Television Review: What Power Is... (The Shield, S3X10, 2004)

What Power Is... (S03E10)

Airdate: May 11th 2004

Written by: Kim Clements
Directed by: Dean White

Running Time: 45 minutes

As The Shield entered its third season, the series faced the considerable challenge of sustaining audience engagement without sacrificing its gritty, hyper-realistic aesthetic. It managed this by deploying a succession of narrative twists that, while remaining firmly within the bounds of plausibility, occurred with a frequency far exceeding that of real life. The show’s enduring strength, however, was in its continued dedication to characterisation that defied conventional television archetypes. Characters consistently made decisions that were contradictory, morally ambiguous, or entirely opposed to what a viewer of a more traditional police drama might expect. Nowhere is this complex interplay of relentless plotting and psychological subversion more acutely demonstrated than in the season’s tenth episode, What Power Is…. This instalment shows how to escalate tension while deepening character, particularly through the radical, yet coherent, transformation of Captain David Aceveda.

The central narrative thrust follows Aceveda, still visibly haunted by the traumatic sexual assault he endured, as he obsessively tracks his assailant, the gang member Juan Lozano. His meticulous pursuit finally yields an opportunity when Lozano, along with accomplices Ricky and Vido (Victor Cohn-Lopez), attempts to rob a Korean-owned store. In a visceral, chaotic sequence, Aceveda intervenes. He shoots Ricky dead, wounds Vido, and though Lozano escapes, he secures a critical piece of evidence: Ricky’s cell phone, containing a video recording of the sexual assault. Aceveda’s subsequent dutiful report of the incident to the LAPD frames him as an unexpected street hero, much to the surprised approval of the Barn’s officers. Yet, the first of the episode’s key character surprises emerges immediately after; his insistence on continuing the manhunt for Lozano reveals a motive far deeper than procedural closure—it is a profoundly personal quest for retribution and psychological reclamation.

This singular focus does not go unnoticed. Vic Mackey, ever vigilant to threats against the Strike Team’s corrupt enterprise, grows concerned that Lozano could lead Aceveda to their intermediary, Diagur, and potentially to the secret of the Armenian “money train” heist. In a characteristically proactive move, Vic pressures Diagur to eliminate Lozano. This intervention inadvertently triggers a gunfight where Lozano kills one of Diagur’s men, further complicating the landscape. Meanwhile, Aceveda and Vic apprehend the wounded Vido, who is being treated by Dr. Ausanta (Patrick Montes), a physician blackmailed into service by the Byz Lats gang. From Vido, they learn of Lozano’s girlfriend, Elisa Ortiz (Sophie Calderon). In a tense scene that pushes Aceveda to the brink, he takes Elisa into personal custody and applies intense psychological pressure to extract Lozano’s location. He arrives, has his rapist in his gun sights, and hesitates—a crucial moment of restraint. By the time Vic arrives, the moment for vengeance has passed, and Lozano is taken into custody. The subsequent interrogation provides the episode’s thematic climax. When left alone with his assailant, Aceveda informs Lozano that he has studied his life and knows precisely how to dismantle it institutionally. He confidently asserts that Lozano lacks the sophistication to copy the incriminating video and that his claims about the assault will be dismissed. Walking out, Aceveda reunites with his wife, Aurora, and seamlessly resumes his public persona for the waiting cameras, performing a version of his old self that now feels like a conscious armour.

Simultaneously, the fallout from the money train heist spirals further into domestic farce and danger. The subplot concerning the $7,000 pilfered by Shane’s fiancée, Mara, from the Armenian stash gains delicious complexity. Mara has passed the marked bills to her mother, Stella (DeLane Williams). Shane, understanding the peril, attempts to retrieve them politely. Stella, however, intuitively recognises the money as illicit and, in a stunning display of opportunistic avarice, uses this knowledge to blackmail her future son-in-law for more. This forces Shane’s hand, compelling him to confess the situation to Vic and the Strike Team. Vic, ever the tactical problem-solver, devises a temporary fix: they will plant $30,000 on Neil O’Brien (James Budig), a career Irish criminal. When O’Brien inevitably spends the money, he will draw the scrutiny of the U.S. Treasury away from both the Strike Team and the rapacious Stella. This storyline brilliantly underscores a central theme of the series: moral corruption begets operational entropy, entrapping the corrupt in webs of their own making, often woven by those they least suspect.

