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Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

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TV Review: The Shield - "Spanish Practices"

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Thu, 7 Jun 2007 00:07:17 EDT

Though all in all I was somewhat disappointed in this season of The Shield, it definitely picked up speed in the end, and the season closer had promise that was somewhat fulfilled. For this season’s final episode they chose to lead with their best plotline: Vic strong-arming Aceveda into helping him keep his job by threatening him with the photograph of his oral rape. “I’m surprised that whoever pasted this photo together didn’t give me tits!” Oh my, seems Aceveda’s internal struggles over the incident still hold much shame. Aceveda’s legal counsel shows up at the barn threatening Vic with all kinds of lawsuits. Vic manages to get the originals and the story from Cruz and then tells Aceveda where he got it (and Aceveda seems really surprised at Cruz’s bad side… go figure). This gains Aceveda’s confidence and thus begins an unlikely alliance. They get the briefcase full o’ dinero back to Romero in the hopes of uncovering more about Cruz’s involvement and how high the corruption goes. Vic gives Aceveda all the copies of the photos and the memory stick to further gain his trust so they can work together to discover the deeper implications of Cruz’s skeletons. Meanwhile, Diro’s father is getting sicker, and she is determined to retaliate against Vic for the money train robbery that Shane spilled the beans on. Shane makes a feeble attempt to convince her not to go after Vic, but it fails. He then visits the rival mob boss in prison to get information on the hit on Vic to try and protect him. Seems the Armenian mob goes after the wives and children first, and then kills the men involved. Once again Shane is in over his head. He puts an APB out on the mob member most likely to make the hit, but Diro is one step ahead of him and tells him to accept his associates’ death sentences. Ironically Shane ends up in the position of protecting Vic’s family, but in order to do so he has to kidnap Corinne and Cassidy. He then waits at Corinne’s house, and a shady guy shows up to “check the alarm system.” Yeah, right. They scuffle and Shane tells him that either he partners with the rival boss against Diro or he bleeds to death on the Mackies' hardwood floor. Which do you think he chooses? Shane goes to the hospital to warn Diro about the impending hit on her and her father, and rather then let them kill dear old Dad, she pulls the plug on his life support and leaves. Her closing words to Shane are: “Your sentiment will destroy you.” Now if that isn’t a sign of plotlines to come, I don’t know what is.In tracking down Cruz, Vic follows Romero and busts into a storefront business. There he bullies his way past the “secretary” (“So, he keeps his oral recreation in house”) and discovers a room full of weapons. She doesn’t know much, but at least he has confirmation that there is more than meets the eye. He’s certain Cruz is going to ask for a favor from Aceveda. Turns out he wants to create a grant for a local college to do demographic research: seems he wants to expand voting territories to increase his influence with the politicians who are “friendly” to his business efforts. Cruz is buying up Farmington to support his shady business connections in Mexico. Vic asks once again for Aceveda’s help with the hearing. Dutch and Steve investigate the murder of Miracle Joe, a well-known and beloved Farmington homeless person, and they uncover a guy who extorts money from the homeless, a begging tax. But it seems he watched Joe get hit by a bus and get up and walk away, so he left him alone. Poor Dutch is the laughing stock of the Barn as the word of his witnessing Tina and Hiatt’s session has gotten out. (Hmmm… think it was Steve? What a jerk.) And Tina is paying for it too, with the stares and jeers from the male cops. When Tina goes to talk to Dutch, he is great, telling her she has nothing to apologize for. Dutch then asks Danny in to help in interrogation and Tina feels the sting. Turns out Joe died of natural causes, so the kid decides to drop his body off in front of the mini-mart where he was treated badly. Steve shows up with official paper and tells Claudette he is going to sue the district for 3.4 million dollars due to his “disability” supposedly incurred when trying to break off the fight between Mackie and Cavanaugh. Dutch brings in Miracle Joe’s nephew, turns out Joe stepped in to take care of him when his father took ill, but flipped out when his brother died and chose a life on the streets. Dutch is clearly emotionally affected by the conversation, and Danny finds him crying in the locker room They console each other and end up kissing. All I can say is: it’s about time. Hiatt is trying to reassert his power, by redirecting the Strike Team’s efforts, very possibly in a wrong direction, pissing off Mackie by busting his C.I. Mackie tries to clean up Hiatt’s piddly ass mess so they can move on to fry bigger fish. “You took a shit out on the streets, I’m just cleaning it up.” I had the feeling that Mackie would survive Hiatt at the Barn, and Claudette ends up firing Hiatt due to his undisclosed sexual relationship with a subordinate. I’m not mourning for him, they hadn’t done much with his character anyway. He was pretty much one-dimensional -- cute, but one-dimensional. I would rather see more focus on Ronnie anyway. Mackie is called to Corinne’s house — shots fired — and finds a pool of blood on the floor and the house empty. He suspects the worse. The rival mob boss offers Shane a deal: Vic and his family will live, but he has to tell him where Diro and her father are AND pay him back the two million dollars he lost in the money train robbery with favors, or he will kill them all anyway. Vic misinterprets the whole incident as Shane trying to threaten them with his connections. Mackie walks out before his hearing in order to follow up on the Mexican baddie politician, and while following a suspect he ends up hanging out the window of a speeding car. When he opens the trunk, he finds a whole lotta firepower and a box of blackmail ammunition for every politician, judge and VIP in Farmington. He calls in Aceveda “Do you think this is enough to save my job?” I think so. Well, it wasn’t the nail-biting episode I had hoped for, but it offered up enough to keep me on the hook for next season. The cast is unparalleled and the storylines are rarely formulaic. In other words, I’m in. Are you?

