The Shield

A new commander arrives just in time to help with the investigation into the murder of an immigrant family. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Vic agrees to quietly bring in a teenaged drug user before learning of his role in a deadly armed robbery. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

With the outbreak of a deadly gang war between the Spookstreet Souljahs and the Farmington 1-Niners, Monica names Vic to handle the investigation underwritten by an aggressive asset seizure program. So, while Vic looks to keep a close eye on Shane, pressuring ex-gang leader Antwon Mitchell for answers in a series of shootings leads to the target of a deadly 1-Niner drive-by shooting, gangster and aspiring rap artist Al "Choppa" Jenkins. Meanwhile, with Claudette still unwilling to apologize to the D.A., she and Dutch are assigned to investigate an armed robbery where the weapon was a cup of hot coffee. When Shane learns that Choppa is in a hard core porn video, Vic realizes that the gang war started when a 1-Niner called Puppethead saw his girlfriend, Bounce, having sex with the rap star. But Choppa remains unwilling to cooperate in finding his assailants, so Monica threatens to confiscate the house he bought for his mother, Chenille, with drug money. And now that he has linked the drive-bys to Puppethead, Vic demands that Antwon rein in his crew. As Dutch's frustration with being assigned to small-time cases prompts some racist comments that land him in trouble with Monica, his investigation only manages to produce a copycat hot coffee bandit. Meanwhile, Vic is disappointed when a doctor who works with Corrine refuses to sign on as an expert witness in the lawsuit that claims a vaccine manufacturer's negligence caused their children's autism. As the sweep of the neighborhood has filled the Barn's jail cells, Vic knows Puppethead's fate has been sealed when Antwon posts bail and gets him back on the street where he can be killed. And though Puppethead's murder ends the war, Monica has Chenille Jenkins' house confiscated anyway. Finally, as A.D.A. Beth Insardi gives Dutch a chance to get him and Claudette back in her good graces, Vic offers Shane a deal to come back to the Barn to work together. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Following the courthouse escape of "Stay at Home Rapist" Oscar Ruiz, Monica bypasses Dutch and Claudette and hands the case over to Vic. Yet, after pumping Dutch for information, Vic bears down hard on Ruiz's girlfriend and his roommate, but is unable to keep him from raping again. Meanwhile, as Aceveda begins a relationship with a high-class prostitute, he maneuvers to get a council committee assignment that will allow him to fight Monica's asset seizure program. And as Shane uses violence to secure a working relationship with Antwon Mitchell, Dutch and Claudette investigate a marijuana dealer being targeted by A.D.A. Beth Insardi. While he realizes that Ruiz won't stop his assaults until he's caught, turning to the local gangs for help sparks a near-fatal attack on an innocent man that further damages Vic's credibility with Monica. So, to keep his career chances alive, he tries to enlist Dutch's help without actually letting him in on the case. To make matters worse for Dutch, as he and Claudette pursue their drug case, it becomes clear that the suspect is no more than a small-time dealer. Meanwhile, as Shane tells Vic about an illegal alien smuggling ring that Antwon has alerted him to, Aceveda presses Monica to let him present her case for the asset seizure program to his beleaguered constituents. As Claudette questions why she's been sent to chase down a low level drug dealer, Vic uses a profile developed by Dutch to identify Ruiz's next victim. So, as he is laying in wait at the woman's house, Ruiz is surprised when Vic and Ronnie show up instead. And when Ruiz tries to hide, Vic sends in a police dog to mete out some on-the-spot justice before making the arrest. Finally, after realizing that Shane has compromised one of his cases in exchange for a tip from Antwon, Vic decides to get some payback by arresting one of the gang leader's sons. And as Dutch and Claudette are sent to investigate a murder, Vic balks at selling his house to underwrite the lawsuit he and Corrine are about to file. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As Monica is forced to defend her crime-fighting tactics, Vic's pursuit of a killer creates problems for Antwon, while Dutch's secret deal with the D.A.'s office gets him and Claudette assigned to a murder investigation. