The Shield

The Spread

Season 1, Episode 3, Aired 3/26/02

Episode Summary

In a routine sweep to nab every outstanding suspect, the detectives divvy up the warrants. But when they cast their nets, they bring up far bigger fish than expected. Danny and Julien uncover a gun-smuggling operation; and Mackey and his team encounter a pro-basketball star who's in town to play the Lakers, when they bust in on drug dealers. Meanwhile, Claudette and Dutch try to catch a man who has been raping women in an attempt to procreate.moreless

8.7

EPISODE RATING: Great

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Cast & Crew

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CCH Pounder

Detective Claudette Wyms
Michael Chiklis

Detective Vic Mackey
Jay Karnes

Detective Holland "Dutch" Wagenbach

Fan Episode Reviews (5)

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This was a decent installment, just not up to par with the pacing and story line of the pilot. I'm still waiting for an episode to live up to that standard.moreless

8.7

"Great"

By rockin01, Jul 26, 2007 Report Abuse

This ep begins with a massive sweep operation, which started off as a promising device, but ultimately failed to deliver a compelling story. It also diffused the focus so that less time was spent on Vic and the boys- a big mistake, because they are what I, and I imagine most of the audience, tunes in for. The other characters are best taken in small doses for this humble viewer. Aceveda and his tireless quest to bring Mackey down has already started to get on my nerves, plus the actor portraying him is dull and one-note. Dutch showed some early promise, but the series has already devoted far too much time to his interrogation room theatrics and his higher ambitions. Julien's character arc is becoming interesting, and I like Danny's character. Claudette is always a riveting presence on screen.

But this is Vic's show. And rightly so. This guy owns every scene he is in. Michael Chiklis brings an imposing physical presence and intensity for days to this role, and makes you root in spite of yourself for his wounded, flawed, but complex antihero. Vic Mackey is the nicest sociopath/killer this side of Tony Soprano. And I mean that in the nicest way...

Shane is beginning to unravel, and that can't end well- he is definitely the Christopher Moltisanti of the Strike Team. The scenes with the basketball player are classic, and good for some hearty laughs. My verdict- watch this one. It's not my favorite, but it's worth 45 minutes of your time if you like the series.moreless

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Review

8.1

"Great"

By cavanagh15, Jun 01, 2007 Report Abuse

After such a powerful pilot episode, the show has really struggled to devolop its characters and get a decent story arch working for the season. The death and execution of one of there own is still lingering with Vic and his best friend, which seems to be hitting a boiling point. The random storylines are an interesting thing to bring to the show, but there should always be one story arch that remains above someones head all season - this season seems to be the events that transpiried in the first episode. The sexually obsessed mans storyline was way out of character for me, boarderline on crazy even. The basketball players storyline was a good one I thought, I thought Vics team and the basketball player himself had a lot of good scenes together in this episode and it was really the only thing that kept this episode up and above and 8.moreless

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Worse than the first two episodes but still better than most shows on TV.

8.8

"Great"

By ianguyman, Apr 18, 2007 Report Abuse

Its Sweep time at the barn where all the detectives has to get any of their suspects that have warrents. While Vic goes to get a suspect he finds a professional basketball player chillin with a few drug dealers that have warrents. They keep the b-ball player with them all day to make his miss the game and at the same time bet a lot of money on the opposing team. The episode is not as good as other ones and the Claudette and Dutch storyline in this episode is quite weird and scary. It is still a good episode but after the first two I wasn't as thrilled with this one. Still a good episode and hopefully the quality will not dip.moreless

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5.8

"Mediocre"

By orallukeaplacia, Jan 15, 2007 Report Abuse

The Spread starts to move away from the Terry-centricsm that the previous two episodes had. This episode finally starts to flesh out some of the more supporting characters. Julian is revealed as gay for the first time. The first hints of Matthew's autism are revealed. Finally, this is an early lead in to the prostitute serial killer case that will consume Dutch's life for some time to come. Vic and the Strike Team essentially kidnap a basketball player and we see Shane really start to crack under the pressure of holding onto the knowledge that he is partly responsible for the death of Terry. The series is really starting to hit it's stride here.moreless

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Hilarious, cruel, but still, it's just the way it should be.

9.1

"Superb"

By ig123, Sep 04, 2006 Report Abuse

This episode, I was rolling on the floor laughing.

I love how Vic does his things. Keep a basketball player locked up just so his team can't win,so they can place their bets? Haha. Hilarious! And the whole sitation was hilarious too.

But, that wasnt the only hilarious thing. I think the sperm bank guy was hilarious too. Although what he's done wasnt so hilarious, but he was just so sick, its actually lovely..

Julien's ahem... reveal of the guns, well, i didnt see that one coming, especially after the lady only complained about the noise.

Overally, good , very very good, funny episode. Love The Shield!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The scene that follows the "Busted Shield" logo, you'll get to see a goof that made it past the censors. Right after Tripp insults Shane, Shane flips him the bird TWICE! It's so low on camera and so quick that you only see it for 1 second. One of the few times you'll ever see it on basic cable. Edit
Notes
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- It was revealed on the Season 1 DVD that this episode was swapped with "Dawg Days" for fear that Shane's character may be cut. Edit
Quotes
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- Vic: They stitch you up okay? Connie: Between this and my cesarean, I'm a god damned road map. Edit
- Vic: (To the Captain) Come on Captain, you know how those rich pricks are, he probably has his face snorkel deep in some broad's snatch. In a few hours he'll come up for air. Aceveda: (To the lawyer) You know how those celebrities are, he's probably with a female admirer. Give it a few hours. He'll turn up. Edit
- Dutch: What do you do for fun with all that free time? Richard: I have some hobbies. Dutch: I know, nice sperm collection. Edit
Allusions
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- Vic: Hey, did you really do that sneaker commercial in one take? A funny reference to the commercials made by Nike with Michael Jordan where he used to just do the one shot of him floating in the air. Edit