The Case

In its fourth season, The Universe seemed a good candidate for cancellation. The series still had some good episodes, but also seemed to stretch for ideas with truly dreadful attempts at speculative episodes that ended up looking like terrible Stargate ripoffs. Fortunately, this season, the show has righted itself and returned to what it does best: science. It still can't shed some of its more sensationalist trappings (which is unfortunately increasingly true of pretty much all History shows), but at least The Universe: The Complete Season Five has some genuine educational content. It's not quite The Universe at its best but it's much better than last season.

Here are the eight episodes compiled on two discs:

Disc One
• "7 Wonders of the Solar System"
A listing of the seven most remarkable objects in our solar system.

• "Mars: The New Evidence"
New probes and experiments have forced scientists to reconsider many theories they've held about the possibility of life on Mars.

• "Magnetic Storm"
The Sun regularly spews out eruptions of solar plasma called Coronal Mass Ejections that are powerful enough to cause mass destruction on Earth.

• "Time Travel"
Though time travel has long been thought to be impossible, new discoveries in physics have made scientists consider how it could actually happen.

Disc Two
• "Secrets of the Space Probes"
Space probes have been sent to explore various planets and phenomena of the solar system, uncovering surprising results.

• "Asteroid Attack"
Scientists have been studying asteroids to discover how they could create disasters on Earth.

• "Total Eclipse"
How the complex relationship between the Earth, Sun, and Moon create a phenomenon that is unique even within our solar system and possibly the galaxy.

• "Dark Future of the Sun"
When the Sun finally burns itself out, its death throes will lead to catastrophic changes throughout the solar system, especially on Earth.

The first change that helps is that this season is only eight episodes long, instead of thirteen as previous ones were. This means that the show no longer has to stretch to fill time with the kind of speculative drivel that weakened last season. Instead, the eight episodes seen here are more rooted in science, with not much speculation. These are fascinating topics and the show treats them reasonably well. Computer animations, actual NASA footage and photographs, and interviews with scientists explain these topics more or less clearly. Some of the examples and analogies used can be a bit simplistic, but that understandable, since it's hard to tell just how extensive viewers' knowledge of astronomy and physics is. For the most part, though, the show doesn't talk down to viewers, so you'll find it entertaining and informative however much you know.

Of course, it wouldn't be History without some occasional cheap sensationalism. There are references to the end of all life on Earth scattered throughout, particularly in the episodes about Coronal Mass Ejections, the last days of the Sun, and asteroids. Why History feels the need to regularly scare the bejesus out of its viewers is hard to say, but it clearly works wonders for ratings, since they keep doing it over and over. There are even (sigh!) references to 2012 and the Mayan calendar, which is apparently de rigueur for all History shows, even the ones about loggers and ice road truckers. Viewers will have to sit patiently and grit their teeth through these parts, which are mercifully brief, and wait for their rewards, which come in the form of interviews with the always enchanting NASA astrophysicist Dr. Amy Mainzer. Under the circumstances, it's more than a fair trade.

This season of The Universe, then, is a step up from the last. If you were alienated from the show because of some of the sillier and more speculative episodes from last season, you can safely return, because there really aren't any more of those this season. Still, it's hard to imagine what other astronomical topics the show could cover, so it would be wise for History to quit while it's ahead and cancel the series after this season. This fifth season collection would be a worthy way for the show to go out on top.

Technical specs are typical History: non-anamorphic 1.78:1 transfer, Dolby stereo mix, both nice if not dazzling. There are no extras.

Case Number 20552: Small Claims Court

The Universe: The Complete Season Five

All Rise...

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