s Hercules: The Legendary Journeys headed into season five, the series took a turn toward the darker side when the devilish Dahak struck down Hercules' (Sorbo) best friend, Iolaus (Hurst) and threatened everything the big half-god cared about. The vibrations from the events in the first two episodes, "Faith" and "Descent," carry through to the season's end, as Hercules goes on a mission of self-discovery, falls in love and must save the world once again. All the while the deceased Iolaus remained in the action, first as the possessed incarnation of Dahak and later as his parallel-world self, Iolaus II.
There are more continuing story arcs than in past seasons, as the first two episodes lead to a visit to Ireland, where Hercules battles with Morrigan (Tamara Gorski) in "Resurrection" and falls for her in "Render Unto Caesar." Then he runs into the Norse gods in "Norse by Norsevest" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bridge." However, Dahak isn't quite done with Hercules, as he finds himself on a three-episode mission with Morrigan and Nebula (Gina Torres) fighting at his side against Dahak a la Iolaus beginning with "Darkness Rising."
After a big opening, Hercules settles back into more familiar territory with "Stranger and Stranger," the sequel to season four's "Stranger in a Strange World," putting Hercules into a parallel universe where he finds his parallel evil self and Iolaus II. With a version of his little buddy in place, Herc gets back to the business of helping the helpless as he runs into Autolycus (Bruce Campbell), his former wife Serena (Sam Jenkins) and King Arthur in "Once Upon a Future King." Meanwhile Iolaus II finds true love with a mermaid, leaving Herc Iolaus-less. The season-five finale takes care of that problem, as the original Iolaus returns to warn Hercules of the coming of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, who, with the help of the Archangel Michael, are about to destroy the world.
The nine-disc DVD set offers all 22 episodes, along with cast and crew interviews, video and audio commentaries on selected episodes, and a few extras. The CD-ROM has bios, trivia and an episode guide.
Disappointing DVD extras
After four seasons of playing it on the lighter side, no one could blame the producers for wanting to take Hercules a bit darker into territory that had previously belonged to Xena. Sorbo and Hurst rose to the occasion, and the series ended up with its best season yet, boasting fine performances by guest stars Gina Torres and Tamara Gorski.
While several episodes in the middle were forgettable ("Greece Is Burning, "The Academy"), there were some excellent episodes as well ("Once Upon a Future King," "Resurrection" and "Revelations"). Despite the slightly awkward handling of keeping Hurst's Iolaus in the series with the Iolaus II character, it proved that he was a necessary presence for the show.
So, while the series managed its best season and the DVD set includes all 22 episodes, the extras are mediocre at best. Yes, there are cast and crew interviews with Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, Bruce Campbell and Rob Tapert. However, many of the several Sorbo and Hurst interviews are disappointing. The two actors barely remember the episodes they're talking about, and although there's a good sense of their friendship and they discuss some of the ramifications of the death of Iolaus, they offer little insight into the making of Hercules. Other interviews with the writers fare better, as they explain their thought process behind certain elements of the individual episodes. Still, beyond killing off Iolaus, there's no one to speak about the direction the series was taking.
As for the audio commentary, Sorbo and Hurst do a much better job, and these are more satisfying. The only other significant extras are an interesting look at monster-making in "Bringing Monsters to Life at K.N.B. EFX Group—Part 2" and a decent on-set interview with Kevin Sorbo and Anthony Quinn. Beyond the normal CD-ROM stuff, the Hercules: The Legendary Journeys season-five DVD offers little insight into this series.