Ann Hagman Cardinal is a freelance writer as well as the Marketing and Admissions Director for the newly formed Vermont Collge of Fine Arts of UI&U. Her first novel, Sister Chicas--co-authored with two other Latina writers--was released in 2006 by NAL/Penguin Books. Her column, Café Con Lupe, appears in the monthly publication, Vermont Woman. Ann lives in Northern Vermont with her husband Doug and son Carlos.

TV Review: The Shield - "Recoil"

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Thu, 31 May 2007 07:39:21 EDT

Only one more episode to go, and I’m happy to report that The Shield’s sixth season is back to its old breakneck speed and edge-of-your seat action. Mackie confronts Claudette about his upcoming review panel and she admits a decision has already been made: he has a week left. He tells her he will solve the San Marcos murders to give her the count she needs to save the precinct, and then she won’t want to get rid of him. Vic calls on his politician connection — who owes him big after Vic’s cover-up of his daughter’s illicit behaviors — but the politician comes back to say he can’t help him. He tells Vic “you’ve built a mountain of bad will too high to climb.”Aceveda shows up at the barn with Cruz, his questionable businessman money-man, who offers them a lead for the San Marcos murders, a Salvadorian guy named Rincon who just got out of prison. Seems Rincon was bragging to his Mexican co-worker about hacking up the Mexicans while they were still alive. The Strike Team shows up at the vato’s BBQ party to confront Rincon. They offer him a deal, but in the eleventh hour Hiatt stops Vic’s unorthodox methods and short circuits any progress. Vic manages to convince Claudette to let him handle it instead of Hiatt. (This should prove to be an important part of any upcoming power play between Vic and Hiatt and, perhaps, Vic and Claudette.) The one-armed Mexican diplomat shows up with his lawyer and says that he will ID Rincon if he gets his money-filled briefcase back. Vic makes an unorthodox deal with Rincon: give up the other murderers and they will make sure he doesn’t get offed. Seems the San Marcos murders were arranged by Guardo (guess he kind of got his just desserts). The team has 24 hours to offer up the other murderers or Rincon gets it, Claudette doesn’t get her count, and Mackie can kiss his career goodbye. Vic gives two of the Salvadorian murderers to the Byz Lats to do with what they will, and the police find their bodies an hour later after the angry mob tears them apart. Now they can try Rincon for the murders — he lives as Mackie promised (sort of) — and they can call the murders solved. Steve and Dutch are finally investigating something more than hot handbags. They call in the dead guy’s gay lover and though it seems they’re playing good cop/bad cop, I get the feeling Steve is a homophobe. Not only that, he’s playing with Dutch, Tina, and Danny using cutie boy Hiatt as bait. There is a great line when Steve congratulates Hiatt on the interest of Tina and Danny; Hiatt says, “I don’t make a habit of banging chicks who know where to find me in the morning.” Steve helps to choreograph a date between Tina and Hiatt and goes so far as to steal Tina’s cellphone, sending Dutch a text message so he thinks its from her. The poor guy smoothes his hair, buys a bottle of wine, and shows up at her house. Through the window he sees Hiatt screwing Tina. I changed my mind about Steve; though Dutch has been a jerk about the vending machine scam, this was going over the line. But that is about the extent of the storyline for Dutch and Steve. Seriously, the happenings with these two have been so trivial. They spent most of the episode interrogating the victim’s lover, and NOTHING happens. Will Dutch and Steve ever get a meaty storyline again, or are they just the Punchline and Judy of the show?Shane is going “deeper into the Armenian beast than [he] ever intended.” He brings in his Armenian Gang Princess to pose as a bookkeeper for a bakery to implicate rival Mafia families. Great line alert: when Shane brings in the Princess posing as an accountant, Claudette says, “I don’t want to find her chopped off feet on my desk tomorrow morning.” Shane and Ronnie stake out the docks with the Armenian competition, and the tension between the two team members is thick. Shane tells Vic that he’s pulling his request for transfer since he’s convinced that Vic will be out in a week. Vic comes in between Shane and his new princess partner. Shane, in yet another brilliant move tells her that Vic robbed the money train and claims his own innocence to regain her trust. Now, it seems, she’s going to have Vic killed and Shane is once again in deep shit. I’m guessing that next week either Vic or Shane has to die, and I seriously doubt it will be Mackie.Okay, so Cruz’s involvement is cinched. He tries to intervene on Mackie’s behalf with Aceveda ever since Mackie mentioned his situation to the one-armed diplomat and threatens to look into Cruz’s involvement. Vic shows up at the Cruz’s construction site to confront him, and oh my GOD! Cruz gives Mackie the snapshot of Aceveda being orally raped by the gang banger! I wondered when that was going to show up again. Now things are getting interesting. The coming attractions look good, and I am so happy and relieved to feel the tension return to my favorite show. Now, if season seven can just keep it up…

