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Doghouse

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Doghouse
Season 4, Episode 04
Airdate: April 5, 2005
Actual length 46:28
Production Code: 5012-04-404
Written by Adam E. Fierro
Directed by Dean White
Previous: "Bang"
Next: "Tar Baby"


"Doghouse" is the fourth episode of Season 4 of The Shield. It was originally broadcast on April 5, 2005. The previously on segment is voiced by Benito Martinez.

Summary[]

As Vic pursues an escaped rapist, A.D.A Encardi sends Dutch and Claudette after a low level drug dealer.

Plot[]

David Aceveda gets a drink with his fellow city councilman Bill, asking for authority on the police committee to stop Monica Rawling's forfeiture program. Bill notes that the other councilmen are worried that Aceveda will try to dominate the group, but he insists he just wants to do what's right. Later, a woman that lingered near their table, Sara Frazier, approaches Aceveda for a light on her cigarette. He immediately identifies her as an escort. Despite this, he makes conversation and she leaves her card. Shane Vendrell and Army Renta are called to meet with Halpern White, who passes along Antwon Mitchell's demand that they help him dodge the forfeitures, but Shane insists that Mitchell is the one that does favors for him. White threatens to expose Shane's work with them, so after a brief aside with Army where he asserts it is a bluff, he brutalizes White and Army forces White's backup to also beat him. Beth Encardi asks Dutch Wagenbach to look into drug dealer Maurice Webster.

As Corrine and Vic Mackey seemingly get closer to selling their house, Cassidy Mackey seems to protest before Vic gets a call that prompts him to leave. He is summoned to the scene of a rape, where serial offender Oscar Ruiz escaped from his hearing and found another victim, who he made call her partner and extoll his sexual prowess to. Dutch and Claudette give Ruiz's file to Vic and Rawling, with Dutch asserting that he knows he will be caught so he plans to "binge until we do." Vic and Rawling speak with Ruiz's previous victim, Emily Mischner, and she asks to stay in the Barn until he is caught. Vic and Ronnie Gardocki interrogate Ruiz's roommate Felix, who encountered him earlier and gave him some money to flee. Shane and Army approach Mitchell, threatening to pull their services until he offers them a bonus, and Shane promises to deal with Vic to protect Mitchell from the seizures so long as he gives Shane good tips.

Aceveda comes to meet with Rawling about the forfeiture program, and she informs Dutch and Claudette that Encardi called about Webster. As the police search Ruiz's old apartment, Curtis Lemansky approaches and informs Vic that Mitchell's oldest son Donald has been engaging in ID fraud. Vic asks Lem to hold off on any action for a couple of days because "I need to test a theory," and Ronnie informs him that Ruiz has been spotted.

Aceveda insists that Rawling is coming on too strong with the seizures and needs to engage in community outreach. He warns her that he is intending to join the police committee, and Vic calls her, informing her that he missed Ruiz by a few minutes and needs officers searching the area. Danny Sofer and Julien Lowe observe new graffiti put up by Raga, the One-Niners's main tagger, and wonder if they can use them to get a One-Niner higher-up. Before they can investigate further, they get a call about an armed robbery and leave the scene. Claudette notices that Webster's criminal record is bizarrely clean and he is sixty years old, believing the DA is giving them another bad case, but Dutch insists the case is worth it.

Ronnie informs Vic that Ruiz called his fiancee, who tipped him off that the cops are watching her, and they trace the call to the scene of another rape. Rawling wonders if Vic should talk to Dutch. Vic goes to Savuto, asking for Las Profetas help on catching Ruiz. Officer Carl Miller brings in "Slick", a man who was found with marijuana in his car. Dutch threatens to punish him to the maximum capacity if he does not name his dealer, and he names Webster, claiming he has a few marijuana plants he grows in his backyard for his friends, convincing Claudette further that the case is a bust. As Aceveda checks Sara's criminal record on a Barn computer and finds it clean, he again insists that Rawling is going about her seizures wrong. He offers to set a public forum where she can field questions about the program, to which she agrees.

