The West Wing: Complete Season 5 [2001]

Customer Reviews:

loved 1-4,6,7 five is a disappointment snoozer missing the magic.......2008-01-12

I'm a great fam of the West Wing and loved the magic of 1-4, 6,7 but series five was a complete snoozer. For some reason the magic is missing. I can remember my favourite episodes from the other series but there is nothing that stands out in series five. Nothing really happens. Totally boring.

A Little Mediocre..........2007-03-12

The fifth season picks up where the fourth left off; with Bartlet's voluntary resignation during Zoey's kidnapping. By all means, the situation is handled well, and resolved in a manner befitting the series; though slightly quicker than expected. In a matter of minutes of viewing time, the crisis is resolved, almost as if the screenwriters wanted to continue onto other things. One wonders why, as there aren't really much more interesting things coming up.

With the emergency out of the way, the administration soldiers on, but one can already now see the effects of the exit of writer Aaron Sorkin - particularly with regards to the actual lines delivered by the actors. They're just not quite as good. It's not too noticeable yet, but the single episodes just don't hold their own in a season of 22 anymore; only one episode in this collection is worth hailing as a separate marvel: "The Supremes", guest starring the brilliant Glenn Close. The others are "all right", but not really anything to write home about.

There are political struggles between the White House and Congress, but that's nothing new. There are still quick and funny lines between the characters, but they've lost something. There's still great acting, but the performance is weakened somewhat by the plot, which just isn't as interesting as in previous seasons.

It's a must-have, of course, on a shelf already packed with seasons 1 through 4; you just can't leave with the kidnapping cliffhanger Sorkin provided upon his exit. And there's nothing to stop you from buying this season; it's really quite all right. It's just not the best.

Still Outshines Most Other TV By Leagues.......2006-05-22

No one should claim that Season 5 of the West Wing matches up to the highs of the earlier seasons, particularly 1-3. The episodes tend to be slightly more disjointed, occassionally irreverant, and certainly less gripping than those of the West Wing at its peak. As happened towards the end of Season 4, there is an altogether unnecessary tendency to use time jumps within episodes, which can both be confusing and break up the flow of the plot in a rather ineffective way. Also, as mentioned in an earlier review, Kate Harper enters the series as a thoroughly redundant and one dimensional character who cannot hope to match Fitzwallace or Nancy McNally in terms of security advisors.

Nevertheless, as the title says, the flaws still don't prevent the series from outshining the vast majority of other drama series by some distance. The characters remain as brilliantly conceived and performed as ever, and the story lines are still excellent if not so perfectly executed. Never even consider letting the drawbacks prevent you from watching or buying, simply be aware that its not the West Wing at its finest, which is hardly a mighty criticism.

Let the demise begin.......2006-03-22

Series 5 was the last of the 6 box sets i got, having recieved 1 and 6 for christmas and noticing the quality difference between the two i decided to get Sorkins west wing first. This series starts off well enough and the story about the shutdown was good but it just didnt feel right and missed the character based shows of sorkin. not a complete disapointment but series 1-3 are just so much better. this series also brings the entrance of the completely pointless character of kate harper.

A dip in quality....not for this viewer.......2006-02-10

I was never not going to buy series 5 but I thought I would read all the reviews anyway. "So what" I thought. The standards of this programme are sooooo high that even in a dip in form would still outshine anything else by a country mile or 3. There was no need to worry. I found every episode engaging and whilst there was a slight change of style and sometimes pace, I found this to be even more gripping. Several episodes had enormous cliffhanger moments and the laughs were still there.. The administration is all over the place at times and this can be felt through the excellent writing and acting. S5 is stimulating grown up TV and I really enjoyed it. S6 now on order.

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