TV Review: The Shield - "The Man of the Wrath" or "You can knock me down, but don't take my Gucci!"

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Wed, 23 May 2007 02:35:50 EDT

Season 6, Episode 8 –Tonight’s antepenultimate episode of The Shield didn’t deliver the punch I expected. Is it me, or did not much really happen? It wasn’t that it was bad, necessarily, just not up to par (except for a plethora of fabulous one-liners). They set the bar pretty high with this show, and I’m looking for a bit of the old fire. I hope the season finale will deliver.Okay, so Hernan might not be dead as I predicted last week, but given that the leader of the Byz Lats (who was the one who was left alone with the cell phone) said he knew that the Ecuadorians had a snitch, I believe he did check the cell phone as I suspected. Shane is getting in deep with the Armenians. The gas station owner he threatened for them turned up dead with a gas pump shoved down his throat. So he goes to talk to the mob leader and ends up dealing with his religious “damsel in distress” daughter, Diro, who says her father is traveling. He is actually dying in a hospital and she is running his affairs, legal and otherwise. She gives Shane more money, and asks him to look into some robberies at their buildings. He discovers that it is a den of savvy Russian hookers (the blond actress was great) who were shook down by a trio of ex-cons. Diro seems to be trying to settle into her father’s shoes and is looking to set up a partnership with Shane. A well-bred woman gets attacked outside a store in a funky neighborhood, and when Dutch and Steve question her at the hospital as to what happened, Dutch tries to establish the story: that she was knocked and the thief took her new handbags. She replies, “They weren’t handbags, two were evening clutches and one was a keepall.” You get the picture. Steve seems rankled by her privileged attitude: I like him more every week. Seems the store is selling very well-made designer knock-offs and a vandal thought her purchases were real. When he and Dutch are discussing how they don’t understand the women’s quest for handbags, Steve says, “Get a lunchbox, hit a mugger with that at least you can cause some damage.” The night before the store is going to be shut down, Tina and Corrine go to buy some Fendi clutches and Louis Vitton, and there they run into Danny. Seems the illegal bag biz doesn’t pose any ethical issues for them, but then again, what I would do for a good Coach leather tote. Claudette then sends Dutch and Steve to investigate a series of castrations, a case about “missing bags you boys can relate to.” Love it.Hernan’s girlfriend (with badly blended lip-liner) contacts Vic and gives him a message, supposedly from Hernan. There will be a robbery at a gun shop that he wants them to protect the innocents but not blow his cover. Is she telling the truth? They arrange a road block and car jacking—brilliantly pulled off—so they can get the guns back. But later Hernan is a no-show at their meeting place, and is supposedly on a plane to El Salvador. Vic thinks Hernan is responsible for hacking up a gang member who was accused of being a snitch, possibly to cover himself. I’m just not sure. Something isn’t ringing true. Hiatt seems to be studying at the Vic Mackie School of Strike Team Management. He is going around Claudette and breaking rules as needed. He tells Vic that Claudette’s been playing him from day one, that he will still be forced to retire, and Vic doesn’t seem concerned (could be his politician connection, now THAT reminds me of the old Mackey!). Shane gets to Ronnie and tries to reconcile, filling him in on some of Vic and the team’s past transgressions. He tells him that if he ever wants the real scoop on Vic, to give him a call. Ronnie confronts Vic about his murder of Terry, and Vic comes clean. Cracking, stacking, and packing: Aceveda meets with some political advisor who tells him he should redraw the lines of his districts to influence the voting. His investor (the dubious business guy) gives him a donation check for $100,000, and tells him he will get the second half when he solves the San Marcos case (is this legal?). Aceveda goes straight to the barn to harangue Claudette, and when she suggests he might have been the leak on Hernan, he says, “Claudette, this is me!” as if that is supposed to make her feel better? I want so badly to be on the edge of my seat waiting for next week. Though so many aspects of The Shield are still extraordinary, I’m sitting comfortably in my chair, far from the edge. Now, several people commented that this will be the last season for The Shield, but there is no indication of that and I read that it has been renewed for a seventh and final season. I want them to make me wish for next March (okay so I’m exaggerating a little, work with me here) so I can see what happens. Will they do it? I guess we’ll find out next week.