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As auctions of seized gang assets are getting underway and injunctions are issued preventing 1-Niner members from being seen together, it becomes harder for Shane to protect Antwon Mitchell. Though Vic doesn't want to admit it, Lemonhead is convinced that Shane is behind the disappearance of a teenaged informant and the overdose death of her mother. When her crackdown on Antwon is jeopardized after it nearly exposes a D.E.A. undercover operation, Monica convinces the federal agents to cooperate in stopping the trade of stolen cars for heroin. Told of the bust that's being planned, Shane alerts Antwon. So, by the time Vic and the D.E.A. agents arrive at the gang's drug warehouse, it's already been cleared out. Meanwhile, when assigned to the murder of Raine Powell, Dutch and Claudette bring in Kleavon Gardner, a suspect in a series of similar killings in Texas. After Vic learns that Antwon's lieutenant, Verdice, is stashing the drugs at a church, Monica gets a search warrant. But just as Verdice is about to walk into the trap, Army warns him to keep quiet. Over the objections of both Reverend Brock and Julien, the raid proceeds, uncovering a large cache of heroin as it also sparks outrage in the community. Meanwhile, after Raine Powell's diary leads Dutch to question her boyfriend, once he turns his attention to Gardner, he's unable to get a confession. However, when the diary reveals that Raine was having problems at work, Dutch and Claudette discover that the real killer is a corrupt co-worker. While it becomes increasingly difficult for Vic to protect Shane, Monica finds that even funneling some of the auction proceeds back into the community won't shield her from criticism. Though the suspicion that he had a hand in the murder of the fourteen-year-old informant and her mother prompts Lemonhead to confront Shane, Vic continues recommending caution. But when a surveillance tape proves that Shane is working for Antwon, even Vic admits that it's time to stop him. Finally, as Claudette continues arguing with Dutch for his having capitulated to the D.A., Julien seeks Aceveda's help in reining in Monica. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As Aceveda uses a cleverly-edited videotape to force her to sideline Vic, Monica goes toe-to-toe with a social worker whose negligence led to the hospitalization of a seven-year-old foster child. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As she decides to move into a house in Farmington, the death of another informant has Monica worried about a leak somewhere inside the department. With Vic already tracking down suspects, Antwon demands that Shane kill him, or risk being implicated in Angie's death. But when a high school teacher is murdered, Vic suspects a copycat killer is using the informants' deaths as a cover. Meanwhile, as he's investigating a gas station hold-up, Dutch stumbles into the arrest of the Coffee Bandit. And in exchange for helping Julien file a complaint against the department, Aceveda demands information about another client of prostitute Sara Frazier. After Vic arrests the two gang members who were tricked into killing the high school teacher, Shane and Army promise Antwon's lieutenant, Halpern, a chance to run the gang if he will kill his boss. However, upon learning about Antwon's orders to Shane, Army accidentally shoots Halpern. As Vic and Corrine struggle to find a way to pay for the vaccine lawsuit, David insists that Sara never make him take a backseat to any of her clients. And after solving the Coffee Bandit case, Dutch and Claudette get a big break when someone admits to attacking the gas station attendant, though he insists that he didn't steal any money. Although Vic is skeptical, Monica insists that he find something that will lock up the girl who prompted the murder of the teacher. Then, as Danny joins Vic for his surveillance of Monica's new house, Shane dumps Halpern at a 1-Niner safe house with a warning for Antwon. Finally, when the confession of the gas station clerk's assailant checks out, the bystander who called 911 is arrested for the robbery. And after giving Corrine some cash to pay their legal bills, Vic prepares for a deadly showdown with Shane, only to have the frightened detective beg him for help in getting out of his jam with Antwon. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

When Shane admits that he's at risk of being tagged with Angie's murder, Vic agrees to help recover her body from under a portable toilet outside a family center run by the 1-Niners. However, the plan is complicated when, after a pair of officers disappears during a domestic disturbance call, it's assumed that it is Antwon's payback for the crackdown in Farmington. And with few leads to their whereabouts, Dutch's only hope is Roger, a psychotic and homeless man who was at the scene. Meanwhile, as Councilman Aceveda shows up in uniform to help look for the missing cops, after arresting the gang members who are guarding the center, Ronnie, Army, and Shane try digging up Angie's corpse, only to discover that it's gone. To find Angie's body, Vic enlists Corrine to locate the hospital where Antwon's injured sidekick, Halpern, went for treatment of his gunshot wound. After Corrine tricks Halpern into signing a confidential informant contract and Vic threatens to make it public unless he cooperates, he provides information about a Salvadoran gang that Antwon likes to use. And when a tip leads Vic, Monica, and a team of cops that includes Danny's new partner, Aceveda, to a seized house where the missing officers are found dead, evidence that they were killed somewhere else returns everyone to the house where they disappeared. Though forced to rely on Roger, Dutch still gleans a clue that leads him to where the cops died and a dog tag belonging to one of their killers. Despite the community backlash, Monica steps up the search and even has an innocent gang member arrested to make it appear that progress is being made. Finally, though he can't be linked to the missing cops, after a Salvadoran hit man does reveal where Angie's body is buried, Vic tips off Antwon to an impending arrest upon his return from Las Vegas in hopes of arranging a truce. Though reluctant at first, after Vic offers to work together from now on, Antwon agrees to be questioned about the cop killings. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

