OH SNAP -- I was just watching some of Season 1, and I figured out who the undercover cop was that Tina pissed off. He was in Episode 5 ("Blowback"), sitting in the restaurant watching a decoy car when Shane and Vic come in to try and get a line on the Navigator Shane lost while he was getting laid. Now I'm even more interested to see how this guy's role plays out...

STYLE NOTE: Kavanaugh's got a pretty sweet tie on in this episode. At first I thought those bright spots were glitter, but turns out they're white, so it's all good. On a side note -- and at the risk of sounding a little gay, or at the least metrosexual -- I cannot get enough ties. Ever since I started at a job where I need one every day, I've been on a seach for the Next Perfect Tie. I'm a big fan of stripes; nice, thick ones at that. I also have several excellent old-school ties. Alright, this is getting waaaay off-topic...

Speaking of Kav, he's playing things pretty good with Aceveda, but what's Aceveda's angle going to be? You never can tell. The "cliffhanger" at the end of this week's episode with him simply asking Vic, "What's your plan?" was brilliant. All of his deceit and political machination is wrapped into those three simple words, and you can tell by the way that Mackey's eyes shift just a little before the credits roll that he's thinking it, too. Beautiful work.

BEST COMIC RELIEF: In the middle of what could have become a serious bitch-fight between Corinne and Danny, Billings walks up, raises his finger like he's going to butt in, realizes what's going on, then it's "Uh, come find me later." I woke my girl up, I was laughing so hard.

MORE COMIC RELIEF: [Dutch to Tina] "I better keep those [photos]... for evidence." -- CLASSIC Dutchman. Completely awkward, hilarious.

EVEN MO' COMEDY: "I just wish I could have seen her badge." -- Me, too, Unnamed Patrol Officer... me, too...

Booooy, that kid (the shooter) was reeeeeally stoned... I'd be keeping a much closer eye on my $250,000...

And on that note, looks like Lem might be taking a deal next week. If I recall correctly, Vic told their lawyer to make a deal, if it was a straight-up trade, Vic for Lemanski. Let's be honest, Mackey's the one everyone wants, anyway, and he's got a much better shot of surviving in prison (well... a better shot for staying alive the longest, how 'bout that).

Two more episodes (I believe) until the mid-season break. I can't wait.

I'm not sure why I was just a slight bit let down by this episode. Maybe I was expecting more jail scenes with Lem (not that I wish him ill)... maybe the writers were worried about the "Oz" comparisons, but I'd like to have seen how Lem handled himself, even in the short time he was there.

Ex-Officer Drew Crowley was a nice touch by Kavanaugh, but something bothered me: this guy couldn't have found out until recently that Vic is the prime suspect in his brother's murder. Now, Terry's funeral was four seasons (and several years) ago... I have a hard time believing that he remembers Vic not looking at him or the family, when he'd have had no reason to suspect him. Just a continuity thing, that's all. Moving on...

Quick note: Vic must know the undercover officer that Tina pissed off, as they acknowledged one another in the Barn... is that going to come back in any way? Curious...

Speaking of Tina, she's going to get someone killed, that's pretty clear. But who's it going to be? I have a theory...

Claudette said late in season 4 that the brass was going to look for someone to be their "spineless, yes-man jellyfish," which they found in Billings. But damn, who'd have guessed he'd become EVERYONE'S jellyfish? First Vic plays him just right on the Russian pharmaceutical bust and then Dutch pressures him into keeping Tina around... OK, so there's a little pressure applied from both ends: Dutch gets to help out Tina, and Billings doesn't get busted on his little peeping scheme (c'mon, I know he's got a real hard-on for those vending machines, but he's got a harder-on for Tina, I bet).

Anyway, Billings' decision is definitely gonna piss Danny and Julien off, and if Claudette finds out Dutch's scheme with Tina, she's gonna be pissed at him.

WILD POSSIBILITY ALERT: What if Tina ends up getting CLAUDETTE killed? She seems to have made a miraculous recovery since her fall -- by the way, did that fall cure her lupus? All her symptoms appear to have disappeared... also, like her comment about Mackey tagging along, "You can join us, too?" US? Oh, really, you're gonna roll on a felony arrest, huh? Think he might be able to outrun your crippled ass? Cut me a break) -- and Tina slipping up and getting her killed would bring Dutch's little deal to keep her around back full circle, and he would then be responsible for getting his partner injured twice (the first time being when he pushed her too much to get Clevon).

I have more, but it will have to wait...

It sure seems as though Aceveda tied up all his loose ends on The Incident, Antwon notwithstanding -- although now that I think about it, Antwon thinks it was a favor for the DEA, so he might be covered on that end as well -- but what if it comes back to haunt him in a different way than I've been suspecting (the picture, in one form or another)?

Kavanaugh seems to be really unhinged over Vic, but what if Vic and the Strike Team find out about Aceveda's hit on Juan Lazano, and convince Kav to go after the bigger fish instead? He's had a real boner for Our Fair City Councilman since the third episode or so, when Mackey started driving a wedge between the two of them.

Maybe Vic and the team undermine Kav's case to the point where they convince him to save face by going after Aceveda.

It would be suuuuuure be sweet sweet revenge for Aceveda's letter that buried Vic at the beginning of the fourth season...

So Kavanaugh's dirty little secret is out: he abandoned his wife after she came down with schizophrenia, apparently because he "was tired." Tired of taking care of her? Who knows, but she's not happy about it.

It's great the way the tables have figuratively been turned on Kav (think I'll use that abbreviation from now on). All the things he was doing to people are now being done to him in varying degrees, which I believe is contributing to his long, steady slide into Mackey-Induced Psychosis.

Consider this: when the season first began, he was listening in on the Strike Team during their personal conversations (even if they eventually did find out). After last night's episode, Kav's most personal moments with his ex were exposed to the very same people whose secrets he's been trying to get at.

On top of that, he made a serious mistake recruiting the Dutchman to solve his ex's rape (wasn't expecting the whole "my ex just got raped" plotline, either). I think he just wanted to get Dutch alone to explore the money train angle (more on that later), but now my guess is that Dutch just won't be able to leave well-enough alone, and will keep looking into Kav and Sadie, his ex.

I have no idea what he might uncover, but I could see him following up on this, Claudette-style, and stumbling onto something that derails Kav's investigation into the Strike Team.

Also, considering Claudette is still alive ("Getting better," was the only reference to her in the entire show), I can see Dutch going to her for advice, perhaps? It would set up a tough decision: what if he finds something truly evil or illegal about Kav? Does Dutch blow the whistle on him, or just let it lie and hope he eventually nails the Strike Team? I could see Dutch trying to shove Claudette's righteousness right back at her by ruining the investigation into the Strike Team. That situation would mirror the one Claudette was in during Season 3, where she made what I think is universally regarded as a poor decision to go after the Oxy-addicted public defender. Sure, it might have been justice on some level, but there was no greater good in it.

But back to the focus of the episode: Kav and the ex.

We got a few more glimpses at what a dick Kav truly is last night: Is Kav such a goddamn do-gooder that he would charge his ex with filing a false report and have her committed, ESPECIALLY after asking her to come home three times? Granted, that was when he thought she was actually raped, but still... and also, it was interesting to see him transfer his anger for Vic to Lem at the very end. I mean, Lem was watching, but Lem also saved Kav's ass from being shredded by a live grenade earlier that day. Like Vic said, some gratitude.

QUESTION: Did Kav's ex's crazy rub off on him or vice versa? I think it would be veeeery interesting if he drove HER crazy and then left her.

Also, is she going to have a "Mara effect" on him?

MOVIE NERD/6 DEGREES OF KEVIN BACON NOTE: Gujardo the Grenade Broker is a former perp from "Law & Order," and Kav's IAD buddy played a drug dealer in Spike Lee's 1995 movie "Clockers" ("What, your wife likes you comin' home smellin' like burgers?" Great line). Oh, and since I haven't read this from anyone else yet, the Sperm-Saving Rapist from the first season was the cop who got his ear cut off in "Reservoir Dogs."

Side note on Emolia: this opportunistic bitch has yet to garner an ounce of sympathy with me. I'd feel bad for her kid if she got whacked, but I can't sit here and say I'm not hoping she gets hers. Because let's be honest, without her testimony, Kav's got no leverage against Lem, and no real case against the Strike Team.

NOTE, however, that Vic was the first to spring into action when Emolia was ACTUALLY, LEGITIMATELY in trouble, and never put her in a position to be killed throughout the whole show (even if it may have seemed that way to Kav a couple times).

Speaking of Vic, he had some great jabs at Kav in this episode: two back-to-backers right at the beginning ("You here on IAD business, or did you just come to front?" "You might wanna stand back, there's some actual police work going on here.") and after Kav slipped and mentioned that some of Emolia's tips hadn't panned out ("So you're telling me your star witness against Lem is unreliable... good to know").

Finally, during the final scenes with Kav and the ex in the interrogation room, she says to him, "You've lost weight."

I didn't notice before, but it's actually true. Forest Whitaker is beefing up. If you saw him in last night's recap, he was much more haggard: he was fatter and had the not-quite-a-full-beard going on. Last night, he was freshly-dipped: clean baldhead, trimmed up with a close-cropped goatee. Why?

The writers make a point of keeping continuity throughout the show. In one of the features, Chiklis made a comment about the makeup people buzzing his head all the time to make sure it was the correct length.

They don't change someone's look for no reason, so why? Is he beefing up in anticipation of a confrontation with Vic? Is he so obsessed with him that he's actually trying to BECOME Mackey? I doubt it.

But I can't wait to find out...

Here's another wild possibility that just came to me while I was sitting here... (and this is of course predicated on the premise that Claudette is not yet dead)... what if one of her first visitors in the hospital is... (drum roll)... TAVON?

Because, let's be honest, both of them have gotten screwed over the course of the show. Claudette kind of/sort of put herself in the position to get screwed with the captain's job, but she's been a pawn in deals brokered by Aceveda as well as her own partner. Tavon, from what we can see on the show, got screwed right off the Strike Team after his accident when Lem lied to him about hitting Mara. He's never been hinted at or seen since.

I can see the two of them coming together in righteous anger over their respective situations, although my best guess is that Wyms is dead, and Tavon doesn't know that he didn't ACTUALLY hit Mara, so that's probably not going to happen.

No harm in a lil' speculation, though.