We open with the images of Shane in exile, hidden away and holed up in some anonymous hotel room and gathering his wits - such as they are. Note the turn of mental toughness and resolve implied as he flushes his pain pills down the toilet. He ain't going to go down because he was too whacked out and stoned to operate. Then there is the impressive scene of concentration and detail as he's handwriting legal pads full of detailed notes on the Strike Team's criminal history. He's got two beds full of this stuff, notes and photos. "Just imagine every hard, brutal thing we've ever done." Yes, there's an understandable point of wanting such documentation to hold over Vic for protection, but what are the odds of this not somehow winding up on Claudette's desk?
Meanwhile, repeat viewings and thought make Shane's scene with Nancy Gilroy (widow of the disgraced Ben Gilroy) look more and more purely gratuitously wicked. He lies his way into her house asking for some of Ben's papers, then absolutely physically intimidates her as he's watching her children getting off the bus, and threatening to traumatize them with ugly autopsy photos of Dad and all the ugly info that Mom has worked to insulate them from.
That'd be pretty evil of Shane, even if he was needing info, but seeing the end of the episode and thinking back, it's much worse. He didn't particularly care about the info, and he was just doing it to get Vic to show up at her house so he could throw Vic a copy of his blackmail packet he was compiling in the first scene. He didn't give a rat's ass about those documents. He could have gotten this package to Vic all kinds of other ways. Is there some other possible reason then for Shane terrorizing the widow other than pure gratuitous cruelty?
Besides being wicked though, this is purely stupid on Shane's part. He knows perfectly well how being scared can cause people to do all kinds of stuff. Now he's got one more person who might likely have incriminating knowledge of him who now has reason to both hate and fear him. How's that NOT going to turn out badly for him?
Naturally, Mrs Gilroy turns up at the Barn to talk to Vic, which of course draws Captain Wyms' attention. The Nancy Gilroy situation gives another small contrast between Shane's instinctive petty nastiness versus Vic's more noble elements. Vic shows up to head Shane off, and volunteers a copy of the documents Shane supposedly wanted. Just leave her family out of this. Also and predictably, Claudette shows up separately to make friends with the widow, and offer to protect her from whatever crazy thing is going on with Vic and Shane. Shane's obviously malevolent, and she knows she can't really trust Vic. ("So if I put a call in to IAD, they'll know what I'm talking about?") Is there some less than obvious reason why Mrs. Gilroy would not tell Claudette everything she knows, even just for her own protection?
One of the more interesting aspects of the Shane-Vic conflict is the face that they each will be putting on in the Barn, and particularly with Captain Wyms. So Shane's calling in sick, applying for a transfer, and two weeks unpaid leave - obviously corresponding to the timing of Vic's scheduled forced retirement. Wyms informs Vic of this, and that she's denying Shane's request for time off. That is, she's going to make a point of forcing them in together. Is there anything going on that she should know about effecting their ability to work together? "What effects the job is our friend getting blown to shit." True enough, but of course he ain't about to explain exactly why.
Mara showing up at the Barn to confront Vic doesn't help him keep from arousing suspicions in the office. It's understandable that she's worried knowing what she does and him missing for a day, but she's a goddam redneck like her husband - only even stupider.
For starters, it was a very poor move to tell Vic that she knows everything. General mafia code of leaving the families out of things was her best defense against Vic. Making herself a knowing participant like this makes her more like fair game, which is why Shane was so distraught to hear her say "I told him we didn't have any secrets." It was a nice touch that Vic smiles gently during this little confrontation in the hall, and patted little Jackson on the head. Her fearful recoil from this was a nice visceral moment.
Once Shane showed up, he had to catch hell for being missing. "Maybe you were getting your dick sucked by your underage Nubian whore." Nice turn of phrase there. Note that she's much more offended by Shane's infidelity (particularly with a black girl) than by him murdering his partner.
Did I mention that Mara's a dumb redneck? Shane was glad to hear that she was scheduled to visit Corrine. Good, make a day of it, he encouraged her. Even she was smart enough to get that that was the safest place for her, as Vic's not going to go nuts on them with Corrine. But Mara's not smart enough to just have a nice chat, maybe gather a little quiet intel and shut up. It's perfectly clear that Corrine doesn't have half a clue about Vic's dealings - and makes a point of not wanting to know. Mara says, "It's the off duty shit that scares me the most, you know?" To which Corrine replies, "No, I don't. I'll get you some more juice." Then she gets up and walks out of the room.
