The Hills was once a great reality show that was an innovator in the “reality TV” game. But once record ratings hit things stopped being “real.” The Hills has turned into a leading “scripted reality” show, where every move and conversation is carefully calculated. The first half of season five featured the goodbye of Lauren Conrad. Now Lauren’s high-school enemy, Kristin Cavallari, is back on the scene to take over the lead of the second part of season five. Can you spice things up and bring The Hills back up in the quality department?
In the beginning The Hills followed the breakout star of MTV’s innovative and hugely popular reality series Laguna Beach, Lauren Conrad. Lauren moved to Los Angeles after graduating high school to attend fashion school and eventually got an internship with Teen Vogue magazine. She initially got an apartment with her friend Heidi Montag. However, since then they have ended their friendship because Lauren didn’t like the guy (Spencer Pratt) Heidi was dating. Lauren quickly made new friends with Audrina Patridge, whom Heidi actually knew first, and Whitney Pratt from Teen Vogue. We followed all of their lives and lived vicariously through with cameras watching their every move.
But by the time the second part of season five starts, a lot of things have changed as far as the cast goes. First, Lauren left the show after the Heidi and Spencer’s wedding episode, which ended the first part of season two. Whitney moved to New York City, and on with her new “spin-off” show, The City back at the end of season four. Taking Lauren’s place as the star central character, who also narrates the show, this part of the fifth season, is Lauren’s old nemesis from her Laguna Beach high-school days, Kristin Cavallari.
She immediately begins to flirt with Justin-Bobby, Audrina ex-boyfriend, which sets up the central conflict during this half of the season. Meanwhile, Brody Jenner is still with his Playmate girlfriend Jayde but he dated Kristin too; that won’t make Jayde happy either. Finally, Heidi and Spencer are moving to suburbia and living a happy married life but since this IS Heidi and Spencer; their “storybook wedding” isn’t all happy times. Of course, you also have Spencer’s sister Stephanie, Heidi’s sister, Holly and Lauren’s Laguna Beach best friend Lo hanging out as well.
Lauren has always been classified as a “good girl” and Kristin has always been the “bad girl”. So on paper it was a wise move to bring Kristin back. She was supposed to stir up more drama and make the show more “exciting”. The problem is that all of the drama is still obviously “scripted”. We can buy the fact that Kristin and Jayde might not get along, since she used to date Brody and Jayde is simply looking for camera time. But Kristin going after Justin Bobby just seems like an obvious attempt to create drama between Audrina and Kristin. Maybe they really don’t like each other away from the cameras, and this is just another way for Kristin to jab Audrina in the ribs. We will never truly know, because nothing seems real on this show anymore. This is especially true of all of the made up drama between Heidi and Spencer. It also doesn’t help that every conversation is shallow and predictable.
There are only a couple of reasons why you should watch part 2 of season 5. One is to watch Kristin shake things up and get on the nerves of everyone. Now that Lauren is gone, there is nobody left that is really likable. So watching everyone become annoyed with her is fun to watch. The other reason to watch is simply to laugh at these kids try to act, and try to make viewers believe they are “stars”. Unfortunately, Kristin doesn’t really make the show more entertaining overall. It’s fun to watch Kristin stir things up for a few minutes each episode, but after that it’s just a bunch of screaming, and in the end Kristin becomes just as annoying as the rest of them. But if you love stupid “scripted reality soap operas” with lots of girls cat fighting with each other, THIS is The Hills DVD set to watch.
Episodes:
Disc One:
Episode 1 – It’s On Bitch
Kristin stirs up trouble with the girls while she flirts with Justin Bobby. Spencer and Heidi go house hunting.
Episode 2 – Mess With Me, I Mess With You
Kristin and Stacie team up, but then there’s the talk with Audrina.
Episode 3 – Strike One
Justin doesn’t show up at Brody’s party and Audrina has a new target.
Episode 4 – Old Habits Die Hard
Justin tries to make up with Kristin. Heidi thinks something is wrong with Holly.
Episode 5 – Sorry Boo; Strike Two
Brody’s relationship is at risk. Justin plays games and so does Kristen. Holly faces an intervention.
Episode 6 – I’m Done With You
Kristin and Audrina finally meet. Justin is in trouble and Spencer has a surprise for Heidi.
Episode 7 – On to the Next!
Justin and Audrina are finally over. Spencer finds himself cornered with Heidi.
Disc Two:
Episode 8 – Can’t Always Get What You Want
Heidi wants to get pregnant no matter what, but Spencer doesn’t want to. Kristin and Jayde fight.
Episode 9 – Mr. Right Now
Kirstin and Justin meet in Las Vegas while Spencer uncovers Heidi’s dangerous plans of having a child.
Episode 10 – Boys of the Summer
Spencer confronts Heidi, while Justin keeps fighting for Kirstin and Brody freaks out when Jayde wants to move in.
The video is given in widescreen color with an 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.
The audio included is in English 2.0 Stereo sound. There are subtitles available in English as well. The dialogue and music come out loud and clear. No major problems here either, and the same good quality as previous seasons.
“The B*tch Is Back” Featurette –
This runs minutes and it’s a special to promote Kristen’s return to the show by talking to a couple people from Laguna Beach and eventually Kristen herself with interviewers and a studio audience.
Deleted Scenes
“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.
If you want to get a contrived and scripted look into the lives of “rich kids”, this set is a must-watch. Longtime fans of the show will probably be curious to see what Kristin brings to the show, so that’s worth a rental for them. But once you watch this one time, there is nothing left to see again. So not really “must-buy” material unless you must own everything from MTV.
Paramount/MTV Home Entertainment presents The Hills: Season Five, Part Two. Created by Adam Divello. Starring Kristin Cavallari, Heidi Montag, Audrina Patridge, Spencer Pratt, Brody Jenner, Lo Bosworth, Stephanie Pratt, and Holly Montag. Running time: minutes. Rated: NOT RATED. Released on DVD: April 27, 2010.
Available at Amazon.com.