TV Review: The Shield - "Exiled" or Strike Team Family Feud

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Wed, 16 May 2007 16:07:38 EDT

Okay, things are heating up in the barn with our infighting, and I manage to crack a code in this week's episode before my husband with the smoking cell phone (okay, so maybe you figured it out too, but let me have my glory for one week, huh?). More on that later. Hiding out in a hotel, Shane’s getting off the Oxycodone, and beginning to document all of Mackie’s transgressions. He places it all into two manila envelopes. Insurance policies?Hernan, the Federal agent under cover, contacts Lem and Ronnie. Seems the cover up for the San Marcos murders is more elaborate than expected. He asks them for a lifeline. Meanwhile, the retaliation for the murders is getting bloodier, the Byz Lats shot up a street festival. Seems Hernan lied about it being a Mexican on Mexican crime, when in fact it seems to be the Salvadorians as originally expected. They devise a gang sweep of both groups, picking up Hernan in the group. Aceveda‘s community connection sees it as a Latino Blitzkrieg. I just don’t trust his contact, Mr. Button-down Community Leader. I could be wrong, but when Aceveda told him that there was a Fed inside the Salvadorian gang, I had a feeling - just a feeling - that was information not falling on deaf ears. The ICE is trying to shut down the gang sweep, putting Hernan in danger. Julian earned his slot this week, outrunning one of the big gang bosses during the bust before any of the other members of the team could. Turns out the massacre was about sharing a drug market. Hernan is going back undercover to try and settle the beef between the warring factions. Mara shows up at work looking for Shane. She tells Vic that she knows about Lem. Mackie’s tousling of her toddler son’s hair was so threatening, perhaps a foreshadowing of the power struggle? Shane is not happy about the visit, telling her that Vic is capable of hurting them. Shane requests a transfer back to vice, but he will have to work with Mackie for his last two weeks. Once again it seems that Mara’s big mouth is going to get them in trouble While making a deal to hand him a few key players in exchange for peace, Vic gives the gang baddie the untraceable phone to make a call and LEAVES THE ROOM! See, the last call he got was from Hernan. Can’t imagine that the gang leader won’t search the calls received on the phone (Maybe because of a tip off from Mr. Button Down? Okay, I’m stretching here), but I can’t imagine this won’t go badly. The Mexican official’s — seems his name is Eduardo — hacked-off arm is still a mystery which Dutch and Steve are checking into. As they're tracking down Eduardo’s ex, Steve offers to teach Dutch about women. Oh my -- comic relief. They eventually find her, but she hasn’t been told there was anything wrong. You assume he is in pieces somewhere, but they find Eduardo in the hotel room with a bandaged stump where his arm was. He cries diplomatic immunity, but Dutch brings him in anyway (okay, he was witness to a brutal massacre). And by the way, Hernan is dead due to the cell phone sharing, mark my words. My husband argued with me, “Where are you getting that? They didn’t tell us that!” but take it from a writer: you don’t put a gun on the mantel in scene one, unless someone is going to use it in scene three. Hernan’s cover is blown; he's a goner.Shane bullies a woman, dead cop Ben’s wife, who gave Vic information on Mexican contacts; he actually hits her while her daughters were playing outside. He’s also trying to build new relationships with the Armenian baddies in the neighborhood since Vic broke off with them, doing favors for them so he can call on them later. I guess we’re in for the long haul on this strike team family feud. Claudette then shows up to the poor woman’s house, trying to figure out what the hell is going on between Vic and Shane. She tells her about giving Vic information, and Shane. Claudette offers her protection. Oh my, Shane’s new contact is trouble. One of the guys ends up dead with a gas nozzle shoved down his throat. We close with the exchange of all the intel they have on each other, with threats of exposing to IAD. In the closing shot of Mackie as he surveys all of Shane’s documents, he actually looked scared. I really hope they have more in store for us than this Shane vs. Mackie smackdown. I’m just not engaged enough for it to sustain me for more than a few shows, but it should be a good fix for the short run.

