Television Review: Moving Day (The Shield, S7X09, 2008)

Moving Day (S07E09)

Airdate: 28 October 2008

Written by: Adam E. Fierro & Lisa Randolph
Directed by: Rhon Schmidt

Running Time: 45 minutes

Following the seismic "wham" event that concluded the previous episode, where Vic Mackey severed his final ties with the LAPD and Shane Vendrell transformed into a wanted fugitive, Season 7 of The Shield marches inexorably toward its grim, inevitable conclusion. However, despite the ticking clock and the harrowing stakes, the narrative momentum feels somewhat sluggish, more akin to the series' frenetic earlier seasons. Screenwriters Adam Fierro and Lisa Randolph once again rely heavily on the vagaries of chance and the convenient mechanisms of random acts of fate. These contrivances serve as the primary plot devices for sparing certain characters from immediate death and delaying the resolution of entrenched conflicts, adding a layer of artificiality to an otherwise gritty realism that fans expect. While the trajectory is clear, the execution lacks the punch that defined the previous episode, leaving the audience to endure a slower burn than anticipated as the axe hangs over the remaining characters.

It is patently obvious that Shane Vendrell, having escaped the Barn mere seconds after being identified as the architect of the hit on his partner Ronnie, is not a man to be caught so easily. The necessity of his escape and the imperative to cover his tracks were established long before this moment, and a person with Shane's extensive contacts and tactical experience would surely possess a sophisticated plan to evade the police dragnet. Yet, Shane is not undertaking this harrowing journey alone; he is burdened by the presence of Mara and his two-year-old son, Jackson. Jackson is suffering from whooping cough, a condition exacerbated by his mother's negligence in managing his medication while fleeing their home. As the family is forced to hide in seedy motels, the boy's condition deteriorates rapidly. After a series of terrifying close calls, and following Mara's refusal of his very sensible suggestion that she turn herself in to the authorities, Shane agrees to a truly pathetic solution: he will hide his family as squatters in one of the many unsold real estate properties that litter the city, a grim testament to his financial and social ruin.

Shane finds himself hunted not only by the LAPD but also by Vic Mackey himself. Vic, at first, appears outwardly unperturbed by the loss of his police badge, viewing it merely as a temporary inconvenience. However, he soon realises that the badge was the only leverage he had to extract information from the street, and his resolve to track down and eliminate Shane before the police can do so hardens into a singular focus. Much to the horror of Ronnie, Vic expresses a chilling determination to take Mara down with him, regardless of the fact that she is pregnant. The two-year-old Jackson is slated to be spared simply because, as a child, he is incapable of testifying. However, fate intervenes in a profoundly dramatic fashion when Jackson actually catches the Vendrells at a hospital while they attempt to secure medicine and treatment for his ill boy. Just as Shane prepares to fire, there is an almost miraculous arrival of LAPD officers, and Mara’s quick thinking manages to diffuse the situation with a lie. Despite the chaos, Mara has maintained contact with Corrine, and when she finally shares the harrowing details of what has transpired, Corrine appears to have lost the last vestiges of loyalty to her husband, finally viewing him as the monster he truly is.

Meanwhile, Vic attempts to carve out a new role for himself as an undercover agent for ICE. It quickly becomes apparent that the federal government views Councilman Aceveda as a far superior candidate for the role. Consequently, Aceveda is forced to endure a humiliating public dressing-down from Cruz Pezuela, who employs the tactic in front of Guillermo Beltran (Francesco Quinn), a representative of the Guerrero Cartel sent to supervise Pezuela’s operations in Los Angeles. Aceveda suffers this indignity because winning the trust of Pezuela is crucial for the ICE sting operation, something he hopes will serve as the springboard for his own mayoral campaign. The scene highlights Aceveda's utter desperation, willing to degrade himself personally to advance his political ascent, a stark contrast to Vic's chaotic decline.

The careers of two detectives at the Barn become collateral damage in the wake of Vic Mackey's collapse. Captain Wymms formally dissolves the Strike Team, a bureaucratic move that necessitates Julien's transfer back to uniform duties, a prospect that Julien clearly despises. Ronnie, attempting to be pragmatic amidst the wreckage, breaches the code of silence by telling Claudette about Vic's own doubts regarding whether Shane actually killed Lem.

Two other detectives find themselves entangled in their own ethical quandaries that reflect the moral decay surrounding them. Steve Billings learns from his estranged wife Allison (Hannah Cox) that a convicted paedophile, Irving Heep (Spencer Huckabee), has moved into their neighbourhood and is apparently fixated on their teenage daughter, Agnes (Natalie Dreyfuss). Allison begs her husband to intervene, but Billings lacks the jurisdiction to act, a bureaucratic dead end that leaves the family vulnerable. Yet, an anonymous tip and the conveniently found cache of child pornography are enough to send Heep to jail. Dutch is all but convinced that his partner has planted the evidence, but he is powerless to prove it.

In a separate but equally disturbing thread, Dutch’s obsession with Lloyd Denton and his theory that Lloyd is a serial killer in the bringing brings Lloyd's mother, Rita, to his home. Rita misinterprets Dutch’s intense interest in her son as something romantic, forcing Dutch into an awkward and uncomfortable situation. The dynamic becomes even more unpleasant after Rita all but confirms Dutch's darkest suspicions about her son, leaving Dutch to grapple with the possibility that he is right.

Moving Day is undoubtedly a well-acted episode, showcasing the cast at the height of their abilities, yet the plot is still significantly slowed down by the baggage Shane carries with his family and by Vic missing his golden opportunity to end the Vendrells once and for all. Nevertheless, it is an episode that all but completes Vic Mackey’s moral descent, cementing his image as a ruthless killer who is not above taking out a pregnant woman. Shane, for all the heinous crimes he had committed throughout the series, appears somewhat ethical in this episode, actually attempting to do the right thing by advising Mara to turn herself in. She, of course, refuses, because doing so would simplify the narrative structure and bring the end of the series much closer than its creators had desired.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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