But Mara still has to give her a threat for Vic as she's leaving. What could she have possibly thought she was accomplishing, other than alienating and upsetting Corrine? That does, however, serve the good plot purpose of dragging Corrine into this mess. She's going to HAVE to ask Vic about this.
Meantime, there are other people out committing ugly crimes that desperately need attention. The San Marcos mass murder is a huge monster of a mess a half dozen different directions within the community, within the politics of the Barn, and even national and international politics.
For starters, the highly political bureaucrat of an assistant police chief has come through demanding that Captain Wyms send copies of all the San Marcos files to neighboring precincts. It was already understood that the Barn is on shaky ground, in danger of being shut down entirely unless they come up with a big win here to make themselves look indispensable. Captain Wyms understands that this is the obvious move to prepare to divide up their cases when they're shut down. This pressure is enough to motivate her to accept a deal to get three, just half, of the Mexican bangers who shot up a Salvadoran street fair in retaliation for the San Marcos murders. That's a kind of compromise that she'd usually be totally unwilling to accept.
Meanwhile, the Salvadoran street fair murders are Vic's clue that the federal plant in the Salvadoran Byz-Lat gang had lied to them. He'd insisted that the Salvadorans were nothing to do with the San Marcos murders, but that it had been internal Mexican beefs. The Mexicans striking back was a clear indication otherwise. Apparently, Hernan was trying to protect himself and his position within the gang. He doesn't even trust his own chain of command within the federal government, so he's he's going to be a little slippery with the locals.
He shouldn't have been trusting them even as much as he did. By way of bringing Hernan in for a badly needed conference without blowing his cover, the Barn is preparing a warrants sweep against Mexicans and Salvadorans alike. That way, "Hernan's just another sad brown face in the paddy wagon." Councilman Aceveda goes looking for support in the community, sensitive to public opinion as a politician must be. He goes back to the Mexican contractor/community leader looking for support for this big sweep, which he was understandably reluctant to give. Desparate for this guy's backing in the community, Aceveda eventually confides with an explanation about having a Salvadoran plant. Immediately, I figured that would be the end of Hernan. I wasn't much surprised at the end of the episode when he came up missing.
While Aceveda's working his community politics, Vic is working his own as he negotiates for some resolution and peace. There's a lot of pressure, and blood's going to keep spilling until somebody pays for the civilians massacred at the Salvadoran street fair. It was, in Vic's expert estimation, a bargain for the Mexican gang leader to give up three of the six observed shooters to settle down the inter-gang warfare and get the police up out of his ass.
But the real groovy action comes from the budding international intrigue of middle level Mexican government bureaucrat Edward Romero. His arm was found among the piles of bodies at the San Marcos murders. Now they've tracked the rest of him down in a cheap hotel room with a bandaged stump and a suitcase full of cash. The plot thickens.
Dutch was not going to just let this guy go, even just as a witness to the San Marcos massacre. But of course, Mr. Romero is claiming diplomatic immunity and demanding to be let go. Getting answers would obviously be likely highly sensitive to some fairly high level Mexican officials, and thus also to the US federal government on diplomatic grounds. So then, as soon as official representatives arrive within the hour, they're going to have to let Romero go.
This leads to the obvious leverage of the money, which will be ordered released as well. Thus, Dutch and Captain Wyms come up with the guerilla tactic of using their own bureaucracy. As the money is presumed evidence from a crime scene, Claudette has Dutch hustle it off to forensics labs for testing. That is, they'll get the cash that Romero was obviously very attached to all tied up in the system such that even with federal pressure they can dick around for a couple of days getting it re-located and back to him. He's not going anywhere without the money, so this'll give them hopefully a small window to work on him for information. Dutch is so smart.
And Shane is so determinedly dumb. It's not like Shane ain't in deep enough crap, but he's got to go seek out and buddy up with the Armenian mob, the ones whose money train the Strike Team ripped off a couple of years earlier. Presumably, he's trying to scrape up some cash with which he and the fam can disappear.
Yeah, get tangled up with that Armenian crowd some more. Smart move. A lieutenant for the local boss Kesakhian observes that it's been a long time since they had a good relationship with the police. Shane notes that "Chopping off feet will strain any relationship."
So Shane goes to lean on a gas station owner to quit buying gas from his fellow Arab buddies - terrorist connections, no doubt. Well, where's he supposed to get his product? "I'm not sure, but it probably ends with -ian." "Armenians?" Yup, and they'll be by later with good patriotic gas. "I'll be back tonight to check on your patriotism." We shouldn't have been too surprised to see the guy dead with a gas hose shoved down his throat.
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