“The Shield” — Haunts
Michael Chiklis is no longer the star of The Shield. That distinction now belongs to Walton Goggins, who has completely eclipsed our bald-anti-hero as the series primary draw. This is saying something given that Tuesday’s episode had Shane spending most of the hour battered and lifeless in a hospital bed. Still, that last scene with Maura was emotionally devastating.
It was obvious that Shane wasn’t going to be able to keep his secret for the duration of the season. All it took was a slip-up to get the truth to spill, though I’m sure most would argue that the “slip-up” was far more intentional. The added intensity comes from the fact that Maura was the one to which he opened up. Of all the wives and girlfriends in this series she the one that actually knows the most about what’s actually happening “at work,” and is hardly clean herself (she was the one who crushed Tavon’s skull with that iron, right?).
Also great was Vic’s crazy pot-bust side-project with Carl “got a stew goin’ on” Weathers. It was one of those scenes where a character looks at a situation as if he’s looking at a future version of himself and has to take a step back. It was all so depressing. The strike wasn’t even suspenseful. The guys they busted in on weren’t hard core gangsters, they were pot dealers whose only weapon was a five-wood. If this is the direction his life is taking, it might be time for Mr. Mackey to start playing by the rules.
Elsewhere: The longer David Aceveda has been out of the barn, the less moralizing he seems to be doing (not that he was ever all that clean). Now, he’s as snakelike as they come.
