The Shield - Season 5 [2005]

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk

Shane... oh, Shane... what have you done? "Conscience is a killer" is the catchphrase that made season 5 of The Shield the most intense season of the series to date. These 11 tightly scripted episodes comprise the first half of a 21-episode arc, with series creator Shawn Ryan referring to the sixth season (broadcast in 2007) as "Season 5.1." This is The Shield at its finest, culminating in a climactic 11th episode ("Postpartum") that ricochets the series toward a complex range of dramatic complications. Jumping the shark? Not a chance, pal--not when you've got soon-to-be Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker in his outstanding guest-star role as Det. John Kavanaugh, the upright, tormented Internal Affairs cop determined to destroy Det. Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis) and his corrupt LAPD Strike Team. As Kavanaugh mounts an obsessive campaign to reveal Mackey's shameful secrets, conscience is a killer in the Strike Team's midst: Ronnie (David Rees Snell) maintains a stoical voice of reason, but as Mackey recruits (and seduces) a savvy lawyer (Laura Harring) to defend against Kavanaugh's harassment, Curtis "Lemonhead" Lemansky (Kenneth Johnson, never better) desperately protects the Strike Team with a sacrificial gambit that provokes Shane (Walton Goggins) to commit a crime that's both shockingly tragic and dramatically ingenious, since it forcefully propels The Shield toward a bold and unpredictable future.

Supporting-character arcs are equally fresh and involving: Officer Danny Sofer (Catherine Dent) is eight months pregnant with Mackey's child; Wyms (CCH Pounder) struggles with a disabling case of lupus before assuming Captaincy of "The Barn"; Dutch (Jay Karnes) is reluctantly teamed with the ethically challenged ex-Captain Billings (David Marciano), leading to a perfect blend of comic relief; and while Aceveda (Benito Martinez) is frantically wedged between Mackey and Kavanaugh, beat-cop Julien (Michael Jace) copes with an eager but incompetent rookie (Paula Garces) who benefits from Dutch's self-serving mentorship. And while season 5 dishes up plenty of crime-fighting action, it's Kavanaugh's presence (and Whitaker's offbeat, intimidating performance) that keeps these 11 episodes focused with laser-like intensity. (Kudos also to Cathy Cahlin Ryan for her superb work as Mackey's anguished but cool-headed wife.)

As usual with The Shield, the DVD bonus features are outstanding, emphasizing the series' cast and crew as a close-knit family, deeply affected by the departure of a major cast member and the death (on April 17, 2006, from complications of Lyme Disease and Lou Gehrig's Disease) of veteran director/producer Scott Brazil, whose contributions to The Shield were nothing less than essential. Beloved by all, Brazil is honored with a memorial featurette, and the powerful 88-minute documentary "Delivering the Baby: The Making of Episode 511" intimately chronicles the production of "Postpartum" and its emotional impact on everyone involved. Audio commentaries for all 11 episodes add to the series' rich familial history (these rank among the best TV-related DVD commentaries ever), and the "TV Academy Panel" is a well-moderated Q&A (by Entertainment Weekly reporter Lynnette Rice) with Chiklis, Ryan, and Whitaker. In the "I.A.D." featurette, The Shield's police consultants analyze Whitaker's character and the essential role of the Internal Affairs Division, and a wealth of deleted scenes prove, yet again, that The Shield maintains its excellence even on the cutting-room floor. No doubt about it, season 5 will leave you begging for season 6. --Jeff Shannon

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-10-29 rating:
Truly quality television!
This installment to The Shield saga is just as good as the others have been. Right away you are introduced to the IAD rat Kavanaugh, who is only as brilliant as he is detestable, and unsurprisingly excellently portrayed by Forest Whitaker. Kavanaugh relentlessly pursues the Strike team for their numerous misgivings throughout the previous four seasons. Vic, Shane, Lem and Ronnie seem to have put all differences behind them at the start of the series, but as Kavanaugh sinks his teeth into every potential lead, the team suffers, and the always loveable Lemanski is exposed. All the shocks, squirms and grit are still there as you would expect from this masterfully written and shot series, and the story gets stronger as it lurches towards its devestating conclusion. I defy anybody not to enjoy the Shield - buy now!
I never saw the originally aired final episode and cannot comment on the ommissions, however I do not feel the season is left hanging from the released version.

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review by: Brian S date: 2008-10-22 rating:
Well developed plot
OK, I know people are criticising the fact that the last episode was cut. That's been said enough, so I'll leave that behind.

One of the things I like about this series is that they are quite clever in how they develop the plot. Occurrences from Series past are brought back into the fray, and it all fits together well. No "dead characters being brought back to life" in the Shield!

A good Series in a good show. Keep 'em coming!

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review by: date: 2008-10-14 rating:
Just Keeps Getting Better
This is essential viewing... If you're already a "Shield" Fan you want need me to tell you how fantastic this series is... For me, Season 5 is the best yet... I've ordered season 6, can't wait to get stuck into that!

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review by: GJK date: 2008-06-30 rating:
The Shield - Season 5 - More nail biting
I don't think I need to add anything that hasn't already been written on here.
Fantastic series, wife and I are well and truly hooked and will be lacking sleep for the nest few days!!!


review by: almighty date: 2008-06-04 rating:
THE BEST AND MOST SUSPENSEFUL SEASON
Season 5 is THE ABSOLUTE BEST and most suspenseful season so far. What I was missing in seasons 3 & 4 was the impact the first 2 seasons had, the constant threat, the Strike Team was being attacked from all angles, I was unable to go to bed, I HAD to watch the entire season in one day. Season 5 brings these feelings back big time, EVEN STRONGER. Forest Whitaker becomes Michael Chiklis's toughest enemy and the duel between the two of them alone makes this season stand out from all previous seasons even from ANYTHING BEEN FILMED BEFORE. One moment Whitaker has the upper hand, the other Chiklis turns it around. All I can say, it is almost impossible to take a break and go to the bathroom - it's so exciting! And that is more than I can say about most movies that are being released nowadays!
Some have complained the season is too short, and with only 11 episodes it is the shortest in the series. But from the first episode EXTRACTION till the last POST PARTUM there is not a single second of boredom. Unlike other series you won't find episodes that don't advance the story and are just made to fill up the total number of episodes. This is pure adrenaline pumping suspense every single second and the best in film making I have ever seen.
TO THE CUTS:
Compared to the US version there are quite a few scenes cut out, and dialogues shortened, which is unpleasant, but I CAN SAY NOTHING CRUCIAL I MISSING. THERE ARE NO LOGIC GAPS. I guess this is the original US TV version which aired. Although it is an audacity to sell the box as "complete", it is no reason though to give the film a bad rating. SEASONS 2 & 3 WERE ALSO CUT (Amadillo being tortured and Acaveda's rape scene) but nobody went on a rampage about that.

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