Season 1:
Summary:
Meet the Strike Team and the rest of the gang in the Barn. Starts out with a literal bang with Vic killing Terry at the end of the very first episode. Terry was an informant into Vic's dirty deeds. Establishes Vic as the coldest character this side of Omar Little or Tony Soprano. The strike team does what it does, keeping the peace, making crazy money on the side and stretching the limits of sanity to the breaking point. Aceveda wins the democratic primary for City Council and the Barn deals with the fallout from the murders of two black women who called 911 and the cops didn't show, resulting in a minor riot and Vic almost getting busted for his dealings with assistant chief Gilroy, who was manipulating police dispatches to drive down property values to buy up land in Farmington. Vic skates and brings Gilroy in while escaping the net for the first time.

Highlights:
Vic pimping the shit out of Julian to cover up for Shane's fuckup (the first of many) and then later trying to buddy up to the poor guy.
Claudette and Dutch's interplay as characters. Dutch's hunt and capture of the hooker murderer. The interrogation scenes between the killer and Dutch are still the best on the show.
A couple of the Julian and Danny subplots, including the fat white girl who keeps jumping back and forth between the two black boyfriends

Lowlights:
All around strong season, but Aceveda came off as wishy washy in the beginning (maybe on purpose) and then the actor or the character hit their strides. Vic's homelife in the beginning was a little forced, but it turned out to be interesting, specifically with his son's autism and how Vic was tortured by that. It would have been nice if the Gilroy subplot was built up over the course of a few episodes instead of coming up on us all of a sudden.

Grade: A

Season 2:
Starts with Vic investigating, stalking, injuring and being outsmarted by Armadillo to the point of almost turning himself in. Ends with the planning and execution of the money train heist. Also introduces Tayvon and establishes Ronnie as the red jumpsuit character of the strike team, something that would be changed in the future. Also shows the first signs of the strained relationship between Vic and Shane. Julian becomes a more three dimensional character, but his inner conflict gets a little obnoxious at times. Julian gets a blanket party after he's forced out of the closet by his former boyfriend. And Danni runs into a string of bad luck of Dukie proportions. We also see the origin of the barn and the "just this one time" corner cutting from the strike team that we are now really familiar with.

Highlights:
Mutha fuckin' Armadillo! If there was any way they could have made him a recurring bad guy for the next two seasons, I would have been ecstatic. That said, I loved the way they resolved the storyline. Perhaps one of the best resolutions in the series' run. Tayvon and Lem should have had their own dedicated episode. I bet these two could have cleaned up the streets on their own. Carl Weathers guest appearance as Vic's old partner showed our hero where he could end up. That role should have been recurring.
The money train heist could have been a mess, but the sheer balance of happiness vs. pure "what the fuck have we just done-ness" made it all worth it. By now, the show has hit its stride of taking the characters to the brink of disaster and pulling them back before it's too late. Ironically, you think they'll learn from their mistakes, but they don't.

Lowlights: Shane's racism comes and goes way too easily and it's kind of hard to believe his relationship with Vic, who won't ever be confused with the most liberal guy in the world, but is nowhere near the Shane redneckedness scale. Establishes Corrine as the whiniest character in the cast. You almost wish something bad would happen to her character just so we could escape her whining, and so you could see how Vic would react. Claudette comes off as a little too self righteous at times.
Overall grade: A-

Season 3:
Summary: Fallout from the money train starts to fray the strike team from the inside when it is revealed some of the money was marked by the feds. The decoy squad gives the strike team a run for its money. Aceveda is sexually assaulted by two gangbangers and gets revenge in a way only this show could come up with. Danni gets her job back and Claudette gets a boyfriend. Dutch goes up against the cuddler rapist, making the viewer wonder how many serial killers really live in southern California. Vic is also established of the biggest loverman on basic cable. Dude gets about 5 different pieces of random ass in this season, plus the women's shelter chick in season two and his on again/off again with Danni. Who knew women threw themselves at short, stocky bald white dudes that wear tight t-shirts?

Highlights: Nikki fuckin' Micheaux as Trish. Damn...just damn. Cat and mouse at its best with the strike team. Since I'm not finished re-watching this season, I'll have to add more stuff later.

Lowlights: Corrine Mackey, yet again. Vic's kids are also becoming old enough to become annoying. It's like his job is a vacation from the family. Seriously. Shane's racism, yet again, manifesting itself in the Tayvon situation. The introduction of Mara, who rivals Corrine as the worst character in the show's history. It's either a credit to the actress who played her that she is utterly unlikeable or the writers. I still can't figure out who. The decoy squad and Tayvon are established as formidable characters (Trish and Waylon, anyway) and then sent away just as we start to get to know them.
Grade: so far A-

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