| Greenlit | |
|---|---|
| |
| Season 2, Episode 05 | |
| Airdate: | February 4, 2003 |
| Actual length | 46:29 |
| Production Code: | 5012-02-205 |
| Written by | Kim Clements |
| Directed by | Terrence O'Hara |
| Previous: | "Carte Blanche" |
| Next: | "Homewrecker" |
"Greenlit" is the fifth episode of Season 2 of The Shield and the 18th episode of the series as a whole. It was originally broadcast on February 4, 2003. The previously on segment is voiced by Benito Martinez.
Synopsis[]
Elementary school drug dealing prompts Vic to redouble his efforts to bring down a ruthless new supplier.
Plot[]
Police find drugs at Truman East Middle School.
Vic Mackey locks the Clubhouse doors and turns up the music playing to mask his words, then he and Shane Vendrell tell Curtis Lemansky and Ronnie Gardocki about the plan to rob the Armenian money train. Ronnie is interested but Lem is against it, and they are interrupted when Paula Myers informs Vic that Connie Riesler is at the Barn looking for him. Vic is shocked to find that she is sober, which she explains happened after she spent ninety days in a county jail. She asserts that she wants to become an informant, as she cannot get a job anywhere else, and informs him of a teenager, Felipe Gomez, selling heroin to children.
Vic and Shane visit Truman East Middle School and learn that student Enrique had been showing off heroin he bought. They bring him in front of the principal and press him into surrendering the drugs, and he explains that Gomez was handing free samples out to anyone who would take them. Danny Sofer calls David Aceveda, her car having been vandalized overnight but who she suspects to be Yassirah Al-Thani. He reminds her to get her Julien Lowe's six month review by the end of the day. Vic explains to the principal that he had every locker in school searched and instructed the lookers to leave those with drugs in them open, showing her a hallway where the majority of the lockers are left opened. He advises her to call some parents.
Vic and Shane discuss Lem's unwillingness to go along with the plan, and Vic insists that they need to go as a team when Shane suggests doing it without him. As Aceveda enters Truman East, he passes by a politician blaming him and the police for letting this happen, but he turns it around on her for using the situation as political leverage. Aceveda is appalled to learn that the children were being given extremely potent heroin, and Vic explains that Theodore Osmond's death and his inability to keep a handle on new drug dealers caused this. Aceveda tells him to stop making deals with drug dealers and just come down on them. The Strike Team raid and smash up a Torrucos bar. Vic lets half of them go with a warning to spread the message that selling to children is off the table and arrests the other half, including Gomez.
Armadillo Quintero approaches Danny at the scene of an arrest, asking her to pass along the message to Vic that "the guy he's looking for" might start talking and to "tell him about the face, he'll know" when she asks for his name. Gomez is terrified as Vic and Shane grill him, believing that he could not face jail time due to his age. Vic manipulates him into identifying Armadillo as his boss, who sends all of his orders through a Torruco named Duardo. Vic relays information to Aceveda, warning him to keep other officers off the case. Vic suggests using Gomez as an informant, but Aceveda points out that it is illegal and reminds him of what happened the last time the police used a child against Armadillo.
Danny passes Armadillo's message along. Vic relays this to Shane and Ronnie, who agree that Armadillo is declaring war, and Vic plots to kill him. Shane asks how they will handle Lem, considering he did not want to rob the money train, and Vic states they will simply keep him away from it. Lem walks in and notices something is up, and Vic claims they are discussing how to bring in Armadillo. Claudette Wyms takes the statement of Anne, a woman whose Alzheimer's-inflicted mother Jeannie Sutton vanished when she went out for groceries. Dutch Wagenbach informs her that morgues and hospitals have not seen her, and Claudette takes him to go find her. Julien informs Danny that he is marrying Vanessa after only seven weeks of dating. Ray Carlson overhears this and congratulates him, while he asks Danny to come to the ceremony. She points out that he was gay not long ago, but Julien insists that he was just "misguided" and that his conversion therapy helped him.
Claudette visits a convenience store where Sutton was reported stealing bags of candy. Anne notes that the store was Sutton's first job, and Claudette finds Dutch on break, theorizing that Sutton could be retracing her past steps and that he needs to take the case seriously. Julien informs them that she was spotted trying to get into a locked apartment and gives them the address. Shane bumps into Dutch as he and Vic leave, and Dutch berates him for not excusing himself and threatens to fight him when Shane responds with equal hostility. Vic drags Shane off, and Dutch insists he is "not going to take shit from people anymore" when Claudette questions him. Vic visits Navaro Quintero in prison, telling him to pass along an order to his brother to stop selling to children. Navaro insists that he and Armadillo do not talk, but Vic orders him to do so anyway. When Navaro warns him that Armadillo may not be receptive, Vic points out a nearby One-Niner that owes him a favor and will kill Navaro on his orders if he is "greenlit." He orders Navaro to get his message to Armadillo, and promises to send the order if Armadillo reports the Strike Team.
Claudette and Dutch look for Jeannie Sutton.