TV Review: The Shield - "Chasing Ghosts" - Deja Vu or Action Resurrected?

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Wed, 9 May 2007 07:37:36 EDT

Oooh! Shane is busted! Not busted enough for this gal, but I get ahead of myself. It was an exciting episode this week, to be sure, however I’m just not certain it isn’t third and fourth season leftovers.Antwon Mitchell has a better arrangement in jail than Martha Stewart, what with “affectionate” women visitors and the ability to order the guards around. Mackey visits Antwon to accuse him of arranging Lem’s murder, but he strikes out. It was a long shot anyway. Ronnie and Vic are continuing to pursue leads on the case, and now Shane is trying to convince them not to, he’s too busy looking at houses. Vic realizes that Shane counted the grenades the night of Lem’s murder. He and Ronnie are starting to put two and two together. But when they go to confirm the number of grenades Shane checked in, they discover they’re all there. If Shane was obnoxious before, this week he is off the charts. There really is nothing likeable about him anymore. He spent the entire episode smirking, sitting with his feet on the table, and trying to convince them to give up on Lem’s case. Meanwhile, the city controller’s daughter’s been murdered so the strike team is put on the high profile case. Aceveda is right there trying to manipulate the facts. They start to uncover soccer mom heroin addicts and a dark underbelly to the politician’s heroin-addicted, trick-turning daughter. The raid on the murderer’s apartment was fabulous with its throbbing metal soundtrack and tension-building, sneaking-around-corners-ducking-automatic-weapon-fire action. Vic offers to bring the suspect in himself, supposedly to take the political heat, but as it turns out, it is so he could manipulate the situation to benefit the controller, and thereby gain favor towards his defense. Claudette begins to realize that Vic helped manipulate the facts to aid the cover-up. Tina is back from her cop-modeling job, and she is not happy to be paired with Danny. Seems they both find Hiatt kind of cute -- this should be good, finally the poor women gets some decent plot. When Danny talks to Tina about her attitude, Tina boasts about her new friends in high places, and the alpha female pissing match begins. I’m putting my money on Danny, what about you?Guardo’s girlfriend shows up at the barn saying that he’s missing and spills the beans about the team taking her into bogus protective custody. Dutch starts to suspect Vic, but Claudette doesn’t want to make yet another mistake accusing Mackie. Dutch tries to trip Vic up, but it falls flat. Guess street smarts are more valuable than book-learnin’ in these sort of situations.Vic’s daughter Cassidy confronts him about all the unethical things she learned about him on the internet. She says she doesn’t want to talk to him and drops the bomb that she overheard her mother talking about the fact that Vic had another baby, and we get confirmation that he is indeed Danny’s “baby daddy”. Though it seems he promised Danny he would stay out of it, he convinces her to let him bring Cassidy over to meet her half-brother, Lee. Ronnie lures Shane with the pretense of a meeting of the two of them with Vic. But Vic confronts Shane alone. Watching Shane squirm as he begins to realize where it was going was so much fun. And — drum roll please — he finally admits to Vic that he killed Lem. Then they both cry. Luckily, not for long. Then Vic gets pissed. Thank God. “He was strong and you are a coward!” Vic yells. Shane says that though Mackie thinks he’s looking through a window, but he’s looking in a mirror. He’s a philosopher now! In the end, Mackie realizes that he’s created this monster. Vic tells Shane they’re done and if he sees him again he will kill him. They are left at a stalemate, each threatening the other with the knowledge of all the (many) skeletons in each of their closets. Didn’t this happen in an earlier season? Is it just me, or does it feel a bit like a rehash of season three and four with the money train situation where Shane ended up leaving and going to Vice? I’m just not sure yet; guess we will have to see where they take us next week. I sure hope it’s somewhere new.

