The final season of any show often feels like the last leg of a marathon to myself, it needs to be the season which brings everything to a head and closes the stories it wants to close (not all stories have to be closed, sometimes it's more interesting to leave threads hanging open). The Sopranos Season 6 Part 1 (here to referenced as Part One) in some ways manages to walk into this while also avoiding it. I'm not sure exactly how it gets away with being the first half of the last season, pacing and story-wise there's no doubt that it is half of a construct that is only completed with the second part. But it's also a dominant season with exceptionally strong moments that stand alone.

At the end of the last season Tony fled from Johnny Sack's home as the feds closed in on the head of the New York family. The final season opens with the episode 'Members Only' and delivers one of the biggest moments of the show - Junior Soprano - who started to slip with Alzhiemer's last season - takes a huge step further into his illness by shooting Tony at the end of the epsidoe, making this the second time Tony has been shot during the series. His coma, his experiences in it and the attitudes of the New Jersey crew form a huge part of early episodes.

One of the other main threads of the season follows the gradual decline of Johnny Sack and the rise of Phil Leotardo as a dangerous threat to Tony and his boys (Philly still unwilling to let Tony Blundetto's killing of Angelo go as he was unable to extract revenge from Tony B because Tony S had already killed him to spare the man being tortured to death - and to try and close the issue between New York and New Jersey).

Another character brought to the front of the season is Vito, one of Tony's highest earners - he moves from being a supporting character with a few unusual, interesting and notable traits (his rapid weight loss and suppressed/concealed homosexuality being the primary two) into the limelight when he is outed. I was rather surprised by the expertise and skill involved in the entire story. Vito comes across very strongly as a sympathetic and likeable individual during his time away from New Jersey, which is not to say that you'll forget this is the man who killed Jackie Jr. But you do come to appreciate him a a rounded personality.

The show is as tight and superb as ever, this season has a stronger direction than any before as it's building up towards the final block of episodes. Providing plenty of foreshadowing, metaphors and hints at the storm brewing between the New Jersey and New York families in the final part.

It's a great season that is followed by an amazing one.
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Ok, so I watched the first episode of Treme on Tuesday and I've pretty much spent the past few days thinking about what to make of it. I know from experience of previous David Simon pieces (The Corner, Generation Kill & The Wire) that the first episode of his works is going to be a slow build that throws you into a story that feels like it's already in progress.

The Wire - Simon's 'head and shoulders above all else' show - was a show which took me exactly fourteen episodes to click with, until the start of the second season I was wading through a show with a dense plot and hard to understand dialog that occasionally was unbelievably brilliant and at other times real hard work to keep up with. Of course, I'm now at the point where I can pretty much name all of the minor bit part players by sight - thanks to repeated viewings and of course my Watching the Wire series (currently on hiatus).

The first, and most important thing, is to immediately familiarise yourself with the characters. Lets face it, you're not going to get anywhere if you're only able to name the actors by either their own name or the names of the characters they've played in the past.

So here's the core cast introduced in the first episode (HBO Page here):
Ladonna Batiste-Williams - Khandi Alexander (Fran - The Corner)
Toni Bernette - Melissa Leo (Kay Howard - Homicide: Life on the Street)
Albert Lambreaux - Clarke Peters (Lester Freamon - The Wire)
Antoine Batiste - Wendell Pierce (Bunk Mooreland - The Wire)
Davis McArly - Steve Zahn (He's one of those guys you'll recognise without knowing where from)
Creighton Bennet - John Goodman (The Big Lewbowski, amongst others)
Annie - Lucia Micarelli (First appearance)
Sonny - Michiel Huisman (De co-assistant, no I haven't heard of it either)
Janette Desautel - Kim Dickens (Deadwood)
Delmond Lambreaux - Rob Brown (Finding Forrester)

If you're going to follow the series you'll need that list - I know I will, Simon doesn't give traditional character introductions, he just throws you in there and expects you to swim. Which, I must admit, was a little tough with Treme. There's no doubt already that it's a fantastic show that's going to bloom into a must watch for critics and culture vultures, but there's also no doubt that it's a show which is going to be inaccessible to many viewers. I'm OK with that, but it is a shame that so many viewers will miss out because they're unwilling to put the effort in.

