| The Spread | |
|---|---|
| |
| Season 1, Episode 03 | |
| Airdate: | March 26, 2002 |
| Actual length | 45:57 |
| Production Code: | 5012-01-103 |
| Written by | Glen Mazzara |
| Directed by | Clark Johnson |
| Previous: | "Our Gang" |
| Next: | "Dawg Days" |
"The Spread" is the third episode of Season 1 of The Shield. It was originally broadcast on March 26, 2002. The previously on segment is voiced by CCH Pounder.
Synopsis[]
In a routine sweep to nab every outstanding suspect, the detectives divvy up the warrants. 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.
Plot[]
Vic Mackey checks Connie Riesler's cut.
David Aceveda announces "warrant sweep day," in which officers track down perps with outstanding arrest warrants and serve them. As the officers trade their warrants around, Vic Mackey notices Danny Sofer has a warrant for Virgil Lewis, a man who attacked Vic in front of children, and takes it off her hands. Connie Riesler, bruised and terrified, approaches Vic and explains a client with a knife attacked and tried to rape her when she put a condom on him. Occupied with his warrants, Vic has Dutch Wagenbach take her to the hospital and asks him to find the man who attacked her.
Derrick Tripp signing autographs for the Strike Team.
The Strike Team bursts into Lewis' house and arrests everyone present, one of the people in attendance being Derrick Tripp, a famed New Jersey Nets player and a friend of Lewis. Vic finds an unlicensed firearm on Tripp when he searches him. As Ronnie Gardocki and Curtis Lemansky escort the others out, Vic muses to Shane Vendrell that Tripp is playing a big game against the Lakers tonight as he notices an advertisement for apartments for rent across the street. He rents one and tells Tripp they are keeping him out of the public eye until they sort out the situation, and Vic satiates him by pretending to call Aceveda (actually calling his wife) and tells Tripp Aceveda will come down soon and sort things out personally. He quietly explains his plan to Shane: they will make Tripp miss his game, allowing them to arrange bets on the Lakers winning.
As Lem and Ronnie return, Shane and Tripp discuss his policy of charging money for autographs. Shane pulls Vic aside and tells him the payout for betting on the Lakers is six and a half times back, and that Vic is the only one who has not put down money. Vic declines, not interested. When Shane asks about the rest of their warrants, Vic assures him he has taken care of it, having contacted all his outstanding warrants and threatening them into turning themselves in. As desk sergeant Nathan Peterson complains about the influx of arrests, Aceveda tries to convince him he is doing valuable work. Dutch and Claudette Wyms discuss Connie's attack. Claudette had cross-referenced the part of a license plate Connie had written on her hand, but has gotten six hundred matches. Dutch notes that he has been studying the recent murders of prostitutes, and has found an apparent pattern in which the victims were all placed face down. Dutch wants to assemble a task force based on this, but Aceveda turns him down immediately.
Danny and Julien Lowe arrest Tomas Motyashik, who claims he has seen Julien hanging around across the street from a local gay club. Connie identifies William Greeley as her attacker from a mugshot, an environmental protestor who was arrested three years prior. A team bursts into his house to find him naked on his couch and his fridge locked with a large chain. Dutch cuts it open to find dozens of dated jars of sperm inside, which Greeley refers to as his "children." Back at the Barn, Aceveda introduces Vic to Tripp's attorney, Marsha Kramer, who is looking for Tripp and was told by Lewis that he was last seen with Vic. Vic ignores her and instead talks to Connie, who wants to leave the precinct to meet with a client. Tripp becomes impatient and tries to leave, wanting to meet up with a girlfriend, Adriana, and Lem gives Tripp his phone to call her over.
Julien Lowe and Danny Sofer listen to Estela's complaints.
