My friend Lisa used to throw Melrose Place viewing parties at her apartment. After the weekly cliffhanger, we’d meander down to the nearby bars for a late night of shock sharing and predictions about what the tenants would do next. it helped make the show a little more social. This was the ’90s when young adults enjoyed gathering instead of merely texting or Skyping from remote locations to “share” the experience. The primetime soap opera about young adults in Hollywood was a great guilty pleasure to get the night started right. Over time the parties changed as people moved out of the area and new folks arrived. This mirrored in the series as regulars moved out of the apartment complex while new characters signed leases that seemed to be month by month deals. If you skipped a party, you completely got lost by the new faces in the room and on the TV. The only original resident that survived all seven seasons was Dr. Michael Mancini (Thomas Calabro). Amanda (Heather Locklear) didn’t show up until halfway through the first season to spice up the action. This is why after 199 episodes, Locklear was still listed as “Special Guest Star.” Melrose Place: The Final Season, Volume 1 and Volume 2 evicts everyone from the traumatic address.
“Divorce Dominican Style” lets the pregnant Taylor (Lisa Rinna) confess her horrible truth to Kyle (Rob Estes). This doesn’t go too well for her since Kyle flees the country and Taylor gets written off the show. “It’s A Long Way to Tip-a-Rory” puts the wedding of Amanda (T.J. Hooker‘s Heather Locklear) and Rory (Anthony Tyler Quinn) hits the rocks. Turns out he’s trying to kill her. That’ll puts a quick end to a honeymoon. “A Match Made In Hell” makes Amanda reconsider marrying Kyle once more. Her wedding dress must be washing machine safe. To complicate things in her life even more, she hooks up with Dr. Peter Burns (Jack Wagner) in “Buona Sera, Mr. Campbell.” She must have an addiction to wedding cake. During that same episode Jane Mancini (Josie Bissett) is lured back to the apartment. She had left a few seasons earlier. The tenant turnover made it a good idea to bring sweet Jane back to the pool. Eventually she agrees to remarry Michael. “The Night the Lights Went out on Melrose” raises Amanda’s fur when Peter sleeps with Eve (Rena Sofer). Eventually this tryst turns into more wedding plans. Can Peter really commit to Eve? The wedding gets derailed when Amanda discloses an evil experience she shared with Eve.
“The Usual Santas” celebrates the season with Amanda and Eve trapped during a bank robbery. What’s unusual is that the gun men are dressed as Santa. Most of the final season deals with Amanda and Eve’s dark secret getting exposed. It’s a big wicked secret that will land her and Eve on death row. It’s easy to know that that show was coming into the end when Amanda sells Melrose Place in “Unpleasantville.” Her marriage to Kyle isn’t quite working out. She goes to an extreme to cover her tracks in “Asses to Ashes.” Michael gets a dream ending as his new nurse turns out to be Playmate of the Year Victoria Silvstedt. Things worked out pretty well for Michael.
Melrose Place: The Final Season, Volume 1 and Volume 2 does a fine enough job wrapping up the series. The season might get majorly confusing for people doing their best to keep up with Amanda’s current husband. She could have been married to all of Los Angeles if this was Big Love: Ladies Choice. This finale is worth watching just to see how everything came to an end. Fans who strayed away from Melrose watching parties might want to renew their lease for one more year. Why not restart a weekly viewing party to bring closure to your relationship with Amanda? Now that both Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place are completely out, can the single season of Models Inc. finally be released on DVD?
Volume 1
“Divorce Dominican Style,” “A Long Way to Tip-a-Rory,” “A Match Made in Hell,” “Ball N’ Jane,” “As Bad as It Gets,” “Buona Sera, Mr. Campbell,” “The World According to Matt,” “Where the Hookers Grow,” “Dr. Jealousy,” “Not Quite All About Eve,” “The Rumor Whisperer,” “The Night the Lights Went Out at Melrose,” “Suspicion,” “Fiddling on the Roof,” “Lethal Wedding 4,” “When Cheerleaders Attack” and “Suddenly Sperm.”
Volume 2
“The Usual Santas,” “The Kyle High Club,” “I Married a Jock Murderer,” “A Fist Full of Secrets,” “The Younger Son Also Rises,” “Saving Ryan’s Privates,” “They Shoot Blanks, Don’t They?,” “How Amanda Got Her Groove Back,” “Unpleasantville,” “Ryan’s Choice,” “McBride’s Head Revisited,” “The Daughterboy,” “Bitter Homes and Guardians,” “Floral Knowledge,” “Lexi Gets Stiffed,” “Dead Men Don’t Shut Up” and “Asses to Ashes.”
The video is 1.33:1 full frame. The image looks like it was a show shot on 35mm, but finished on video. This is the best it will look unless the studio goes back and redoes the post-production like Star Trek: The Next Generation. The audio is Dolby Digital Stereo. You won’t miss any of the vows of Amanda’s dozen wedding ceremonies. The episodes are subtitled.
There are no bonus features.
Melrose Place: The Final Season, Volume 1 and Volume 2 closes down the apartment building that was party headquarters in the ’90s. The scandals, insanity, murders and torment come to an end like all renter agreements. Who figured that Dr. Mancini would be the only person to last all seven years on the show?
CBS DVD presents Melrose Place: The Final Season, Volume 1 and Volume 2 Starring: Heather Locklear, Thomas Calabro, Josie Bissett and Jack Wagner. Boxset Contents: 35 episodes on 8 DVDs. Released: July 31, 2012. Volume 1 and Volume 2 available at Amazon.com.
