julian lowe

(S06E08) "We're not clean in this either. And I'm not spending the rest of my life wearing state property." -Ronnie

I'm gonna make a bold statement that'll probably insult some readers: If you don't watch this show, you're dumb. Plain and simple. Nothing else on TV is as well-written, layered, and intricate as The Shield. There's another well-known cable drama with a prominent anti-hero about to end its run. Something about the Jersey mob and its high strung boss. You know that guy I'm talking about? Well, he can't hold a candle to Vic Mackey.

(S06E07) "He's not going to say anything to anybody because I know everything he's done." -Shane

There it is folks. The one thing that can actually make Vic Mackey look terrified. The knowledge in Shane's (apparently not so small) brain. We knew this was coming though. It's almost like watching an episode of Survivor. An alliance has been broken and now it's every man for himself. Who knows what and how they can use it to gain leverage.

I'll be honest though. Shane is proving to be far more effective in covering his tracks than I would have ever imagined. It almost makes you wonder how many times he's gone over this type of scenario in his head, even before the incident with Lem. The guy has put plenty of thought into his actions and it seems like Vic may have a legitimate reason to worry. How do you stop a guy that knows exactly what you know?

(S06E05) "You ever think about just coming clean? About everything?" -Shane

I suppose I should be used to it by now, but with the ups and downs that most great shows go through, it's weird to watch something and never be disappointed at the end of it. The Shield is just always good and I think it's remarkable.

So if that didn't spell it out, I liked this episode - a lot. Just solid from all points. Plenty of vintage Dutch, a blast from the past with the return of Vic's old partner, and a gut-wrenching confession from Shane made for one hell of an hour.

(S06E03) "This thing's gonna get a lot uglier before it gets better." -Vic

Well... it's official. I'm fairly certain I can't say a bad thing about this show. It's too good. Period. I'll even go as far as saying that it might be one of the finest cop dramas ever to be made and there's still 20 episodes (7 this season and 13 in the final) left before it's over for good.

There's just so many layers and subtle things that make this show so great (this episode in particular), that I know I won't recall all of them. That's how you know a show's good.

So we picked up with last week's kidnapping of Nadia (Guardo's girl) and Vic was forced to go to some extreme lengths to find the peace he's been looking for.