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Post by -|E|- on Jun 5, 2007 20:07:35 GMT -5
From the FX website: "Vic and Aceveda form an unlikely alliance to expose a mutual enemy. Hiatt's job is in jeopardy after botching an arrest, while Billings drops a bombshell on Claudette and the department. The walls close in on Shane when the Armenian put his loyalty to the ultimate test." From TVGuide.com: "Sixth-season finale: As Vic awaits his review-board hearing, he forms an unlikely alliance with Aceveda. Meanwhile, Hiatt botches an arrest and Claudette notices; Billings drops a bombshell on Claudette and the department; and the tightrope Shane is walking between Diro and Rezian gets shakier and shakier." From SpoilerFix.com: "The Armenians are looking for hitmen to kill some cops. They try the Russians, but decide to go with Armenians instead. A young kid is busted right before he was to kill a Latino man as an initiation ritualvinto a gang. A homeless man in murdered under a bridge, the cops investigate." "Spanish Practices" was written by Shawn Ryan and Scott Rosenbaum; directed by Paris Barclay. Last weeks' ep, 6:09 'Recoil' ratings as of today: A - 32 B - 7 ======================================== Was this a good episode? Was it a good season finale? How did it compare to past season finales? What rating did you give this episode and why? What's the most memorable moment? Why do you think this ep is titled "Spanish Practices?" What was the best line?! Private Message your nominations for the BEST LINE POLL for this episode to chemikalman or .:E:.!! We'll have the poll up in the SEASON 6 POLL BOARD by Thursday evening.....Please share your thoughts/comments on Episode 6:10! Who knows how long it will be until we see another new episode!!
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Post by gardockisbeard on Jun 5, 2007 22:33:12 GMT -5
i personally loved it, god shane is such a screw up tho. shud b interesting to see if he can convince vic that he was actually saving his corrine's life by kidnapping her.
well hiatt's out, i liked the character but couldnt help but laugh at how out of his element he was.
ronnie's a badass...
probably more comments later
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Post by Shullbit on Jun 5, 2007 22:37:25 GMT -5
i wouldn't be so pissed if they hadn't edited the preview to the episode so cleverly. i have all the faith in the world that they're going to give us something very interesting based on what happened in this episode... but god knows how long we'll have to wait.
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Post by fanatic1950 on Jun 5, 2007 22:41:46 GMT -5
another Shane shitstorm for Vic & Ronnie to deal with next year. Even though Shane will claim he was trying to protect Vics family, it was his fault for getting in bed with the Armenians. Now he is owned by the Armenians just like he was owned by Antwon Mitchell. Ronnie will be true to Vic all the way IMO. Gave this episode an A for the set ups for next year.
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Post by jadedgirl on Jun 5, 2007 22:50:20 GMT -5
I give it an A-. It may have been a little anti climatic at points, but as Ben said it was mostly to setup for the next season and it did so beautifully. Also, the woman Cruz was with earlier is none other than Mrs. Kenneth Johnson. It's true. Now onto the finer points...
First off is Shane. I love the irony of what's going on with him. All the reasons he came up with that he felt he needed to turn into a Judas and kill Lem (to protect the team...to protect his family and mostly to protect himself from going to prison) he basically cancelled out by his own volition. If Shane didn't know the Armeanians rules, he shouldn't be playing their games. I can't believe he was stupid enough to think Rezian would have been the better of two evils. What a dope. Instead of covering his tracks, he's only made things worse in typical Shane fashion. Now all bets are off. At least he was right in saying it wasn't all his fault-and speaking of...
That box of goodies Vic and Aceveda will spell nothing but trouble in the blowback it'll cause for the both of them...I can just feel it. It'll work for them at first but it'll come back to bite them big. It may also cost Vic what is left of his soul and all of things he has done to redeem himself over the series. Power corrupts after all. And after what happened to Corrine, I don't mind him going after Shane-something he should have done a long time ago.
As for the other part of the triad, Ronnie has either a very bright or bad future in store for him. Wouldn't it be great if the show ended with him being the next king of the hill as the next leader of Strike Team? I gots to cheer on my guy. As for Kevin Hiatt...we hardly knew ye but the fifth member curse strikes again. I'm not surprised though-good detective and a decent guy but not Strike Team leader material. I'll miss his prettiness though.
As for the rest...Danny and Dutch got the happy ending for once (while it lasts anyway), Claudette goes further into the political abyss and burden of being the captain and Billings is gone. I still think The Barn will shut down in the end though. It's only fitting. Julien didn't do anything for me to comment on and I don't care about Tina, so we'll just leave what they did at that.
