I read this part of 'ask afterelton' with some interest, because I too am a fan of The Shield, and was very interested in Julien's storyline. I too thought that the resolution with Julien marrying a member of his church, and his behaviour after that showed that Julien had made a mistake and that his church could not "cure" him (urgh, even typing that out made me feel queasy).

However, a short web interview with the actor, Michael Jace, gave me a different impression. When he was asked about the very same issue (I think it was for a Shield fansite/blog), both the interviewers and I myself as a reader were quite shocked when he reacted with anger to the above query: ie, this whole conversion therapy is just a racket and a scam, and when will Julien finally accept himself as gay.  In between statements about how not everyone is the same, and how people can't judge conversion therapy because it has worked in the past (? when?!), his anger and disgust was clear to perceive. The interviewer backed off, saddened.

I have my theory, which I'm going to inflict on you (sorry!). When The Shield recruited Michael Jace for Julien, he either wasn't told he would be playing a closeted gay cop, or he assumed that everyone thought the way he did about the 'gay lifestyle choice' (yes, I believe he used the 'l' word). Then, once he realised where the show was going with his character, he dug in his heels and said he would either be 'cured', or he'd leave. Why, IMO, is why we've hardly seen Julien after his marriage, except when he has to be kindly mentor to the other token character - yes, The Shield truly has skanky gender issues (why do I still love it! Why!).

Unless Jace has changed his mind, I don't think there will be any important storyline for him. Yes, the producers could fire him, but then they'd get stick from the viewers - gay focus groups would accuse them of homophobia (great, kill off the gay guy), race focus groups would accuse them of racism, especially after the way Tavon (sp?) was written off, etc. The best way, for them, is to give him a line or two in each ep, and never show his 'wife' or 'family' again. Which is what they've been doing since the painful looking 'I can has sex with lady?' scene.

I will be very surprised if there's a good storyline for Julien next season. I'd be happy, but I'm not holding my breath. Note to casting: When choosing actors to play gay/bi, find people who are not averse to doing so: eg Micheal K. Williams, Gareth David-Lloyd, are just two examples. There are many more!

Sorry about the length of the post!