| Circles | |
|---|---|
| |
| Season 1, Episode 13 | |
| Airdate: | June 4, 2002 |
| Actual length | 46:24 |
| Production Code: | 5012-01-112 |
| Written by | Shawn Ryan |
| Directed by | Scott Brazil |
| Previous: | "Two Days of Blood" |
| Next: | "The Quick Fix" |
"Circles" is the thirteenth episode of The Shield and the Season 1 finale. It was originally broadcast on June 4, 2002. The previously on segment is voiced by Michael Chiklis.
Synopsis[]
As cop killings strike Farmington, Aceveda is caught between two corrupt cops looking to save their own skins.
Plot summary[]
Riot squad confronting the mob.
As the riot continues, David Aceveda authorizes the riot squad to retaliate. They tear the gas crowd, and a protestor is trampled to death by the fleeing mob, which the commander reports. Danny Sofer and Julien Lowe are out on patrol when they are called, while officer Paula Myers also responds. Danny tells Julien to turn on their lights so they can get their first. As Vic Mackey instructs Curtis Lemansky on keeping his family safe while he stations them in a hotel room, Corrine Mackey asks why they are there and what he has done. Vic refuses to answer. Danny and Julien arrive to find Paula shot and her partner Rudy dead. Paula tries to warn them about the multiple shooters above them that then shoot, and they return fire until the shooters flee.
Vic and Shane Vendrell arrive on the scene, and Claudette Wyms explains that someone made a fake 911 call to lure Paula and Rudy there. As Vic swears revenge, Claudette learns that the 911 call was traced to a cell phone. Vic and Shane break into the apartment of the owner, Cyrus, and arrest him. At the Barn, Aceveda and Claudette interrogate Cyrus, who claims to have lost his phone. Vic asks Dutch Wagenbach for updates about Ben Gilroy's car accident, and he explains that he learned Sedona Tellez worked as an accountant at the LAPD headquarters, and was buying property through a shell corporation. He attempted to investigate, but couldn't get anywhere without a warrant. Vic offers to help. In the Clubhouse, Shane insists the urgency that comes with finding Gilroy, believing he killed Tellez and is still dangerous. Vic tells him to focus on Dutch's files, knowing that Gilroy needs Tellez's signature to make money from his land buys and that if they find her, they find him.
Danny finds Julien praying and notes that he is visibly nervous. He admits that he is because she was almost killed last night and is thankful she is alive, and she affirms that she feels the same and takes his hand. Claudette returns to the interrogation with evidence that Cyrus sells his phone to customers, reports it missing to the company, and gets a new one. As Aceveda claims this makes him an accomplice to any felonies his customers committed with those phones, Cyrus gives them the name "Igal", a cell phone dealer. Dutch interrupts to inform Claudette and Aceveda that officers Chris Sandor and Patrick have been killed after being lured by another 911 call. Arriving on the scene, Claudette notes that the killers took the officers' badges. Shane fabricates a story about someone aware of a witness coming to identify them, causing a young man to flee the scene. Vic and Shane pursue and catch him, and when he refuses to talk, Vic pulls out a bag of drugs and threatens to plant it and arrest him for trafficking. He explains that he saw the officers get shot and two black men and one woman take the badges.
At the Barn, Vic and Shane give Aceveda sketches of the shooters, and he agrees to have them distributed. Gilroy enters, ordering Dutch to stop working on the accident and head the case with Claudette. He informs Aceveda that, with four people dead, he is taking over the office temporarily. Vic confronts him in Aceveda's office, where he insists that threatening his family was only to keep him off Tellez. Vic promises to come for him when the case is solved, but he implies that he will leak the murder of Terry Crowley if Vic tries anything. Vic approaches Aceveda, explaining that he knows Gilroy is planning to blame the situation on him and damage his chances of being elected to the city council. Vic explains Gilroy's land scheme and how it eventually caused the riots. He insists that if they find Tellez, she can implicate Gilroy for the both the land scheme and the accident. Aceveda is skeptical as to why Vic wants him to help, but Vic promises that he will let him bring in the cop killers himself, getting the credit for both stopping them and exposing Gilroy. Igal, a stolen phone dealer, is brought in for questioning. Dutch and Claudette show him the sketches and explain what they did, and he immediately reveals that he sold a phone to each of them. He agrees to give up their phone numbers.
Vic Mackey asks T.O. Osmond for his help.
