August 10, 2008

The drama is back and more unpredictable than ever! The Hills Season 3 opens up with recapping the drama of season 2. We relive the ups, downs, and ultimately fall out of Lauren and Heidi’s friendship. Heidi moves out and is now focusing on building her relationship with Spencer. As these events transpire, Lauren recognizes the importance of quality girlfriends and a roommate without a sucky boyfriend. As Lauren moves on from yet another toxic relationship, she finds a new passion for her job at Teen Vogue, new friends and even a new crush. It seems she got the better end of the deal after all.

Season 3 is packed with as much drama and craziness as Season 2…maybe more. Spencer and Heidi get engaged and they are discovering that married life will be far different than their current lives together. Spencer continues to walk over Heidi with his special “surprises” for her and ignores her heartfelt nest-building ideas. Spencer’s blatant disregard for his future wife’s wants, needs and dreams eventually pushes Heidi over the edge and cause her to take serious action and run off with her career to Vegas.

But before Heidi’s escape and meltdown, Lauren, Heidi and Spencer have a small encounter when dining at the same new L.A. hot spot, Ketchup. Lauren and Jason (yes Lauren’s first love, THE Jason) were catching up on old times when Heidi and Spencer walk in and make complete fools of themselves while making a scene trying to rub nasty rumors in the couple’s faces. After that night, Lauren and Heidi are never the same because it is obvious to Lauren and to the world that Heidi and Spencer started the malicious rumors about Lauren and Jason.

Just as we think Jason and Lauren are getting back together, Jason surprises Lauren with the minor detail of his recent decision to move in with his girlfriend of a few months. In addition to this load of news, Jason invites Lauren to his house warming party. Lauren, being the amazing friend she is, goes to the party to find Jason proposing to his girlfriend! It’s obvious Lauren still has deep feelings for Jason, but at the same time is trying to be happy for him. It’s moments like these that make The Hills so fabulously unpredictable and addicting.

Believe it or not, there is still drama outside of Jason, Spencer and Heidi. As Lauren, Audrina and Lo move into their new house together, we pick up on a unique tension among the girls that has been created because of the tight bond between Lauren and Lo living in the main house and Audrina who is secluded in the guest house. The tension grows deeper and the girls finally have a heart to heart. The conversation ends in tears and a significant blow to Lauren and Audrina’s friendship.

Between all the broken friendships and lost relationships, Lauren manages to have fun as she gains new responsibilities in her job at Teen Vogue and eventually gets an offer to work for a new company that gives her something new and exciting to put her positive energy towards. Season 3 of The Hills leaves a few ends untied and leaves us wanting the new season to begin!

Filmmaking: 9
I love the filmmaking throughout The Hills Season 3. It gives the audience a good sense of timing and sequence of events, which is so critical in a reality-documentary show like The Hills. The picture through an up-converter was very crisp and came across the screen vivid and high quality.

I especially love the journalistic shots of the city, it makes the show feel more like a reality-documentary than a staged “reality” show. It makes you feel like you’re there taking everything in and witnessing it for yourself, down to the hustle and bustle of L.A.

Though many audience members may not be able to associate with a luxurious cottage on a gorgeous lake in Rhode Island, the core elements of the house were key to making the house a home.

Visuals: 9
The picture throughout The Hills Season 3 is consistently clear and vivid. Having the picture be so clear and crisp is especially good for the show because it makes the whole show feel more realistic and true to life in comparison with shows like Everybody Loves Raymond where the picture is less than clear. The clearer the picture, the more real it seems. And The Hills Season 3 comes across well through the visuals.

Sound: 10
There are two things to consider when looking at Sound in The Hills Season 3, background noise and music selection. I don’t notice any background noise whatsoever in Season 3, which is hard to do with all the different locations the gang travels to. I am impressed the producers are able to capture all the important noise and none of the background static. And as far as music selection goes, I personally am always a fan of the music The Hills has playing in the background of various scenes and events. Not everyone may like it, but I think the producers to a fantastic job of finding music that reaches the audience they want to watch The Hills.

Value: 7
If you’re a die-hard fan of drama, love stories and friendship issues, The Hills Season 3 is for you! You will feel like you’ve spent your dollars well when you kick back, relax and enjoy watching other people’s ups and downs. It’s an entertaining show, but because MTV has already replayed the episodes so much anyone who is interested in the show enough to watch each episode 25 times probably has them memorized by now or is already bored with it. Although there are other features on the DVDs, like sneak previews of new shows, I’m not totally convinced it’s the best deal ever. But like I said, if you’re a lover of The Hills you will definitely be well entertained with the lives of these California residents.

Overall: 8.2
The Hills and Santa Claus are one in the same. You want them to be real, but know they are not. Although The Hills is supposed to be a total reality-documentary show, we all know it’s not completely 100% legit on a day to day basis. There are re-tapings and playing past events over, which is necessary in order to capture all the dramatic watchable moments. I generally like watching The Hills because of the storylines, but at times I feel it’s almost a little too predictable. Granted, there are the moments like in Season 3 where Spencer and Heidi meet Jason and Lauren at Ketchup, but those unpredictable crazy happenings are few and far between. And even then, it leaves me questioning whether or not that was set up. And once I begin to question the legitimacy of the show, it loses its appeal. All in all the storyline isn’t bad, but maybe sometimes it comes off as too set up which takes away from the luster of the show.