Mitchell tells Shane and Army about a gang that holds migrants hostage until their family can pay to run them over the border. Shane meets with Vic, who takes him to Rawling to explain what he learned. She explains that all of her available officers are busy chasing Ruiz, but she will assign any extra to Shane's case if it comes up. Shane notices Lem looking at him, and Vic mentions that he is looking into an airbag scam run by a One-Niner. Dutch demands that Encardi explain why she put him and Claudette on Webster, and she explains that he is soon to testify for the defense in a murder trial and she wants his credibility called into question. Though Dutch is furious, he reluctantly keeps on the case and asks Claudette to go undercover with Slick, who refuses until he becomes angry, then supplicant with her. Danny and Julien break up the Profetas while they attack a van that they believe has Ruiz inside, and Vic identifies the driver as the wrong man. He confronts Savuto, furious that he was not notified before the attack. When Rawling learns that Vic employed Profetas for help, she is furious and notes that Mischner is still in the Barn, again ordering him to talk to Dutch. When Dutch learns the details of Ruiz's habits, he tells Vic to look for something Ruiz likes to do aside from rape.

Claudette and Slick meet with Webster so she can buy weed. He treats her with kindness when she claims it is for her illness-stricken mother and gives her an extra bag. Having gotten Sara's number from her file, Aceveda calls her and asks her to meet up. Vic returns to Felix and kicks the unaffiliated police officer out of the room when he does not talk, leaving just Vic and Ronnie. Vic chokes Felix until he points out that Ruiz liked to order his food from the same place. They go and learn that he flirted with an engaged waitress and found her address after breaking into her car, which they find him waiting for her at. He flees and hides inside a crawlspace, so Vic allows a police dog to attack him for a while. Rawling informs Mischner that Ruiz has been caught and hospitalized, the dog having ruptured one of his testicles.

Shane informs Mitchell that eighty migrants were rescued after the raid on the business, and tips him off to the airbag venture being looked into. He asserts that he is still working on getting into the seizure program. As a detained Webster professes the non-severity of his offenses to Dutch and Claudette, Encardi arrives and takes over the interrogation as the two leave the room. Ronnie informs Vic and Lem that the airbag man has moved shop, confirming to Vic that Shane tipped someone off and cannot be trusted. He decides to arrest Donald.

Aceveda goes to Sara, who asks him to bring her a gift next time to continue their relationship. After he roughly grabs her hands when she tries to undress him, she realizes what he wants and tells him the parameters for how he can hurt her during sex. Staking out the sign Raga previously vandalized, Danny and Julien observe them returning and are surprised to see she is a woman. They bring her in and Rawling asks who is telling her to put out opposing graffiti towards a rival gang. Vic and Lem interrogate Donald, who Mitchell is pushing to maintain legitimacy. Vic asks Donald to help him implicate Mitchell, who refuses.

Mitchell informs Shane of Donald's arrest, and Shane warns him to quell his aggression when he almost flies off the handle. Mitchell reminds him to infiltrate the seizure program. Raga's mother arrives, denying that she would ever tag for the One-Niners, only for her and Rawling to find her marking up the interrogation room's walls. Shane goes to the Clubhouse and asks to join the seizure squad with Army, to which Vic agrees.

Rawling informs Dutch and Claudette that they are to look into a double homicide, and Claudette asks why they are given the case and why they went after Webster. Vic pulls Rawling aside and asks to bring Shane in, and though she hesitates, he convinces her to go for it.

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Episode Title[]

The term "doghouse" is informally used to refer to a situation when a person is in mild or temporary disfavor with someone. The episode contains numerous references to characters that find themselves in such situation and are trying to get out of it. Detective Dutch Wagenbach continues to go behind his partner to gain favor with ADA Beth Encardi after both being isolated by her for months. Also, Vic Mackey takes up Captain Monica Rawling's offer to reunite the Strike Team as an opportunity to walk away from the maligned garage sting operation he and Ronnie have been stuck with for months. Also, David Aceveda seeks the companion of an escort after being chastised by his wife to do something about his "issues" as a result of being assaulted. In a more literal reference, a rapist that is being chased by Mackey hides in a shed and is pursued by a K-9 officer.

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