I hope Dutch didn't get the same sensation the cuddle rapist felt when killing things. That scene was brutal - the cat freaking out, Dutch standing there all bloddy, the cat dropped to the ground - just freaking brutal.

This was a good episode though. I'm also glad that Vic put Mara in her place, especially since Cletus will never have the balls to. How far along is her pregnancy supposed to be? If I were him I would probably start getting suspicious by now.

But Dutchboy is no Will Graham...

After Shane told fiancee that he wanted to get married right away, the thought of him driving to the desert on the way to Vegas and "getting rid" of her went through my mind. Especially after during the "previously on" clips they showed the team "taking out" someone that can affect their operation.

Do you think he killed to kitty in order to understand the rapist/killer more, or did he kill the kitty because he's a lot like the rapist/killer?

To understand.

Could be a little of both.

Of course he is fixated on "understanding". Seems that the rapists knew he wanted to understand and was leading Dutch into committing some type of minor crime. He seemed to be egging Dutch on throughout the interview. Don't spout phrases, understand me for who I am. Very chilling aspect of Dutch.

Strong agreement.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw the parallels to Red Dragon for Dutch's storyline. It seems the writer went so far as to copy the screenplay or novel of Manhunter with the God reference. Can't remember the exact line by the cuddler rapist, but Hannibal's quote was roughly "...if you do as God does, enough times, you become as God..."

It was also good to see Vic verbally kick Mara's behind!

I expect Dutch to go deeper and deeper into this whole rapist thing, but I think that Claudette will be able to see the warning signs in time. If not, she will be the one to collar him.

I've had an inkling this season that Dutch would turn into a bad guy. He would be the criminal and lead investigator at the same time, and his crown jewel would be revealing his crime. Actually, I thought of this when they announced that there would be a S4 and they had a plot point picked out for it.

I hope they do not go this route, I was not a big fan of another great cop show that did a similar story, hopefully they will remember.

I'll second or third the stance that Dutch shouldn't go bad. At least not all the way. It would feel too much like a James Patterson novel.

I was cheering when Vic told off Mara. Good I hate her. I was hoping that they would kill her, awful I know.

Maybe I was reading too much into it, but when Dutch was strangling the cat, his eyes were glazed over and then he seemed to "wake up" realize what he was doing, but by then the cat was already dead.

He dropped the cat rather suddenly as if he just realized that he killed it, like he did it in a daze or by accident, trying to see if he could see anything in the cat's eyes.

I also think the kiddie porn on the laptop was just for laughs and I doubt that they'll turn Dutch into a rapist himself. Sometimes those little bits of info they throw at us are just things to flesh out the characters, not signs or portents of what is to come. Another example of this was the Civilian Auditor (Laney?) going into the bathroom and throwing up.

Everyone on these boards, myself included thought it was a clue that she had an eating disorder and it was going to be something that Vic could hold over here, when it turned out to be nothing, just fleshing out of her character. I think the laptop is the same type of thing.

I kind of agree I'm a fan of taking characters to the edge but let them peer over that precipace without jumping off. It makes sense for Dutch thou as there's been signs since season 1 of darkness in his character. He seems the right "Profile" , Wife left him after humiliating him, Picked on at an early age and by the guys at the station. I could see it happenning but I hope it does'nt. I'd like for him to tell claudette what he did.

At the point they turned Bayliss into a killer I had already tuned out of Homicide, After Braugher left the new characters just did not cut it. I'm no Homophobe but making Bayliss Bi -Sexual was also a leap, since his character defined from Season 1 seemed like it played against this, then they brought up his abuse..etc.

I also did'nt like what they did with Kellerman in Homicide, his character went downhill during the whole Luthor Mahoney stuff.
On the Shield thou, a very different type of Cop Story I could see Dutch going bad.

Once again a great episode from the best show on TV!

The ending was really f//ked up. Especially when he dropped the cat like a rag-doll.

Vic telling off Maura was way overdue... And IMO she is in no way pregnant. Of course Shane, being the p//sy-whipped hillbilly with Born To Loose tattooed on his chest, will definatly be getting the boys into some more serious shit before this season's out... And now he's marrying her. WOW... He's gonna crash and burn, and it'll make for great TV. So good for us.

Pus-n-boots (Shrek 2) would have kicked Dutchboy's butt for that stunt.

Apt typo.... perhaps Mara's tattoo should be "Born Too Loose"

OMG
Dutch and the cat is one of the only things that I actually have found offensive on tv

Well, after the last scene my wife announced that she was through with the show.

Groucho has a wife?

No offense, but I thought that was brilliant and really brave. We've seen a lot of halfass "Detective loses it" stuff (especially Sipowicz), but this was simply breathtaking. In the space of a few years (and it really started when he was investigated along with his ex-mates on the Arson Squad), he went from happy-go-lucky, talented detective to a crass guy who simply didn't care about anything.

And it was the job that did it to him. That's an overriding theme with that show: no matter how good you or your intentions are, the system will always beat you down and continue grinding toward mediocrity.

It's a recurrent theme in The Wire, too. It's what makes them the two best shows in American TV history.

Nah, I meant Shane. The guy just can't catch a break... Everytime he does something, he ends up having to dig himself out of a bigger hole full of shit. Just some examples...

Tulips the stripper
Getting the Navigator (& drugs/guns) stolen
Getting mugged in Mexico, then having his badge show up being used in a murder
Being a wittness to the Armienian's fender bender
Using the name (Cleatus), that he gave the Armienian, to register the storage for the Money Train
Tavon ('nuf said)

and Maura gets her own list
Buying her a Lexus
Believing she's pregnant
Getting engaged... and after last week apparently married
Letting her get away with stealing the Money Train cash
Allowing her mother blackmail the Team for more cash

I'm sure there's more but come on... If he doesn't deserve the "Born To Loose" tattoo, I don't know who does.

His was in response to your spelling. Loose as in not tight, versus Lose as in opposite of win.

Unlike Vic, who garners some sympathy, I look at Shane totally differently. With all the stupid things he does, I hope that he ultimately gets what's coming to him. It makes me wonder how on earth he made detective in the first place.