TV Review: The Shield - "Haunts" - Shane's Smackdown

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Wed, 2 May 2007 18:33:13 EDT

Ooh Daddy, this was a good one! Tonight's episode had all the cliff-hanging, stomach-turning, envelope-pushing qualities that made me love this series! Let's recap, shall we?They found Shane in the gutter, beaten bloody. Can’t say I’m sorry. Oh God, and we have to watch the whiny wife, Mona, again; haven’t had to endure her in at least a season or more. Seems his teenage “girlfriend” Tilley’s step-dad is responsible for his “smackdown.” I was betting on her ex-boyfriend who is the head of the One-Niners. And ooh! When Mona gets his personal effects at the hospital she finds condoms and confronts him since she’s three months pregnant and he won’t be needing them with her. At least he admitted it when confronted. She throws him out of the house, and who can blame her? Danny is guarding Shane's door and overhears. Still not much for her to do. What's up with that?This was Julian’s first episode on the Strike Team, and the big question on my lips is: does he have the stomach for it? When Vic agrees to arrange for a “dick sucking” for Guardo’s second in command in exchange for information on the San Marcos murders, devout Christian Julian looked pretty damn squirmy. He takes notes about the cases and he gets a quick lesson on the discreet workings of the Team, and how paperwork is discouraged.Acevedo brought his civilian business constituent into the Barn looking for information on the murders. The man has NO boundaries and there is no end to his ambition. Turns out one of the Mexicans found dead was a government official. Things are getting interesting there. Vic is calling Hiatt Jefe (boss) now, but Hiatt then deferred to Vic. The contest for Alpha male has yet to be decided. The Team is forced to question a fed agent working undercover in order to get information. They don’t get much enlightening information on the murders, but they find out that Guardo didn’t kill Lem. Dutch and Steve were still searching for the rapist torturer of teen runaways. A guy shows up who is a little too eager to help. Steve uses Dutch’s profile to deduce that the man fits it to the letter, and then one of his victims identifies him from the tape. Turns out the man’s daughter disappeared, so he was teaching other runaways a lesson by punishing them (by sodomizing) and then torturing them (carving “go home” on their stomachs). Dutch pushes him to admit that he sexually abused his daughter after the death of his wife. This case really gets to devoted father Steve. Vic’s old friend and former colleague Joe (is that really Carl Weathers?) approaches him with a business proposition. A landlord wants a tenant pushed out and he’s looking for a badge-wearing strong arm to help. And it pays well. Vic turns it down but agrees to help him out with info. In the end, out of concern for his friend’s safety — and to protect him from Joe’s psycho partner — Vic goes along as wingman. Things get out of hand as Joe’s friend is a sadistic prick, but no worries, Vic ends up punching him in the face. Good riddance to bad rubbish. We cut to scenes of Shane crying in his car, snorting cocaine with a very conspicuous bottle of pain killers in the foreground. Will he swallow them? No! Later, he breaks into his apartment and — I hate to admit that my blogcritics comrades were right — it was his wife he confesses to about Lem. Damn! Then he lays it on Mara that he did it for her and the kids. What a head case. The worse part? She forgives him and takes him back. Perhaps they deserve each other. And yes, I know that Mackey is responsible for killing a member of the team too, but he was a snitch and not family like Lem. Most importantly, Vic has grown during the course of the show and is trying to redeem himself (note I said trying, not succeeding). I don’t know, maybe it’s hypocritical of me to defend Vic and condemn Shane, but I think it is an issue of whether or not they learned from their mistakes. All in all this was an exciting episode, worthy of a final season. The scene where the incestuous father/rapist/torturer begs for his daughter to come home as well as the one when the psycho hired muscle is torturing the Jamaican drug dealing tenants made me squirm, which happened pretty often in the first few seasons. The show is so good at pushing the envelope. I can’t wait for next week. Seems that Vic and Ronnie (who I liked better with the beard) might discover on their own that Shane is guilty.