As Vic decides to tell Monica the truth about Shane, Dutch and Claudette suspect an alleged serial killer of murder. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Under pressure from Aceveda, the department brass, and the community, Monica orders Shane and Army to take a lie detector test to clear up any suspicion of corruption. After asking her to hold off for a week, Vic pits two rivals for leadership of the 1-Niners against each other in order to get the address of a suspect in the cop killings. But instead they find Emolia, a woman who fears that she and her son are going to be killed over some missing heroin -- drugs that were confiscated by Shane and Army. Then, when he's led to the man who was spotted with one of the dead cop's guns -- an African named Ade Achebe -- Vic finds him dead. After Detective Steve Billings freezes when he witnesses a fatal carjacking, the anonymous tip he calls in leads Dutch and Claudette to force him to admit that he failed to act because he was outgunned. When a lead in Achebe's murder sends Vic and his team looking for his roommate, Idisa Okoye, they run up against two Russian mob assassins. When the local police respond to the shootout, Vic sees that they have Okoye in custody. So, to protect his family from harm, Okoye admits that he and Achebe were hired by the Russians to kill the officers in retaliation for a traffic violation. Meanwhile, as Vic confronts Dutch about dating Corrine, Julien's efforts to keep a local youngster out of a neighborhood gang only make matters worse. When Monica orders that the polygraph tests be administered now, Army takes the advice of a union representative and refuses, creating the impression that he and Shane are hiding something. As Vic returns the pilfered heroin in exchange for Emolia's safety, and a confession keeps Billings from having to come forward, Dutch's flip remark about Vic prompts Corrine to put an end to their courtship. Finally, as Julien agrees to implement the precinct's new get tough policies and Monica resists the pressure to water them down, Vic agrees that Army should move on as his Strike Team is reunited to pursue those who ordered the cop killings. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Vic and Monica work to link Antwon to the cop killings, only to have Aceveda sell them out in an effort to keep the truth about his sexual assault from being made public. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Under pressure from officers who are angry over the impending release of Antwon Mitchell, Monica asks Vic to find something to undermine the deal with the feds and force him to stand trial for the murder of two cops. Already suspecting a link between the jailhouse killing of Juan Rodriguez and the deal Aceveda brokered with the D.E.A., Vic tracks down Gusano, a gang member with information on the whereabouts of a Salvadoran drug boss named Bonilla. After Lemonhead narrowly avoids getting killed when Gusano escapes, Vic asks his newest informant, Emolia, to help find him. And when Vic's cracking the code used to mask his phone calls forces Gusano to cooperate, Bonilla's arrest produces information that makes the D.E.A.'s deal moot. After making an arrest in a murder case, Dutch and Claudette find that their suspect bought drugs at the house of Frank and Liz Walker, foster parents who were recently reprimanded following the brutal assault of a young girl in their care. Angry over the fact that the Walkers have continued to be allowed to care for foster kids, Monica turns her outrage towards social worker Lucy McConnell, announcing that, despite orders from above, she is seizing their home. Meanwhile, upon learning learns that Cassidy has been entertaining boys at home when he's out, Vic decides that the best thing would be for her to move back in with Corrine. When the D.E.A. threatens to make things difficult for the Mayor, Monica's ill-timed seizure of the Walkers' house is the final straw that leads to her being forced to step down from her job. With an appeal likely to cost her a pension, she decides to accept her forced retirement and move on. But when Phillips offers the interim command to Dutch, he refuses. Finally, after making his peace with the departing captain, Vic returns to the Barn to rally the troops to celebrate their having caught the cop killers, unaware that Emolia has agreed to cooperate in an investigation that is bringing much greater scrutiny to his actions. © 2005 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.