After getting a big shot in the arm from the addition of Glenn Close to the cast in season four, the fifth year of The Shield sees Forest Whitaker jump on board, playing a tireless Internal Affairs investigator who is determined to take down television's most loveable bad cop, Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis).

As the old saying goes, The Shield is like a fine wine: it gets better with age. Every season of the venerable police drama has managed to one-up the previous season, and this year is no exception.

Mackey has crossed the line so many times, it's a wonder he even knows where it is anymore. Despite several challenges from antagonists like his old captain David Aceveda or street kingpin Antwon Mitchell, Mackey has always been one step ahead of his pursuers, who would like nothing more than to see him pay for his laundry list of crimes. Season five gives Mackey a new, more potent adversary: Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh (Forest Whitaker), a relentless IAD cop who will pull out all the stops in order to bring Mackey to justice.

At the end of season four, Internal Affairs discovered that Lemonhead (Kenneth Johnson) had a brick of tar heroin in his car that he had taken as collateral from a drug dealer. Kavanaugh hopes to use Lem as a means of getting the other members of the Strike Team to confess to the murder of Terry Crowley, who was killed by Mackey in the show's inaugural season.

Season five opens on a high note with the episode "Extraction", where racial tensions boil over in a bloody high school shooting and subsequent street riot. This episode perfectly encapsulates what the show is all about: high-energy drama and multiple engrossing plotlines, topped off with some fine performances. The image of Mackey blasting a group of rioters with a firehose is vintage The Shield. Meanwhile, Claudette has a secret she doesn't want Dutch to know about, putting great strain on their work relationship. With Catherine Dent's real-life pregnancy, the writers relegated Danny's character to desk duty for most this year and gave Julien a new, Barbie-esque partner who can't seem to stay out of trouble.

As the season progresses, The Shield pounds out a number of highlight episodes. "Tapa Boca" features a taut, suspenseful scene where Mackey realizes that Emolia's loyalty may not be entirely genuine. In "Trophy", Kavanaugh plants a bug in the Strike Team clubhouse, and just when you think Kavanaugh has Mackey and his team dead to rights, the show pulls the rug out from under the viewer with a tremendously satisfying twist. The show's creator, Shawn Ryan, co-writes two of this year's best episodes. The first is "Kavanaugh", which sees the title character make an unholy pact with Mackey's old nemesis Antwon Mitchell. Finally, the special 105-minute season finale "Postpartum" brings everything to a stunning conclusion, in an emotional episode that long-time fans will agree is one of the series' best to date.

The Shield has always been blessed with an abundance of quality talent that brings the show to life. As Mackey, Michael Chiklis continues to infuse his character with a tough, no-nonsense demeanor that makes it easy for the audience to root for him. Even though his actions are often painfully immoral, namely when he bangs Kavanaugh's ex-wife or when he leaves a helpless gang member to bleed out after an invasion goes horribly wrong, the audience still wants to see how he'll get out of the jam. On the opposite side, Kavanaugh is easy to loathe, even though he may be a good, honest cop, he is willing to press anyone he can find to get to Mackey. Kenneth Johnson also turns in a superb performance this year as Lem, a character that for most of the season is left hanging like tackle on a fishing hook.

Hats off to the producers of this DVD box set. Once again, The Shield has a far greater collection of absorbing extra features than any other TV show out there. The fourth disc is where the bulk of the bonus material lies. The big-ticket item is the making-of documentary "Delivering the Baby." Featuring interviews with all the key members of the cast and crew, this is an insightful and informative 90-minute look at some of the season's biggest storylines. It is definitely a must-see for fans of the show. A 30-minute panel discussion with Chiklis, Ryan, and Whitaker is also a solid exploration of the events of this pivotal fifth season and where the show goes from here. A 10-minute featurette on Internal Affairs cops is also worth a look. Additionally, there is a short prequel of season six, and if that's not enough, there are commentaries from all the important players on every one of the eleven episodes.

All in all, season five of TV's most addictive and unpredictable police drama is arguably the finest the series has produced thus far. The only real criticism is that there are only eleven episodes, down from the usual thirteen of years past. Even so, each episode moves at a frantic pace, and the action unfolds like a series of punches to the gut that will leave the viewer breathless. This time, Mackey has met his match in the form of the ruthless IAD detective Kavanaugh, and the show grows increasingly tense as the walls begin to close in on Mackey and the Strike Team. Fans of The Shield should not hesitate to snap up this phenomenal fifth season.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD