"The Shield"

[Gumby]

Best. Season. Premiere. Ever.

Whoever watches The Shield regularly knows that last season was one of the best seasons in the history of television, and last night they hit the ground running, starting off where they left off:

1. Vic hell-bent on finding out who killed Lem, not knowing that it was Shane, who mistakenly believed Lem was cutting a deal for a shorter prison sentence by ratting out the Strike Team. Shane's guilt and anguish over his actions are something to see, as he gets reckless with his life, and the lives of others. Vic's in full-on meltdown mode, and honestly, thanks to the great performance of Michael Chiklis, no one short of Jack Bauer is scarier than he is.

2. Lt. "Krazy" Kavanaugh relentlessly pursuing Vic and the rest of the Strike Team. The mind games he and Vic play with each other are as intense as any action scene. Forest Whitaker = God. The way he's portrayed Kavanaugh as a straight-arrow Internal Affairs officer to an almost-equally corrupt, vengeful man playing and abusing everyone around him is an acting miracle.

3. Dutch, uttering his famous line "you gotta be sh*tting me!" when he stumbles upon the scene of a massacre. I also love how he's trying to build himself up in the eyes of Tina, the hot young rookie he has eyes for. Honestly, who doesn't love Dutch? I actually hope he's instrumental in bringing down Kavanaugh, and possibly Vic, since Dutch getting on his tail has always been Vic's greatest fear.

4. Claudette has really stepped up in her role as Captain of the Barn. She wants Vic out, but she doesn't seem to trust Kavanaugh either.

5. Poor Lem. Sure, he was a dirty cop, but he was the "least dirty" out of all the Strike Team, and the police department, using Aceveda as their talking head, made him out to be an utter disgrace to the uniform. The guy had more heart than anybody, and it was nice to see them play up how unfair it was.

God, I love this show. It feels like it's been gone forever. One of the best things about it is that since the seasons are shorter, it has less filler and remembers old details, and none of the supporting characters are ever forgotten about.

Deadliest Catch at 9. The Shield at 10. Tuesday is officially TV Night.

[Gumby]

Last night's episode was awesome. Vic is getting more and more reckless as he hunts down Guardo. Shane's semi-confession masked as a hypothetical scenario to get Vic off the hook as the police searched for Vic on suspicion of Lem's death was great.

I was surprised to see Kavanaugh taken down so early, but I really liked the way it happened (especially since it was Wyms and Dutch who did it). It showed Vic's corrupting influence of everyone around him, and how Kavanaugh was able to step back from the brink, while basically telling Vic that karma is gonna hit Vic like a nuclear bomb.

Vic going in to confront that Mexi Gang leader was one of the most tense scenes the show ever had.

[Gumby]

Wow, that was an intense episode. It was partly gut-wrenching and partly hilarious.

Vic's crazed torture of Guardo, from threatening to rape and murder his girlfriend while he listened on the phone, to beating him to a pulp with a chain and ultimately shooting him was just insane. I don't think Vic has ever been so crazy, and Michael Chiklis played it so well you'd have to think he's crazy, too. His look of relief after he killed Guardo was disturbing, but he actually seems at peace now that the man he believes murdered Lem is dead. What's Shane gonna do now?

I'm glad they gave Ronnie a chance to be a badass, with him breezing through a case involving The Horde, crystal meth, pharmacy robbberies, and murder like it was nothing. Better still was Dutch getting jealous of the respect everyone was giving Ronnie, especially Tina. Billings, who should've been made a more prominant character a long time ago, was freaking hilarious as he bragged about tackling a perp, and how he'd like to be on the Strike Team and "get in some sh*t."

Can't wait for next week. We get to meet Vic's replacement.

EDIT: One thing that The Shield doesn't get credit for is the fantastic direction. The show is famous for its "shakey-cam" style, but the lighting and the way they focused on Vic's crazed eyes took the show to a whole new level.