The Shield “Dragonchasers” (May 14, 2002)

It wasn’t until the tenth episode that I could be certain this undeniably exuberant and well-acted cop drama had more on its mind than coyly endorsing the appalling vigilante tactics of its crooked cop anti-hero Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis).  The turning point comes during a sequence in which Vic’s antithesis, the intellectual, socially awkward detective Dutch Wagenbach (Jay Karnes) questions a serial killer he’s been trying to nab all season.  The suspect appears to turn the tables on Dutch, calling him a “joke” and a “lowly civil servant” and even diagramming his inadequacies on a dry-erase board.  The brilliant stroke in Kurt Sutter and Scott Rosenbaum’s script is to put Vic and his Strike Team of nitwit lackeys in an adjoining room, watching the interrogation on a video monitor.  The Strike Team, who routinely haze Dutch, revel in the spectacle of seeing their favorite punching bag lap up all this abuse; only Vic stands apart, frowning, sensing that something else is going on.  When Dutch reveals he’s had the upper hand all along – he’s stalling while bodies are dug up on the man’s property – we understand that Vic’s recognition of and respect for good police work separate him both morally and intellectually from his own pack.  It’s our clue that he can be redeemed, and The Shield would probe that potential for the remainder of its run.  There’s a powerful emotional payoff too, a scene in which Karnes (an extraordinary actor who can steal scenes even from the powerhouse Chiklis) lets us see that his adversary’s daggers hit their target.