Treme is also a little bewildering at this stage because I don't know much about the city, the neighbourhood or the disaster. I know I can trust David Simon's writing to change all of that, he's an authentic storyteller with a real eye for enlightening and bringing home truths to the viewer.

Until that point I'm just going to enjoy watching Clarke Peters dressed up as a Mardi Gras chieftain.


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I was a little mixed with my feelings on the third season of The Sopranos, it had some great moments - but it was uneven enough that as a result The Sopranos won't ever be surpassing my perennial favourites - The Wire and The Shield - in my top ten. But that said it was still light years ahead of most (non-HBO) television.

The fourth season, I'm happy to report, was a far more solid and coherent piece of quality entertainment. The family is struggling with tough economic times (sound familiar?) Uncle Jun is heading for trial and Tony himself is still struggling with his internal conflict.

I could repeat myself here by gushing about the performances, as across the board they are enchanting. In particular James Gandolfini's performance as Tony - he has this one particular expression which looks like a mix of a shark that scents blood and a toad at the bottom of a deep putrid well. There's something completely predatory and unwholesome about it, and it's always a delight to see him use it to express Tony's reaction to the situation. It's almost like he draws a foggy curtain over the front of his mind and retracts back the humanity, leaving only an animal in place.

I'll leave a further look at Tony Soprano for a later post, one which takes a look at some of the more... unpleasant leading men in television and compares/contrasts them. Suffice to say Tony's in the top tier, especially after his performance in this season (the horse incident is just superb in the way it blindsides you and then reminds you just how brutish Tony really is - if you haven't seen it, don't worry calling it 'the horse incident' is not a spoiler ;).

As with series three, series four has a handful of episodes which outshine the rest by light years - this time the vast majority of them revolve around the always entertaining Ralphie Cifaretto who initially joined the show in the third season and fast became a hugely entertaining arsehole of epic proportions. Whoever Did This is one of the greatest episodes of the show I've seen so far as is The Weight. Both of which owe a great deal to Ralphie's presence and general douche-baggery.

I think at this point it's also worth giving large props to Tony Sirico's performance as Pauile Walnuts - I've always had a fond soft spot for the character since the start of the show - and that grew a great deal after the quite brilliant 'snow' episode in the third series (Pine Barrens). He goes from strength to strength in this season; I especially enjoyed his completely inappropriate overreaction towards Christopher in Everybody Hurts - you can almost bank on Paulie getting himself into some trouble that's entirely his own creation any time he makes a decision.

I think it's fair to say that the fourth series of The Sopranos is quite excellent, I still feel that the first two seasons pulled off the strongest story lines - but there is no doubt that number four is a more complete and enjoyable entity than number three was.

The Extras:
Audio Commentaries on four episodes.
Episodic previews and recaps (for the REALLY hard of memory)
Recaps of series 1, 2 and 3 (For those of you who want to get someone up to speed quickly without having to rewatch the previous seasons).
Cast/Crew Biographies
Interactive Menus (Seriously, this is listed as a bonus feature. I wonder what the non-interactive version is like, maybe it tells you that you're not allowed to watch the show.)
Scene Access (...words fail me)

The Details:
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Languages: English
Rating: 18
Region: 2
Run Time: 11hours 48mins
Subtitles: The box only says English, but I found German, Italian and French amongst others.
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Deadwood, The Sopranos, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Six Feet Under, John Adams, Generation Kill, In Treatment, The Wire, Carnivale, Band of Brothers, Flight of the Conchords and Big Love; these number amongst my favourite shows or mini-series and they all have one thing firmly in common.

They are all from Home Box Office.

In the world of American television there are three networks that I consider to be ones which provide a higher level of quality television than the rest. These are FX, Showtime and the aforementioned HBO. FX and Showtime are networks I keep an eye on and sample shows from them - sometimes I find greatness (Rescue Me and Weeds for example) and sometimes I find shows which I'm not that fussed on (Nurse Jackie), but HBO is a network which I've come to realise never has any of the latter type. Every single HBO production I've watched (and I've seen nearly all of them now) has been quality that is within the top percentile of television shows.

