The Shield "We're good cops. This...

The Shield"We're good cops. This is about the system turning its back on one of its own," Vic says to Becca, trying to get her to work for him. Well, in a time of James Frey and other prominent liars, when no one really seems to care much about the truth, I guess he can get away with believing that. And what the heck... it's just TV, right? From there, we head into the usual mayhem, with Dutch and Claudette investigating the murder of a pregnant woman whose baby was cut out of her, Shane setting the stage for the betrayal of Lem (don't kid yourself it's coming), Vic playing some kind of head game with Aceveda, etc. Heck of a week, though, with all sorts of things in the works. In just one episode, we see several weeks' worth of bad stuff headed straight for us, with Vic hiring Becca while lying to her (bad idea the woman's sharper than he realizes), Tina screwing up again (and again refusing to learn from her mistakes), Kavanaugh threatening Corinne and, of course, the episode's climax: Vic holding a knife to Emolia's throat, deciding to let her live just before Kavanaugh comes in (and Emolia deciding to lie for Vic, bolstering his excuse for being there). Those few seconds, while she's waiting for him to cut her throat and wondering why he doesn't, qualify as the most intense I've seen in a while. But while I'm telling you not to kid yourselves, I'm following my own advice. Those won't be the last. Michael Peck

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