Warehouse 13 Season 5

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

this is my favorite tv show & it just boggles my mind that the imbeciles at NBC/Comcast are cancelling it, especially as it is the highest rated show ever on what used to be SCI FI channel. you can actually watch it with your kids (about 8 & up; younger ones might not understand it): nothing objectionable—no sex, no violence, no language. AND, KIDS CAN ACTUALLY LEARN HISTORY FROM IT IN A REALLY FUN WAY!!!! The actors are terrific and it’s lots of fun, with references to all sorts of literature, too, and fantasy/sci fi (Star trek, wizard of oz). the dialogue is snappy. what could be better????? so they replace it with reality tv and wrestling???? how is that science fiction??

– planettyoz

I love Warehouse 13, This being the final season it was a bittersweet thing. When I originally watched it on TV, I was so upset that it was ending that I didn’t appreciate or enjoy it as I should have. Seeing it now the thing that amazes me is how incredible it is. The writers/producers/actors stayed true to the characters and concepts of the show from beginning to end. Brilliant, engaging stories, astonishing dialogue…not many shows have so many unique voices!

It’s hard to pick a favorite episode, but Claudia probably had the best story arc of the season. Her peculiar family issues have always played an important part in the show, and this season the addition of a new member of the family adds to her character’s angst. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of the Pete/Myka storyline In truth I definitely saw this coming in season 2, but then they seemed to drop it. I was resigned to it never being resolved, yet here it is taking center stage once more. Brilliant!

The inclusion of the Holiday Episode makes me very happy. It’s one of my top four favorites Christmas episodes pf any show ever to air on television. Kudos to the cast and crew for maintaining their excellence for five seasons. The only thing that would make me happier would be a new movie!

I’m still watching all the bonus features. There are so many podcasts and special bits included that it will take me some time to watch them all. Suffice to say, you’ll laugh as much watching that as you will watching the episodes. I will miss these characters and I’m glad I can rematch them again and again.

-Theresa Gauthier

I’m writing a review for the show-content as I have not yet received the DVD.
It’s very sad to me that the television industry has been slowly caving in to the seeming need for senseless sex, violence and mindless craziness which seems to be the primary entertainment-diet of the average American brain these days. Such is the case with this fun and reasonably-intelligent series which, though it has plenty of violence and some sexual content, is far from mindless and can actually make you think.
In this final season, Mr. Valda, one of the Regents who govern the Warehouse, has returned from oblivion from an alternate timeline. He seeks to take over the Warehouse and move it to a new location where he can exploit the artifacts for profit and power. In the end Valda is foiled, and the season (and series) ends with the Warehouse moving to a new, undisclosed, location.
What I found most upsetting about this season of the show is that it was so short – only six episodes as opposed to the roughly 16 we are generally used to. It seems as if the people in charge of SyFy were tired of it and just threw it away! The same thing happened with Eureka which, though not quite as good in my opinion, was still a lot of fun and was really good sci-fi fantasy. At least with Eureka we got a full final season. The problem is that what this is being replaced with is material which I really don’t like. I’m not a fan of reality-shows like Ghost Hunters or Ghost Mine (though I find the latter amusing enough to watch when there is absolutely nothing else on) nor do I like a steady diet of reality-competitions like Face-Off or the Jim Henson Creature Competition. And what in heck does wrestling have to do with science fiction … anyone?
Getting back to Warehouse 13 itself, the full series is a rollicking roller-coaster ride through items psychically imbued with the essence of their original owners, where they came from and how to retrieve them. Lewis Caroll’s Mirror has the soul of Alice Liddel trapped inside. W.C. Fields’ juggling balls cause anyone holding them to act like they were drunk. A katana forged by the discoverer of the principle of folded steel is so sharp it can bend light and render its wielder invisible. These and many more are the objects which the Warehouse was built to house and protect the world from. The team consists of two Secret Service agents, an FBI agent, a young genius and a psychic all led by a grumpy ex-smuggler. The stories are less about the artifacts and more about the people who have dedicated their lives to finding them and keeping them hidden. There are history lessons and plenty of references to mythology both well-known and obscure. And, for those who enjoyed Eureka, there were two crossover episodes in which a side romace between the characters of Douglas Fargo (Eureka) and Claudia Donovan (Warehouse 13) seemed to promise seeing more of both shows.
Finally, Warehouse 13 had many of the same qualities found in Doctor Who which has made that show the longest-running science-fiction television series of all time, as well as the longest scripted television series of any kind. The history they set up of the Warehouse changing hands could have been exploited if it was a cast-change which was necessary (though I don’t think anyone was tired of any of the principles). It had the possibility of essentially going anywhere and to any genre, including futuristic space-opera. And the Warehouse itself is a lot like the TARDIS in many ways – a vehicle to the “endless wonder” which Mrs. Fredricks so often uses to sell life as a Warehouse Agent to prospective recruits.
All in all, Season 5 is a short and disappointing ending to series which was a lot of fun to watch. And there is nothing remotely similar coming to replace it – with the possible exception of Terry Pratchett’s “The Watch” which is years away from airing. There is, however, the hope that someone will eventually pick up the story of the Warehouse with Warehouse 14.
As with the other seasons, Season 5 of Warehouse 13 is watchable by most people over the age of 10 or so. As always with my reviews I warn that kids can be very different at that age and those who are fearful might better wait a few years while braver 9-year-olds might eat this up. A good guage is if they like Doctor Who, they’ll probably like Warehouse 13. And if you’re worried about gun-violence, Warehouse Agents are armed with stun-guns called Teslas which are non-lethal.

– Matt Harnick

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Eddie McClintock, Joanne Kelly, Saul Rubinek
Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 2
Studio: NBC Universal
DVD Release Date: May 20, 2014
Run Time: 261 minutes