Finally, my MVP awards have to respectively to go Ronnie Gardocki (character) and Walton Goggins (actor) respectively. Both of them had a good season and Walton really put his A game on with a vengeance. That Emmy better in his hand when the time comes or I will be pissed. Anyway, here are my rankings now that the season is over:
5 3 6 1 2 4
Thank you and good night. See you all at season seven!
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Post by striketeamwashere on Jun 5, 2007 23:04:32 GMT -5
I guess I'll be the 1st- That was a big ass pile of garbage. I'll hold off my whole review and vote untill I watch it again, but right now it is at a "C", and it is lucky to get that.
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Post by Shullbit on Jun 5, 2007 23:12:59 GMT -5
I guess I'll be the 1st- That was a big ass pile of garbage. I'll hold off my whole review and vote untill I watch it again, but right now it is at a "C", and it is lucky to get that. I just feel like the things that happened in this episode were the types of twists that happened mid-season earlier in the series. Either that or all the events they crammed into one episode, even for a season finale, could have been more spread out. It's not like I was waiting for big explosions or total chaos, I was just waiting for something interesting to happen. It just feels like this season is ending very abruptly, and god knows how long we'll have to wait for the next season or how short it will end up being. I was really looking forward to this and I'm honestly bummed out.
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Post by aussieangel on Jun 5, 2007 23:15:53 GMT -5
I thought it was a let down, but set up some good groundwork for next season.
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Post by badcop187 on Jun 5, 2007 23:17:36 GMT -5
I too was dissappointed in this ep. It started off strong, but no delivery at the end. Seemed like the entire season was just a set up for the finale, that never delivered. It was like watching a porno with no money shot at the end.
I am leaning towards a B, but I will wait a day or 2 and think it over.
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anavarchus
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it.
Posts: 43
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Post by anavarchus on Jun 5, 2007 23:19:02 GMT -5
Perhaps it's because they didn't know if there was going to be another season or not, but this seemed really weak to be considered a "finale". I agree that they were setting things up for next season, but there was nothing there that couldn't have been inferred from all the previous episodes. I personally was bored most of the time, and the entire episode lacked any sense of urgency. The characters seem to be spiraling into predictability (except for Ronnie--he's been the highlight of the whole season).
I'm kind of sorry to see Hiatt go so soon, although I agree he has much to learn before he can lead a team like that. It seems Claudette is rethinking life without Vic, which is long overdue.
Once again, I have to take exception to the fact that last season seems to have been completely forgotten by the writers. I find that a travesty, from a dramatic standpoint, because it was so taut and riveting, and left so many open issues. There was such a wealth of potential in the way they left us last season, but most of it went unrealized this season, in favor of rehashing old story lines. I don't find myself dreading the long break between seasons like I did after last season's finale (which was amazing).
I guess as a stand alone episode I would give it a B. As a SEASON FINALE, however, I give it an F. Nothing there to make me come back next year if I had never watched the show before and didn't know the history. I'm sure most everyone will disagree, but that's just my 2 cents worth.
(Of course, I will await next season in the hopes that eventually there will be a reckoning for Lem's death.) And I agree with whoever said that Ronnie should inherit the Strike Team--he's really risen to the occasion this season (although I've always thought he was the smartest of all of them).
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Post by chemikalman on Jun 6, 2007 0:58:22 GMT -5
No bombshell ending compared to past finales. So, I guess Holiday Inn's old slogan "the best surprise is no surprise" doesn't work for TS viewers, huh?
As was said, it looked like the whole season (S06) was a setup for the last season.
This episode could be called "not one, but two ... times three"
1. not one, but two different double-crosses involving ST members. 2. Dutch gets to see not one, but two of his biggest adversaries leave.
AND
3. Dutch becomes the victim darling of not one, but two female cops. Things sure took a good turn for the Dutchman! Scarlett "tomorrow is another day" O'Hara is smiling from somewhere.
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Post by Cletus Van Damme on Jun 6, 2007 1:06:21 GMT -5
**Repost from the ep. 10 discussion in the Spoiler forum**
Well, here are my thoughts:
I thought the finale was wierd, in that it offered no real closure on any of the active storylines, but rather chose to set up the final season.
Of course, we're to assume that Vic manages to save his job via the leverage he aquired at the end and that for now the Armenian threat to the ST members and families had been averted. But for how long??
