Customer Reviews

Numb3rs: The Final Season

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I haven't kept a close eye on "Numb3rs" thanks to its dead end 10 pm Friday night airing, but when I had tuned in (primarily via On Demand), I rarely was ever disappointed. I will submit that the mathematics used in this sixth season wasn't the greatest and in fact during one episode, 'And the Winner Is', didn't make a whole lot of sense in that the theory was sound but how they came about it and in turn found the culprits was on the iffy side. But, I've always felt that while indeed the show's gimmick was using mathematics to solve crimes it is the characters and their arcs that make it worthwhile viewing. In the sixth season I could immediately tell that even the writers had an inkling this would be the final season as they began tying up the characters' stories and by the series finale, as a casual fan, I was mostly satisfied. Yes, it is a very low key ending to the show as even the plot was in line with most of the stories that have come before but I wouldn't want it any other way. They could have had some big shootout or major explosion that would've altered or even killed a main character but far too many shows (see: "CSI: Miami") do that and it just comes off as melodramatic and rarely works. Plus, with only a few exceptions, isn't really "Numb3rs" style.

As for this DVD, I can see how the features have devolved from the first couple of seasons (5-6 episode commentaries, a few featurettes) to the latter releases where, in the case of The Fifth Season, having only a featurette and no commentaries at all. In this one, we do get commentaries on 3 episodes ('Con Job' - actor Rob Morrow, director Ralph Hemecker and executive Don McGill; `Old Soldiers' with director Ken Sanzel, actor Alimi Ballard and guest star Henry Winkler; and `Cause and Effect' with creators/writers Cheryl Heuton, Nicolas Falacci (who also directed) and actor David Krumholtz) but unfortunately they couldn't get the entire cast together for the finale, though I am glad it did get one (unlike "Scrubs").

The set also has a decent featurette entitled "Coming Full Circle: Numb3rs The Final Season" (25:42) in which the first half chronicles Falacci's directorial debut on the series finale before going into the cast and crew talking about this being the end of the road (it also includes emotional on-set final statements by the cast). There are also two more featurettes ("The Women of Numb3rs" (11:04) and Pixel Perfect: The Digital Cinematography of Numb3rs (15:10)) and each are pretty good, though "Coming Full Circle" is the one to see. There is also a photo gallery with pics taken of the cast and crew taken over the years.

The video and audio quality are both on par with previous seasons including a bombastic audio during the opening and transition scenes.

Anyway, fans of the show should of course pick this up and I think for casual fans like myself, it's still worth it as I feel this is one of the better shows that was on TV and it's nice to have it sitting on your shelf, plus it helps the show has plenty of repeat value.

I started watching Numb3rs a couple of seasons ago after my mom convinced me to give it a shot. Since then I've gotten hooked, keeping up with each new episode. I was concerned when the show was moved to a late-evening Friday slot, which I was afraid would be the end of it. I'm not sure if it was the time that directly led to Numb3rs cancellation, but either way, season six ended up being the end of the road for the show.

It seems like the writers knew the show was out of steam near the beginning of the season when they are started to wrap up different character's stories, and started neglecting the mathematics. I know the math angle has pretty much just a gimmick from the beginning to distinguish Numb3rs from the mass of police procedurals on television, but in the last season the writers seemed to get a little lazy with the math, and took it into places that didn't make much sense and making it even harder to believe. But hey, taken purely as part of the show, it worked fine.

The season opens with the engagement of Charlie (David Krumholtz) and Amita (Navi Rawat). Soon after, Larry (Peter MacNicol) turns down an opportunity to meet with mathematicians at CERN in Geneva and drops his course load for the following semester. Don (Rob Morrow) learns that his former mentor is crooked, forcing him to question himself and the meaning of his job. The show finally ends with Charlie and Amita's wedding and Don deciding to take a new direction in life away from the FBI.

The characters of Numb3rs are fairly well drawn and feel complex and real and, honestly, they kept me watching more than the story lines. It was interesting to see the characters grow and change over the course of the series, and for the most part, it felt natural (even though the ending for Charlie especially seemed a little abrupt).

