I am – Hercules!!
Does The Blackmail Box get a new piece of blue packing tape this week? It’s one of the few questions "Capone" refuses to answer in his report on this week’s brand spanking new installment of “The Shield”!

Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here, back again on AICN's Eastern Seaboard to discuss Episode 7.3 of FX's "The Shield." This is the episode where things start to heat up again. Last week was the calm before Hurricane Vic (Michael Chiklis) spins headlong into Hurricane Shane (Walton Goggins). What's funny about the whole scenario is that Vic and Shane have to start trusting each other again to make their Armenian problem go away and make sure both of their families are safe. When these guys are working together, they can make anything happen. As much fun as it has always been watching these men break every civil liberty in the book, it's when they play the con artist that I think the best acting and writing the show has to offer really shines through. Only 10 more episodes after this one until "The Shield" is no more. Here's episode three of Season 7… Title? MONEY SHOT Writer? Adam Fierro (writer of 10 prior episodes of "The Shield," he is also one of the show's co-executive producers) Director? Terrence O'Hara, a veteran T.V. drama director of such shows as "Renegade," "The Pretender," "Angel," "JAG," "The Unit," "CSI," "Smallville," "Heroes," "Shark," and "Navy NCIS," as well as one previous episode of "The Shield" Where do we pick things up? To prepare for the seemingly inevitable war with the Mexicans, the Armenians (through Ludwig Manukian's Rezian, who clearly survived last week's jailhouse assassination attempt) want Shane to steal a massive shipment of confiscated guns from the police barracks. The guns are about to be shipped somewhere to be destroyed…they are also untraceable. How is that blackmail box holding up? After Vic and Aceveda (Benito Martinez) decided last week to hide it in a storage locker where only they two had the keys, one of them decides to move it without the other one's knowledge, causing major friction. Why should the episode been titled "Three Wishes"? Because Vic does an awesome impersonation of a genie with the Armenians by offering to get them their guns and two wishes to be named later in exchange for guarantees that his family will remain safe. Are we sure Vic wants his family to remain safe? Vic's ex-wife, Corrine (Cathy Cahlin Ryan), is arrested and his eldest daughter, Cassidy (Chiklis' real-life daughter Autumn), isn't exactly keeping her nose clear either. I have no actual reason for thinking this, but I have a really bad feeling that this subplot is going to be key to the show's concluding episodes. Hey, don't other people do police work at "The Barn"? Dutch (Jay Karnes) and Billings (David Marciano) look into the supposed kidnapping of a 16-year-old Asian girl, whose parents claim she was never kidnapped. Turns out she was just visiting a very special kind of therapist who has an unusual way of helping troubled teens deal with their feeling of homosexuality. What's Ronnie up to this week? Ronnie visits a guy who makes adult movies and pays his actresses in drugs. Who brought in the Feds? Like last week, Laurie Holden's FBI Agent Olivia Murray, who has set up shop in the Barn to help out with the Mexican-Armenian situation, barely registers this week. What I liked. The scheme that Vic and Shane come up with for delivering the guns to the Armenians without actually delivering the guns and still coming out clear is executed brilliantly. The confrontation Vic finally has with his daughter is very tough to watch. Dutch moves a few human resources around to help his old partner Claudette (CCH Pounder) and love interest Danny (Catherine Dent). What I didn't like. I miss the hot as hell Agent Olivia, but don't worry: she'll be back in force very soon. How does it end? Shane gives something to Vic to prove he wants to mend fences. Vic tells Shane he understands why he felt he needed to kill Lem. But when Shane leaves the meeting, Vic's face tells a very different story. -- Capone capone@aintitcoolmail.com

10 p.m. Tuesday. FX.

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