The Shield Virgin Diary – The criminal politics of Farmington

by Ivey West

Vic Mackey changes dealers, faces down a nation, and takes his kid to school. You've got to say that's a pretty full day.

Season One, Episode Eleven – “Carnivores”

I’m not sure how Vic can keep it all straight. Between Rondell, the Nation of Islam, and his son Mathew, he had several balls in play in this episode, and did a surprisingly good job at managing all of them. Julien and Dutch had a much worse day, though. Finally, Aceveda did run into a bit of good luck as he continues the drive for political office. The Shield does a wonderful job of weaving all of these storylines together.

The criminal politics of Farmington always seem to be in a state of flux. Mackey dumping Rondell was a long time coming, but took two separate motivations in this episode to finally happen. The conflict with the Nation of Islam seems to be a complex enough one that I hope we’ve not seen the last of it (though Mailon Rivera’s single credit for The Shield on IMDb isn’t looking good). There are times when you’re watching this show, and remember for a moment that you’re rooting for a dirty cop. When Salaam made his point at the end, it was hard to deny that he was right and Mackey was wrong.

Julien sure did catch a hell of a surprise, didn’t he? My first thought was he was concerned about blood contamination like Danni a couple of episodes back. I felt stupid that I completely missed that it was the bullet that scared him more. I thought the death wish he seemed to be carrying was about that. That it finally turned out to be about his sexuality was a good twist (though one I probably should have seen coming).

Aceveda sure had a lot of … guts showing up at his accuser’s house that way. I’m not sure what he thought he had to gain. The reporter is still hot on the trail, despite the political heavyweights backing him up. Looks like the Captain finally got what he wanted, but now I wonder if there will be any retribution in that direction.

Vic using the Strike Team to background the family that ousted Mathew from the school is pretty stupid. Considering the thin ice that they are all walking on, he needs to be smarter than that. Following up with some “special” police work for the administrator is probably safer, but still ill-advised.

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