Television Review: Coefficient of Drag (The Shield, S7X01, 2008)

Coefficient of Drag (S07E01)

Airdate: 2 September 2008

Written by: Kurt Sutter
Directed by: Guy Ferland

Running Time: 50 minutes

The Shield returned to the small screens in the autumn of 2008 to deliver its seventh and final season following a significant fifteen-month hiatus. The season was meticulously designed by Shawn Ryan to serve as the definitive conclusion to the series chronicle. The narrative arc was ostensibly built around the premise that the crimes would finally catch up to Vic Mackey, delivering the brutal punishment that the series had been hinting at for years. However, within the dysfunctional world of Farmington and the creators' boundless imagination, the show has a history of providing repetitive stays of execution for its anti-hero, and this premiere is no exception to that enduring pattern.

The season premiere, titled Coeficient of Drag immediately suggests that the series is prepared to go very dark, signalling that the protagonists, particularly Vic, are crossing ethical lines they have not traversed in previous seasons. The episode opens with a visceral image of Mara, Vic’s wife, being gagged. This act is revealed to be Vic’s retribution against Shane Vendrell for kidnapping Corrine and Cassidy in the previous season's finale. When confronted by Vic, Shane offers a desperate justification, claiming he acted to protect Vic's family from the Armenian mob. He cites the Armenian mob's internal conflict and his own debt to the incarcerated boss, Ellis Rezian, as the reasons for the abduction. The episode captures the claustrophobia of this familial betrayal and the shifting power dynamic within the Strike Team.

The narrative then shifts to Vic and Shane’s plan to eliminate the immediate threat posed by Zadofian, played by Raff Anoushian, an Armenian hitman in the service of the exiled Diro. Zadofian had previously wounded Shane while attempting to take out Vic's family. Vic and Ronnie track him to a motel, where they capture him and have him bound to bed. The scene takes a turn towards macabre violence when Ronnie Gardocki executes Zadofian in cold blood. Realising that the killing will draw attention, Shane is forced to chop off Zadofian's leg to stage the scene as signature work of the Armenian mobsters, thereby faking internal conflict within their ranks. This sequence highlights the extreme lengths to which the characters must go to maintain their facade and protect their interests.

Amidst these personal vendettas, the long-standing conflict between the Mexican Byz Lats gang and the Salvadorean mobsters flares up again. Two bodies are deliberately dragged along the streets, creating a gruesome spectacle. As Captain Wymms walks through the messy aftermath, he is forced to rely on Vic to try to calm things down. This chaotic investigation attracts the attention of ICE agent Olivia Murray (Laurie Holden), who arrives at the scene. She appears to be attempting to tie some loose ends from the San Marcos murders she had been investigating prior to this episode.

The political machinations of the Strike Team are also on full display. The blackmail box containing compromising materials on Los Angeles politicians works its magic once again. Vic, much to Wymms' displeasure, successfully wins a thirty-day postponement of the hearing that would seal his forced retirement. Wymms attempts to rein in Vic by appointing Ronnie as the head of Strike Team and warning him that once Vic is finally out, all his misbehaviour in the next thirty days would negatively affect his friend. In the meantime, Shane attempts to win favour with Rezian by claiming that the Mexicans are responsible for the actions against the Armenians, while simultaneously, Vic manipulates Pezuela into believing that the Armenians are trying to move into Mexican interests. The result of these intricate efforts is, as Vic smugly observes at the end of the episode, a gang war that they can simply watch from the sidelines.

In a significant subplot, Billings makes a return to the Barn, despite his retirement and a multi-million dollar lawsuit over bad working conditions that left him physically and mentally invalid. He is called back to assist Dutch Wagenbach with a murder case that originally ended in acquittal. While delivering past case notes, Billings is manipulated into confronting Lorena Francisco, a woman connected to a suspect, which results in him making the recantation of his previous testimony. Billings' performance in the interrogation room is recorded on video, which might be used as proof in his civil suit, effectively counteracting his claims of diminished physical and mental capacity. Ultimately, Billings is talked into giving up the suit and his retirement, choosing instead to rejoin the LAPD and the Barn as a detective. While this storyline is well-done and provides some comic relief, it feels like an artificial device used to bring back an interesting character and re-establish the dynamic between Dutch and Billings that worked so well previously.

Written by Kurt Sutter and directed by Guy Ferland, the episode demonstrates the complete moral collapse of Vic. He begins the episode by threatening the wife of his best friend, a betrayal that speaks volumes about his prioritisation of self-preservation over loyalty. Furthermore, Ronnie Gardocki, who had previously been the quietest, most professional, and least compromised member of Strike Team, also crosses the line by committing a cold-blooded murder. However, the most consequential example of this moral descent is Vic deliberately staging a gang war to save his own skin. The policeman who has long justified his morally questionable actions by simply getting things done and keeping the streets quiet is now willing to flame the very same bloodshed and destruction he was supposed to stop. This hypocrisy is the hallmark of his character's inevitable downfall.

The subplot involving Billings is effective in its execution, yet it serves as a reminder of the show's reliance on familiar tropes. It feels like a calculated move to reintroduce an intriguing character and re-establish the semi-comical dynamic between Dutch and Billings, offering a brief reprieve from the grim main plot. Similarly, the introduction of Laurie Holden, one of the most tragically underused actresses of the previous few decades, brings some star power to the show. She is brought in as Olivia Murray in what, at least initially, looks like a standard one-note role that nevertheless has some potential to develop by the end of the series. Additionally, another attempt at levity involves Dutch misunderstanding Danny's job-related approach as the start of a discussion about their previous hook-up; however, this moment is brief, inconsequential, and ultimately feels clichéd.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

==

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo

InLeo: https://inleo.io/signup?referral=drax.leo
Leodex: https://leodex.io/?ref=drax
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9