The Shield

Aceveda tries to fend off an investigation. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Vic's protection racket may be exposed. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Vic helps his old mentor on the force. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Vic finds a huge money-laundering scheme. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Drug dealing is in elementary school. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

It's murder at a battered women's shelter. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

While enlisting a shady realtor to launder the cash from the Strike Team's planned heist of a mob "money train," Vic hopes to keep the fighting next door from disturbing his sleep any further by bringing neighbor Dorcell Jenkins to see domestic abuse counselor Emma Prince. But when Dez's arrest doesn't persuade Dorcell to leave him and he tries to get her to come back home, Emma sends the abusive boyfriend tumbling off the police station's second floor balcony. Meanwhile, as Shane is pressed into making an informant out of a prostitute who recently took advantage of him, Julien tells his fiancée Vanessa of his homosexual past. As a result of Dutch's crisis of confidence, Aceveda orders Claudette to head the investigation into Leah Madson's murder. Unwilling to push her partner aside, Claudette encourages Dutch to take the lead in questioning murder suspect Stu Kleinsausser. Increasingly certain that Stu is a serial killer, and under pressure to prove it, Dutch asks Vic for advice on planting evidence to implicate him. Meanwhile, as Tulips uses her informant's status to punish an ex-boyfriend, Shane still cannot resist her, even though she's trouble. After planting evidence against Stu, Dutch reconsiders, realizing that he can nail him without it. And turning up the heat by forcing him to confront his weight problem, Dutch gets him to confess to Leah's murder. Finally, as Danny warns the grieving widow Yassirah Al-Thani to back off, Vanessa agrees to go ahead with her marriage to Julien. And amid concerns that Ronnie won't be able to keep the money train heist a secret, Vic and Emma find him half-conscious, bloodied and burned after a brutal beating by Armadillo. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

In the wake of the vicious assault that has left Ronnie badly burned, Vic pledges to take Armadillo Quintero off the streets once and for all, both for revenge and to keep anyone from finding out about his own attack on the Mexican drug lord. However, suspecting that Vic is trying to hide the truth, Claudette questions Corrine Mackey, who begins to see how her husband's shady deals have placed her and their children in danger. Meanwhile, as city auditor Lanie Kellis returns to complete her investigation at the Barn, Dutch enlists Danny to help him investigate the brutal assault of a Thai immigrant. When the evidence leads Dutch and Danny to the home of Malcolm Rama, despite the incontrovertible evidence against him, he denies having anything to do with the attack on Mr. Kusa. Hoping to give Danny a chance to prove she has what it takes to be a detective, Dutch sends her out to track down an assailant who sprays his victims with insecticide. Once the pressure on the streets leads Vic and his men to the drug lord's hideout, Armadillo decides to give himself up. When questioned by Claudette, Armadillo insists on speaking with Vic. And after Mackey is sent in alone, Armadillo makes it clear that, unless he is allowed to go back to Mexico, he'll make sure Vic ends up in jail, too. Worried about the possible consequences, Vic ends his interrogation of Armadillo. But when Shane and Lem help an angry ex-con get re-arrested so he can kill Armadillo in jail, Danny is suspended when it's thought she was responsible for letting killer's weapon slip through security. When Dutch uncovers a family feud that goes back eight hundred years, Malcolm admits to assaulting Kusa in order to get revenge for his father. Finally, before going to bed with Emma, Vic struggles to convince Corrine that he's sincere about wanting to be a better father, while Dutch uncovers incriminating evidence that could undermine Lanie's credibility as she prepares a report that's critical of the Barn. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

It's a look back at the Barn's early days. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

The leak of the auditor's report jeopardizes the futures of everyone at the Farm. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Vic mobilizes the Strike Team to help Aceveda's election campaign; Dutch and Claudette suspect a teenaged girl is lying about the rape accusation she's made against her employer.

With the release of the auditor's report, Police Chief Tom Bankston pressures Captain Aceveda to clean up the problems at the Barn and substantially reduce his workforce. As the fallout begins to hit, Dutch and Claudette are assigned to investigate the disappearance of Jeffrey Cole, the fourteen year-old son of a mixed race couple. When William Cole overhears Dutch speculating about a child molester who has already raped and killed two other boys, he turns to Vic for reassurance. And once another boy turns up dead, Dutch hopes he can still find Jeffrey alive. Meanwhile, to keep Tomas at bay, Julien seeks help from his sexual reorientation sponsor. And when he learns of a change in the mob's money train schedule, Vic calls off the heist. As Tomas reveals the graphic details of his affair with Julien, his job forces Aceveda to turn over his council campaign to his wife. With Corrine prepared for legal warfare, Vic is forced to break into his own house in order to see his kids. Convincing Aceveda to let a stubborn suspect go, Vic then stands by and watches William fly into an angry rage. But after the suspect claims that Jeffrey robbed and attacked him, Vic questions the missing boy's innocence. Meanwhile, when the Chief asks if she's interested in Aceveda's job, Claudette balks. As Julien's fitness to be a cop is questioned, Aceveda risks his career and political future to solve the Cole case. And after Tavon finds a teenager who says the missing boy is a white racist responsible for one of the murders, Shane takes a bullet in his protective vest before Lemonhead brings Jeffrey's deadly rampage to an end. Finally, as Julien discovers that some fellow officers have told his son about Tomas, and Dutch ramps up his search for the pedophile, Claudette tells Bankston that she would be willing to command the Barn. And following another change of heart about the money train, Vic is arrested when Corrine lodges a trespassing complaint. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As he struggles to keep his job, Vic pushes ahead with a new plan to hijack a mob money shipment. © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.