Homicide Life on the Street - The Complete Season 6

Rating:
Summary: The Apex of Homicide
Review: Homicide's sixth season is it's last great year before it slipped. Although the cracks begin to show in the armor during this season, the storytelling is still superb and the acting and characterizations, for the most part, are still at the top of their game. Unfortunately, there are a few exceptions that intrude upon this excellent ensemble cast.

Homicide veterans Frank Pembleton and Tim Bayliss return from a rotation in Robbery to see fresh squad members Laura Ballard (Callie Thorne), Stew Gharty (Peter Gerety) and Paul Falsone (Jon Seda), replacing the now departed Sgt. Kay Howard and Brodie. Gharty and Falsone are no strangers to the series, but Ballard is a completely new face. Pembleton knows this all too well and he has a hard time adjusting to the new blood when he is forced to work with Ballard and Gharty on a murder connected to a prominent Baltimore businessman ("Blood Ties.")

Meanwhile, Lewis and Kellerman are now at odds over the shooting of Luther Mahoney from the previous season and are no longer partners. Dark circumstances force them together again when a mysterious stalker begins taking shots at them as payback for Mahoney's death. They soon learn that Luther has a sister, Georgia Rae, who is unwilling to forgive Kellerman, Lewis and Terri Stivers for the deed. Rookie Falsone becomes suspicious of the shooting and squares off with Kellerman as he digs for the truth. The Mahoney ark lasts the entire season and culminates in an uncharacteristic, bloody squad room shoot-out in the explosive two-part finale, "Fallen Heroes." The massacre puts the Homicide unit at war with the Mahoney cartel, The end result being the serious injury of Bayliss and the departures of Pembleton and Kellerman from the unit. We also see M.E. Juliana Cox leave the series ("Lies and Other Truths") when she refuses to go along with a city cover-up of a car collision involving a drunk driver. Cox is replaced by Stivers (Toni Lewis) in Homicide as the only strong female left in the cast.

Some of our favorite characters undergo changes this year that show their inner complexities. Kellerman slowly transforms from an idealistic good cop to an angry, alcoholic renegade obsessed with bringing down Georgia Rae Mahoney. Bayliss struggles with his own sexual identity ("Closet Cases") and Pembleton deals with the birth of his second child ("Birthday.") But while these and other strong characters Munch and Giardello drive the series, it's tougher to like the new characters. Gharty seems to have changed from his previous wormy, cowardly ways with little explanation, and Ballard seems shallow and flaky when compared to other strong female characters like Kay Howard and Megan Russert. Falsone is the hardest one to take and is the least favorite character of the fans by far. He comes off as an egomaniacal, over-inflated punk who, unlike Pembleton, can't back up his arrogance with real substance. Despite these lesser characters, the better players carry the show through it's last great season and stand-out stories like "The Subway," "Something Sacred," and "Full Court Press," prove that the writers haven't lost their edge.

This box set contains the best special feature so far; the PBS full-length documentary, "Anatomy of a Homicide." This documentary goes behind the scenes and shows us the filming of the gripping episode, "The Subway." We also have actor and character biographies and two director's commentaries. "The Subway," is placed out of production order and even though it is largely a self-contained episode, it's still disappointing. We also have part two of another crossover with Law & Order, though this effort isn't nearly as good as the fourth season story. I commend A&E for again including the "previouslies," though I'm disappointed to see the music lists are again not included. Despite these flaws, its still a great package and well worth the price.

Episode List:

*Blood Ties 1 (Guest star James Earl Jones)
*Blood Ties 2
*Blood Ties 3
*The Subway (Guest star Vincent D'Onofrio)
*Baby, It's You (Guest stars Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston of Law & Order)
*Birthday
*Saigon Rose
*All is Bright
*Closet Cases (Guest star Peter Gallagher)
*Sins of the Father
*Shaggy Dog, City Goat (Guest star Steve Allen)
*Something Sacred 1
*Something Sacred 2
*Lies and Other Truths (Guest star John Glover)
*Pit Bull Sessions
*Mercy (Guest star Alfre Woodard)
*Abduction
*Full Court Press
*Strangled, Not Stirred
*Secrets
*Finnegan's Wake (Guest star Charles Durning)
*Fallen heroes 1
*Fallen heroes 2


Rating:
Summary: don't worry about extras
Review: I just want to say, don't worry about extras and widescreen this and that. Homicide was a tv series that once aired and now does not. Changes were made at the time to scripts and scenes etc. due to pressure from the network and cast changes - but what it all boiled down to was what aired, and those of us buying these dvd sets loved it and still do love it. All I want from the season 6 dvd is what I wanted and got from the first five: The episodes, as they aired, in the proper order. A commentary here and there is just a bonus. The first four seasons were best. Season five was fantastic, and the last season wasn't quite as good but was still the best show on television. Why fret over deleted scenes and widescreen? This collection will have the complete season six, that's what's important.

