Melrose Place was a spin-off of the popular series Beverly Hills, 90210 that ran from 1992 to 1999. In the first season the stories focused on adults in their early 20s who came to Los Angeles following their dreams and living on their own in an apartment complex on Melrose Place. When the series started it was a bit mediocre, but things picked up when Amanda Woodward (played by soap veteran Heather Locklear) bought the apartment building and generally stirred up trouble.

From that point on, Melrose went from a typical drama to a provocative night-time soap that had you tuning in to see what would happen next, including betrayals, seduction, backstabbing, deaths, and more — you know, all the good soap opera plots!

I watched the series back in the day and rarely if ever missed an episode. However season five started ramping up some very ridiculous storylines which continued until the series' end in season seven. Highlights of season five include the consequences of a failed murder and the follow-up blackmail, and a dying woman’s wish for her ex to be happy. Once he finds happiness, she not only turns out to be a prostitute, but the ex wants to be with him one last time. Of course the new girlfriend finds out about this wish and complicates matters. There are also alliances and betrayals to gain companies and more as the season progressed; however as this DVD only covers the first 19 episodes, I won’t mention them here.

This DVD is disappointing to say the least. First, CBS has decided to split this season into two separate releases, plus there are no extras included. So you get half a season, with no extras and if you want the second half you’ll have to wait for that release too just to get the full season. At least if there were some extras it might justify splitting the season in half and when studios start doing this, getting the last few seasons comes into question as well!

Melrose Place: The Fifth Season, Volume One has its ups and down like any show, but this is where you can see it becoming a pale reflection of what it once was. Many people started writing off the series here, and after watching this season you can see why.

Article Author: Blake Matthews

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