Wednesday, January 9th, 2008
06:00 The Shield
The Shield. Season 3, Episode 11. In a show of many great characters, Dutch Wagenbach has always been one of my favourites. He looks a little like Tim Bayliss, the nice cop on Homicide, but he tries to be like (and appears to have the ego of) Frank Pembleton, the genius cop on Homicide. But it's a misplaced self-confidence in many ways.
Season 3 has followed his search for the Cuddler Rapist (a serial killer/rapist who cuddles with his victims for hours and hours). And this 11th episode finds him face-to-face with the killer at last. Their (chilling) convesations form the backbone of this episode and they are rivetting to watch. The killer's wife is also given a lot of screen time as she tries to come to terms with where her life goes now. How could her entire marriage have been a lie?
Inside the interrogation room, the Killer offers up several answers to this question. And many others. But mostly he is looking for answers. Answers as to why he felt compelled to commit these crimes. Answers Dutch tries (and ultimately fails) to give.
How he copes with that failure (in the final minute of the episode) makes for one of the most chilling things I've seen on TV in a long time.
Wow.
The Shield