Three of the most significant shows of the last decade came from HBO (The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under) and collectively HBO shows represent around 10% of my personal top 100. That's a huge sweep for a single network, especially when you consider that I'm not an exception in this - many others have similar praises - TVGuide's top 100 episodes of all time features several episodes from HBO; and most critic's top ten "best shows of all time" lists will include at least two or three HBO shows. Empire's list has The Wire and The Sopranos; Time Magazine's has several, as does The Guardian and even Bloggers can't resist including them in their lists (for example here).

It's kind of incredible really, HBO is just one network - a subscription one at that - and in all honesty that's pretty much all I personally know about it. I don't live in America, I watch TV in a detached from timeline fashion that mostly involves boxed set marathons, I don't have any form of subscription television and yet my tastes in television shows are dominated by this one institution which consistently seems to raise the bar for storytelling in a televisual context by not seeming to compromise on depth and only occasionally where accessibility is concerned (out of the show's I've mentioned only The Wire truly requires one to work at their viewing to click with it).

I don't think every network has to be like HBO, there's room for most kinds of programming on the airwaves, but I do feel that more networks and shows should be aspiring to surpass HBO's standard of excellence. Right now there's no doubt (for myself at least) that HBO is my preferred source of television. That said there are networks who do seem to be working on becoming quality providers; the aforementioned Showtime is trying - but is suffering from a lack of consistency, same with FX. The other network which might rise up to become a contended is AMC; but at the moment all they seem to have is Mad Men and Breaking Bad, two most excellent shows, but they're going to need to bring some more big hitters to their lineup - and I suspect they intend to over this year.

In the UK, on the other hand, things seem to be at an all time low - the BBC has very few good quality new dramas or sitcoms and ITV has even less. British television has never been at the forefront of innovative TV - the best show on the screens right now is the frankly ancient Doctor Who, it's still brilliant - but it's hardly enough by itself. We're desperate over here for a quality subscription channel which provides strong and original British programming - but until then I'll keep watching everything HBO brings us.

So how about it HBO? How about giving us Home Box Office UK?
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I've been meaning to write about the third season of The Sopranos for a while now, I'm actually close to watching the end of the fourth season at the moment of writing this. But I've been putting it off and it took me a while to understand why.

Now there is no doubt in my mind that The Sopranos is in the top 1-5% of television in history, and it's been utterly fantastic to watch. In particular the additional depth provided by the ongoing psychiatric treatment of Tony Soprano makes it a delight to watch. James Gandolfini (in addition to having a most excellent surname) continues to bring us a character who's both compelling and completely sociopathic - there is no doubt that he's brought Tony to life with such completeness that the character is amongst the greatest of criminal protagonists to have graced our screen. He's a likable monster who can make you forget the terrible crimes he's committed at times much like Vic Mackey, Shane Vendrell (The Shield), Stringer Bell (The Wire) and to a lesser extent characters Dexter Morgan (Dexter) & Walter White (Breaking Bad). He really is a complete human being, even if he's from the more loathsome side of humanity.

Likewise performances across the board are fantastic, to name everyone who puts in class work would be effectively naming the entire cast one after another. Returning (surviving) faces and new ones alike they're all spot on what they should be - even if that's annoying, amusing, disturbing or some mixture of negative traits. It's almost impossible to find fault with the performances as even if you dislike a particular character it's because you're supposed to dislike them.

The thing about the third season is this, while it's consistently better than (approx) 99% of everything shown on television, this season just doesn't feel better than the two seasons before it. The cardinal rule of seasons here at Rev/Views is "each season must be better than the one which came before it" and if I'm honest I enjoyed the first two seasons a lot more than this one. Don't get me wrong some episodes were amazing - Employee of the Month, University and Pine Barrens in particular blew me away with their stories - but a lot of the rest just felt par for the show, not terrible but also not great.

[Incidentally I found Employee of the Month a very difficult episode to watch, but the final scene in it was just superb. To take a character on such a terrible journey like that, and then to give them the power back is one thing. But to have a character so ethically strong as to not then use that power - it was just great.]

Additionally, the end of the season didn't have that same feeling of release as the first two seasons. They both built up to moments which blew me away and left me feeling justified for the investment of time. This season at the end instead felt more like things were just happening and it was setting up for the fourth season - there was no real over arcing plot to properly serialise the show. It was mainly life, happening one day at a time.

