The Shield: "Coefficient of Drag" (Episode 701)

Oh Shield, where have you been?  It's been over a year since your last episode aired and I remember reading stories during the writers' strike in the spring about how Shawn Ryan couldn't be around for the filming of the final episode.  Amazingly enough though, even with the amount of time that has passed, this show jumps right back in the deep end, both feet first, picking up exactly where they left off, so much so that if in the future you're simply flipping between DVDs, you'll never notice how much "real world" time went by in the blink of an eye.

In fact, the episode picked up so exactly where everything left off, that I wish I had watched the end of season six again. I had  completely forgotten some details (such as Dutch and Danny final doin' the deed) and for some reason Billings' complete lack of usefulness had slipped my mind.

However, right in the deep end, after a brief show recap reminding us about Armenians and Mexicans and a box full of blackmail goodies, we pick up with Shane coming home to the tune of some Social D.  Only instead of finding dinner waiting, he finds his annoying wife Mara finally getting what's coming to her.  She's bound and gagged, courtesy of Vic and Ronnie.  Vic begins beating on Shane for the perceived slight to his family, but Shane talks him down, explaining that he was protecting the Mackeys from Run Lola Run since she figured it all out about the money train.  Vic isn't buying it, but Shane points out that he's on the hook too. "And me too, asshole!" reminds Ronnie, sounding like the petulant child.  Oh Ronnie, you never get the respect you deserve.  What really takes Vic aback though is the news that Diro "greenlit" his family.  You want to hear that about your next crappy Fantastic Four movie, not your autistic kids.  Mackey gets the name of the hitman off Shane and he begins to formulate his own solution... as always.

Mexican Metal Music. Credits.

As always, Mara is freaking out about what's happening.  Shane is being calm, but Mara sounds like she wants to hit him in the head with an iron. Elsewhere, Ronnie and Vic meet with an ex-cop friend whose going to keep an eye on the Mackey family.  Shane, meanwhile, goes back to Rezian to discuss how to deal wtih Diro and the rest of the situation.  For now, Shane is forced to continue to be the Armenian errand boy.   Vic and Shane are both on the path to search and find the hitman who left a puddle of blood in the family living room.

Elsewhere though, there is police work to be done, because someone left their own puddle of blood out on the street.  Only it stretches for several blocks.  And has dismembered body parts scattered along the way.  The Mexicans are sending a message to the Salvadorans.  Claudette puts Ronnie in charge of the investigation temporarily, but no sooner than she does, but a blond Fed makes an appearance to explain that the blood streak lines up perfectly with the MO of a Mexican "Death Mob" of ex-military types.  They use the practice to mark territory.

Meanwhile, back at home, Vic makes up a story as to why Shane decided to kidnap his family out of the blue.  Mrs. Mackey doesn't seem to buy the story, but she decides to the take Vic's word for the sake of their daughter (who sadly, looks just like her dad).  Right outside, the ex-cop friend is already beating up any comers.  But the guy wasn't send by the Armenians, but rather the Mexicans, trying to get back Vic's little box of blackmail tricks.  But the cartel and Pezuela don't yet know that their box has made into Mackey's hot little hands.  Mackey also learns that the blood lines were drawn because Pezuela has a new hotel to build.  Just bringing a little bit of the hometown charm to the big capitalist American city.

Back at the barn, Claudette is suspicious of Shane's new interest in a certain Armenian inmate.  While Dutch continues to flirt with Cute Cop (never learns) and apparently Billings pending lawsuit is causing budget cuts across the board.  Danny and Dutch share an extremely awkward moment  before Dutch jumps into an interrogation.  Turns out a man has stopped by to give his friend up for the murder of his wife.  The husband has already been found innocent, so he can't be held accountable, but now the best friend is shacked up with a woman that the husband wants to get remarried to. Dutch is intrigued.

Out on the street, Shane and Vic both take different paths to track down the Armenian hitman.  Shane through a hooker and Vic through a doggie doc that patches up wounded gangsters.  They both end up at the Edgemont hotel, but Vic and Ronnie get there just little bit quicker.  Vic interrogates the hitman, by grinding his gun into the guys gut wound.  Vic verifies that Shane is working with the Armenians.  Business out of the way, he proceeds to choke the guy to death.  Ronnie speaks some logic however and Vic steps out for air, all while Shane watches from the distance.   Vic departs and Ronnie reenters the room and forces the hitman to page Diro.