The dedicated detectives, Dutch Wagenbach and Claudette Wyms, working in their newly forged partnership, catch a significant break in the “Cuddling Rapist” case. A similar murder in another jurisdiction brings Detective Craig Milne into the fold. Their investigation, methodical and intuitive, leads them to cross-reference parking violations near the crime scenes. One name surfaces: William Faulks (Clark Gregg), who initially seems an improbable suspect due to his comfortable middle-class home and refined British wife, Joanna (Rebecca Pidgeon). Dutch’s instinct overrides appearances; he cleverly manipulates Joanna into inadvertently providing grounds for a search warrant. The discovery of figurines matching those taken from the victims confirms Faulks’s guilt, allowing Dutch to close the case. While functionally effective, this resolution feels somewhat contrived, leaning on the cliché of the genteel, hidden monster—a narrative convenience that, while delivering a formidable guest performance from Rebecca Pidgeon, slightly undermines the episode’s otherwise unvarnished realism.

Several ancillary storylines explore the corrosive effect of the Barn’s environment on personal lives. Vic’s simmering insecurity boils over when he discovers his son, Matthew, drew a picture of his tutor, Owen Thigpen, in a family portrait instead of him. This petty but revealing jealousy culminates in Vic pressuring Corrine to find a new tutor, showcasing his need for absolute domestic dominance. Meanwhile, Officer Julien Lowe, following the emotionally charged case of an abandoned baby, interprets the event as a divine sign. He tells his wife, Vanessa, that they should have a child, a conversation that precipitates a scene of intensely rough sex, illustrating his complex intertwining of religious fervour, duty, and passion. For Claudette, the investigation brings an unexpected personal moment when she meets James Freeman (Riff Hutton), a contractor and brief suspect who is eliminated from the inquiry. Seizing the opportunity, he asks her on a date, offering a rare glimpse of potential normalcy amidst the professional chaos.

Written by Kim Clements, What Power Is… achieves its greatest impact through the brilliant subversion of expectations surrounding Aceveda. Previous episodes depicted him as a man psychologically shattered, teetering on the brink of unraveling. Here, when presented with the chance to confront his demon, he undergoes a startling metamorphosis. He shifts from a calculating bureaucrat to a competent, decisive street officer capable of handling three armed men. More significantly, when temptation arises—to torture Elisa for information or to execute Lozano in cold blood—he resists. His ultimate power play is not physical but cerebral and institutional. In the interrogation room, he demonstrates a devastating intellectual superiority over Lozano, weaponising the very system he commands. By the episode’s end, his return to a composed, public-facing persona feels like a strategic re-engagement with a powerful, armoured identity. While the neatness of this arc borders on the convenient, it remains a compelling study in regained agency.

The episode is equally compelling for forcing Vic Mackey into a defensive posture. For once, he must contend with problems spawned directly from his ill-gotten gains, troubles propagated by individuals who operate on a spectrum of ruthlessness that surprises even him. Shane’s panic is manageable, but Mara’s naivety is perilous, and Stella’s naked greed proves to be a more unpredictable and dangerous threat than any rival cop or gang leader. It is a potent reminder that the corruption of the Strike Team creates vulnerabilities far beyond the precinct.

What Power Is… is a very strong episode, driven by a powerhouse performance from Benito Martinez as Aceveda and a tightly woven script that advances multiple serial arcs while delivering satisfying thematic closure. Its primary weakness lies in the somewhat formulaic resolution of the “Cuddling Rapist” case, which relies on a middle-class-monster trope that feels derivative compared to the series’ usual nuanced grit. Furthermore, the Aceveda storyline, while psychologically rich, concludes with a efficiency that edges toward narrative contrivance. Nonetheless, it confirms that even in its third season, The Shield retained a potent, unsettling ability to manipulate expectations and dissect the corrupt heart of its own world.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

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