the shield
exiled (7/10)

The hard-hitting police drama continues its sixth season. In tonight’s instalment, Vic gets involved more deeply in the San Marcos massacre after unearthing evidence of a larger conspiracy; Shane works on protecting himself and his family; and Dutch and Billings make a surprising discovery.

With Shane off the scene since revealing his role in Lem’s death, Vic has his hands full with the ongoing investigation into the San Marcos massacre. Hernan, the undercover agent working inside the Salvadoran mob, says that the crime was perpetrated by Mexicans, and that both US and Mexican governments are turning a blind eye to it –despite the fact that the severed arm of Mexican official Eduardo Romero was found at the scene. However, when a Salvadoran street fair comes to a bloody end in a revenge attack by the Mexican Byz Lats gang, it becomes clear that it was actually the Salvadorans who carried out the San Marcos massacre.

With four dead at the street fair, pressure to end the bloodshed leads Claudette to order a politically risky gang sweep, which also has the advantage of getting Hernan to the Barn without raising suspicions on the street. But he has some bad news for them: the Mexicans have got “something big brewing” and the Salvadorans want a piece of it. However, he denies knowing the identities of the San Marcos shooters. “It would be the death of my cover if I started asking questions,” he adds.

Vic and Hiatt attempt to ease the tension between gangs by persuading a Byz Lat to give up three of the street-fair shooters in exchange for letting his gang settle the score with the Salvadorans. Unfortunately, it is not long before the tentantive truce is jeopardised –Hernan has gone missing. Have the Strike Team’s actions inadvertently put him in danger?

Meanwhile, Shane has been planning his next move. Unconvinced that Vic will leave him alone if he leaves town, Shane decides to work on a back-up plan to protect himself and his family. Having collected notes, files, autopsy reports and photographs that detail every illegal Strike Team activity –from the death of former colleague Terry Crowley to their involvement in the Armenian money train heist –Shane assures his worried wife, Mara, that everything is taken care of: “He’s not going to say anything to anybody... because I know everything that he’s done.”

Elsewhere this week, Shane drags up the past when he pays an old face an unwelcome visit, and turns to the Armenian mob for protection. Dutch and Billings make a surprising discovery when they track down Eduardo Romero and learn that not only is he alive, but he has plenty of secrets of his own. Claudette senses that all is not well between Vic and Shane. And while Mara uses her initiative and threatens Corrine, Shane lays down the law to a stunned Vic.