We continue in my DVD reviews with the second season of The Shield. The first season is reviewed here and as such this one will be in comparison to the first season.

The second season picks up immediately after the end of the first season, jumping straight back into the grim world of Farmington L.A. without even giving the viewer a chance to breathe. Continuity continues to be observed exceptionally well, both in the metaplot, cases and individual personal lives. The threads of the show continue to look at Julien's personal life, Dutch's development, Vic's personal/home life alongside the continued cases, strike team actions, bureaucracy, politics and much more. The second season of The Shield continues the high standard of the first one, keeping in touch with minor characters and guest stars by returning them. All of this keeps a high level of consistency and helps keep the world they live in feeling real. Only one show "The Wire" has a higher degree of realism in it's story telling.

The only quibble I have is that the second season isn't as explosive as the first one, while it's still amazing it just feels a smidge weaker than the first. Of course this means it's still better than 99% of the things on television anyway.


The box is almost identical to the previous season, it has changed art but that's it. This means it keeps consistency of style, font and the like when put on the shelf. The only complaint I'd have is one that holds up over most DVDs. The age certificate label always seems to move up and down from one season to the next. Maybe I'm just a little obsessive about this, but it annoys me. See the season one review for more details



Season 2 contains commentary on every episode from a variety of people involved in the show, from the writers to the actors. This means that it can vary somewhat in quality depending on the people involved. Personally I prefer commentary that comes mainly from the actors. I find most writers are rather... dry when they do commentary. Anyway, this means the commentary remains fresh, but varies in quality.

The other extras included are deleted scenes, featurettes on editing, sound and the like. I skimmed through them a bit but the only one that grabbed me was about the choices made in the construction of the Barn set. I'd say the extras are about average, maybe a little worse than season one's.

The second season can be had for £17 atm, not as cheap as the first season sadly. Some shops occasionally have it for £15. Still it's a bargain at 613 minutes, which is 2.8p per minute. Very respectable as it's under the 3p per minute mark.