Numb3rs: The Final Season on DVD includes all 16 episodes in a four-disc set. The audio is available in English in 5.1 or stereo with the option for English subtitles only. The aspect ratio is 16:9. The video and audio quality are both on par with previous seasons released on DVD, including a bombastic audio during the opening and transition scenes.

The special features include: "Coming Full Circle: Numb3rs The Final Season" an overview of the series as a whole, "The Women of Numb3rs" which explores the lovely, intelligent and quirky ladies of the show, "Pixel Perfect: The Digital Cinematography of Numb3rs" for the more technically orianted viewers, a production photo gallery of the cast and crew over the years, and insightful cast and crew commentary on three episodes (sadly, down from the amount given in previous DVD sets).

Thought I'm sad to see it end, Numb3rs had a great run. They probably could have squeezed a few more seasons out of it, but it may not have kept the same intensity, enjoyment or originality. I'd rather the show end on a high note, rather than fading away into something boring and horrible. The final season, thankfully, delivered a satisfying conclusion to a fun series.

While I loved this series toward the end it definitely began running out of steam. As usual, to zip things up, the writers began adding more racey themes, never too offensive, but I really enjoyed earlier episodes where I felt comfortable viewing with the whole family. There is nothing too racy but I sensed the writers lost their commitment to producing something smart and enjoyable for the whole family. I definitely recommend earlier seasons.

The math and numerics are gone and it's all blood and gore for the final season of numbers. We are lucky if they recycle a theory from previous seasons and once, Charlie is only brought in because he can "track a cell phone faster" than the computers. Sad to see they "ran out of mathematics" and resorted to lowest common denomenator violence and hysteria. Good to see a show about math make it this long though.

I use this TV show for my math students to show some practical math applications....we have even replicated some of the calculations using graphing calculators to help "solve the crime".....as the show has evolved over the years, the practical applications for math class have waned, and the TI-sponsored blog connected to that week's program was dropped....however, the show's final season gave rise to other interesting uses: in particular, the show guest-staring Henry Winkler (Fonzi of "Happy Days" fame), based on the unsolved D.B. Cooper sky-jacking sparked great interest and discussion among my students as to the circumstances surrounding the case, including how to use mathematics in everyday life.....

The Final Season of Numb3rs was all kinds of strange in comparison to previous seasons. The show was great, overall, but something changed after the 4th season and season 5 and 6 were "off". What is humorous to note is that in Season 5, 100 episodes was celebrated. In the bonus footage, everyone talked about how great it was to work together and that they could go on for another hundred episodes. Season 6 was 18 episodes, and I won't provide spoilers, but to say the finale was uneventful would be an understatement. I don't personally know what changed, but I guess I will have to enjoy the previous seasons that I am fortunate to have on DVD as well.

I was a Numb3rs fan and own seasons 1 through 5. I'm so glad I read the reviews and rented the last season before I bought it. They should call the final season the Flaky Larry Show. The episodes are so bad, they're not even recognizable as being Numb3rs. Save your money. My collection is complete without the final season.

So sad to see such a great show end. Fortunately, CBS did give us closure (though with a very short season).

The first disc did not load, but was replaced quickly!!! It's a great series, sad that it had to end...

I knew this show was doomed when they started overemphasizing the laughable physics character. I'm told that this show was inspired by Nobel laureate Richard Feynman and if so, he would be rolling over in his grave at the New Age sideline that's spewed by "Larry". Also, it seems like the math aspect of the show has been watered down to glitzy little graphics with little or no substance nor explanation.
The original characters from Season One were much, much better and I wish the show could be resurrected in some form with a real physicist character who would do Feynman justice (I know they switched the main character to math vs physics but again, Feynman was direct and a real physicist). Why not bring back the mechanical engineer from a few shows past? That was a character that could have had broad appeal.
Also, on the DVD's, why not include in the special features some in depth discussions of the math? The folks who aren't interested could just avoid this but in all the DVD's, and I do have them all, there's very little decent extras. Keith Devlin could easily add a bit from his great book on Numb3rs, available at Amazon--plug intended, and go into even more detail.
It just seems that everything must be dumbed down while a good portion of the public would love to be treated as adults and would appreciate a bit of content with their entertainment. Maybe it's possible for fans to pull a "Star Trek" campaign--IF the producers will listen a little more to Devlin and a lot less to the entertainment/TV folks.