As Vic gets closer to finding his family, he and his boys focus their attention on Armadillo and his continued gang building. Unfortunately when Vic gets too close, Armadillo burns down one of Tio's distribution centers. Although Tio escapes the blaze without a scratch, a safe is discovered that holds Tio's ledgers which include his payouts to Vic. Now Vic must get the ledger and the guy who smoked Tio's apartment before Claudette puts the pieces together and discovers that Tio is not only Vic's CI but his drug connection. Although Claudette never puts two and two together, Armadillo does and Tio ends up necklaced. When Vic finds Tio, he takes his revenge out on Armadillo. When Lanie, the Barn's new Civilian Auditor, asks to follow Vic around for the day, David immediately steps in and suggests it might be better if she follow Dutch to the shooting of a city official. But when they discover that the city official is actually a meter maid, Lanie is less than pleased. Although she and Dutch continue their investigation into whohuged her, she makes her less than pleasant feelings known to David. Meanwhile Julien and Danny must appease two neighbors who aren't getting along. Unfortunately things escalate to an uncontrollable situation and Danny is forced to shoot an Arab American.
The Shield breaks the conventional formula of the cop genre. It plays out in a tough, morally ambiguous world in which the line between good and bad is crossed ever day. The series focuses on the tension between a group of corrupt but effective cops and a captain torn between bringing them down and advancing his own political ambitions.
The Shield stars rogue cop "Det. Vic Mackey", leader of the elite Strike Team unit, who is effective at eliminating crime but who operates under his own set of rules. "Captain David Aceveda", the young precinct head who doesn't like Mackey's tactics and wants to bust him off the force. And "Det. Claudette Wyms", a veteran detective who understands Mackey and knows how to play both sides of the fence.