Vic relays his plan the Strike Team, telling Ronnie to track any calls Navaro or the imprisoned Torrucos make. Lem wonders what happens if Armadillo picks up and talks about his burning, but Vic insists that he is a fugitive and their arrest of him matters more. The apartment owner identifies Sutton, who was asking about an "Earl", a man who lived there in the forties. Dutch and Claudette bring him in, and he recalls that they dated for a year right after World War II ended, but she had not contacted him in decades. An officer informs Dutch that Sutton was called in again. Vic prevents Connie with an informant contract, warning her that she needs to stay sober to keep the job. She signs regardless. The Strike Team arrive on the scene of a toddler who died of an overdose of heroin he found in his brother's backpack, and Vic is horrified to learn from Aceveda that his brother is an elementary schooler. Aceveda urges him to solve the problem, reminding him of his plan to use Gomez.
Vic lets Gomez go but makes clear his intention to closely surveil him, ordering him to find out where Armadillo is from Duardo. Dutch and Claudette find a pair of teenagers tormenting Sutton, and Dutch quickly breaks it up as Claudette helps her to her feet. Vanessa runs into Danny in the lounge and asks where Julien is. Danny congratulates her as Julien enters, and she realizes that he has not told Vanessa about his sexuality yet, which she confronts him on after she leaves. He insists it is over, and she states she will tell Vanessa if he doesn't.
As they watch Gomez go to a payphone, Ronnie asks Vic what he would do with his cut of the money train, and Vic warns him to only discuss it when necessary. Shane, also watching Gomez with Lem, tries to convince him to go along with the plan. Lem insists that all their crimes have had a point to them but this is only motivated by greed. Shane tries to guilt him into it by claiming Vic needs the money. Aceveda and Aurora Aceveda discuss the heroin situation and he wonders if he will win city council, and if it will embarrass her. She insists that the only way he could embarrass her is if he didn't try to protect the schools. Aceveda orders his officers to crack down on the problem and find Armadillo. Hearing Armadillo has returned, Claudette demands to talk to him, with Aceveda promising that he and Vic will not interfere if he is caught.
Vic and Ronnie send Gomez to pick up drugs from Duardo, with Vic giving him a phone that he will call in ten minutes, ordering him to pick up if drugs are out in the open. He will then arrest everyone present and let Gomez go because he is a minor, keeping his role in the bust safe. Inside, Duardo takes out the drugs and Vic calls Gomez, which he answers and feigns telling a woman interested in him to leave him alone. Duardo notices how slowly he is packing up the drugs and grabs the phone. He calls the number back just as the Strike Team bust in, and Vic's phone rings. Aceveda call Danny into his office, informing her that he got a call that her mother died in a car accident. He leaves her alone to let her call her father. She storms out a minute later, learning the news was fake and demanding Yassirah's phone records be subpoenaed. Claudette clears Sutton for release, only for Dutch, having decided to look in to Claudette's theory about her reliving her past, having found a record that a smothered baby was buried in a shallow grave in 1947 at the spot where Sutton was kneeling.
Vic drags Duardo to a back room and starts to strangle him when he refuses to give up Armadillo, only to be interrupted when Aceveda arrives on the scene, intending to take Duardo to the Barn. Vic pulls him aside and demands that he let him finish, but Aceveda warns him that Claudette is on the case and they need to do it proper to get by her. Julien informs Danny that he passed his performance review, but notes that she listed "communication and stress management" as issues. Julien wonders if she was deflecting her stress onto him, but she insists she went easy on him and his inability to communicate is a severe problem. He resolves to not jeopardize his relationship with Vanessa and allows Danny to tell her at the risk of her own conscience.
Claudette and Aceveda grill Duardo for Armadillo, who refuses to talk. Aceveda locks eyes with Vic from the interrogation room's window as Connie comes in, informing Vic of a pimp in the area. She asks after Brian Riesler, and Vic reminds her that she gave him up and he is with a new family. She claims that "you have no idea what it's like to lose your kid," and Vic insists that Brian is gone and gives her her payment for the tip. Vic enters the Clubhouse as the Strike Team monitor calls, learning that Navaro has called no one yet. He brings Gomez outside, having gotten him into a reform program, and Gomez thanks him as he leaves with the man. Dutch interrogates Earl, promising to dig the baby up, get its DNA, and prove he is the father.
Claudette and Aceveda convince Duardo that Armadillo will blame him when he is arrested, promising to send him to a New York prison if he tells them where Armadillo is hiding. Aceveda informs Vic that he has already sent a SWAT team to Armadillo's location, while Danny propositions Vic but he claims he is busy. She admits that she wants to cut off the affair. Anne insists to Dutch that he is wrong about Sutton possibly killing the baby as they leave. Claudette asks if she should be worried, and he responds with a nihilistic statement about human nature before leaving.
Navaro Quintero bleeds to death.
Ronnie informs Vic that Navaro is on the phone with Armadillo, tracing the call to a different address than the one Duardo gave Aceveda. Lem pulls Vic aside and insists that they cannot bring Armadillo in alive. As the Strike Team, minus Ronnie, leave to go get Armadillo, Shane covertly asks Vic if they should take a separate car from Lem, but Vic affirms they can go together. The team enters the house to find it empty, save for a phone on the table that Vic picks up. Armadillo, on the other end, says "I hope you all made it." Vic warns him to mind Navaro, but Armadillo reveals that he has "already taken care of" him, and the gasping sounds on the other end are revealed to be Navaro on the prison phone, dying of a stab wound. Armadillo warns Vic that "now, you've been greenlit."
