SPOILERS wow. this season wasted no time in getting real serious real quick. it's only the second episode of the season and the stakes are already extremely high and the tension is as high as it was in the season 1 finale. before getting to vic's part i need to mention CCH Pounder (badass name btw)'s performance in this episode. we see a side of claudette that we always suspected was there but we've never really seen until now. the ferocity with which she investigates this case and the way she fights the biggest sharks in the division, aceveda and vic, with no fear and out of anger is impeccable. claudette has always been a great character but this is the episode where she has shined the most up until now. what i like about claudette is that even at her angriest, when she suspects both vic and aceveda of covering up information that could help with arresting the rapist of a 12 year old girl, she still has the loyalty of a cop to not let the auditor overhear. this is the code which she adheres to, just like in the season 1 finale when vic kept stabbing the cop killer with the badges. besides claudette, aceveda also stands out in this episode as his morality is explored. this episode and the one before have really showed me aceveda's priorities and where his true loyalties lie: he will do anything he can to become mayor. this is his own twisted ideology, and he knows its not the right one but in his eyes it is the necessary one. that is why he cooperates with vic, since in his belief he's going to have even bigger fish to fry once he becomes mayor. this makes him a much more layered character and it's done really well because it is not out of character in the slightest. aceveda has always been dedicated to accomplishing his dream and his own sense of justice is what he uses as a guide. now onto vic. shane described vic perfectly in this episode when he said he is lashing out at the strike team over the loss of his wife and kids. this makes the final 5 minutes extremely important for vic, since he finally finds and confronts his wife and finds out she's been investigating him. the camera work is excellent in this season and the mirror image of the two PIs create an invisible barrier between vic and corrine. to add insult to injury, vic finds out corrine has been investigating him as well. it's hypocritical from vic to be mad after he spent over 50 grand tracking her down against her best wishes, but it's understandable nonetheless and it's a massive blow to his mental state. after that all he needs is a little shove, and the death of his CI is the perfect push i do feel that Tio/TO's death happened a little early in the season. his character was much more interesting than rondell and he served a very important role as one of vic's windows into the word on the street. the way he carried himself made him a better CI than rondell and we saw from what he did in season 1 that he could be ruthless when necessary. the good thing that came out of his death was vic's final outburst, which could've also worked later in the season, but placing it this early is a sign of the change in tone that the show has started to show (darker cases and all the characters are more serious). after shane's observations about vic's recent behavior, we see his outburst almost from their point of view, as he marches right into armadillo's house and violently beats him. lem tries to reach out to stop him, but shane sees how vic needs a release from the anger he's been feeling and realizes it's better him than them, so he stops lem. shane only intervenes when vic goes as far as burning armadillo against the stove. vic has reached a point where he only feels listened through violence and he displays his superiority on armadillo by trying to order him out of the country, but as he sees his plan failing he just gets more and more violent until he's stopped. another great shot this episode is when vic walks out covered in armadillo's blood, as if signifying how he's broken through the armadillos shell, and ronnie tries to reach out to vic and help him before stopping himself. the strike team understand vic better than he likes to think but we begin to see some negative thoughts forming. ronnie's doubts could simply be him thinking vic would rather be left alone, or they could be him doubting vic's mental sanity and that moment and protecting himself from being vic's next victim. finally, julien and danny's storyline strays away from julien's internal dilemma and focuses more on the racial issues that are very well brought up in the aftermath of 9/11. these scenes don't feel too dated and the problems that arise could very easily happen in today's day and age as well low 4.5/5