A little off the pace at the moment with this Shield marathon, mostly because I didn't figure Torchwood into the equation when I worked out the timing of watching all this. We'll have to see how it goes, but the Marathon might take longer than the twelve days I had planned. Maybe I'll scale it back to a disc a day and run it over a longer period. Depends on how I'm feeling.

As always there's a timeline of watching each episode (this time spread over two days) followed by a collection of random thoughts.

Beyond the link are the episodes - "The Quick Fix", "Dead Soldiers", "Parteners" and "Carte Blanche"...

18:54 – Unfortunately a visit from a guest set me back several hours, adding onto that the problem that I’m having guests around tomorrow and Thursday I’ll be away from the TV all afternoon and evening I’m left unsure if I can manage this marathon before it’s time to go back to work or not. Currently I have eight days and I need to average around three discs a day to do it. With this in mind I’ve figured out I can watch two or three episodes before Torchwood starts and maybe the remainder before bed.

18:57 – The Quick Fix

18:57 – These men are being given tires to wear, hmm. Now they’re getting liquid poured on them. Maybe it's some kind of hazing ritual.

18:58 – And now they’re on fire. That’s a pretty unpleasant way to go.

18:58 – It’s Mark Rolston he’s a P.I. looking into Corrine. Apparently she’s at this motel.

18:59 – Trust Vic to go off half cocked. Wrong room Vic!

18:59 – Ah, the PI had bad intel - Corrine wasn't ever there.

19:00 – Shane, Lem and Tio – Taking Care of Business!

19:00 – Hang on, Shane’s in charge while Vic’s gone. Doesn’t Vic recall Shane’s poor decisions last season?

19:01 – Sure enough, they’ve been on the road for less than a minute and they’re pulled over.

19:02 – Ah Shane, you just can’t bluff a cop as well as Vic. Looks like Aceveda’s could get called in.

19:02 – Vic arrives, he’s all smiles and smooth words.

19:03 – Oh dear Aceveda’s arrived.

19:03 – What the heck? He’s assuming responsibility. Vic looks like he’s swallowed a kitten.

19:04 – Vic’s in trouble with teacher.

19:05 – Turns out it’s all on the level, Vic really was being sloppy with the paperwork.

19:06 – “Ay dios mios I’m Burning!” – Vic showing his usual concern over gangers being burnt.

19:06 – Aceveda’s mellowed out somewhat towards Vic, but he’s keeping a close eye on them.

19:07 – That’s blood. Looks like there’s something wrong with the coke, that guy’s puking up his stomach

19:08 – That’s just a cruel method of interrogation.

19:09 – Armadio’s mentioned, I’m sure he’s someone important.

19:10 – Gee Vic, where are you going to find fifty grand?

19:11 – The retirement fund’s cleaned out. It’s been invested. In COKE!

19:12 – Why are you surprised at what Shane’s been pulling Victor? His record last season was basically bad judgement after bad judgement.

19:13 – Kristen Bell! Is this what Veronica Mars did on her holidays? Get tattooed by Armadio?

19:14 – I guess you’re not that broken up about Corrine if you’re staying over Danny’s occasionally.

19:15 – I’m lost, which thing are they talking about? A thing or a thing?

19:16 – Looks like Armadio and his brother are all over Vic. The drug shipment was tainted back in Mexico.

19:17 – How are you going to raise twenty five grand Vic? Assault Mexico

19:18 – That’s a good way to treat a civilian auditor.

19:19 – I guess the other name for this episode would be “Vic’s Day off” or “What Vic Did on his Holidays”

19:20 – Mexican Policeman, his almost as bald as Vic is.

19:20 – What’s the odds Lem and Shane get mugged?

19:21 – 100%

19:21 – Seems Dutch-Boy hasn’t lost any of his moves where women are concerned.

19:22 – The little girl brought Dutch’s book back. Now he’s trying to interview a little girl. She’s a minor Dutch, does Claudette have to explain it to you?

19:23 – Is Vic going to try and take these guys down without guns? I believe he is.

19:24 – Success! Only in The Shield.