At the barn, Dutch is amused to see that Billings fingerprints are all over his wife-murder case. Vic returns to interrogate a pregnant Biz Lat queen, but he figures out the best way to make her talk is by letting her worry about her being in police custody.  Vic takes a split second to flirt with Cute Fed and moments later the Biz Lat is ready to give up information, as long as they protect her baby daddy, because, as she puts it, "I ain't doin' this baby shit by myself."

Back at the Edgemont, Shane watches from the distance getting more tense.  Ronnie calls in and checks with Claudette.  After confirming that they have Diro's number on the hitman's cell phone, Ronnie pulls the trigger on the guy, cold.  Shane watches him depart before running upstairs in a frantic rush to twist the situation.  He grabs an emergency fire axe and proceeds to chop the feet off the hitman.  He slips back out of the room, just in time to walk back in, sunglasses on, like he's just arriving to the scene.

At the barn, Vic checks in with Ronnie, but he seems a little shook up from killing the hitman. Ronnie jumps back into the "Death Mob" investigation, Vic heads off to talk with Aceveda about how to pull off keeping his job, while Dutch meets up with his old partner, Billings, wanting to discuss the wife murder case that he screwed up in his previous life.  Billings really knows how to milk a lawsuit, complaining about memory loss, bright light, even orders sushi on the departments dime - the protein helps his memory.

In an out of the way place, Mackey and Aceveda discuss their box of naughty things.  Aceveda wants to take the high road, but Vic wants to save his job, even if it means that he's just blackmailing like Pazuela. Aceveda has a more devious idea though, to give a major player back his blackmail material to "untwist" his arm and screw up the zoning vote on Pazuela's hotel.

At the barn, Billings does actually put Dutch onto the girlfriend who was the alibi for the night of the wife murder.  Claudette takes Billings presence as a good opportunity to chew him out for the pathetic excuse for a cop that he is and how his bogus lawsuit is going to hurt everyone.  Dutch formulates a plan to pit Billings against the prosecutor that worked on the same case the first time around.

Mackey pays a visit to Pazuela and "discusses" both the blood lines and the box of blackmail fun.  Mackey plays it as simply information that he has and how he can help.  He asks for him to help him keep his job and he'll see what he can do about his missing box.

Out on the street, Ronnie takes point on setting up an ambush of the "Death Mob" players that were successfully identified by the Biz Lat queen.  The command post is setup, but their decision to wait on SWAT is rendered moot and the expanded Strike Team is forced to move early. The cops move on the building and find it packed to the gills with firearms.  Pistols against assault rifles and Ronnie and crew are severely outgunned.  However, Vic has his Dodge Charger. Rifle is bigger than pistol, but car is bigger than rifle.  Vic's "diversion" drives straight through a wall and into the villains.  It may be messy, as is Mackey's style, but he gets the job done.

Downstairs, Claudette tells Vic, much to his surprise, that he just got a stay of execution. The decision on his job has been pushed, but Ronnie is going to be in charge of the team and anything Mackey does out of line is going to stick to Ronnie instead. Dutch follows up on his wife murder case, while at the same time putting Billings and the prosecutor in the same room. By getting him riled up, Dutch gets Billings to march into interrogation room, simultaneously getting the suspect to give up the true story behind the wife murder and simultaneously nuking his disability case. In Claudette's office, they replay the tape for him and tell him that they have evidence that he's a fraud.  Insult to injury, they won't push charges, but they're forcing Billings to come back to work. Ha!

Back at the crime scene, Danny is assaulted by a bad guy that is still on the scene. Nothing much comes of it, except Danny gunning for the job of whoever failed to clear the scene.  At Vic's house, Mrs. Mackey gets spooked when she spots the ex-cop watching over them.

Simultaneously, Shane meets with Rezian and convinces him that the Armenian hitman was offed by Diro making a deal with the Mexicans.  On the other side of town, Mackey meets with Pazuela and convinces him that the box of blackmail made its way into the hands of the Armenians and that they are coming for the barrio.  Both Shane and Vic convince their respective contacts that they're needed for their knowledge of the other side in the upcoming conflict.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Mackey goes to Shane's place and starts to learn the truth from Mara.  Mara is ready to spill the beans just to clear the air.  Vic, Ronnie and Shane meet on the outskirts of town, the two sides still wary of each other.  They all talk, but none of them say the truth. However, they've successfully set the Armenians up against the Mexicans and vice-versa.  Now its time to sit back, and watch the gang war.