Rating:
Summary: Great, but....
Review: OK, this is hands down my most favorite television series of all time. And these DVD sets are great for my collection. But what I don't understand is why the episodes are out of order. "Subway" is not the 4th episode of the season, it's the 6th. A tell tale sign is when Frank is asked how many kids he has he says "two", not "one and one on the way". That's because "Subway" aired after "Birthday", the episode in which Mary gives birth to their son. I'm not, by any means saying not to buy this collection, it just bugs me.

Rating:
Summary: Season Six: Shakeups and Departures
Review: The penultimate season of "Homicide" finds Howard, Brodie, and Cox out of the picture with Gharty, Falsone, and Ballard joining the detectives. In my opinion, this is one of the best seasons of the show, featuring the oft-acclaimed "The Subway" episode and the conclusion to the Luther Mahoney arc that began in Season Four.

Episodes include:

Blood Ties, I, II, & III
Birthday
Baby, it's You (Part II; Part I is a "Law & Order" episode)
Saigon Rose
The Subway (with director's commentary)
All is Bright
Closet Cases
Sins of the Father
Shaggy Dog, City Goat
Something Sacred I & II
Lies & Other Truths
Pit Bull Sessions
Mercy
Abduction
Full Court Press
Strangled, Not Stirred
Secrets
Finnegan's Wake
Fallen Hero's I & II

This is a standout season, and with only one additional release to look forward to, this is the best way to remember a television show which will stand as a cultural icon for years to come.
Also on the release is "Anatomy of Homicide: A Life on the Street," a PBS documentary narrated by Richard Belzer that offers a great look into the making of the show. Though it was originally aired to coincide with Season Seven, this is a welcome addition to the set.
And, for those who are disappointed that the music listings are no longer a "special feature," visit http://members.aol.com/hlots98/episodes.html as it contains an episode-by-episode list of all songs.

Rating:
Summary: Here we go, though a little fast putting these sets out.
Review: Well here we go again.
I hope A&E actually took the viewers advice and actually put some thought and care into this new set.
I mean with all the dough we have to put out, it's only right.
And in this season Junior Bunk goes mad in the squad house shooting up the joint, now if anyone remembers in season 7 Baylis is remembering what happened and they show the scene of Junior Bunk in WIDESCREEN! So listen NBC and A&E, treat the show right we know you can make it WIDESCREEN so do it to it man!
And for craps sake, how about some damn DELEATED SCENES?
We know there are some, the actors even talked about some cut out for time.
And NBC even joined two episodes with new footage, so its there, just dig it up.
I must be the only kat who cares about this show.


Rating:
Summary: Nearly flawless season with exceptional extras
Review: While it's difficult to call Homicide: The Complete Sixth Season the best season of this Peabody Award winning series, it comes pretty darn close with a three episode story arc that ranks among the best and the classic episode The Subway featuring guest star Vincent D'Onofrio (Men in Black, Law and Order). Kellerman (Reed Diamond) exits this season amid allegations that his killing of a prominent drug lord wasn't "clean" and, ultimately, his colleagues turn away from him including his partner Lewis (Clark Johnson). The bloody shoot out of the grand finale ends the sixth season with a bang. While we once again have the departures of many cast members (including the superb Andre Braugher and Michelle Forbes) at the conclusion of this season, we also have many new and interesting characters introduced.

Like the previous sets, the sixth season looks very good on DVD. Keep in mind that this series was shot on 16 mm film and that the grainy look of the series was, indeed, intended. That said, A&E have done a marvelous job of transferring this classic series last great season to DVD. The sound has solid presence as well.

We get the full length PBS documentary Anatomy of a Homicide which highlights the making of the classic episode The Subway. One of the best stand-alone episodes the series produced, we get behind-the-scenes footage of the shooting, interviews with cast and crew members and a discussion of how the episode was structured. It's one of the best extras that A&E has licensed for this series.

There's a single commentary track but it's a great one; we get feedback from both director Gary Fleder and writer James Yoshimura on The Subway. Sure, there could have been more commentary tracks but what's provided (along with the documentary) makes this an outstanding set. I would have liked to have a commentary on the final episode of season six but clearly A&E stretched its marketing budget as far as it could to provide interesting extras for this season.

The last great and essential season of the series has two deluxe extras in the form of the full length documentary and commentary track on The Subway. The image and sound quality are truly exceptional given the source material and the packaging shows the great care A&E has shown on previous sets.