It’s sad to watch a television series slowly lose all of its luster and still keep going despite wearing out its welcome long ago. But if that show is on MTV, you shouldn’t expect anything else. The Hills started off hot and eventually overcame the show it spinned off from, Laguna Beach, in both ratings and quality reality TV. But something happened halfway through the run of The Hills. It became too scripted for reality television, so obviously it was scripted from the beginning. The first part of the fifth season is now on DVD and it marks the end of an era. One of the main stars departs, but that won’t stop MTV from seeing how many more episodes (seasons?) it can squeeze out of the series.
In The Hills, Lauren Conrad has moved to Los Angeles after graduating high school to attend fashion school where she would eventually get an internship with Teen Vogue magazine. Having shared an apartment with friend Heidi, the two friends become frienemies because Lauren didn’t like the guy, Spencer, Heidi was dating. Lauren quickly made new friends with Audrina, who Heidi actually knew first, and Whitney from Teen Vogue. As far as Lauren’s love life goes, she finally learned that Jason is not the guy for her and is now trying to stay out of the relationships of her friends.
In the first 10 episodes of season five, Lauren is still working at People’s Revolution, which means she has to deal with the bitchy founder of the company, Kelly Cutrone. She eventually hires Spencer’s sister, Stephanie, into the firm, but soon has to fire her since she is a total screw-up. Other than that, she and Heidi have a reunion of sorts to iron out their differences. But Heidi will never learn as she eventually marries Spencer at the end of this part of the season. That’s after Spencer flirts with a bartender, which causes them to go to couples’ therapy. Spencer tries to make things right with Lauren, Brody, and Heidi’s family in hopes to give Heidi the wedding of her dreams. But Lauren’s old friend Audrina gets the most face-time this season, since she will be the only one around next season. Audrina finally gets rid of Justin Bobby and starts to develop feelings for Brody. Unfortunately for her, Brody has finally decided to give up his womanizing ways and settle down in a serious relationship with the 2008 Playboy Playmate of the Year, Jayde Nicole.
The Hills has completely gone off the deep end by this point; you can’t believe anything that is going on. Everything seems set up for drama, and really knowing all of this makes the show less desirable. Every conversation and every action is predictable. Lauren has always been the one that seemed to be the most grounded in reality with everyone else around her just hoping to cash in on her fame. Whitney was an exception to this, but she is off starring in her own MTV show now, The City. Still, entertainment value can be had watching these clueless kids try to “act.”
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – Don’t Cry On Your Birthday
It’s Lauren’s birthday. Lo and Audrina throw a surprise party for her where Heidi makes a surprise visit.
Episode 2 – Everything Happens For A Reason
In the aftermath of Lauren’s birthday, Spencer calls Brody and Heidi goes to see her mother.
Episode 3 – I’m Done With You
Stephanie gets a big opportunity as Lauren’s boss invites her for a job interview.
Episode 4 – Crazy In Love
Stephanie runs into trouble at her new job. Meanwhile Audrina has a new love interest.
Episode 5 – I Always Had A Little Crush
The girls follow the boys to Hawaii where Audrina causes some relationship problems.
Episode 6 – Playmates Bring The Drama
Heidi argues with Stacie, while Brody has problems with his girlfriend.
Episode 7 – Keep Your Enemies Closer
Stephanie messes up during work, putting Lauren in a difficult position. Heidi talks to Stacie, again.
Episode 8 – Father of the Bride
Lauren has to fire Stephanie. Spencer has to deal with Heidi’s father.
Disc Two:
Episode 9 – Hi Lauren, It’s Spencer…
Stephanie tries to talk to Kelly, while Heidi tries everything to invite Lauren to her upcoming wedding.
Episode 10 – Something Old, Something New…
It’s Spencer’s and Heidi’s wedding. Plus everyone talks about their own situation. Lauren & Lo throw a party before they move out of the house. An unexpected guest shows up at the wedding. Holly misbehaves at the rehearsal. Lauren decides whether she will attend the wedding.
Video presentation is widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer is great with colors generally looking bright and vivid details everywhere. No major or minor problems at all here, and on par with previous seasons.
Only audio track we get is English 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English as well.
“Spiedi’s Wedding Unveiled” Special –
This runs 20 minutes and it’s a big fluffy featurette on Heidi and Spencer’s wedding, of course. You get to hear the cast talk about the wedding. More like mainly hear Spencer and Heidi hype it up and everyone else talking nonsense.
“Lauren’s Last After Show” –
This is the full 20 minute “After Show” that aired on MTV after the season finale. Lots of Lauren memories as you might expect. The most entertaining part is at the beginning with the “bye” montage.
Deleted Scenes –
There are 9 scenes that didn’t make the final cut of this season and they total 16 minutes. Nothing really that interesting, though.
Cast Interviews –
This totals 57 minutes and you get individual interviews with Lauren, Heidi and Audrina about certain moment during this half of the season. Short and sweet answers for the most part, but fans will certainly enjoy these in-depth looks into the minds of these women.
“After Show” Remixes –
These segments total 12 minutes. These are always funny. They take clips of the show and remix them into funny parodies almost.
Season 5 Photo Shoot –
This runs 4 minutes and it’s a behind-the-scenes look at the photo shoot the girls did to promote season 5.
You really have to numb your brain to watch this The Hills by this point. The good thing is that there are only 10 episodes here so you can say your final goodbyes to Lauren. Just set aside 10 months to watch this season, since you will probably fall asleep almost every minute.
Paramount/MTV Home Entertainment presents The Hills: Season Five Part 1. Created by Adam Divello. Starring Lauren Conrad, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, Whitney Port, and Spencer Pratt. Running time: 177 minutes. Rated: NOT RATED. Released on DVD: October 6, 2009.
Available at Amazon.com
