(S07E05) "Putting Pezuela away is a down payment on me being able to live with myself." - Vic

Vic Mackey expressing regret? Wha?!? If that isn't a sign of the end, I don't know what is. Correct me if I'm wrong, but up until now, I don't think we've ever heard Vic say he felt bad about what he'd done. At least not say it and mean it. Sure, he's expressed distaste for some of his actions and more often than not he spouts the "I did what had to be done" rhetoric, but now he's finally starting to realize that this is it.

Olivia being in the box certainly must have been a reality check for Vic. You knew she had to have a reason for showing up out of nowhere and now we know why. Jumping right to the end of the episode, it was exactly what I expected. Vic did his homework on Pezuela's dirt (Olivia got her brother out a federal gambling ring charge), confronted her at her home, and found out what she knew and who she told.

Part of me wanted to hear her say "Cruz knows everything," but I think that would have been too much with eight episodes to go. Vic wants to help, but it's obviously out of a sense of self-preservation and not from the goodness of his heart. Could it backfire? Sure, especially if Cruz ever gets his box back and tries to get something out of Olivia. More than likely that won't happen, but Aceveda could still turn over the box to the Feds (i.e. Olivia's bosses) and then she's doubly screwed.

One of the things I loved about this episode is how so many older characters made a comeback. Kleavon Gardner, Deena, and Leon the FBI profiler all popped up and contributed to some really solid storylines. I remember reading somewhere (or maybe it was one of those cast interviews from The Shield website?) that Shawn Ryan went through and re-watched the first six seasons and pulled the characters he wanted to develop further. Looks like this is the result.

Leon's return was the most intriguing because he came in and added weight to Dutch's theory about Lloyd. Something is wrong with him, but he can't pinpoint it. Having Kleavon confirm it was far more chilling though - the elder, experienced serial killer recognizing "it" in a younger version of himself.

More thoughts...

• Up until the end, I will say that knowing Olivia was in the box certainly added a second layer to anything that came out of her mouth since there really was no way of knowing if she was going to set the Strike Team up. Obviously she didn't, but you get what I mean.
• Seems that in light of Cassidy's behavior, Vic now views Lee as a "do over." What I don't get is why Vic thinks Danny is unfit to be a single parent? Or is that just his own ego?
• I loved how Dutch equated everything about his career as a path that led him right to Lloyd. I can't wait to see how it plays out with this kid. I've heard a lot of theories and they're all good. Lloyd kills Dutch? Dutch kills Lloyd? Either would make sense to m, but there are so many other (better) outcomes.
• That scene when Mackey "deputized" Burnout and his crew was hilarious.

Now that Ronnie knows Aceveda has the box, do you think he'll continue to push Vic to end the Armo/Mexi war as Shane suggested? I mean... Shane is right... right? Using Ronnie's quicksand analogy, they just keep sinking. Even though Vic got to Olivia before she could do some damage, you have to wonder if it's really going to make a "big picture" difference at this point.