the cases this season have been a major improvement over season 1's cases. this episode was unexpectedly good for being halfway through the season and it had some pretty shocking scenes. SPOILERS ronnie actually had more than two lines this episode and it's the most character development he's received so far. him being afraid of being greenlit was really good because it shows how each member of the strike team has their own limit. for shane, it was killing terry, which left him wracked with guilt. for lem, it's the money train heist, which he finds too risky and unnecessary. ronnie's limit is anything that is putting him in too much danger. there's no information on whether ronnie has a family or not, but this is a step in the right direction for his character. him hacking into the computer was also a good scene because it can set up some future scenes where he can be of more use. the main plot was definitely one of the strongest cases of the show; it was so well shot and the tension throughout the whole case was nail-biting. the lack of any music when danny and julien are investigating the domestic abuse shelter made the tension palpable. as they continue to investigate, the eerie silence creates a sense of uneasiness that is exaggerated by the slow discovery of the bodies and the destruction of any evidence. the into song was placed perfectly because the stark contrast between the strong silence of the scene and the loud intro song encapsulates how such a brutal case really is 'just another day' on the job. instead of the regular 3 subplots, this episode combined two of them into this single case and it was the right decision to focus on this case more because it made the episode much more memorable. claudette and dutch focusing on the crooked cop was the more secondary part of the case but it was important nevertheless. them investigating the cop shows the layers of dirtiness that are present in cops, as well as the different kinds. vic is for sure a dirty cop, but his mentality is that the ends justify the means. this cop, however, had a much more selfish air to him and he refused to help find the missing kid if it meant he could potentially lose his job. vic confronting him was an excellent scene because it played like a clash of mentalities, where vic tries an illegal tactic to get him to confess, further showing his ideology, while the cop stubbornly refuses due to his selfishness. it also shows how vic is quick to resort to violence when things don't work out how he expects them to. he quickly grabs the cop and threatens him before remembering that claudette is watching. the tonal shift in his relationship with claudette has been executed really well in this season. the small angry looks that claudette gives vic throughout this episode are a small detail, but one that improves the episode by expanding the change in their relationship. connie dying was just tragic. i expected her to get hooked on drugs again and waste away her money, but killing her off leaves the viewer wondering if she would've successfully stayed clean. what makes her death even more saddening is that vic blames himself. the entire hostage scene played out with such an intense feeling that kept my eyes glued to the screen. this episode contains not one, but two insanely tense scenes that succeed in keeping me invested. vic telling mike how he himself has been abandoned was an incredible scene because it shows the feelings he's been harboring deep inside. mike not believing him is a really tragic moment for vic, because it shows how that outer shell of his and his aggressive personality makes it hard for him to open up, even to a criminal who experienced something similar to him. this results in mike shooting connie and this is 100% going to affect vic in these next few episodes. connie is one of the first characters we are introduced to in the pilot and her dynamic with vic always raised questions regarding why he cared so much for her, and now those questions might never be resolved. the lack of answers also adds to vic's mysteriousness which is from his lack of opening up. this makes moments where he does open up, such as him teling shane his son is autistic, much more powerful. speaking of shane, i believe that him being the one to save vic is perfect after what they've been through this season. another thing to add is the trust that vic has in his fellow police officers; instead of going for mike's gun, he raises the blinds because he knows the snipers are going to land a clean shot. shane then goes in to deal the final blow and saves vic, and is also the only one to see how affected he is by connie's death (so far, at least). their dynamic is just amazing and their moments together are some of the best of the show. aceveda and julien were the tertiary storyline this episode, and their case was a very tedious one, which i found very fitting for aceveda's first case. aceveda's inexperience on the field continues to show how him being a minority is what got him to where he is, because he essentially skipped a crucial step in his career. the irony of him arresting the first person he sees and being accused of racial profiling as hilarious, and it was nice to see him be brought down to the level of the other beat cops and to see the world through their eyes. there's a direct parallel to vic procrastinating doing his incident report, and aceveda stalling doing his, which i found to be another great moment, because it seems that aceveda and vic are getting more and more similar by the episode and their dynamic is becoming much more interesting as the series begins to show aceveda in a different, less black & white light. the arab woman accusing danny is really starting to piss me off because it's reducing the amount of scenes with danny and julien which are really interesting right now. i understand the importance of including something of this sort after 9/11 but i hope it gets resolved next episode. low 4.5/5