Maybe this sounds rather negative, and if so I do need to clarify that I was still enthralled by the show and it is no doubt one of the best shows in the medium of television - all time - it's just I was left feeling a little "that's it?" at the end.

Fortunately, the fourth season has been nothing short of fantastic so far. So seriously, if you're not watching The Sopranos (and haven't already seen it)... What's your excuse?

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First up, (as the title suggests) there's a bit more info about Treme from the good people of Crimespree. There are a few shots from the show and the HBO Q&A.

It's all here.

"TREME is about the history of New Orleans since the storm in 2005. What has come back, what has not. What has changed, what is timeless."

I very much approve of The Wire as a television show, it holds my personal second place in the world of "best shows" behind The Shield. Only losing out to the latter due to accessibility issues and the fact that the fifth season of The Wire failed to succeed at my cardinal rule of a long running show - which is 'Each season should be better than the one which came before it'.

That said I've watched everything David Simon has been involved in and adored it - mostly due to the way he approaches the medium of television, in my opinion he's found the correct way to present a show and as such I'm confident Treme will deliver everything I want from it and more.

It doesn't hurt that Wendell Pierce and Clarke Peters are involved in the project as actors either.

There's more about Treme's pilot episode cast list here at the IMDB, HBO's Treme Homepage is up here and the wikipedia article (here) contains more information while remaining (currently) spoiler free.

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In a slight break from the norm here I'm going to look at the book which caused me to miss yesterdays promised update because I was reading instead of writing. It's the companion piece to HBO's narrative television giant The Wire. Subtitled Truth be Told and penned by Wire staff writer Rafael Alvarez (with an introduction from David Simon) it's an overview of the show from it's conception all the way to it's finale and serves not only as a look into the production of the series but also as an episode guide, reference and even a glossary of terms. The publishers have even thought to include an attached ribbon bookmark, something I always appreciate having as I constantly loose my bookmarks around the house (even though I've owned the same two for about fifteen to twenty years now, they keep turning up again).

The book itself is a hefty and stylish tome. Behind the iconic silver and black dust cover (which mirrors the colour scheme of the first season boxed set) there's a classy looking tome weighing in with 580 odd pages spread over seven chapters. In addition to writings from Rafael there are also interviews and quotes from other Wire related individuals inter spaced with black and white pictures from the show. There are even a few pages of colour panels, each of which showcase the artistic skill involved in the direction of the show, the shots are all beautiful in of themselves (even if the subject matter involved in many of the shots is anything but...)

The first section of the book contains David Simon's introduction, the letter he sent to HBO pitching The Wire and a contemporary piece on Barack Obama - who is a confessed Wire fan and loves (but does not condone of course) the character of the stick up artist Omar Little. Then the next five chapters break down into a rough collection of pieces about either the relative season the chapter focuses on - including two to three page episode synopsises (don't expect everything to be covered in them, but many pertinent details are) but also sections looking at the various Wire characters, some of the actors behind them, unsung members of the production team and much, much more.

There's a section on The Bunk, which covers both Bunk Mooreland and his real life inspiration Detective Oscar Requer. A detailed look at two of my favourite characters; Frank Sobotka and Jimmy McNulty. Detailed looks into politics (both as depicted on The Wire and the ones which dipped into/interfered with the creation of the shows episodes), Nick Horby's interview with David Simon and much, much more. All capped with a script called 'A Scene That Will Never Make the Bonus Disc' it's a ripping read and also has an incredible set of appendixes including a glossary of the language used in The Wire. No excuse now for not knowing what someone means when they say they're 'carrying water'.


It's an absolute pleasure to read, gripping but light enough that you don't feel bogged down by the size of it, and as such I think it's no exaggeration to say that this book is a must read for anyone who's watched The Wire and wants to know a little more about the scope, aim and style of the show. Rafael (and the others who contribute) brings a shrewd insight into the show that only someone closely involved in it could be - unless the big man himself (Simon) wishes to pick up a proverbial pen and write a book on The Wire this one is pretty "it".
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Last month I started watching The Sopranos, a show which has been on my "to watch" list since The Wire and The Shield both finished their respective (and amazing) runs on television. But the prohibitive cost and large size of the complete DVD boxed sets meant I wasn't willing to start watching them. The release of the complete set in a small box at a very reasonable price was enough to sway me over and as my first season review will attest - I'm rather glad I did.