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[]
- Jamie Brown as Connie Riesler
- Danny Pino as Armadillo Quintero
- David Rees Snell as Detective Ronnie Gardocki
- Elizabeth Anne Smith as Anne
- Andi Chapman as Politician
- Monnae Michaell as Vanessa
- Art Frankel as Earl
- Emilio Rivera as Navaro Quintero
- Rainbow Borden as Duardo
- Jonathan Hernandez as Felipe Gomez
- David Jean Thomas as Craig Dawson
Co-starring[]
Featuring[]
- Matt Corboy as Officer Ray Carlson
- Helen Costa as Jeannie Sutton
- Melanie Myers as Officer Paula Myers
- Roberto Enrique as Enrique
- Enrique Trujillo as Skateboard Punk
- Thomas Bankowski as Reporter
- Paul Huang as Store Clerk
Uncredited[]
- Robert Harrell as Antron
- Tony Stoll as
Production staff[]
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Featured Music[]
Running in order as they appear by scenery
- North Missisippi Allstars - Drinking Muddy Water
- Universal Production Music - East Coast Strut
- Slim and the Soulful Saints - Fish Head
- Santana - Corazon (feat Mana)
- Kinto Sol - Que Risa Me Da
- Tha Mexakins - Phonkie Melodia
- Whitehouse - Quentan Que El
- Heard during the last scene when Vic Mackey and the Strike Team enter the house looking for Armadillo Quintero.
Episode Title[]
The term "greenlight" is used when giving permission to move forward on a project or mission. It might refer to Captain David Aceveda giving a "greenlight" to Detective Vic Mackey to use any measures to capture Armadillo Quintero. However, the more significant meaning in the episode refers to giving permission for a murder. First, Vic threatens to "greenlight" Navaro Quintero while in prison; but in the end, it is Armadillo who "greenlits" the whole Strike Team.
Notes[]
- International airdates:
- Germany: March 4, 2006
- France: August 23, 2007
- Danny Sofer drives a dark Pontiac Grand Prix, while David Aceveda drives a silver Chrysler LHS.
- This episode was filmed in only 72 hours.
Quotes[]
- Curtis Lemansky: So we're going to take down a money-laundering ring? Sweet.
- Vic Mackey: Yes, it is. We're gonna bring it down, pack it up, and save it for a rainy day.
- David Aceveda: Well, you need to file a report with Hollywood division.
- Danny Sofer: I take those reports. It's a waste of time.
- Shane Vendrell: We don't need him to pull this off.
- Vic Mackey: Yes, we do.
- Shane Vendrell: Lem doesn't care if we ride solo on this thing.
- Vic Mackey: Well, I care. Either we're all in, or we're all out. One guy knowing who isn't accountable, isn't an option. We're a team. That's the only way it works.
- Vic Mackey: Look at you, Felipe. You barely got hair on your nads and you're already dealing hard stuff to kids.
- Felipe Gomez: I'm not going to jail.
- Vic Mackey: What fantasy world are you living in?
- Felipe Gomez: I'm 15. Minors don't get time.
- Shane Vendrell: Unless the crime's serious enough.
- Vic Mackey: You moved heavy weights of "H," amigo. To hundreds of kids. You're done.
- Felipe Gomez: But... But I'm a minor.
- Vic Mackey: In a major pile of shit.
- Felipe Gomez: But... But I was told that...
- Vic Mackey: You were told wrong!
- Vic Mackey: You gave me the green light to get Armadillo. I'm one step away.
- Claudette Wyms: Should I be worried about you?
- Dutch Wagenbach: Not about me. Maybe about the rest of humanity. Bunch of sociopathic little narcissists out for ourselves. Begging, stealing, lying, screwing, raping, killing our babies. Whatever it takes to have a good time and save our own asses. I can't even believe in an old woman who's too sick to feed herself... And it's not sad. It's not some big surprise... It's just nature. We're animals. Nothing more. And you know what? I'm learning to be okay with that.
- Vic Mackey: See that One-Niner over there? I've done a few favors for his crew out on the street. He's willing to pay me back. One phone call from me and you're greenlit.
- Navaro Quintero: Greenlit?
- Vic Mackey: It's an American prison term. It means you'll be shanked in the shower, asshole. Bleed out before the guards even know you're late for breakfast. You tell Armadillo about my new rules and if he says one thing about me or my crew... I'll make that call.
- Vic Mackey: Yeah?
- Armadillo Quintero: I hope you all made it.
- Vic Mackey: Hey. Weren't you supposed to meet me here to suck my dick?
- Armadillo Quintero: I wanted to speak to you one last time.
- Vic Mackey: You better talk to your brother before you start making death threats.
- Armadillo Quintero: I've already taken care of my brother. And now *YOU'VE* been greenlit.
External links[]
Greenlit at the Internet Movie Database
