So, Vic and Shane are continuing to play the Armenians and the Mexicans off against each other but it’s clear that the cracks in their web of deceit are beginning to show. Pezula is desperate to get his hands back on the blackmail box while Razien wants to end the war by proving that he doesn’t have the box. As Vic is the only person telling Pezula that Razien has it this is a disaster for both of them (and Ronnie), so Vic manipulates Acevada into using the box to blackmail a councilman into a situation that would make Pezula and the Mexicans think that the Armenians are using the box. An Armenian genocide remembrance day event. But Pezula is acting beyond the boundaries Vic expects and the councilman is shot and killed.
But Vic’s problems do not stop at his work and extra curricular activities, his home life is also spiralling away from him – Cassidy is a clearly troubled child who has begun to see the her father’s true face. Not only that but her concerns are contagious, just talking to Danny has sown the seeds of doubt for them both and Danny choose to lawyer up in order to keep him away from her and Lee’s personal lives. A wise move, but one that Vic really doesn’t need to deal with right now.
Back at the Barn Dutch and Billings are called out for an intruder shooting that appears to be clean. But Dutch’s keen detective insight and natural instincts tell him that things are not quite as they seem to be. It’s clear that Billings is beginning to bond with Dutch because this week he’s willing to trust Dutch’s instincts and follow his lead. While it’s not totally clear if Dutch is right or not, there isn’t enough evidence to prove otherwise; but failed cases have a habit of coming back to haunt Dutch so it’s possible that this storyline isn’t over yet.
The biggest punch that this episode delivers occurs right at the end, after the shooting Acevada meets up with Vic and reveals that the ground underneath their feet isn’t as stable as they thought. In fact there is no ground, they’re in free fall and the end is looking a lot like a bullet for each of them. It turns out that the ICE agent Olivia is in Pezula’s blackmail box and she knows enough to bring the entire house of cards down directly onto Vic and David’s heads…
