The long goodbye.

MTV announced today that the impending sixth season of The Hills will be the series' last. I am in a few minds about this. When the cast has to pretend they aren't D-list celebrities, the show loses any semblance of "reality." The producers took this attitude too far with Kristin's relationship with Justin. Kristin, Justin, and Audrina were seen talking, laughing, and enjoying each others' company after the season five finale - their love triangle was almost entirely fabricated in the service of "good" TV.

When gossip magazines document the private lives of reality TV stars, the audience gains access to insider information. In season four, when Audrina confronted Lauren about allegedly hooking up with Justin, she had to claim she heard it from a "friend," instead of Us Weekly. By the time Audrina attacked Lauren on camera, viewers had known about their rift for months. The gossip magazines and celebrity culture that propelled the show to success (thanks to the infamous Sex Tape Rumor), have now rendered the series an after-thought.

Which brings me back to MTV's announcement that we only have twelve episodes left with Heidi, Spencer, and co. Executive producer Adam DiVello claims the final episodes will, for the first time, acknowledge the casts' celebrity scandals. Viewers will watch as Heidi's mom sees her daughter post-plastic surgery for the first time. Kristin will face rumors of cocaine abuse. Audrina will openly date celebrity musician Ryan Cabrera. Stephanie will struggle to stay sober after publicly getting a DUI.

Past seasons of The Hills would never have discussed these issues on camera. Heidi has undergone numerous plastic surgeries during her tenure on the show, but none of them have been addressed before now. I do think the producers did a disservice to her by ignoring the obvious tragedy of her recent life decisions; this girl might not have become so sad and lost if MTV had exposed the flaws in her thinking from the start.

After five seasons, it appears as though The Hills is about to "stop being polite, and start getting real." I never thought I'd see the day the producers strip away the glossy veneer they've so fastidiously applied to their monstrous creation, and I have a sinking feeling the little girl they've trapped underneath won't look nearly as bright and shiny as they'd like us to think.