Season 5
The Shield
The Shield's suspenseful fifth season introduces a worthy foe for Vic Mackey in the form of internal affairs investigator Jon Kavanaugh, played with marvelously agitated energy by Forest Whitaker.
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Critic Ratings: 1297%
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User Ratings: 38You might also like
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Oof, that was Rotten.
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Episodes
A race war breaks out between blacks and Mexicans. Plus, a tax-increase ballot initiative fails, meaning cutbacks. One victim (in four months) is Vic, who also has the new IAD investigator (Forest Whitaker) out to get him. "When he jumps dirty, we'll know," investigator Kavanaugh tells Aceveda. The reason: a plant inside the Strike Team.
While the Strike Team goes after a thug named Doomsday, who is suspected of a triple murder, Kavanaugh is squeezing Lem to implicate Vic in the Terry Crowley killing. Meanwhile, Dutch and Claudette suspect a minister with a wandering eye of attempting to kill the alcoholic husband of a parishioner he has his eye on; and Julien has serious doubts about whether the rookie Tina will make the grade.
Vic finally meets Kavanaugh, but first the Strike Team begins to develop a strategy to counter the IAD probe. Meanwhile, Tina goes undercover to nab a sex-trafficking ring; and friction between Claudette and Dutch deepens when she sides with defense lawyer Becca Doyle (Laura Harring) in a high-school shooting case the two detectives had worked on.
Vic asks lawyer Becca Doyle to represent him -- and the rest of the Strike Team -- in the Kavanaugh investigation. "We're family," he tells her. Vic also comes to doubt the loyalty of Emolia (Onahoua Rodriguez) and questions her about it. Meanwhile, Corinne confronts Kavanaugh about who he is and what he's doing; Tina makes yet another rookie mistake; and Dutch grows increasingly concerned about Claudette's health as the two probe a grisly case involving a dead pregnant woman.
Illegal prescription drugs are killing people in Farmington, and the Strike Team probes the case in a way that draws in Kavanaugh, who's following the goings-on via a bug in the Team's clubhouse. Kavanaugh also learns that Vic knows about Lem's wire. Meanwhile, Becca Doyle fills Vic in on the background of the IAD probe. Dutch and Claudette investigate the case of a young illegal alien who jumped out of a moving car.
Kavanaugh sets up operations at the Barn---in Billings' office. On the street, the Strike Team is preoccupied with gang violence involving a white drug dealer. Meanwhile, a bloody shirt reopens a cold case for Claudette and Dutch, and Tina learns something about Julien that he certainly doesn't want her to know. Michael Chiklis directed.
While an ever weakening Claudette continues to interrogate murder suspect Kleavon Gardner (Ray Campbell), the Strike Team joins forces with a citywide task-force chief to probe the murder of a meth dealer's girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, Vic tells Becca about the $65,000 he gave Corinne; Kavanaugh questions Gardocki; and Aceveda offers Lem a deal. Fox football analyst Jimmy Johnson has a cameo as a prisoner.
Vic enlists Emolia -- with Kavanaugh's grudging assent -- to infiltrate a Salvadoran gang that has grenades in its arsenal. Meanwhile, Kavanaugh tries to enlist the imprisoned Antwon Mitchell (Anthony Anderson) to rat out Vic. And Dutch offers information about Vic to Kavanaugh, who also has a criminal matter involving his ex-wife (Gina Torres) to worry about. Dutch is involved with that, too.
Lem's in jail, and the Strike Team can't bail him out because Kavanaugh has had their assets (and Corinne's) frozen. Kavanaugh also engineers a confrontation between Vic and Terry Crowley's brother. Elsewhere, Aceveda confronts Kavanaugh; Claudette, who's back at work, investigates the murder of a man whose body was found in a Dumpster; and Tina makes yet another mistake.
Lem's out on bail and tells the Team he's taking a deal from the DA, while Vic, who's worried about Lem's safety in prison, makes a deal with Antwon. Of course, it's a deal with the Devil. Vic also has an encounter with Sadie Kavanaugh. Meanwhile, the avenging rattrap finds another victim; and Claudette gives the assistant chief (Nigel Gibbs) an earful when he confines her to desk duty.
The Shield: Season 5 Photos
Tv Season Info
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Genre:Drama
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Network:FX
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Premiere Date:Jan 10, 2006
Cast & Crew

