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Barnstormers

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Barnstormers
Season 2, Episode 07
Airdate: February 18, 2003
Actual length 46:32
Production Code: 5012-02-207
Written by Scott Rosenbaum
Directed by Scott Winant
Previous: "Homewrecker"
Next: "Scar Tissue"


"Barnstormers" is the seventh episode of Season 2 of The Shield and the 20th episode of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on February 18, 2003. The previously on segment is voiced by Michael Jace.

Synopsis[]

As a new murder investigation exposes Dutch's crisis of confidence, Vic sets out to stop the abuse of a neighbor by her violent boyfriend.

Plot[]

Vic Mackey, Curtis Lemansky and Shane Vendrell rehearse their plan at the site of the money train pickup. Ronnie Gardocki arrives late, believing he was being followed by a Latino man while he drove over. Vic tells the Strike Team to run it again. David Aceveda informs Dutch Wagenbach that Marcy Lindhoff is receiving eight years in prison for giving up her husband, and the district attorney wants Dutch to take her statement. He warns Dutch to start clearing cases, as he is concerned about his performance, which has been corroborated by Claudette Wyms.

As Vic is kept awake by the sound of the couple across the street fighting, Doug knocks on his door and asks him to take care of it. When the woman answers the door, he finds her boyfriend gone and insists she either move or get help. When she refuses to do either, he takes her with him. Marcy is brought to the Barn, and Claudette asks Dutch if he will be fine taking her statement. In the interrogation room, she immediately thanks Dutch for inadvertently allowing her to get her deal. Dutch asks who put the hole in their apartment wall to spy on Kayla LeSeur, and she confirms it was Bob, who wanted to bring Kayla into their bed despite her refusal. She confirms that she was the one who had Kayla's arm cut off.

As the Strike Team continue to plot the heist, Ronnie wonders why they are bothering when Armadillo Quintero is looking for them. Shane relays his and Vic's plan: they will capture Armadillo when they find him, leave him restrained until the money train comes to town, and leave him dead in the getaway truck, framing the Torrucos. Vic asks what they'll do with the money they steal and turns down Shane when he suggests laundering it through a friend's business, knowing IAD will be looking for that. He advises that they let someone in on the plan who they can control to help with the money. Vic and Shane visit Leith, a realtor who helped Theodore Osmond purchase his drug fronts. They press him into helping them buy real estate of their own.

Vic asks Emma Prince to take his neighbor in and she agrees to try fitting her in, but reminds him that he cannot help her if she doesn't want to be helped. Dutch finishes taking Marcy's statement and turns the recorder off. He asks her "what made you think you could fool me?" and she insists that she just let him fool himself. As he leaves, Claudette presents him with a case of a woman strangled to death, and he sarcastically cites the notes she made to Aceveda.

Prince tries to reason with Vic's neighbor, insisting that staying with her even one night can make a difference in her life and relationship. Vic agrees to get her things from her apartment and leaves with Prince, who insists to him that he cannot force this. He pledges to beat the boyfriend next time he beats the neighbor, which Prince is disquieted by. Dutch and Claudette arrive on the scene, where the victim, Leah Madson, is top naked and strangled with her own bra. Dutch suggests it could be a rape, but Claudette notices chocolate on Madson's bra and fingers, meaning she removed the bra herself and that the encounter likely started as consensual sex. Aceveda informs Danny Sofer that she was passed over a promotion, which they agree is because of Yassirah Al-Thani.

Ray Carlson calls Shane over to show him that Tulips is there to see him. She informs Shane that her ex-boyfriend Herk is a drug dealer, but he refuses to help after what happened last time. Vic orders him to stick with her, not willing to lose an easy bust because of she outsmarted him, and he reluctantly agrees to help her. Dutch and Claudette interrogate Stu Kleinsausser, who went on a date with Madson the night before but left because he realized he was not attracted to her. Dutch leaves to interview his coworkers, again bringing up what Claudette said about him. She confronts Aceveda, having had concerns about his personal life, not his job performance. He insists that reviewing Dutch was the chief's decision, not his, and that Lanie Kellis may have had a hand after witnessing how the Lindhoff case played out. He appoints her as the lead investigator on their cases and warns that another mistake might lead to his firing. Claudette asks if he is more concerned with protecting Vic and leaves. Vic returns to the apartment and finds Dez, the boyfriend, inside. He denies hitting his girlfriend and lays his hands on Vic when he tries to take her clothes, giving him an excuse to arrest him.

Vanessa brings Julien Lowe lunch, where he admits he goes to conversion therapy. She reacts with horror and he fails to convince her that things have changed, prompting her to leave. As Vic brings Dez in, his girlfriend notices and rushes to defend him. Prince warns him that it won't work to try and pull them apart, accusing him with "you just can't accept anything you can't control." Back with Kleinsausser, Dutch points out that his coworkers claim he is obsessive about his weight. Claudette brings up an incident in his childhood where he broke a girl's nose because she would not kiss him due to his weight. As they leave, Claudette notes that Dutch was unusually quiet and they agree to check Kleinsausser's apartment. Shane has Tulips call Herk and introduce Shane as a drug supplier.

