife of one of the dead cops which blames his death on her is another great scene especially with how it connects to Julien. I like how this episode even shows how it affects the force as a whole showing the reactions of some nameless cops we don't usually see, and also how the community is affected by it. There's a pretty sad line dropped in the middle of a ruckus when one of the dead cops is mentioned, "A cop ain't a brother." Aceveda helps out and even gets hurt on the job. He and Danni get shot at, once again reminiscent of the Season 1 finale.
The pressure continues to be on as no one is getting closer to who is behind this and Rawling shockingly suggests to pin it on someone else for a bit to calm the public down and to be able to focus on getting Antwon. I really like how Rawling's character feels like a puzzle and every episode we get more pieces added to her as we see a more complete and extremely compelling character. This puts extra pressure on the Strike Team as they have to find the body first before Rawling talks to Antwon or else everything unravels. Vic and Shane go back to the beginning to interrogate Antwon's man in the hospital and they're finally able to get him. I love how sprawling the plot has been these seasons with now Vic and Shane trying to make a deal with Antwon. There's some really great dialogue here, Antwon is a surprisingly good villain, definitely the best developed so far in the show. There's a lot going on in this episode and its very greatly interwoven, but I didn't want to got deeply into it because I feel as its hard to describe and you'll just better get it as you experience it. This was another standout from this season and it beautifully sets up for the next episode to be sure to filled with pay offs. Brilliant cliff hanger ending the episode right before the interrogation begins with Antwon, Rawling and Vic.
