THE PLOT THUS FAR
Follows a wealthy Louisiana family known for their successful duck-hunting business.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“Duck Dynasty” enters its fifth season with only ten episodes. More family members join the shenanigans, as everything else becomes a moment for Si, Willie and Phil to show off. Everything started to feel far more showy and staged. But, I guess that doesn’t matter for people who want to see an illusion rather than real rednecks operating a successful business. Does anyone really want to see that?
The fifth season appeared after the GQ hit job article and people believe that might have damaged the show’s ratings. Honestly, I think the show has run its course. While I’d like to imagine that the Wal-Mart crowd could still find some family values level discourse in the material. I don’t assume that they’re going to bend over backwards to dig it out of material that doesn’t bother to stuff to the forefront until the last third of an episode. Heaven forbid, you forget that they’re Christian and non-threatening. While I agree that the Northern bashing of Southern stereotypes and cliches borders on the culture bashing that they claim to be above, sometimes a turd is a turd. Was the show always a turd? No. However, it’s hit a point where returns are diminishing and the end result is another chore of a reality show that everyone else keeps sludging through. It’s exhausting and ultimately leaves me wondering why keeping it going? That’s because I don’t get a cut of the merchandising.
The Blu-Ray comes with deleted scenes and featurettes as the special features. The A/V Quality is typical for standard definition. The transfer is flat for HD with little punch-up. But, the DTS-HD 2.0 track kicks up where needed. In the end, I’d recommend a rental or streaming it.
RELEASE DATE: 06/24/2014