Poor Shane... as I've posted elsewhere, I also love the character, becuase he's human and flawed and real and volatile and so much fun to watch. Lately he's become cynical too, since he told Corrine that the reason he locked her up was becuase of the man she had married. Of course that's true in an abstract way, but Corrine and the kids would not have been in any danger if Shane hadnt been talking to the Armenians about the Money Train. However, Shane is human inside and now he's put himself and all the others in harm's way by becoming the Armenians' errand boy. This kind of reminds me of the season 4 arc with Shane getting in too deep with Antwon, lets see how it plays out this time.
Another point I feel is important regarding the Armenian threat as relates to future plot development: after this episode, the ST's family members are fair game. Before now, I never felt real danger directed towards them, but now... I have a feeling that this will tie in somehow with the end of the series, in that family members of the ST will end up dying or being hurt.
There is one lesson that should be apparent to everyone after 6 seasons of The Shield: VIC CAN NEVER TRUST ACEVEDA. Aceveda screwed Vic over in both seasons 2 and 3 and in season 3 Vic made the mistake of giving Aceveda the video where he kicked the shit out of some suspect in interrogation. And lets not even mention last season when Aceveda was feeding Vic Kavanaugh's lies. I certainly hope Vic doesnt make the same mistake yet again
Random thoughts:
Hiatt - His arc is over and done with, and quite uneventfully I might add. I guess the point of it was for Claudette to realize that she needs "a little bit of Vic".
Ronnie - I like it when he's in the backround and I believe that he doesnt have the acting chops to support a more central role. BTW, I've always found the Ronnie fanfics hilarious, there are people out there who believed that Ronnie was the father of Danny's baby, that Ronnie conspired with Shane to kill Lem, that Ronnie was an undercover fed working to take down the ST, etc.
Danny and Dutch - Very nice scene... a very emotional and tender kiss.
Billings - What a fucktard! I didnt read the Billings spoiler thread becuase I wanted to see the finale unspoiled, but there was supposed to be some bombshell, was that it?
Tina - Who?
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Post by electroshockblues on Jun 6, 2007 2:53:29 GMT -5
Reposting this from the Snitches board:
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Post by pretzel on Jun 6, 2007 5:02:53 GMT -5
i was bored to death
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Post by badcop187 on Jun 6, 2007 5:51:47 GMT -5
There are an awful lot of A's given in the poll for all these "Bored" people. I think everyone needs to vote!
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Post by xer0signal on Jun 6, 2007 7:26:19 GMT -5
my overall problem with this episode is that it did not feel like a finale, and that, as an ending, it didn't feel entirely true to what this season was all about.
each season has had an overall theme, and this season was supposed to be about the fallout after lem's death. specifically between shane and vic. meanwhile, they didn't say anything to eachother during the entire episode. and it ended with vic trying to save his job, rather than on a note between those two which would have at least felt more satisfying.
as for season 6, i definitely think it's the only season that i'd consider "weak". i felt like half of the time, the writers depended on vic just being lucky, and a few examples of the deus-ex-machina. take the very last scene of the finale. boy, it sure is nice that the one car vic decides to tail is the one car in all of farmington that has EVERYTHING HE COULD EVER NEED in the trunk. it doesn't necessarily stretch believability, but it just feels a little lazy to me, and that's how i'd describe the overall season.
season 6, like everything that happens on this show, is crucial to the overall story, but it's the only time i've ever had anything bad to say about the show, and it seems like a lot of people feel the same way. especially a lot of die hard fans. hopefully the writers realized that clearly there's a problem somewhere when their core audience is being split down the middle.
here's also hoping they never bring back clark johnson.
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Post by Inside Man on Jun 6, 2007 7:36:08 GMT -5
You guys are brutal. It was damned good episode. Not "Chasing Ghosts" good or "Dead Soldiers" or "Dominoes Falling" good, but they can't all be. I'm satisfied.
I was bouyed by the little things, like Danny & Tina's talk, which justified that seemingly extraneous knockoff purse story from a few eps ago.
Billings suing the LAPD for 3.2 million dollars isn't enough of a bombshell? That was hilarious and completely believable from Steve.
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Post by xer0signal on Jun 6, 2007 8:04:04 GMT -5
i will say that paris barclay did a pretty incredible job.
i was incredibly tense during the episode. so many people were in danger, and the tension was just incredible.
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Post by -|E|- on Jun 6, 2007 8:44:35 GMT -5
I didn't like the episode, and I don't like the "here's what I wrote in the Snitches boarda month ago" posts in this thread either. If I want to read the Snitches thread, I'll go there.
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Post by quipfan on Jun 6, 2007 9:07:20 GMT -5
What I don't get about the episode is why Vic left when the review board was ready to see him...how will that help him keep his job?
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