May 24, 2007 - While overall this wasn't as strong an episode as the last couple, the best part of this week's Shield was easily the introduction of Franka Potente (Run Lola Run / The Bourne Identity) as Diro Kesakhian, the daughter of an Armenian mobster. Potente was introduced in a mundane way, as she sewed at her cat-filled apartment. But soon she was approached by Shane, who was worried now that the Armenians had gotten him mixed up in the murder of the gas station attendant in the last episode. At first she claimed that her father wasn't mixed up in anything bad, but the truth was much more interesting; not only was she aware of her father's dealings, she had taken over the business, as her father lay on his deathbed. We've had plenty of strong female characters on The Shield before, but none who was a powerful criminal such as this one, and the ever compelling Potente is a great bit of casting.

Some interesting character moments came forth this episode, as an investigation involving robberies connected to knockoff purses leads to a fun moment of bonding between Tina, Dani and Corrine; the latter of whom seem ready to bury their Vic-related hatchet. This bit of mundane girl-talk between these three women was an amusing break in the usually uber-tense situations on this series. Tina however also begins to prove to be a liability in the field, as fame connected to the billboards featuring her becomes a distraction during investigations.

Unfortunately, Aceveda continues to be pretty disconnected from the main action on this series, and it seems as though the producers have to stretch to connect him to the goings on in the barn. His wish to run for Mayor, or perhaps State Assembly, doesn't lack its own drama - it was pretty chilling to see a discussion of redistricting Koreans and the proclamation that "blacks don't vote" during a meeting about a potential campaign - but still, it's not a natural fit with the rest of the show.

The situation with Hernan continued to escalate, as Vic and the others feared he'd been found out and killed. As it turned out, that was not the case, and they realized he'd actually proven himself by framing another member of his gang as the traitor and killed him. This was pretty chilling stuff, but not actually having Hernan appear onscreen in the episode was a distraction; One might assume the busy Clifton Collins, Jr. may have not been available again, which is unfortunate.

Thankfully Kevin Hiatt is still on-camera, though Alex O'Loughlin's upcoming series Twilight makes us wonder for how much longer. But this episode really seemed to solidify the bond that has grown between Hiatt and Vic, as Hiatt firmly seems to think it's Vic, and not Claudette, who has the right idea on how to do things. Hiatt's revelation to Vic that his appeal isn't real was a nice surprise, and it was fascinating to see that Vic truly seemed to be thankful to Hiatt and see him as a good guy now - "You gave it to me straight. That's big." - while also making us wonder what Vic will do now that he knows Claudette blatantly lied to him about something so important in his life.

There have been some great scenes near the end of Shield episodes lately, and that continued here. It was another big surprise when Shane revealed to Ronnie the truth about Vic killing Terry; this had been kept a secret since the pilot from anyone but these two men, and it's always been uncertain how Ronnie might react to this. What we found out is that Ronnie doesn't exactly have the heart of gold Lem did, as he tells Vic that he'd already figured out what happened to Terry; he just wishes Vic had turned to him for help first.

Meanwhile, Shane helped Diro track down men robbing buildings owned by her father. Her way of solving this problem - having the men castrated - was shocking and extreme to say the least, proved she was much more scary than one would expect. But Shane's observation that perhaps she is behaving in a way she thinks she is expected to in her father's absence is probably correct, and Shane seemed to genuinely want to help her from going too far into the dark side, as it were. Shane himself may be a lost cause, but the fact that he is still observant of others, and even protective in his way, adds a nice touch to his character.