Product Description

As the Strike Team battles racial tensions in the city, friction inside the Barn escalates with the arrival of Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker), a dogged Internal Affairs cop obsessed with taking down Vic Mackey, squeezing Vic's ex-wife, Corrine, to do it. In the midst of this chaos, Dutch and Claudette's work relationship grows strained, Danny refuses to reveal the of her baby and Julien struggles with a new attractive, rookie partner.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27695 in DVD
• Brand: SHIELD
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Dubbed in: English

Amazon.com
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

Customer Reviews

Shattering...
...is about the only way to describe the way the first part of season five of 'The Shield' ends. It's the hallmark of a truly terrific series that events from its very first episode (like, the first episode of season ONE) form the basis of the entire fifth season.

Detective Vic Mackey's original sin -- to keep it hushed for those not in the know -- comes back to haunt the entire Strike Team in the fifth season, while strings from seasons past (The Incident with Aceveda, Mackey and Danny's tryst, etc., etc.) are all pulled taut to make the entire season tense with ugly possibilities, the ugliest of which comes at the end.

Forest Whitaker is a commanding presence as Internal Affairs Lieutenant John Kavannaugh, a seemingly-dedicated member of the rat squad who SHOULD be perceived as the hero in this piece. But of course, we've all come to love Vic Mackey so much that we're actually rooting for Kavannaugh to fail (again, another impressive accomplishment for a series in which the hero is actually a less-evil villain). Kavannaugh's merciless pursuit of Mackey, along with a too-eager-to-deal-for-the-truth attitude that leads him to bargain with season four übervillain Antwon Mitchell, spells tragedy for a lot of characters.

For someone like me, who is familiar with 'The Shield's entire run, this was an immensely satisfying, if painful, season. It brought in elements from seasons past, with a firm eye toward the (uncertain) future.

Killer scenes: 1) Kavannaugh's undercover 'sting' on the Strike team, 2) Kavannaugh being reduced to animalistic rage after making a crucial mistake, 3) Kavannaugh interrogating Mackey's wife (like I said, Forest Whitaker is a helluva presence), and 4) Mackey's late-season interactions with Antwon Mitchell (Anthony Anderson still gets maaaad props for being possibly the scariest L.A. gangbanger since Tookie Williams).

Start at the beginning, but once you do, you'll be fiendishly anxious to get to season five.

What goes around comes around
Sometimes TV shows let you down after they've built up the tension, that is not the case here. Everything that came before in the Shield series built up to the events of this season. All the characters start to reap what they've sown for the past 4 years and it doesn't disappoint, although it will twist your heart.

In real life, Forest Whitaker's Kavanaugh would be my hero, because I know the Strike Team members deserve what's coming to them, but as a Shield and ST fan I mostly don't want them to get it now. One minute they're behind, the next minute ahead, but Kavanaugh is a pit bull who won't let go so the tug of war goes back and forth the whole season. The storylines for the rest of the cast weren't as meaty this year but still complemented the season and built on their history as well. The shoe was on the other foot for Julian who was training officer for bumbling newcomer Tina, while Billings is an inept acting Captain. Catherine Dent was pregnant so Danny was too, but you'll have to wait until the last show to meet the father. Terry's death haunts both Vic and Aceveda again, while Claudette finally gets her due. Ally Walker was a notable guest star in an episode that had her working with Jay Karnes' character Dutch which was kind of cute because Ally Walker starred as Samantha Waters for 3 seasons on "Profiler" and Dutch tries to be "the great serial killer profiler" as Claudette once put it. (Although Walker's character on The Shield was neither cop nor FBI agent.) Jay Karnes' Dutch did have an interesting twist when he decides to take a cue from a pimp in his approach towards newcomer Tina. His is one character who has many unexplored dimensions; he has the psyche of a serial killer who has chosen to be a good person instead, and if I could bend Ryan's ear I would do my best to get him to explore that more frequently.

The line up of extras and commentaries looks pretty good on this set. It's disappointing when there are big plot points and there's either no commentary for that show or if there is one the key actors/writers involved in that show aren't involved in its commentary, such as the show "Cut Throat" during season 4 when Shane goes to Vic for help and Vic goes to meet him alone even though he knows Shane agreed to kill him for Antwon. Neither Chiklis nor Goggins was involved in the "Cut Throat" commentary. I see that Walt Goggins, Kenny Johnson, and Shawn Ryan are slated to do the commentary on the last show of the season: "Postpartum." Ryan is very good at leading the commentaries but it's too bad Adam Fierro isn't involved in it since he was that show's writer. Still, that one should be interesting, and personally I think it's the first thing I'll watch when I get this set.

This show has been Emmy snubbed like you won't believe, although the Golden Globes have treated them a little better. Walt Goggins and Benito Martinez have each had several performances that deserved Emmy nominations, if not the award. Chiklis deserves more than one Emmy for his performance on this show while Glenn Close, who I consider to be a bench-mark actress, should have won for her role. Jay Karnes has had performances that should not only have been nominated but should have won the Emmy, not to mention Forest Whitaker's tremendous performance as Kavanaugh. My suspicion is that the show is a little hard core for the Emmy panels and that it's hard to accept a show that presents but doesn't automatically punish bad behavior, including racism. My only complaint with this show is the shortness of its seasons. I'll miss it when it's gone.

Unrelenting, intelligent writing
This season is going in my DVD collection instantly.

One of the aspects I began noticing while watching this season was how the writers are showing us in each consecutive season how captians and people with authority handle Vic, and what it will actually take to get him.

When Aceveda was running the barn, he wanted to bring Vic down because Vic was a bad cop, but also because he wanted to help himself. That also meant he didn't mind helping himself to Vic's methods (used Vic) when it suited him. He couldn't get the job done, because he lacked personal integrity.

Rawlings had the integrity, but she believed in a second chance for all. She would have eventually got Vic, but unfortunately, her integrity got her canned while Vic's second chance clock was winding down.

Billings? Forget about it, he just wants cruise control for himself. Kavanaugh is a bull dog who wont stop, and will use any means necessary, even if it means he has to break certain moral codes. But he is not in charge of Vic directly, so it resorts to a battle of wits in season 5, and it was very exciting. Looks like it will ramp up even more in season 6. But .. can Kavanaugh bring down Vic the wrong way? I don't know. Vic is too smart. Anything Kavanaugh does "wrong", is an opportunity for Vic to use that against him. Kavanaugh almost has to sacrifice his own career to take Vic down ... and is he willing to do that? Is he willing to do MORE than that?

Enter Claudette. We know her. She has fierce integrity, and she is directly in charge of Vic now. I think she is way beyond giving him a second chance. Vic could be in trouble. How will Claudette react the first time she considers using the wrong kind of shortcut and knows Vic is the guy to get it done? Will she give in or hold on to her integrity? And if she doesn't, what will that force Dutch into doing? He, after all ... is assigned to get to the bottom of events this season (and ultimately the first season). WooHoo!

It is this kind of ever changing dynamic betwee a bad cop and the captain that makes this show so great for me year after year. The writers don't just stick with the original formula.