Dutch searches Kleinsausser's apartment for Madson's missing bra clasp. He opens the fridge and finds a candy bar taped down so he cannot easily pick it up, and Claudette asks what he thinks about Kleinsausser. He admits that he exhibits several red flags, and she tries to convince him to go back to the Barn and get a confession. Dutch instead returns to the crime scene. Leith informs Vic and Shane that he can get them lots for a few million dollars, and Vic agrees to double his commission as a sign of good faith and an insurance of his silence. They warn him that if he sells them out, they will inform the drug dealers he helps that he told Vic about them.

Kleinsausser refuses to take a lie detector test, and Dutch and Claudette relay the case to Aceveda. He asks Claudette for her current theory, but she points him to Dutch, who refuses to talk. Speaking for him, Claudette explains that Kleinsausser shows signs of guilt. Aceveda orders them to prove his guilt and leaves. Vic and Prince convince Dez's girlfriend that he will not go to jail if she spends a night in the shelter, getting her to agree to stay. Shane and Tulips meet with Herk and his girlfriend while Lem and Ronnie monitor them. Shane gives him the drugs and is given his payment, prompting the police to pull up and arrest Herk and his girlfriend. As Tulips boasts Shane as her new boyfriend, he shoves her in his car to quiet her. Dutch asks Vic what he does when he knows someone is guilty, and he advises him to "make the evidence fit the case" if he is certain of the man's guilt.

Dutch returns to Kleinsausser's apartment, and, while in his car, puts on gloves and tears the clasp off a bra the same color as Madson's. He plants the clasp in one of Kleinsausser's jacket pockets and asks Danny to search the apartment one more time. He drives off, but suddenly brakes and rushes back into the house, slipping the clasp back into his pocket before it can be discovered. He takes the candy bar from the fridge and leaves. Shane realizes that the bust was solely out of Tulips's spite for being dumped for a more attractive woman. He orders her to leave, but she seduces them and they again have sex in the interrogation room—although this time, Shane covers the camera with his jacket. Dez notices Prince leading his girlfriend out of the Barn and tries to stop them. He grabs Prince, but before Vic can intervene, she throws him over the second floor's railing and he lands on a desk. As Dez is wheeled out on a stretcher, Prince is fingerprinted as Vic tries to argue to Aceveda that she acted in self-defense. He refuses to intervene due to "legal and civil considerations," forcing Vic to bail her out.

Dutch moves Kleinsausser to the other interrogation room as Shane and Tulips exit, not wanting to continue in the one he talked to Marcy in. He begins to relentlessly mock Kleinsausser for his weight, concluding that his fingers were too large to undo the clasp and he was forced to rip it open. Aceveda, watching on the camera, insists to Claudette that he is going too far. Vanessa finds Julien helping Randall with his homework, sending the latter outside to go with his grandmother. She tells Julien that she is putting her faith in him when he says the therapy is working, and she tells him to kiss her, which he does without issue. As she leaves, Vic enters and asks if "you sure you know what you're doing?" Julien affirms that he is, and he and Vic shake hands.

Dutch mocks both Kleinsausser and Madson's weight, insisting that he was offended by the fact that he couldn't do better than her. He pulls out the candy bar and takes a bite, tossing it on the table and claiming that the sight of Madson eating her own bar set him off. He gets a call from Claudette, who tells him to claim to Kleinsausser that they found the clasp in his car. When Dutch again mocks his weight, Kleinsausser tries to strangle him and Aceveda rushes in to restrain him. Vic asks Ronnie to drop off photos of the lots at his house and grab his checkbook so he can pay for Connie Riesler's funeral. Lem and Shane meet Vic in the Clubhouse and ask if Ronnie can keep his cool regarding the robbery. Vic agrees to keep an eye on him and asks Shane if he finished with Tulips, giving Lem a knowing grin as Shane leaves. As Kleinsausser is led away in handcuffs, Claudette and Aceveda compliment a self-satisifed Dutch on his work, who responds smugly and departs.

Prince is released from the cage after Vic bails her out and assures her not to feel bad about Dez. He gets a call from Corrine Mackey, who puts Matthew Mackey on the phone after claiming he has been asking for him. Matthew does not speak, but Vic thanks her for trying and hangs up. Prince asks if the caller was his wife, and Vic affirms they are separated. They head back to his apartment and are about to have sex when he notices the photos strewn on the floor and a stovetop on. He pulls his gun and bursts into his bedroom to find Ronnie on the floor, half of his face burnt.

Episode credits[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

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Uncredited[]

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Featured Music[]

Running in order as they appear by scenery

Episode Title[]

Notes[]

  • International airdates:
    • Germany: March 18, 2006
    • France: August 29, 2007
  • In the opening scene, Lem is singing "Rich Girl" from Hall & Oates while rehearsing the Armenian Money Train bust.
  • Lem and Ronnie are seen driving a Mercury Sable, while Shane and Tulips drive in a Fourth Generation convertible Pontiac Firebird.

Quotes[]

External Links[]

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