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Throwaway

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Throwaway
Season 1, Episode 09
Airdate: May 7, 2002
Actual length 45:39
Production Code: 5012-01-108
Written by Kevin Arkadie
Directed by Leslie Libman
Previous: "Cupid & Psycho"
Next: "Dragonchasers"


"Throwaway" is the ninth episode of The Shield. It was originally broadcast on May 7, 2002. The previously on segment is voiced by Kenny Johnson.

Synopsis[]

Lem sets out to make things right following his shooting of an unarmed man.

Plot[]

1x09 Lem ronnie truck

Lem and Ronnie interrogate an assaulted truck driver.

A truck driver is robbed of his cigarette load by a gang of men who shoot out his tires, who Curtis Lemansky and Ronnie Gardocki identify as Los Magnificos, responsible for a series of recent truck heists. Lem calls Vic Mackey on his day off while his wife tries to teach his son the difference between facial expressions, much to the ire of the exhausted Corrine. Vic visits a local tattoo artist with a sketch of a tattoo the driver described, asking him to try and identify its artist or wearers. He gives Vic "Hector Estanza", a local Los Mags leader, and the Strike Team visit the house of his girlfriend Tigre Orozco, chasing a man who they assume to be Estanza into the backyard. When Lem mistakes a box of the stolen cigarettes in his hand for a gun, he shoots him twice and Vic plants a gun on him to make the shooting look justified. David Aceveda arrives on the scene and Vic spins a story about "Estanza" trying to shoot him and Lem saving his life, only for Tigre to reveal that they actually shot her brother Chaco.

Aceveda puts Julien Lowe on probation for a month after he pulled his Internal Affairs testimony and refuses to give him a new partner. Lem visits an indignant Tigre in the hospital, who explains that Chaco left the Los Mags and was there to protect her from Estanza, actually her ex-boyfriend. When Lem questions whether or not Chaco is still a criminal, she angrily insists that he is clean. Dutch Wagenbach and Claudette Wyms are called by Julien and Danny Sofer, having found an elderly blind man, Maynard Hawkins, chained up in a backyard with coyote bites on his legs. As they bring his son in for questioning, Claudette's father Bryce drops in at the Barn to visit her. He and Dutch watch through the cameras as Claudette interrogates the son, who was unable to pay for Hawkins' nursing home on top of his alimony payments and chained him up so he would not wander off at night.

Lem asks a parole officer about Chaco and learns that he was truly dedicated to leaving Los Mags and helping others stay out. He brings this up to Vic and Ronnie, who seem unmoved by it, still assuming that he had gotten back into his life of crime. Claudette leaves for the hospital to get a statement from Hawkins, but is interrupted by Bryce, who wants her to meet her daughter Rebecca's fiancee, Warner. She refuses to, citing Rebecca's previous failed marriage, but he insists that she does.

The Team visits Chaco in the hospital, angry that he was set up and now has his "third strike," damaging his reintegration into society. Despite this, he insists that he had nothing to do with the truck robberies and begs them to protect Tigre, knowing Estanza will assume she called in the stolen cigarettes. Lem promises to protect her and expresses anguish over shooting him when they leave. Vic, knowing they have to clear Chaco, plans to break into the evidence room at night to steal the planted gun and arrest Estanza during a robbery at daytime, ordering Lem to keep watch over Tigre and taking Ronnie to find Estanza. He gets a call from Corrine begging him to come and help with Matthew's unruly behavior. Vic tries to be friendly with Julien, who receives it with a lukewarm attitude. Claudette visits Hawkins before he can be taken care of by Social Services, asking after his wife, who he believes left him several years ago, according to his son.

Lem stands guard over Tigre's house and asks her if she knows anything about Estanza's next job, assuming she does because she is scared of him. In response, she shows him the "H" Estanza carved into her stomach before Chaco showed up. As Vic and Ronnie stake out Estanza, they watch as Lem arrives on the scene in a rage and beats him, burning his cheek with a cigarette before Vic pulls him off. Vic berates Lem, warning him to prioritize guarding Tigre over getting in his way. Claudette returns to find Dutch deeply amused by learning about her past from Bryce. She explains that Hawkins' son had been cashing his mother's Social Security checks long after she disappeared, suspecting murder and phoning her other children. Dutch informs her that Rebecca and Warner will be at the Barn in half an hour, much to her shock. Aceveda informs Dani that she did not pass the sergeant's exam by three points, but he expects her to take it again and pass.

