** The Shield 5/29 **

DeMaci · #1 05-30-2007, 05:15 AM

Thoughts?

jawhoo · #2 05-30-2007, 10:25 AM

I've been slightly dissapointed with the past couple of episodes, ever since Vic & Shane's confrontation (at which point the season was running at an unbelievable pace). For whatever reasons, the intensity and tension haven't been running as high imo. (Still solid B-grade episodes though.) That being said, I dropped my jaw twice during the last few minutes last night. Shane telling the Armenian mob that Vick robbed the money train was brutal, and the look on his face when he realized that he had in essence just signed Vick's death warrant was great. Then, when Aceveda's photo resurfaced, I was floored again. Between the two scenes, it's an outstanding set-up for the finale next week.

On the other hand, as awesomely embarassing as Dutch being caught peeping on the new guy w/ Tina was, he's going to have a text message on his phone, from Tina, asking him to come over. Pretty easy to explain himself. So that story was a little weak, if fun to watch.

Speaking of weak, the one major dissapointment for me this season is the complete lack of story development involving Julian. When he was added as a Strike Team member I thought we'd really get more in depth with his character, after not seeing much of him for a season or two. Instead, he's basically been a warm body - I don't understand at all why they made the move in the first place. Maybe I'm blanking on something, but he's added nothing as a Strike Team member, and I think that was a missed opportunity.

Lastly, does anyone know why we're only getting 10 episodes this season? And I've heard that next season is the last, does anyone know if that's true, and the episode count for next season?

Dids · #3 05-30-2007, 11:20 AM

My thoughts on this weeks ep are that I got to see Paula Garces getting railed and that she's got a hot ass.

That and the rest of it was pretty good, although I don't like them cutting down Hyatt like that. I think he's a cooler character as Vic's equal.

RichGangi · #4 05-30-2007, 11:41 AM

Did anyone else have reception problems during the end of last nights episode? It was only FX, other channels were fine. That sucked. Starting f'ing up right when Tina was getting nailed. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

CappyAA · #5 05-30-2007, 11:41 AM

[ QUOTE ]
My thoughts on this weeks ep are that I got to see Paula Garces getting railed and that she's got a hot ass.

That and the rest of it was pretty good, although I don't like them cutting down Hyatt like that. I think he's a cooler character as Vic's equal.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with this here. It was a good episode for the most part though. I love the way they are giving Ronnie more action as well. I'm curious to see how Vic is going to use that picture against Aceveda.

private joker · #6 05-30-2007, 01:43 PM

Julian is the new Ronnie. Ronnie is the new Lem.

I loved last night's episode... The way Billings orchestrated Dutch's heartbreak was so mean-spirited and petty and sad and also kind of funny. I liked the twist of Vic not being able to use addict girl's dad to help him save his job but then stumbling onto the Aceveda blackmail angle. Shane just keeps getting himself into such deep [censored]. I don't know how he will ever survive this series.

Lanzalot · #7 05-30-2007, 02:11 PM

My thoughts generally are that I agree with a poster a few weeks back who said that what we are seeing now is set up for next season. It seems like the first three episodes with Kavanagh were a resolution of last season.

My specific thoughts are that Tina has got a (Al Pacino in "Heat" voice) GREAT ASS!!!!

DeMaci · #8 05-30-2007, 02:30 PM

I hope this can turn into a NSFW thread for pics of Tina.

jawhoo · #9 05-30-2007, 02:45 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Julian is the new Ronnie. Ronnie is the new Lem.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's the point [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Ronnie really didn't add much to the show except when he was getting his face seared off in Season 3. If he's getting promoted to Lem, I don't see why the writers felt they needed to fill his previous role's shoes. It didn't hurt anything to add Julian to the Strike Team, they just haven't added a thing either, which is too bad. When they made the move I thought the Vick/Julian dynamic was going to be a big part of the season, and I thought that had a lot of potential.

Maybe if they'd had the extra 3 episodes they'd have fit that in.

DeuceKicker · #10 05-30-2007, 03:07 PM

The tension building up to a Paula Garces semi-nude scene has been almost as intense as any actual storyline. Did anyone else think the look on Hiatt's face was more than just surprise that Dutch was standing there? Like maybe it hit him that Billings might have set the whole thing up--or at least that it was no coincidence that Dutch showed up that night? It would be par for the course if Dutch figures it out but doesn't really do anything. I don't think Hiatt will be such a push-over.

I agree there could have been more happening with Julian on the strike team, since he's so straight--er, I mean by the book. There was potential for some interesting conflict between his morals and what the strike team feels is necessary to be effective. On the other hand, there is so much else going on that there isn't time to explore that scenario with the limited number of episodes remaining. (Obvious answer: Shoot more than ten episodes for the season!)

Kudos again to Walton Goggins for his performance when Diro tells him that Vic must be taken care of.

I'm not really a TV/movie 'buff'. I don't generally appreciate different directors' styles and camera angles and that kind of stuff. Usually I just follow the storyline and only notice if an actor does a notably good or bad job. But I really liked two scenes from this episode.

First, when Shane and Vic are having it out in the strike team's room and Shane is gloating that Vic is out soon. Vic tilts his head forward and says, "I'm not going anywhere." I thought that was a great shot. The angle, the lighting, and the intensity in Chiklis' face made me rewind and watch it again.

The second scene was when Vic gets the photo from Pezuela. The camera is on Vic's face, with just a side shot of Pezuela's mouth/jaw in the frame as he says, "Instead of standing up like a man, he got on his knees and put another man's dick in his mouth." I thought it was a really interesting way to shoot it. The tightness of Pezuela's mouth, and almost voice-over feel to the shot made Pezuela's contempt for Aceveda more palpable.