19:25 – Time for another tire necklace. Or will he talk first?

19:27 – It’s Armadio! Scarred on the outside, nasty on the inside. Armadio!

19:28 – I don’t think he’s going to crack like most people you get in that room guys.

19:28 – You really don’t want to get the little girl involved guys. Definitely try for another way.

19:29 – “I have a bad feeling about this” – Really Ronnie?

19:30 – Bullet holes in the trunk, four hundred thousand in cash and Vic still plans to fit this guy in trunk as well? He’s brave, you’ve got to give him that much.

19:31 – Oh shut up civilian auditor woman.

19:32 – On the road, that’s where I want to be…

19:33 – “In the field? Is that code for he [Mackey] goes where ever he wants?” – Why yes, yes it is.

19:35 – Go Julien, chatting up the single mom.

19:37 – It looks like the Strike Team is scuppered. Wait, no, once again Vic bluffs his way past.

19:38 – And now he charms the civilian auditor as well. Silver tongued devil.

19:39 – Armadio knows about the little girl. Quick, move fast.

19:40 – Papa Vic’s confiscating everyone’s keys. Naughty Strike Team.

19:41 – I tell you what, with that little dove on her cheek it’s clear that The Shield isn’t afraid of terrible moments and subjects. Poor mite.

19:42 – How do you feel now Dutch?

19:42 – Looks like Vic at least cleaned up his home after the end of the last season. Well cleaned it a little.
19:43 – David and Vic, reunited verses the civilian auditor, the old team back together again.

19:45 – Enough time for one more before Torchwood.

19:45 – Dead Soldiers

19:45 – I wonder if these Dead Soldiers are the same kinds as the ones mentioned by Bubbles in The Wire’s first season – used cocaine vials.

19:46 – The Strike Team, gatecrashers and party poopers extraordinaire.

19:47 – Looks like someone set fire to comic book guy’s store (Tio’s crib)

19:48 – Poor dead piggy

19:49 – “This is gangland, my domain” – Vic

19:50 – Another Vic and Claudette team up episode.

19:51 – Armadio’s using the polariod of his brother in the cage as a bookmark.

19:54 – Tio keeps a ledger of his transactions? It’s going to be bad if the safe holding it turns up in Claudette’s hands.

19:56 – Who’s the city official shot? It’s a traffic warden. Looks like Aceveda’s been running interference on Lanie.

19:57 – I think I warned you not to let Claudette get her hands on that safe.

19:58 – Nice car, being a PI must pay very well.

19:58 – Terrorists, mixing chemicals, dirty bombs? What could it be?

19:59 – I think that’s the first time 9/11 was directly referenced on The Shield (there was the speech from the woman last season but that was more subtle).

20:00 – So that’s what the smell is. It’s pickled fish. How pleasant.

20:01 – Lem’s attempt to be sensitive with Vic falls on deaf ears.

20:02 – You’ve to do better than that to pull a fast one over on Claudette.

20:04 – Claudette’s on your trail Vic, sniff sniff! She’s like a blood hound.

20:06 – Someone tell Armadio to keep his clothes on.

20:07 – You’d better hope Tio doesn’t crack Vic. Claudette’s pretty good.

20:08 – Seems like Lem knows a little psychology.

20:10 – Tio’s one cool customer.

20:11 – Dutch walks in, Vic and David walk out. Carry on like that guys and he’s going to think he smells or something.

20:12 – Tio’s ID’d a bald guy, the firebug now has hair. Oops.

20:13 – Second disconnection of the Interrogation room camera. Claudette’s done it this time.

20:14 – Just as well Aceveda’s able to run interference for Vic at the moment isn’t it?

20:15 – Ladies and gentlemen, Tio has left the building.

20:18 – Dutch has caught his guy because he thought as it was a government test it would be unreliable.

20:19 – That’s one angry Claudette, I think this is the moment where she begins to turn against Vic.

20:20 – You should have put down the gun when you were told dude. It’s too late to put it down because you’ve been shot dead.

20:22 – Bit of a moral to this story, people hardly care that an Arab has been shot dead, terrible.

