CBS/Paramount Home Entertainment
Release date: October 20th, 2009.
MSRP: $60.98
Stars: Judd Hirsch, Rob Morrow, Alimi Ballard, Dylan Bruno, Navi Rawat, Peter MacNicol and David Krumholtz
As I have said in the past, NUMB3rs is a gimmick police procedural that has moved past the gimmick. Over the course of the show, the characters have been fleshed out and continue to evolve, making them (and the show) more and more enticing.
Season five is no exception. This season starts out with Charlie attempting to regain his security clearance (which he lost at the end of season four). Without it, not only can he not work with the FBI, but he also is excluded from most government funded studies. The man he must convince is a senior agent played quite dryly by Keith Carradine. Eventually, Charlie regains his clearance.
This season also introduces a new character and has another moved up to cast regular. Megan (Dianne Farr) is certainly missed, but the cast adjustments do a fine job of filling in the gap left by her departure. We also are treated to a couple of damn fine appearances by Henry Winkler as former agent Bloom. Also worth noting was a couple of delightful appearances by Josh Gad, playing a conspiracy nut that actually helps out despite being a wack-job.
The highlights of the season come towards the end, when Don suffers a near fatal stabbing. The result is more than a little introspection and Don starts to explore his Jewish faith. This is done very well as Don does not run into the arms of the church, but rather wanders in, looking and listening and trying to figure it all out. The result makes for some excellent television. I must give serious kudos to the writers for handling it so well.
Extras:
There are commentary tracks for Jack of All Trades, Thirty-Six Hours and Jacked. Each is entertaining, none of them reveal anything earth-shattering, but the participants are relaxed and offer up enjoyable comments. Crunching NUMB3RS runs about 30 minutes and has the cast and crew discussing season five, including character growth and the relationships between them. Celebrating 100 is what it sounds like, a fifteen minute look at the cast the celebrating said episode and talking about it. There are deleted scenes and a blooper reel as well. I am sure that once upon a time, there was a funny blooper reel, but I have not seen it.
NUMB3RS continues to be, in my opinion, one of the best police shows on television today. Judd Hirsch, Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz all do fantastic jobs. Looking back, I am surprised that none have received any award nominations, especially Hirsch, whose performances are truly wonderful. The show combines satisfying stories with strong characters. I can’t recommend it enough.
Order season five of NUMB3RS.
Jeremy Lynch
