Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Most of the participants chime in with their reverence and awe toward Whitaker's process, with both Chiklis and costar Benito Martinez (Councilman David Aceveda) comparing his methodology and acting chops to those of a jazz musician. During the commentary for Episode 3, Chiklis specifically likens Whitaker to "Miles Davis strung out on heroin" - and that's spot-on. Chiklis also coins an interesting term for Whitaker's supposed-to-be-do-gooding character: "the antivillain." There are very few pauses throughout these chats, as actors such as Catherine Dent (Officer Danny Sofer), Walton Goggins (Detective Shane Vendrell), and Kenneth Johnson (Detective Curtis "Lemonhead" Lemansky) pick up the inquisitive slack to get (and keep) the ball rolling on fruitful topics that are of interest to both them and us. I've listened to enough commentaries by clearly disinterested actors to know that this ensemble truly cares about the show and how people react to it - and that's refreshing.

The only - repeat only - knock I have is the whiny "we shot this so long ago I don't remember" refrain at the outset of at least four of the commentaries - i.e., the ones led by writers and/or directors. Luckily, they're all eventually redeemed through the game efforts of the respective collectives, but frankly, folks, if you're not ready for the discourse, then don't bother showing up. The "13" of us who listen to every single commentary (as the always engaging Karnes jokes at one point) would appreciate it.

The fourth disc is full of tasty extras. Wins and Losses, a 15-minute prequel to Season 6 balances grief (nope, I'm still not giving away the details) with remembrances of good times past. This leads into a 90-minute documentary, Delivering the Baby (the code name for the season-ending event), in which all of the core creative team and main actors discuss their reactions to said event at length. It's hardly overkill. It's actually quite touching to see the genuine human response to what's happening as it happens, interspersed with fly-on-the-wall on-set views of actor/director/writer/creator interactions that help unlock the creative process.

The other extras here, including a delicate look at the passing of executive producer/codirector Scott Brazil, are gravy. So what's not to like? If you power through this superb box set, you'll be eager to jump into Season 6, which begins airing on FX April 3, and see why The Shield is truly TV's top drama. [NR] English, Dolby Surround; full frame (1:33:1); four dual-layer discs.

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