Dutch asks Greeley a series of questions related to the dates of the facedown prostitute murders, causing Claudette to pull him out and tell him to knock it off. Vic, watching on the observation camera, asks Claudette to hurry the process along. Connie, increasingly distressed, asks Vic to let her leave. He places her in the Strike Team's office and tells her he will "take care of her need," the last part observed by an arriving Corrine and their son, Matthew. He passes Connie off as part of a case, and Corrine reminds him that they have a meeting with Matthew's teacher at seven. Adriana arrives, and she and Tripp have loud sex in the apartment's bedroom. Finishing their last warrant, Danny and Julien are stopped by an elderly Spanish woman named Estela, who complains about the noise her neighbor Ricky Harris is making. Danny gives her a card and tells her to call and file a complaint. Back at the Barn, Tomas begs Julien to believe the warrant is mistaken, but is stopped from talking to him by Danny.
Greeley assures Claudette that he does not use or need prostitutes, as women apparently find him irresistible due to the virility of his sperm. Outside, Dutch tells her he contacted an ex of Greeley's, who says he angers easily and his mental state is deteriorating due to a brain tumor. Annoyed with Tripp's sex, Shane calls Vic and tells him to hurry up. Vic assures him he will, then hangs up when he hears screaming coming from a nearby apartment complex, finding a crackhead dangling his son over the complex's pool, delusional. Vic tries to calm him down, but he jumps in the pool with the baby and Vic saves them both, arresting the man and quietly stealing his crack to give to Connie.
Julien Lowe finds weapons at a house.
Aceveda compliments him on his performance, but notes that he was back at the apartment complex he arrested Lewis at, which Vic plays off. Aceveda tells Kramer that Tripp is likely off with a woman. Adriana leaves and Tripp also tries to, but Shane stops him. Suspecting foul play, Tripp tries to argue, and Shane calls him a racial slur. When he picks up the phone to call Kramer, Shane slaps it out of his hand and attacks Tripp, forcing Lem and Ronnie to pull him off. As Tomas is led out by Julien, he tries and fails to get Julien's number. Greeley explains to Claudette and Dutch that he dislikes wasting sperm, and worried that his tumor could render him impotent, he has begun excessively producing it. Aceveda reminds Danny to submit her application for sergeant. She correctly guesses he wants her in position for publicity's sake, but agrees regardless. She and Julien follow up on Harris' noise complaint, and find several illegal weapons stashed in his couch when they search the place.
Claudette Wyms interrogates William Greeley.
Vic returns to find Tripp bound and gagged. Enraged, he frees Tripp and orders Shane to the bedroom when he pulls a gun on him. Shane angrily asks Vic if he should kill him because "that's what we do now, right?" He reminds Vic that he killed Terry Crowley, and Vic orders him to "get over it, and don't bring it up again." Claudette gains Greeley's trust by seducing him and coaxes him into identifying himself as Connie's attacker, and admits he had raped and inseminated ten other women, but did not kill them. When Claudette tries to leave, disgusted, Greeley tries to grab her, and she punches him in the testicles. Danny and Dutch discuss the events of the day, in which she expresses anxiety over passing the sergeant's test and asks him to tutor her.
Julien Lowe visits Tomas.
Vic drives Tripp out to a random street and orders him to keep quiet, or he will manufacture evidence to put Tripp in jail. He asks Tripp why he continues to hang around Lewis and his friends, and Tripp explains they are his old friends, and that he feels he can trust no one else. Vic remarks that Tripp should have helped them up instead of letting them take him down with, and gives him directions before letting him out. He drives away is fans notice and approach Tripp. Peterson, annoyed by the day's events and the monotony of his job, retires. Vic, Connie in tow, thanks Claudette for catching Greeley. She tells him Dutch is also to be thanked, but he ignores her. Greeley and Connie lock eyes, and he pitifully waves at her. Julien visits Tomas at his apartment, denying his apparent homosexuality. Tomas empathizes, claiming he understands Julian's denial. Julien lets Tomas kiss him and take him inside. Matthew's teacher, Ms. Avonte, meets with Corrine and Vic to tell them she suspects their son may have something wrong with him, encouraging them to take him to a neurologist. As they drive home in silence, the radio recaps the Lakers/Nets game, saying that Tripp missed the game because he was stuck in traffic returning from a charity event.
