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DVD
Reviews
DVD
Review: Veronica Mars: The Complete Second Season
Review by Craig
Byrne - NeptuneSite Webmaster
August 10, 2006
Just
a few weeks before the third season of Veronica Mars begins
on the new CW Network, Warner Home Video will be releasing the
complete second season of the show to DVD
on Tuesday, August 22, 2006.
After
solving the mystery of the death of Lilly Kane in the first season
of Veronica Mars, things quickly moved into a new direction
with the second season premiere as a horrible tragedy took the
lives of several Neptune High students. The second year has Veronica
solving this mystery and many other underlying mysteries throughout
the season.
Regular
cast members for Season Two include Kristen Bell as Veronica,
Percy Daggs III as Wallace Fennel, Enrico Colantoni as Keith Mars,
Jason Dohring as Logan Echolls, Teddy Dunn as Duncan Kane, Tessa
Thompson as Jackie Cook, Ryan Hansen as Dick Casablancas, and
Kyle Gallner as Cassidy "Beaver" Casablancas. Recurring
actors in Season 2 included Charisma Carpenter as Kendall Casablancas,
Steve Guttenberg as Woody Goodman, Jeffrey Sams as Terrence Cook,
Krysten Ritter as Gia Goodman, Tina Majorino as Cindy "Mac"
MacKenzie, and Michael Muhney as Sheriff Don Lamb.
The
Episodes:
I'll
be the first to admit that when the episodes aired, I didn't enjoy
Veronica Mars as much as I did in the show's first
season. However, being able to look at the episodes with the
knowledge of what will come later and looking for early clues
has, so far, been a lot of fun. Some episodes that may have seemed
pointless the first time around seem to have some depth and purpose
now.
Except
maybe "Donut Run." But hey, that's what fast forwarding
to the Lamb-and-Xena stuff is for. And, sorry, no, Jackie never
really does seem to have much of a purpose, although I really
do like Tessa Thompson and thought she did a good job.
All
22 episodes are on this set, and presented in widescreen format,
which also makes me very happy. Although I have hi-def cable,
for some reason unknown to me our local UPN station is not broadcast
that way. Widescreen Veronica is cool.
The
joy of DVD, really, is that you can jump around to your favorites.
I especially liked "The Rapes of Graff" and it's guest
star cast which included the return of Aaron
Ashmore as Troy, plus Michael Cera and Alia Shakwat from the
late, great Arrested
Development. The season starts to become REALLY interesting
as the season mystery unravels, and watching the last few episodes
in a marathon style should be a treat.
You
can also zap through the episodes to check out the many humorous
shirts of Dick Casablancas. You can't go wrong there.
So,
while the episodes on this season don't have the same "wow"
as the Veronica Season 1 set did, there's still a lot of
bang for your buck and I'm sure you'll find something you like.
The
Extras:
First,
I'll get this out of the way: No commentaries. Show creator Rob
Thomas says something about how it couldn't be done on time for
the DVD to still come out by August, but I say there's really
no good excuse. It really can't be that hard to plan a year in
advance "okay, here's when we're going to sit down and record
this commentary for this episode." Rob will probably be posting
a commentary on his
website, but it's still unfortunate, because I would have
loved to have had at least one on this DVD set.
Commentary
would have been welcomed - and from not just Rob. As evident at
the recent Comic-Con cast appearance, there are some real characters
on the Veronica Mars cast, and how cool would it have been
for goofballs like Jason Dohring, Michael Muhney or Ryan Hansen
to be doing commentary on an episode? I know Kristen Bell is busy,
but I can bet any of those guys would love to do it.
With
that out of the way, there ARE some good extra features that did
make it to the set. There's a gag reel, which even includes scenes
from Season 1. Buffy fans should enjoy this since some
of the gags involve Alyson Hannigan as Trina Echolls. The sound
on the gag reel was a little off which was kind of annoying; the
volume had to be lifted on it whereas on other features it was
fine. At one spot, at least on my DVD, there seemed to be no sound
at all.
The
DVD features a good amount of
deleted scenes on over a dozen episodes: "Normal Is The Watchword,"
"Driver Ed," "Green-Eyed Monster," "Blast
from the Past," "Rat Saw God," "Nobody Puts
Baby In A Corner," "Ahoy, Mateys!," "My Mother,
The Fiend," "Ain't No Magic Mountain High Enough,"
"Versatile Toppings," "The Quick and the Wed,"
"I Am God," and "Look Who's Stalking." These
additional scenes should enhance the episodic experience.
Finally,
there are two featurettes. One is a day on the set of Veronica
Mars hosted by Kristen herself. It's a fascinating look at
what is really there, but even moreso than that, props go out
to Kristen for even taking the time to do such a thing. She's
a busy girl, and surely overworked, but the fact that she did
this really made me happy.
The
other featurette, Veronica Mars: Not Your Average Teen Detective,
takes a look at the show in general. I'd have hoped for something
longer, but a short featurette IS better than nothing.
Not
marked on the package but still on the DVD's is the CW's promo
for VM Season Three. Say what you will about the CW's "Free
To Be..." posters, but this video promo - also available
to see at http://www.cwtv.com
- is sweet.
The
Packaging:
The
disc art for this set is, well, really girly. To be a bit more
blunt, it looks like something that would be more appropriate
for a show like Degrassi: The Next Generation (not that
there's anything wrong with that) than it is for the tongue-in-cheek
noir that is Veronica Mars. I'm also not completely sold
on the front cover, which spotlights characters like Duncan and
Weevil but sends important people like Dick and Cassidy back to
the back.
The
DVD set comes with a booklet detailing the episodes, and Warner
Home Video, as per usual, did a bang-up job.
Though
it's not part of the physical packaging, the DVD menus look cool.
I
am so thankful that Veronica Mars Season Two comprises
of single-sided discs; however, I really, really hate the "two
discs practically piled on top of each other" fold-out format,
which seems to just lend itself to some scratching later on.
All
in all though, the packaging seems consistent with the Season
One set-up, which makes me happy because ever-changing DVD box
sizes annoys me (I say as I eye my Dallas DVD sets of various
different sizes).
The
Verdict:
Ultimately,
I like this set a lot. Like I said, Veronica Mars Season
Two is better when you can solve the mysteries at marathon speed,
and that a lot of the stuff that seemed pointless upon first viewing
did have a point later.
I
still wish there could have been some commentary provided on the
set, but what can we do? DVD commentaries are an added bonus,
a privilege - but it is a privilege that a lot of us have become
accustomed to, especially when it concerns a show with a rabid
following like Veronica Mars.
With
that said, I give the Veronica Mars Season 2 box set a
B. I think it's a good, solid set that could have been even
better. I think that for most of us, the convenience of an entire
season at our fingertips will make those shortcomings worth it.
PLEASE
DO NOT TAKE GRAPHICS, NEWS, SPOILERS, ETC. FROM NEPTUNESITE WITHOUT
FIRST ASKING PERMISSION
AND PLACING A LINK TO NEPTUNESITE. OR, JUST SEND PEOPLE OVER TO
THIS SITE! THANKS!