20:23 – Lanie’s bulimic! That’s attractive.

20:23 – Dutch again messes up where a woman’s concerned. But as he says “I’ve got a girlfriend.”

20:24 – You don’t go throwing Vic into bins man. That’s just not cricket.

20:25 – R.I.P. Tio, looks like it’s a bad gig being Vic’s dealer. Kern better be careful.

20:26 – Now that’s throwing the book at him. Oh, nasty.

20:27 – The famous face burning scene. I know Armadio’s a complete bastard but still, it’s harsh to watch.

20:28 – Time for a break to watch Torchwood (which is on in half an hour) and then You Have Been Watching.

23:44 – Having survived Torchwood and enjoyed YHBW I figure I can get in one more episode of The Shield before bed, maybe two if I’m not too tired. But staying up after midnight is unusual for me.

23:45 – Partners

23:45 - We get to relive that wonderful face burning again. Man that always makes me wince. It’s almost as definitive a moment for Vic as the pilot episode was.

23:46 – Why hasn’t Michael Chiklis been given a starring role in an action thriller movie yet? I’d love to watch him brutalise his way through a field of people in the style of The Shooter or Death Wish.

23:47 – You’re right to pull that face Vic, blood doesn’t wash out easily, I know.

23:47 – “That’s an arm.”

23:48 – Man the subtitles suck on this season’s set.

23:49 – But the Dutch subtitles are far nicer laid out, shame I can’t read them.

23:50 – Dutch and the case of the one armed woman.

23:51 – Aceveda owns the Strike Team for the day, Vic’s handed them over.

23:52 – I remember this episode, in a show filled with disturbing cases this one is right up there near the top.

23:52 – When Corrine opens her mouth, half the time white noise just seems to come out. I think I’ve began to filter out her whining.

23:54 – It’s her from Two and A Half Men, the cute obsessive one. What’s her name again?

23:55 – Oh man, I never feel good seeing that scene with the poor girl in the bathroom.

23:55 – Carl Weathers will cheer me up. Maybe he’ll share a few cooking recipes or tips on how to save money.

23:56 – Huge moment this, it’s the closest Vic ever comes to vocalising his regret over Terry Crowley. Chiklis is so good at scenes like that one.

23:57 - Melanie Lynskey! That's the one.

23:58 – Vic’s been lying? Surely not, you must be mistaken Claudette.

23:59 – Yup, this fire tire case is definitely where Claudette first begins to smell a rat about Vic.

00:00 – See Joe Vic? That’s the ghost of a potential future floating around you there.

00:02 – Once again Julien fails to back up Danny. Just like Claudette he’s ‘word of the law’ police.

00:03 – That couple really do make me sick. Poor girl in the trunk of their car.

00:03 – No Dutch, pop the trunk! Please!

00:04 – I wonder if Joe Clarke is named as a tribute to Clark Johnson.

00:05 – Sometimes I can’t help think Shane only opens his mouth to change foot.

00:06 – Trust your instincts Dutch, you’ve got the guy there.

00:07 – Only Shane could come up with analogy involving grits.

00:08 – You’re not going to get her to crack. She’s stone cold guys.

00:10 – You should listen to Claudette here Dutch, it is a surface diagnosis.

00:11 – Told you she wouldn’t crack Dutch. But now you think she did.

00:13 – Sometimes the camera work in The Shield just makes it look like a real life documentary. This is one of those times.

00:14 – Listen to Joe Vic, he’s a potential future for sure.

00:15 – Looks like Fleetwood is shipping more than electronics, that’s a fully automatic.

00:16 – Vic’s been shot! He is human after all.

00:17 – She really knows how to play you Dutch.

00:19 – A kitchen knife is called in, it becomes a bloody machete in the call.

00:20 – You did NOT let Bob and Marcy go Dutch did you? You’ll regret that.

00:22 – That’s a interesting interrogation technique Shane.

00:24 – I told you not to let them go Dutch. But you didn’t listen because you’re on the other side of that television screen aren’t you?

00:25 – The moral of the story for Vic – “Don’t turn into Joe.”

