The Shield: How do you like your ribs?

Spoilers for "The Shield" coming up just as soon as I steal some food from Craft Services...

Shane and Mara: worst marriage in TV history, or best? So far, Mara has stolen some of the Armenian money train cash, the two of them combined to nearly kill Tavon and then cover it up, and now just as she's on the verge of giving his ass the boot for getting with that underage hooer, he confesses to murdering Lem and she takes him back. I don't even know what to say about that, save that things are spiraling out of control for Shane, especially now that Vic's been convinced of Guardo's (relative) innocence.

While Shane was melting down, we also had the tortured runaway case had some vintage Dutch-style closure, and the Strike Team took on a very new look, between Hyatt's increasing authority, Julian struggling to fit in and, cosmetically, Ronnie finally shaving the Armadillo beard. (Nice work by the makeup department on the grill scars. At first, I assumed they had forgotten to do anything, but once I saw Ronnie's face in close-up I realized what a convincing, subtle job they had done on them.)

But for me, the real interest was Carl Weathers' return as the Ghost of Mackey Future. What a bleak, vicious scene that was when Vic, Carl and the other guy were cleaning out the apartment and giving impromptu haircuts and complimentary beverages. Is this really what Vic has to look forward to once he's off the force? He's never been a great investigative mind; his resume is all about muscle, intimidation and willpower, and I doubt he's going to get many glowing recommendation letters from Aceveda or Claudette or any other boss he's ever had. Whatever was in the Retirement Fund seems long gone, either burned up by Lem or devoted to paying for his autistic kids' special school, and I don't know if a 15-year pension will be enough to live on by itself. (I've always been under the impression that cops retire and immediately take another job so that the pension is a bonus for down the road.) This was a chilling illustration of why Vic is going to fight so hard to stay a cop. Sure, a lot of it is about ego, but Vic needs to work, and running the Strike Team is all he's really qualified for.

What did everybody else think?