TV Review: The Shield - "The New Guy"

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 13:05:29 EDT

Folks, I’m starting to feel like the old Shield is back. Things are heating in the barn with the arrival of new rooster: Hiatt, Mackie’s replacement and the new leader of the Strike Team. And right from the start Claudette continues to demonstrate increasingly administration-like behavior by lying to Mackie about a fictional retirement hearing to keep him in line during his last three weeks. Just when I thought Shane couldn’t get any more depraved, he is giving the team a hard time about how they are forgetting about Lem — ironic given he was the one who murdered him. In addition, he is having an ongoing sexual relationship with a “tweener” hooker, pumping her for more than information. The team is trying to protect a group of seven gang bangers who are purported to be trying to go straight, under the leadership of Vantes. Mackie and Hiyatt have to team up to stay one step ahead and keep as many as they can alive. Mackie begins to associate keeping Vantes alive with Lem. Aceveda's behavior is one thing that remains consistent; he is playing whatever side he has to in order to ensure his political security. He is being pressured by a local business bigwig to solve a Mexican mass murder, supposedly done by Salvadorians. He gets the case transferred back to the Farmington so he and Claudette can get a win and ensure both their futures. Danny is adjusting to being back at work, struggling with being a working mom, pumping breast milk in between busts, and calling her day care provider from the squad car on its way to a street slaying. Dutch is surprised to hear that Tina transferred out (she’s the new PR model for the district), but he continues to prove his superior detective skills by finding important connections that are working towards solving a particularly disturbing rape case involving a runaway who has “go home” carved into her stomach. Steve calls Dutch on his pursuit of Tina and going after Mackie’s ex, a trend that he calls “shitting where he eats.” I’m liking Steve more and more every week. Claudette offers Julien a chance to join the strike team under Hiatt. Though Julien is hesitant and concerned about being accepted by the team, he agrees to take the new position. This should provide some interesting future storylines given the contrast of the team’s unconventional ways and Julien’s conservative beliefsI like the new guy, Hiatt (played by Alex O’Loughlin). Besides being un papi chulo (a cute guy), he is livening things up at the Barn with some new blood, new energy, a very strategically groomed day’s growth of beard, and dark sunglasses. And despite Claudette’s warning, he is impressed by Mackie, which only brings him closer to my heart.The episode started out somewhat slow, but ended on a very strong note, with Mackie flipping out after Vantes dies in the hospital. Sobbing about Lem, Vic tears up the waiting room while his colleagues and ex-wife look on. Michael Chiklis’ performance was particularly powerful in this scene. Here’s hoping that the tension continues. And judging from the coming attractions, next week should be a good one (and you doubted my theory that Shane would fess up!).

