The Wire/Sopranos/Shield - Which one is underrated?

Episode 5 of Season Six of "The Shield" (Haunts) was one of the best ever. Every night when I think about watching The Shield I think, oh yeah, another TV police drama, I kind of forget how really good it is - and I'm totally engrossed while watching. Honestly, this show earns comparisons with The Wire and the Sopranos, and gets overlooked because it's on network (much better to watch it on DVD and avoid the commercial breaks). I doesn't really have the depth of character and family relations of the Sopranos nor the subtle interplay among the rival police and gang factions of the The Wire - but within its tight (47 minute) time frame it creates a very solid drama with one extremely stong character, Vic Mackey/Chiklis. This episode again shows that Mackey, despite his violence and corruption, lives by a code; he goes with some rogue cops on a moonlighting freelance job to break up a drug ring, and he finds a line he won't cross - and punches out a sadistic excop. Meanwhile, Shane goes deeper than ever into his torment and guilt, gets beaten badly by the stepdad of the teenage girl he's been having sex with. His wife, whom we have seldom seen, learns of the affair, kicks him out of their house - but he comes back, bruised, addled, high on oxy, tearful, armed, suicidal, and has a very powerful scene in which he confesses - first time saying it aloud - that he killed Lem for fear that Lem would cut a deal and rat out his partners (Shane, Ronnie, Mackey) for past crimes. Great scene - but where does Shane go from here? How does he deal with this information that's now out in the open?