Customer Reviews

The Shield: Season Five

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Since this has been out for a while, and if you're researching season 5, hopefully you've already seen the 4 before it, I'll make it short.

I've seen every episode of The Shield, and the finale of this season is one of the best episodes of TV - of ANY show - that I've ever seen.

I think it's the second best season (second only to season 1) that this show has ever had.

If you're a fan of the show, what are you waiting for?

The Shield is a great series where you'll soon find yourself supporting the bad guys

I don't know why, but at least half of these reviews seem to be for the slightly inferior season 6, and are therefore full of spoilers which will totally ruin what is absolutely the most sunning moment of the entire series. Amazon should really do something about this, and soon. That being said, season 5 is the best season yet of the best, most realistic cop drama ever. (TV or film, only the early 80's film 'Prince Of The City' comes even remotely close.) The last 20 or so minutes of the finale are amongst the most powerful moments of television I have ever seen. Think of that awful phone call Mrs. Palmer gets in the piolt episode of "Twin Peaks", or later in that same series when poor Leland Palmer comes to realize exactly what he has done. Or maybe Sawyer & Juliet at the tail end of the season 5 finale of 'Lost' when the bomb blows. These were angst-filled, knife-twisting, gut-wrenching, heartbreaking dramatic scenes that were almost unbearable to watch. But while these type moments I've mentioned seem to last 3 to 5 minutes at most, the intensity and tension at the end of this "Shield' season 5 finale doesn't let up for at least a full 20 minutes. I have seen season 6 now and while it is a little inferior to any of the seasons before it, it does seem to set up a very intriguing seventh & final season. I can't wait to see it. It's the one show I NEVER know where its going. Ordered season 7 today. Can't wait to see where it takes us. I know it will be somewhere I never expected.

You have to watch this series from the begining to the end to really appreciate
the scope of the artistic writing that made this series so good to watch.
The main cast ensemble is superb, the guest heavy weight stars that later
came into the cast, such as Glenn Close as the police captain and then Forest Whitiker
as the Internal affairs officer plagued with ineptness due to the corrupt infuence
by the team of police he was investigating. This episode is great, but you have to
see all the ones before this episode to really appreciate this powerful drama.

This was one of the very best shows ever on TV. Great writing, acting and directing. While the Commentaries are interesting for fans of the show, you should watch all of the episodes first (and the deleted scenes) and then go back and watch the Commentaries for the episodes and the Delivering the Baby Featurete. There are major spoilers of later episodes in the earlier Commentaries of this Fifth Season in particular. There were some in Season 4 as well, and also Season 6, but not as bad as this Season. If you did not see the show on TV and are watching it for the first time of DVD, and you are going to watch the Commentaries, you will want to do it this way to enjoy the full effect of this Season. The Delivering the Baby Featurete appears on an early Disc and likewise gives away the major turn of events in a later episode. It should have at least been put on the end of the disc where the episode actually appeared, so you would logically watch it after the episode in question. This series held up very well upon re-viewing, with me having forgotten many of the elaborate details of the stories. Other than that one complaint, everything else about these Discs was excellent. Very clear, widescreen transfer and no annoying FX logo on the screen!

DVDs come in 2 slim dvd cases that are in a paper box, pretty straight forward. I'm not gonna comment on the show except to say that if you like cops, or drugs, or action, or whatever frankly it doesn't matter, go see this show it's great.

I own all seven seasons of The Shield; if you like the show, this was one of the better seasons.

Simply the best police series on TV and this season is certainly the best so far. The writers and the actors are pure talent here. Just amazing.

Season 6 was great, though frustratingly short. But it was clear from the start that it was the set-up for whatever the final season is going to bring. I will also say that Season 6 is MUCH better on the 2nd and 3rd viewings-- there are some great details, subtleties, and setups that I didn't catch the first time through. And there are the usual numbers of great 'Shield' moments.

This is a season that most people will not like, I think. However, it's nothing more then a setup for the final season. Season 6 was originally supposed to be tacked onto season 5, making it one long season with season 6 to be the last. However it was felt that season 5 was too long and FX wanted it broken up. Then they asked for another season after 6, and here we are.

It's still a great season with a lot to offer.