TV Review: The Shield: Season 6 - Episode 3

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:05:53 EDT

This week’s episode started a little slower than the last one, but I’m not sure they could have kept up the pace established in this season's second episode. For the first time in over a season, I was almost bored. Almost. Dutch’s new partnership with Steve is off to a rocky start, though I have to say, I was cheering Steve on for calling Dutch on his shortcomings as a detective (see? I told you Dutch’s arrogance got in the way!). And Claudette is acting more and more like a Captain, asking for Lem’s locker to be cleared out and focusing on her body count to avoid more flak from headquarters. She pulls Ronny in on a string of drugstore murder/robberies, limiting Mackey’s back-up which slightly torques up the tension.Keeping Salvadorian drug king pin Guardo’s girlfriend hostage, Mackey lures him in, determined to exact revenge for Lem’s murder. We’ve watched Shane squirm with guilt over the last three episodes, and it has been starting to get on my nerves. I thought that tonight he would finally fess up, at least to Vic. In the shudder-inducing manner of the early seasons, Vic drags Guardo to an abandoned building, and beats him with a chain while interrogating him about a murder he didn’t commit. For us to know Mackey’s got the wrong guy and then watch Shane struggle but not fess up for Lem’s murder, was so painful. I found myself yelling at the television set (which I used to make fun of my father for doing: “Oh great, Dad, like they can hear you!”) Just when you think Shane is going to confess, Mackey shoots Guardo. Is anything still at stake for Shane? Is there any reason for him to confess now? Danny is back from maternity leave in her promoted position of Sergeant. Okay…so? Hopefully she will have a real storyline next week as this felt more like a meaningless cameo than a plot development. Dutch’s relationship with his hottie protégé, Tina, (played by the fabulous and underused Colombian actress, Paula Garces) gets complicated as he misinterprets her desire to learn from his expertise as romantic interest (though truthfully, I can’t say as I blame him, she’s definitely sending out mixes signals). To add to his bad night he gets a visit from a federal agent telling him to back off from a line of inquiry into an informant the agent is working.They left us with Claudette asking Vic to train his replacement, reminding him that he only had one month left before his “retirement.” All in all, it was an episode that never really got going, and that is not what we’ve come to expect from this action-laced series. They set the bar pretty high with the fast pace of the first two episodes, only confirming my Blogcritics colleagues’ perception that they jumped the gun with the Kavanaugh storyline, wrapping it up too neatly, too quickly. Though I hated the character and said last week I was happy to see him go, I have to admit I was missing him tonight. Having a worthy adversary for Mackey made for great tension. But the coming attractions look promising, what with Mackey’s Bruce Springsteen look-alike replacement shaking things up at the barn. One can only hope.

TV Review: The Shield - Season 6 Thus Far

Ann Hagman Cardinal — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:51:06 EDT

Just when you thought The Shield couldn’t get any more exciting, season six arrives with more twists and turns than a celebrity marriage! We were left at the end of last season with the stunner of Lem’s murder, Danny’s baby daddy issue, and the specter of Kavanaugh’s personal vendetta against Vic gaining psychotic momentum. Phew! Well, this season loose ends are wrapping up quickly and new ones are coming unraveled. It’s just the second episode and Kavanagh’s already in jail, Shane is ready to combust with guilt over his murderous secret, Claudette’s job has already been threatened, and Mackey has tracked down the man he thinks is Lem’s killer. The storylines thus far this season do not disappoint and I am waiting with bated breath to see what happens next week. And I have to say that the idea that we may soon be rid of Kavanaugh’s wild-eyed obsession is a huge relief. The character out and out gives me the creeps, and his not so surprising slip into planting evidence and bribing witness made him even harder to stomach. But it’s okay Forrest, you certainly proved your Oscar-winning chops. It’s the character we love to hate, not you. And then there’s David Aceveda. I’m sorry, Councilman David Aceveda. Shudder. Now, I can’t tell you how happy I am that there is a prominent Latino character in this impressive ensemble, and I adore the actor, Benito Martinez, but Aceveda’s smarmy police captain turned politician makes my flesh crawl. But don’t think I’m accusing the show of stereotyping. Hell no, every character is questionable on this show. In fact, that is what is so fascinating about The Shield. No one is totally good or completely bad. Mackey began the series by murdering a member of his team and stealing money. He had no redeeming qualities whatsoever (other than being played by the brilliant and intense Michael Chiklis). Slowly we are seeing the character evolve, and — I hope you will forgive me — become a kind of anti-hero. And even several of the more virtuous characters — such as Dutch Boy and the much missed Lem — are guilty of morally questionable acts. At the very beginning of the series, I contacted a high school friend of mine who is a detective in a New York neighborhood comparable to Farmington, and asked her if the show was accurate. “Accurate? No. It’s an overly dramatized view. But of all the cop shows I’ve seen, The Shield is the closest in its grittiness, its darkness.” She was the one who told me that when you are called to a crime scene, where a pimp has just stabbed a drug dealer in a dispute, you wonder: who’s the “bad” guy here? This is exactly what The Shield shows you: just how thin that line can be. Now you may ask, with all my talk of crawling skin and lurching stomachs, why am I so fascinated with The Shield? Well, I would compare it to a Tarantino film. It evokes this visceral response and broaches subjects you never thought you would see on national TV (the guy who raped old women disturbed me for weeks afterwards), but like Tarantino, it is all about breaking boundaries, wavering moral compasses, and the dark underbelly of human existence. Basically it is just damn good television.