First for my impressions of the season itself. Compared to previous seasons I have to say this one was a disappointment. Overall I love the show and this season of "CSI" still destroys the competition, but when I compare this season to prior "CSI" outings it is a bit lacking. There were more "one murder" episodes in this season than ever before, which seemed to slow down the show a bit. I also didn't really like the increased internal conflict primarily involving the disputes between Grissom and Ecklie (Marc Vann). The villain quota is more than filled with the murderers and rapists these guys are putting away. Keeping the evil to a minimum inside the CSI walls may not be the most realistic approach but I think it is the better one.
Considering the season on a whole didn't really impress me, it certainly made the final episode stand out that much more. With a slight loss of intensity throughout the fifth season the Tarantino directed finale has so much intensity it practically oozes out of your television set. As Nick Stokes (George Eads) is kidnapped and buried alive in the opening minutes of the show Tarantino keeps his finger on the panic button for the duration leaving us with a nice lead-in to the sixth season.
From the content to the features, this DVD continues in traditional "CSI" DVD fashion just as it did with the "New York" and "Miami" sets. It has all the necessary features and none of the fluff. This DVD comes equipped with all 25 season five episodes, several audio commentaries with the cast and crew, a look back at the season in a feature called "CSI Season 5: A Post Mortem", a cool feature called "The Research of CSI: Maintaining the Accuracy", a feature looking at the Tarantino helmed episode and a final eight-part feature called "CSI: Forensic Procedures On the Scene vs. On the Screen".
The batch of features is quick, concise and to the point. Many questions you may have are answered and no stones are left unturned. After all, after five seasons it can't be easy coming up with additional featurettes.
Overall this will be another great addition to your collection, but as I have said in the past it is going to set you back in coin as all "CSI" DVD sets do. This one is currently marked with a $62.99 price tag at Amazon, but if this show is your thing you should be willing to pay. While this season doesn't live up to its predecessors it has enough good episodes to make it a must own, from serial killers to Quentin Tarantino, "CSI" never fails to find something to impress us with.