Det. Holland " Dutch" Wagenbach

Tina Hanlon

Curtis Lemansky

Leon Frankel
Episodes
A race war breaks out between blacks and Mexicans. Plus, a tax-increase ballot initiative fails, meaning cutbacks. One victim (in four months) is Vic, who also has the new IAD investigator (Forest Whitaker) out to get him. "When he jumps dirty, we'll know," investigator Kavanaugh tells Aceveda. The reason: a plant inside the Strike Team.
While the Strike Team goes after a thug named Doomsday, who is suspected of a triple murder, Kavanaugh is squeezing Lem to implicate Vic in the Terry Crowley killing. Meanwhile, Dutch and Claudette suspect a minister with a wandering eye of attempting to kill the alcoholic husband of a parishioner he has his eye on; and Julien has serious doubts about whether the rookie Tina will make the grade.
Vic finally meets Kavanaugh, but first the Strike Team begins to develop a strategy to counter the IAD probe. Meanwhile, Tina goes undercover to nab a sex-trafficking ring; and friction between Claudette and Dutch deepens when she sides with defense lawyer Becca Doyle (Laura Harring) in a high-school shooting case the two detectives had worked on.
Vic asks lawyer Becca Doyle to represent him -- and the rest of the Strike Team -- in the Kavanaugh investigation. "We're family," he tells her. Vic also comes to doubt the loyalty of Emolia (Onahoua Rodriguez) and questions her about it. Meanwhile, Corinne confronts Kavanaugh about who he is and what he's doing; Tina makes yet another rookie mistake; and Dutch grows increasingly concerned about Claudette's health as the two probe a grisly case involving a dead pregnant woman.
Illegal prescription drugs are killing people in Farmington, and the Strike Team probes the case in a way that draws in Kavanaugh, who's following the goings-on via a bug in the Team's clubhouse. Kavanaugh also learns that Vic knows about Lem's wire. Meanwhile, Becca Doyle fills Vic in on the background of the IAD probe. Dutch and Claudette investigate the case of a young illegal alien who jumped out of a moving car.
Kavanaugh sets up operations at the Barn---in Billings' office. On the street, the Strike Team is preoccupied with gang violence involving a white drug dealer. Meanwhile, a bloody shirt reopens a cold case for Claudette and Dutch, and Tina learns something about Julien that he certainly doesn't want her to know. Michael Chiklis directed.
While an ever weakening Claudette continues to interrogate murder suspect Kleavon Gardner (Ray Campbell), the Strike Team joins forces with a citywide task-force chief to probe the murder of a meth dealer's girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, Vic tells Becca about the $65,000 he gave Corinne; Kavanaugh questions Gardocki; and Aceveda offers Lem a deal. Fox football analyst Jimmy Johnson has a cameo as a prisoner.
Vic enlists Emolia -- with Kavanaugh's grudging assent -- to infiltrate a Salvadoran gang that has grenades in its arsenal. Meanwhile, Kavanaugh tries to enlist the imprisoned Antwon Mitchell (Anthony Anderson) to rat out Vic. And Dutch offers information about Vic to Kavanaugh, who also has a criminal matter involving his ex-wife (Gina Torres) to worry about. Dutch is involved with that, too.
Lem's in jail, and the Strike Team can't bail him out because Kavanaugh has had their assets (and Corinne's) frozen. Kavanaugh also engineers a confrontation between Vic and Terry Crowley's brother. Elsewhere, Aceveda confronts Kavanaugh; Claudette, who's back at work, investigates the murder of a man whose body was found in a Dumpster; and Tina makes yet another mistake.
Lem's out on bail and tells the Team he's taking a deal from the DA, while Vic, who's worried about Lem's safety in prison, makes a deal with Antwon. Of course, it's a deal with the Devil. Vic also has an encounter with Sadie Kavanaugh. Meanwhile, the avenging rattrap finds another victim; and Claudette gives the assistant chief (Nigel Gibbs) an earful when he confines her to desk duty.
Critic Reviews for The Shield Season 5
All Critics (12) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (0)
The network's longest-running series seems to have mastered the art of casting worthy opponents for the complex protagonist.
When you watch [the season 5 finale] "Postpartum" as the emotional climax of a five-year story like a normal person, you see how much is contained in that final act.
With writing and acting this outstanding, it wouldn't be wrong to hope that Vic slithers out of trouble again to give us more of The Shield's gripping, morally complex drama.
Television's most compelling cop serial has figured out a way to make up for the loss of Glenn Close and Anthony Anderson.
Thanks in part to an Emmy Award-worthy performance by season guest star Forest Whitaker, not to mention the death of a fan favorite, the fifth season of "The Shield" is one of the best yet.
In its fifth season, the show is truly better then ever. The noose has been tightening on Vic Mackey and his Strike Team for awhile now, and the tragic but inevitable results are now coming forth in a big way.
The end of the Strike Team has always been a likely outcome for this series inspired in part by the Ramparts scandal. The trick is, it makes you feel so uneasy. How did these bullies and punks come to be the heroes?
In addition to the overarching story of Vic being investigated by the department, episodes are as tense and exciting as ever.
The fifth season of [The Shield] showcased some of the most thoughtful and dramatic acting and storytelling of the year, all the while keeping us on our toes anticipating what would come next.
The fifth season gets off to a good start-gnarly, cranky and muscular-for those ethically loosey-goosey policemen of the Barn.
Sign me up for whatever comes next!
If this isn't the last season for The Shield, I fear that the Wile E. Coyote-Road Runner routine that pits Aceveda (Benito Martinez) and Kava-naugh against Mackey will start to grow stale.
Audience Reviews for The Shield: Season 5
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Jan 23, 2021The best Crooked cop, cop series period, ever on television
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Jan 19, 2021Forest Whitaker fits just right in
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