As the Strike Team head out to find the shooters, Lem warns Vic to call the aggrieved Corrine. He does, but still refuses to explain what is happening. He promises to tell her when it is safe, but she responds "don't bother" and hangs up. Vic and Shane approach T.O. and ask him to look for the shooters. As Aceveda threatens the real estate company into giving up the information he needs over the phone, Gilroy approaches and apologizes for his behavior, promising to give him something in return. Aceveda hangs up and Gilroy pins Jesus Rosales's murder on Vic. The Barn's windows are suddenly shot out, and Aceveda leads a squadron of officers outside as squad cars cut off the shooters. Aceveda reasons with the shooters in Spanish and convinces them to drop their weapons, being arrested after. As he returns to the Barn, he affirms to Gilroy that he is interested in Vic and Rosales.
David Aceveda points his gun at the drive-by shooter.
T.O. informs Vic and Shane about a young man showing off a badge that he presumably took from Rudy. He gives them the man's address and they break in to find the man's father injecting heroin. Vic asks where the man's son is (who he identifies as "Sonny"), and he asks for more drugs and he will call Sonny to the apartment. Danny and Julien respond to a call from a woman claiming to be dying, which they recognize as near where they were shot at. They enter the house to find an elderly woman stuck in her bed, her daughter having abandoned her and leaving her unable to get her arthritis medication. Danny gives it to her, and she asks for water to take it with. Satisfied with the drugs he is given, Sonny's father calls him and claims his mother has returned to get him to come home. Claudette, having had the phone numbers tracked, learns of the call and gets Sonny's address. Gilroy orders them to mobilize.
Vic Mackey threatens to stab Sonny.
As Sonny returns, Vic and Shane pin him to the wall and Vic finds a gun and badge on him. When he refuses to give up the other shooters, Vic stabs him in the chest with the badge until he gives up "Benji and Twanya", claiming that they were going to squat in an abandoned building. Despite his confession, Vic stabs him again just before the police bust in. Sonny tells Claudette that Vic was stabbing him, but Claudette dismisses him, saying "you look fine to me." Sonny is taken to the Barn, where he remains defiant to Dutch and Claudette and boasts that he would kill more cops if he could. Vic approaches T.O. and asks him for a couple thousand dollars, which he hands over. Vic tells him to keep an eye out for where Benji and Twanya may be hiding.
Aceveda lures Tellez to the real estate company's office with claims of a problem with her property. She takes him to her apartment, where he deduces that she came up with the land scheme, revealing that he knows she used department pension funds to buy property. He demands to talk about Gilroy's accident. Sonny explains that Twanya knew Tanya Kramer and Violet Roosevelt, so he and Benji persuaded her to do something about it after 911 failed to stop their murders. Sonny insists they were justified in killing the officers, but Claudette rebukes him.
Aceveda calls Vic to Tellez's apartment, where she plans to implicate Gilroy to save herself. Aceveda confronts him about Jesus's murder, revealing that Tellez told him who the real killer was but that a "cop buddy" cleaned up the scene for him, wondering if they will find the murder weapon at Vic's house. When Vic challenges him, Aceveda reveals that Gilroy signed a search warrant for the house, making Vic realize that Gilroy planted the gun when he went to Vic's house. Vic reluctantly explains what really happened and is surprised to find that the warrant is six hours old. Aceveda explains that they are going to get the shooters first, then investigate him. Vic gets a call from Lem with Benji and Twanya's address, asking Aceveda if he wants to help Gilroy frame him or come with him and get the shooters.
Vic and Aceveda arrive at the address to find the Strike Team gearing up, the former reminding them to kill if necessary. Vic and Aceveda go in together, passing several homeless people, and eventually find Benji. As Vic arrests him, Aceveda notices Twanya sneaking up on him and kills her. He pulls a badge off a chain on Benji's neck. Aceveda brings him in and is complimented by Gilroy, who asks if he is ready to take down Vic. Aceveda reveals that he knows about Gilroy's illegal activities and plans to take him down. Gilroy fires him and leaves. The Strike Team search Vic's house for the gun, and Lem finds it in an air vent in Cassidy Mackey's room.
Vic Mackey points a gun at Ben Gilroy.
Gilroy finds Vic and Shane waiting for him in Tellez's apartment, the former revealing the planted gun. As he begs Vic to let him and Tellez flee to Mexico, Vic puts the gun to his head. Defeated, Gilroy tells Vic to kill him, but reminds him that they are no better than each other. Vic insists that he is not like Gilroy, and Gilroy counters "not yet." Shane urges Vic to kill him and offers to do it if it is too much. Vic looks at the gun and hits Gilroy with it. As Danny changes back into her civilian clothes, she notes that she and Julien are finally getting along. She wonders why he never pries into her life like she does his, and he claims she will talk if she needs to. She offers to wait for him outside and leave together, which he accepts. Vic brings a handcuffed Gilroy into the Barn, where he spots Tellez sitting at a desk and averting his gaze. The department watches in silence as Gilroy is placed in the cage, and Lem informs Vic that his family has left the hotel. Corrine returns to find the house torn apart from the Strike Team's search.
Vic Mackey breaks down crying.
Aceveda gives a statement to the press about the shooters and Gilroy's arrest. As Claudette watches, Dutch tells her that they have a shooting to investigate and the leave together. When Aceveda is asked about his prospects on city council, he deflects the question Vic returns to find the house empty and a message from Corrine on the answering machine, where she asks him not to come looking for them if he still loves her. He collapses in panic, but eventually gets up, throws his badge across the room, and leaves.
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 Detective Curtis Lemansky
- Jay Karnes as Detective Dutch Wagenbach
- Benito Martinez as Captain David Aceveda
- and CCH Pounder as Detective Claudette Wyms
Guest starring[]
- John Diehl as Assistant Chief Ben Gilroy
- Lana Parrilla as Sedona Tellez
- Cedric Pendleton as T.O. Osmond
Co-starring[]
- Cathy Cahlin Ryan as Corrine Mackey
- David Rees Snell as Detective Ronnie Gardocki
- Matt Corboy as Officer Ray Carlson
- Arlen Escarpeta as Sonny
- Rick Allen as Riot Squad Commander
- Malieek Straughter as Cyrus
- PB Smiley as Witness
- Aurelia Sweeney as Betty
- Alex Veadov as Igal
- Pamala Tyson as Escrow Clerk
- Galen Yuen as Transient
- Damen Fletcher as Benji
Featuring[]
- Will Badgett as Junkie Dad
- Whitney Shannon as Hooker
- Roman Arabia as Drive-by shooter
- Melanie Myers as Officer Paula Myers
- Roddy Schaef as Chuck (as "Reporter")
Uncredited[]
- Bill Forchion as Officer Patrick
- Omar McClinton as Officer Roman
- Nathan Siebring as Officer Rudy
- Petra Sprecher as Twanya
- (unknown actor) as Officer Chris Sandor
- (unknown actor) as Det. Mark Stone
- (unknown actor) as Officer Pete
Production staff[]
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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
- Project 86 - Spill Me
- Conejo - Planet Los Angeles
- Transultra - From Out
- Shortly coming from the alleyway when Vic busts through the fence
- Push - Eddie's Thing 1987
- Vic meets with Tio in the street
- Transultra - O'Chanko
- Ill Nino - Nothing's Clear
- Captain Aceveda and the whole department of the Barn chase the drive by shooters
- Jaya the Cat - Cultifornia
- Coldplay - Trouble
- Heard during the last scene when Vic Mackey arrives at his home to realize that Corrine left him with the children
Episode Title[]
The title might refer to how everything on the episode has come "full circle" for the characters and Farmington as a whole. Hence, all the things that Vic did throughout the season finally cost him his family.
Notes[]
- International airdates:
- Germany: October 27, 2004
- France: August 8, 2007
- This episode is the season finale of The Shield's first season.
- Several crew members watched tapes of previous riots in Los Angeles from 1967 to 1992 to gain further insight into how to realistically film one.
- There was a deleted scene from this episode which features Officers Danny Sofer and Julien Lowe coming to the aid of a heart attack victim, only to be scared by some kids throwing lightbulbs out of a window.
- Vic Mackey and Shane Vendrell drive in a dark blue Dodge Durango with a 4PS-F333 license plate. The drive-by shooters that attacked the Barn were driving a maroon Fourth Generation Honda Accord with a 3DX-T55 license plate.
Quotes[]
- Sonny: Mama? What are you...?
- Vic Mackey: Sorry, Sonny. I ain't your mama.
- David Aceveda: Vic, this is Sedona Tellez.
- Vic Mackey: I've been looking for you.
- Sedona Tellez: I've been right here.
- David Aceveda: She has a lot of interesting things to say about our Assistant Chief.
- Vic Mackey: So much for loyalty, huh, lady?
- Sedona Tellez: Ben's in love. I have a future.
- Ben Gilroy: Just kill me, Vic! Go ahead! But don't act like you're better than me. What things have you done? What've you done, then covered those things up?
- Vic Mackey: I'm not like you.
- Ben Gilroy: Not yet.
- Vic Mackey: Not ever.
External links[]
Circles at the Internet Movie Database
