Rules of Engagement Season 5 Review
CBS's hit series continues for a fifth series.
The unusual thing being that this is actually the first full season, with previous seasons all ending after 13 episodes.
Because of this the relationship between Jeff and Audrey Bingham still feels fresh, and Jennifer still isn't sporting a wedding ring.
But is 20+ outings a bridge too far for the series? Or will Rules of Engagement finally show its strides in this fifth season? Developments During the first few episodes the writers tried to add some weight to the characters.
Timmy, now in the opening sequence, gets a girlfriend over at accounting.
And viewers will finally get a peak into Russel's life and what has occurred leading to his shallow (empty?) existence as the eternal bachelor.
Audrey meanwhile loses her job and attempts to start a cookie business, of course not to Jeff's content.
All is good but for some reason they decide to stop adding layers quite early and abruptly.
It would've been nice to see the characters develop for a change, instead of simply acknowledging past events and flaws.
Also new is how Adam behaves.
He used to be portrayed as the "all's good" fellow but is slowly turned into a dumb player who never sees the bigger meanings of things.
This becomes awfully clear in two consecutive episodes when he predicts the actions of a girl who avoided Russel, and throws a party, which ends up spend lonesomely in a stuck elevator.
It certainly leads to good jokes but almost transforms Adam into a lost cartoon character.
Performances The actors do a terrific job portraying each character but honestly they aren't too deep to begin with.
Mostly everything from earlier Rules of Engagement episodes are back.
Patrick (Jeff) keeps his alpha male behaviour and tight financial control.
Whilst Audrey's split behavior between career and wife is performed beautifully by Megyn.
Adhir's character adds weight to Russel's storyline but struggles to become a likable character of its own.
What a shame! Remarks about image quality and extras will have to wait till the DVD box hits the shelves worldwide later this year.
Rules of Engagement usually does just fine in this area though.
Conclusions To be honest I'm a little disappointed by the first long season.
It's still fun and the show definitely has its moments, but lack of proper character development is hurting its potential.
After 10-12 episodes I felt it needed that big game changer but it never came.
Rules of Engagement is still fun show, well worth picking up, but people hoping for real depth should look elsewhere.
Rules Engagement review
The unusual thing being that this is actually the first full season, with previous seasons all ending after 13 episodes.
Because of this the relationship between Jeff and Audrey Bingham still feels fresh, and Jennifer still isn't sporting a wedding ring.
But is 20+ outings a bridge too far for the series? Or will Rules of Engagement finally show its strides in this fifth season? Developments During the first few episodes the writers tried to add some weight to the characters.
Timmy, now in the opening sequence, gets a girlfriend over at accounting.
And viewers will finally get a peak into Russel's life and what has occurred leading to his shallow (empty?) existence as the eternal bachelor.
Audrey meanwhile loses her job and attempts to start a cookie business, of course not to Jeff's content.
All is good but for some reason they decide to stop adding layers quite early and abruptly.
It would've been nice to see the characters develop for a change, instead of simply acknowledging past events and flaws.
Also new is how Adam behaves.
He used to be portrayed as the "all's good" fellow but is slowly turned into a dumb player who never sees the bigger meanings of things.
This becomes awfully clear in two consecutive episodes when he predicts the actions of a girl who avoided Russel, and throws a party, which ends up spend lonesomely in a stuck elevator.
It certainly leads to good jokes but almost transforms Adam into a lost cartoon character.
Performances The actors do a terrific job portraying each character but honestly they aren't too deep to begin with.
Mostly everything from earlier Rules of Engagement episodes are back.
Patrick (Jeff) keeps his alpha male behaviour and tight financial control.
Whilst Audrey's split behavior between career and wife is performed beautifully by Megyn.
Adhir's character adds weight to Russel's storyline but struggles to become a likable character of its own.
What a shame! Remarks about image quality and extras will have to wait till the DVD box hits the shelves worldwide later this year.
Rules of Engagement usually does just fine in this area though.
Conclusions To be honest I'm a little disappointed by the first long season.
It's still fun and the show definitely has its moments, but lack of proper character development is hurting its potential.
After 10-12 episodes I felt it needed that big game changer but it never came.
Rules of Engagement is still fun show, well worth picking up, but people hoping for real depth should look elsewhere.
Rules Engagement review
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