With just one week until The Closer Season 6 premiere, here’s your look at what’s on The Closer The Complete Fifth Season DVD.

Release Date: June 29, 2010
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 660 minutes

At work, L.A. Deputy Chief Brenda Johnson is a woman in charge. Got a suspect to grill, a case to crack, a murderer about to walk? Call Brenda in and watch the fireworks. But at home…well, that’s another story. Kyra Sedgwick headlines a sizzling 4-Disc, 15-Episode Season 5 of the series that combines heart, humor and homicide into a show that’s equally compelling as a police procedural and a personal drama. As a cop, Brenda takes on everything from a corpse that comes COD to a serial killer to Sharon Raydor, an internal affairs officer as tough as she is. As a civilian, Brenda loses one family member (’bye, Kitty) and gains another: her surly niece Charlie. Brenda can outsmart, outmaneuver and out a killer. But can she handle a teenager?

Not having seen any previous seasons of The Closer in their entirety, I am thrilled to own The Closer The Complete Fifth Season on DVD. This season, which consists of 15 episodes is an incredibly engaging drama and much more entertaining than I had anticipated. I had expected a quite a thrill, got that but also found there to be a bit of comedic edge from the entire cast. The chemistry amongst the cast is strong, though the main and supporting casts are underplayed as the focus is mainly on Kyra Sedgwick. It’s all about how Brenda solves the cases…and it works so well, has been for 5 seasons. What also works incredibly well is the short term addition of Sedgwick’s real life daughter, Sosie Bacon who plays Brenda’s niece and arrives at Brenda’s home because of her behavioral issues.

Aside from the passing of Brenda’s pet and the arrival of Brenda’s niece, there aren’t any compelling personal plot points for Brenda. Brenda seems to have a relationship with her husband that is convenient at this point, as he works for the FBI so the two both work in the law and have crazy work schedules. While nothing may seem to be wrong with a relationship that is convenient, there is something wrong if both parties in the relationship are not on the same page about this decision. Although the fact that her husband shares his concerns through anger out of left field makes this story line quite rushed. Half way through the season, there should have been more noticeable disconnect between the two, anger, and concern coming from Brenda’s husband…this should not have come in at the season finale.

Aside from the personal, this is a fabulous police procedural that has a very creative writing team heading the cases. What I love about TNT and didn’t realize that I loved so much until I saw The Closer is that this channel not only knows drama but knows how to portray the unconventional so well. I can see why people have called The Closer one of the best shows on television.

Bonus Features:
The Police Files: Unaired Scenes appear on discs one and three. Disc one (4:19 minutes) includes deleted scenes from episode 501 Scene 22, 501 Scene 46-47, 501 Scene 50 and episode 502 Scene 36. All of these deleted scenes are worth the watch and add something fun or intriguing to their respected episodes. Its scenes like these that are deleted that will make you slightly disappointed that there wasn’t enough time to include them. That can’t really be said for the deleted scenes on disc three (3:21 minutes). This disc includes deleted scenes from 509 scene 8, 510 scene 19-20, and 512 scene 4. 2 of these scenes were fun but pointless and one of the scenes would have taken the episode in a different direction (which I was pleased to know that it did not in the end). So if there are any must see deleted scenes, it would be the scenes on disc one.

Seen at the Crime – There are 15 items shown as a list that viewers can choose to watch. Each item represents a behind the scenes feature for all 15 episodes. Alongside the list is a map of where the moments that are discussed from each episode were filmed. Each feature last 3 – 6 minutes long. Executive Producer, James Duff and crew discuss the many different elements involved in the production of every episode. Talking points include the technical and realistic standpoints from page to screen, location scouting (“Elysian Fields” had a very specific look), set decoration, Beau Bridges as a guest star, ending the season, and more. There are some interesting facts people will pick up, including how West Hollywood is not so friendly and is quite expensive when it comes to filming. Something that was said and is a very important aspect of the show is how The Closer attempts to stay away from showing direct violence and instead shows the consequences of violence. The goal is to not glamorize violence, which Hollywood is generally so keen on doing. So that was a significant talking point, as it makes you think to realize and appreciate all of the realistic aspects of this show. If you are a big fan of the show, watching all 15 features would be fun, though as a time saver…I would suggest watching the behind the scene bits from your favorite episodes.

Gag Reel (5:51) – This gag reel is full of dancing, laughing, odd faces, the actors messing up their lines, missing marks, and prop issues. There was a nice variety in what was shown as opposed to almost 6 minutes of just seeing the cast having issues with their lines. So there is something to really enjoy here.

Own The Closer The Complete Fifth Season on DVD and Seasons 1 – 5 in HD exclusively for Download & on iTunes today.