As Tigre tends to Lem's bruised knuckles, he admits that he was the one who shot Chaco, enraging her to the point of pulling a gun on him. They are interrupted by a passing Los Mags car outside, which Lem wards off. Vic searches the evidence room for the gun and is nearly caught by an officer, but Ronnie distracts her long enough that she misses him. He is still unable to find it. Claudette finds that all of Hawkins' children express hatred at his name and do not know where their mother is. Rebecca and Warner arrive, and they walk to dinner with Claudette and Bryce. Claudette and Rebecca get into an argument about her quickly moving on from her previous marriage.

Dutch is visited by Kim Kelner at work, and their kiss is observed by both Danny and Claudette, the latter of whom expresses approval and asks him to check the Social Security number of a woman he found with Hawkins' wife's maiden name. Bryce interrupts Claudette, asking her to try and have dinner with him, Rebecca and Warner that night in hopes of trying again. She calls the woman Dutch found, revealing her to actually be Hawkins' wife and that she left him like his son claimed, who does not care that her son is cashing her checks and never wants to see Hawkins again. Vic again tries to be friendly to Julien, but he directly brushes him off. Lem visits Estanza's hideout, warning one of his men that he is protecting Tigre and gives Estanza a time and place to meet if he has an issue.

The gun is loaded into a van to be transported to a central evidence locker, so the Team disguise themselves and rob the van mid-transport, stealing the gun and framing the attack as a Los Mags robbery. As the police cordon off the scene, the Team returns in different clothing, framing it as Estanza trying to exonerate Chaco and getting Aceveda's approval to arrest him. The police raid Estanza's hideout and Lem plants his own gun inside, revealing his challenge to Estanza to be a ploy to make him look not credible. He and his men are arrested. While giving Warner a tour of the station, Claudette locks them in the interrogation room and grills him on his true intentions with her, finding them pure but warning him that she is still watching. Aceveda sits down with Danny and Julien, having noticed friction between the two of them and demanding they figure out a way to solve it, not ready to let them get new partners unless they prove they can be good ones to each other.

Vic returns home to an exhausted Corrine, who insists that they need to find a better way to take care of Matthew. As Hawkins is released from the hospital, Claudette asks why his kids hate him, and he admits that "I was a bastard." She then goes to dinner with Bryce. Lem updates Tigre on the situation and asserts that Chaco will now go free. They kiss, and he starts to admit that they planted the gun on Chaco, but she states that she does not care because they made it right and they have sex.

Episode credits[]

Cast[]

Starring[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

Featuring[]

Uncredited[]

Production staff[]

Featured Music[]

Note all the music originally appears in FX airing release not applicable for streaming websites,they might change music over time due legal disputes

  • Brujeria - Cuiden a los Ninos
    • Heard at the beginning of the episode, cigarettes getting stolen from the truck
  • Kinto Sol- Como en Secundaria
    • Vic meeting the tattoo artist for his sketch
  • Julieta Venegas - Salvavídas
    • Lem arriving to watch after Tigre
  • Julieta Venegas - Voluntad
    • Tigre talking about Lem haircut
  • Cage9 - Nacionabismo
    • Lem confronting Hector with punches
  • Conejo - Lets Ride
    • Strike team robbing the evidence truck
  • Kinto Sol - El Capitan
    • Coming from Hector's house and porch when he is about to get arrested
  • Julieta Venegas - Fe
    • Heard during the last scene when Lem and Tigre start kissing.

Episode Title[]

Notes[]

  • International airdates:
    • Germany: September 29, 2004
    • France: July 25, 2007
  • This is the third episode where Shane Vendrell doesn't appear, although his name still appears in the opening credits.
  • This episode was written specifically to spotlight Kenneth Johnson.

Quotes[]

  • Bryce Wyms So it is the subtle fractions of culpability that conspire to determine that man's fate?
  • Dutch Wagenbach I like the way you talk.
  • Lily Cacuzza: You guys aren't trying to pull one of your pranks, are you?
  • Ronnie Gardocki: No no, I really want to move.
  • Lily Cacuzza: Right, and a man is just as good as a vibrator. What are you up to?

External links[]

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