00:26 – The moral of the story for Dutch – “Don’t let pretty women manipulate you.”

00:27 – Considering what happens later, some of the conversations in The Shield take on a real twist of dark irony.

00:28 – Don’t beat yourself up too much Dutch, no-one’s perfect.

00:29 – If I stay up it’ll be gone one before I get to bed. So I’ll watch the last episode of this disc tomorrow morning, probably only going to manage two discs tomorrow at best, as each disc takes around three hours to watch.

9:36 – Carte Blanche

9:36 – I completely forgot Vic received a medal for being shot in the previous episode.

9:37 – Toys for guns!

9:38 – Shane’s missing badge comes to back to haunt them. Someone’s using it to kill people.

9:40 – Do you think Vic can pretend to be a dirty cop successfully? I’m not so sure…

9:42 – Looks like Danny’s shooting is turning sour and Aceveda’s being hit with the splash as well.

9:43 – It’s amazing how fast Claudette turned against Vic, she was very ‘live and let live‘ in the first season.

9:45 – Looks like these stolen diamonds all head towards the Armenians.

9:46 – And there’s the first sniff of the Armenian Money train.

9:47 – “Well, inside I’m a sad clown.” – Vic expressing his sorrow over being “forced” to play a dirty cop.

9:49 – This law-suit against Danny is getting out of hand already.

9:50 – Likewise Vic’s undercover work is getting out of hand as well.

9:51 – You should get Tavon onto the team Vic; he’d suit you guys to the ground. Wait, you haven’t met him yet. Shame.

9:52 – Lanie’s behind the race thing for the Strike Team, nothing like political correctness in this world.

9:53 – That’s a thin tightrope Vic’s walking here.

9:55 – I’m sure Manny appeared in the first season.

9:56 – Bob and Marcy really have Dutch’s abilities off kilter.

9:57 – “I thought you said he blew his face off. What did he do? Miss?”

9:57 – “Go to the car and get my shotgun.”

9:58 – Soccer coach for a load of single moms, bet he gets quite a bit of action. Danny’s digging him that’s for sure. He’s bound to be bad; she has lousy taste in men.

10:00 – Did you really expect Vic to stop if he had a whiff of some more David?

10:02 – Dutch continues to dig in the wrong patch; his fu is well off the mark.

10:04 – 9210 Escovida – the home of the money train.

10:05 – Uh-oh now the Armenian guy with Vic knows that the suicide didn’t happen.

10:07 – Close one there Shane.

10:08 – I knew it Danny, that guy is whacked.

10:09 – Yup, that’s the money train.

10:10 – Julien’s a straight flier, if he says something didn’t happen, it didn’t happen.

10:11 – That money is the entire West Coast money train.

10:12 – Looks like Vic has a plan, maybe involving the retirement fund.

10:13 – Claudette got ya Manny. She got ya good.

10:17 – Being shot hasn’t changed anything Vic, Corrine still wants you out.

10:18 – Nice place Vic. Swanky.

End of Disc.

Thoughts:

• I wondered why Season Two was just one of two seasons in The Shield to receive an 18 rating in the UK. But this disc has already cleared that question up. Partners is one of the most disturbing episodes in the show alongside Cherrypoppers, but Armadio's actions in the pilot episode and the burning of his face are right up there as well. The Shield really follows the rule "less is more" with regards to the violence and horror in the show. We get to see bits, quick flashes and suggestions without seeing too much. It's highly effective (just like in Alien).

• The cops are eith screwing up a lot (Dutch fails with Marcy and get's the poor girl "tatooed" by Armadio), or getting punished for their actions (Vic being shot, Danny and the lawsuit). I thought the first season was hard, but the second season has been to some seriously dark places and it's just the first disc.

• First whiff of the money train, if Vic had called it in to Aceveda at this point things would have turned out very differently in the end.

• Still very little Ronnie at this stage. No wonder he was considered a red shirt, he's lucky if he's in the background, let alone if he gets a line. But Lem's not getting too much screen time either, which is a shame because I really like Lem.