Episode credits[]
Cast[]
Starring[]
- Michael Chiklis as Detective Vic Mackey
- Catherine Dent as Officer Danny Sofer
- Walton Goggins as Detective Shane Vendrell
- Michael Jace as Officer Julien Lowe
- Kenneth Johnson as Curtis Lemansky
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Captain David Aceveda
- and CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
Guest starring[]
- Jamie Brown as Connie Riesler
- Elimu Nelson as Derrick Tripp
- Brent Roam as Tomas Motyashik
- Kirk Baltz as William Greeley
- Jenya Lano as Adriana
Co-Starring[]
- Cathy Cahlin Ryan as Corrine Mackey
- David Rees Snell as Detective Ronnie Gardocki
- Heather Salmon as Marsha Kramer
- Andy Mackenzie as Owen
- DJ Rabiola as Ricky Harris
Featuring[]
- Michael Auteri as Desk Sergeant Nathan Peterson
- Joel Rosenthal as Matthew Mackey
- Ra Hanna as Virgil Lewis
- Ana Argueta as Estela
- Staci Snell as Mrs. Avonte
- Bree Benton as Blanca
- Ron Daniels as Scumbag
- Melanie Myers as Officer Paula Myers (as "Uniform #1")
- Kevin "Repo" Thomas as Monk
- Malcolm Wain as Super
Deleted scene appearances[]
- Chris Tashima as Homicide Detective
Production staff[]
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Featured Music[]
- Young Dre - Dance With The Devil ( Plays at the Virgil Lewis apartment )
- Flight 180 - Sunday Jack ( SWAT raiding the sperm collector )
- Matt Anthony - Pinched In ( Vic Mackey saves a baby from a crackhead )
- Delinquent Habits - Que Vuelva (Ending montage)
Episode Title[]
The title refers to the spread betting put by the Strike Team on a basketball game, knowing they will affect the outcome by holding Derrick Tripp in custody illegally. Also, the title might refer to William Greeley's desire to "spread" his seed through his sperm.
Notes[]
- International airdates:
- Germany: August 18, 2004
- France: July 5, 2007
- Derrick Tripp is a member of New Jersey's professional basketball team, although it is never referenced as the New Jersey Nets. However, the Los Angeles Lakers are referenced by name and players like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal are mentioned.
- This episode was swapped with "Dawg Days" because the writers feared that the character of Shane Vendrell would be cut. At the time, Walton Goggins (who plays Shane) was still negotiating his contract. As a result, a scene between Vic and Danny was cut because it made reference to the events on "Dawg Days".
- A deleted scene shows Detective Dutch Wagenbach checking on the murder of a prostitute on another precinct which he thinks follows the pattern he had thought of from a serial killer.
- While interrogating William Greeley, Detectives Dutch Wagenbach and Vic Mackey make references to serial killers Ted Bundy and Jack the Ripper.
- Vic compares Dutch to actor/dancer Fred Astaire because of the way Dutch "danced" around a suspect while interrogating him.
- Detective Shane Vendrell asks Derrick Tripp if one of his sponsors is Viagra, in reference to the medicine for erectile dysfunction.
- Shane also calls Derrick Tripp "Romeo" in reference to William Shakespeare's character and Shaka Zulu, an influential leader in the Zulu kingdom during the 17th Century, popularized in a 1986 TV series.
- When Mrs. Avonte tells Vic and Corrine about Matthew's problems regarding some drawings he made, Vic tells her that maybe he was "no Michaelangelo" in reference to the Italian Renaissance painter of the 13th Century.
Quotes[]
- Shane Vendrell: Somebody needs to teach him a lesson.
- Vic Mackey: By doing what? Executing him?
- Shane Vendrell: Well, why not? I mean, isn't that what we do now?
- Vic Mackey: I told you, that's over.
- Shane Vendrell: We - killed - a cop.
- Vic Mackey: Lem and Ronnie failed to clear the room, and Two-Time killed Terry. Get over it and don't bring it up again.
External Links[]
The Spread at the Internet Movie Database-
The Shield Season 1 The Spread HD original promo (2002)
The Shield The Spread 31s original FX promo
