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Season Five of Ally McBeal finds the title character, played by Calista Flockhart, on her continuing journey of finding love and in the process also finding herself. During the season she finds a house, finds out she has a daughter (played by Heroes star Hayden Panettiere), and possibly has found love in the form of her plumber Victor Morrison, played by Jon Bon Jovi.
The fifth season of Ally McBeal wound up being the final installment of the series; it was cancelled in 2002. I think if the series hadn’t been ending, the storylines wouldn’t have taken such bizarre turns so suddenly.
Season Five feels rushed, as if the writers were trying to tie up every loose end. That was unfortunate, because it made a lot of what was going on with the characters seem more absurd than usual on the quirky show.
The season introduced a few new faces to the cast, including James Marsden (Glen Foy), Julianne Nicholson (Jenny Shaw), and Josh Hopkins (Raymond Millbury). Regina Hall (Corretta Lipp) was upgraded to a series regular after making guest appearances during season four.
In addition to Jon Bon Jovi being a guest star, Elton John, Mariah Carey, and Kyra Sedgwick all made appearances, as did Josh Groban, Jacqueline Bisset, and Matthew Perry.
What I appreciated the most about the six-disc collection is that it contained the original music as it was heard on the show. Having the original music will allow fans of the show to capture that feeling of nostalgia about the season and the series. Plus, Vonda Shepard’s wonderful voice was a staple every episode. It would have felt as if something was missing if the DVDs were lacking her musical touch on each of the episodes.
I was disappointed that there are no extras along with the 22 episodes. I was hoping there would be a couple of vignettes, maybe a gag reel, but no such luck.
Fans of Ally McBeal who had been waiting for the individual seasons of the series to finally come out on DVD will be happy to complete their collection with this final installment of the popular FOX series.
Ally McBeal: The Complete Fifth Season is available now.