I'm afraid this review is rather more spoiler-tastic than I had intended at first, but it's a difficult season to write about without being more explicit in the details. Hopefully I haven't given away anything major, but in case you haven't already seen the season, you might want to stop reading.

The second season feels somewhat different to the first season, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what it is which causes this different feel, but there's a definite shift in focus over this season. There's also a widening of the Soprano's world as well, which results in some great storylines and episodes.

But while some parts of the show widen out, others become smaller or disappear. In particular after having such a prominent and excellent role in the first season, Livia (Nancy Marchand) is greatly reduced in her appearances and potential influence - this isn't surprising at all considering what happened last season, but it did leave a bit of a gap. While Tony's sister Janice (Aida Turturro) and released wiseguy Richie (David Proval) step up to provide a fair amount of antagonism, they're not on the same level as Livia's brilliance. Janice in particular I found to be nothing more than an irritating waste of screen space - while this is intentional, it doesn't stop it being annoying.

Some of my favourite moments in this season include Christopher's film script arc, which initially started out as a "where the heck are they going with this?" and ended up with some fantastic scenes involving a few familiar faces. And the entire episode Commendatori which switched things up and was very interesting to watch.

I must admit while watching that Paulie's story arc (a great one by the way) initially slipped by me, it took a while for me to realise why he was so stressed out and acting up. But it built up wonderfully and resulted in some fantastic scenes, especially near the end of the season.

My favourite part of the show remains the scenes between Tony and Dr Melfi, these therapy scenes aren't as prevalent in the second season, but the ones that are there - brilliant. There's a great relationship between these two characters and I also like the widening of Dr Melfi's life, we get to see the knock-on effects of her treating Tony. Which means we also get to see more of the world outside the circle of the Sopranos.

In all the second season is a different beast to the first one, it has a wider scope and a different texture when compared to the first one. I wouldn't call it an evolution or even a direct improvement, it was certainly more enjoyable to watch and had some stupendous moments, but it was also very, very different. Almost to the point of heading in a different direction, I guess kind of like the way The Wire does it - same characters, different story.

Great stuff.
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This one is for those of you who've watched the first season of The Sopranos. For everyone else I'd recommend sticking with the lighter and spoiler free 1st Season Review.

For everyone else, remember I've only seen the first season at this point, I'm about to start the second season - but I wanted to get these thoughts down before watching any more and having future events colour my experience.

Read on, but spoilers lurk beyond...

So you can, of course, colour me completely impressed by The Sopranos first season. I can see why people and critics alike rave about it, it's an exceptionally brilliant - and accessable - show.

First of all, there were two slightly odd experiences I had while watching the first episode. These were both caused by other shows - the first is the completely different appearance of Edie Falco when compared to Nurse Jackie. Nurse Jackie is the first place I've encountered her, and while I'd read comparisons which talked about how different she looked in the two series experiencing this was pretty amazing. In Jackie she looks, well tired, strung out and her haircut doesn't flatter her at all. But in The Sopranos she's pretty good looking indeed, I guess haircuts do make a difference.

The second slight jarr comes from the opening sequence, which is parodied in the Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law episode 'Dabba Dabba Don". The opening sequence is re-cut with scenes of Fred Flintstone travelling in Bedrock. I've watched Harvey Birdman many times (mostly thanks to it's light nature and short episode length) and as such I cannot watch the opening credits to The Sopranos without reflecting on it's cartoon parody.

Outside of those two highly personal oddities the show is nothing short of amazing. It looks good, it flows well and the performances from some of the cast members are nothing short of superb. I can see why the show is one of those which is most commonly referrenced as 'one of the best shows of all time' already, and I've only seen the first thirteen episodes.

For myself, largest and most interesting points of the first season are revolve around Tony's depression and his therapy sessions with Dr Melfi. I've studied psychology and psychiatry quite extensively over the years, especially depression, a condition I have a considerable interest in. While I'm no recognised expert, I was pleased with the way Tony's depression was portrayed, most of the time he's quite capable and able. But his language is very negative and at times everything just overwhelms him. Depression being portrayed in the media is something which needs to occur more often, especially complex and intelligent portrayals like this one. It's a major thing for the show to tackle, and they do it well.

Depression and mobsters, seems like two of the big American issues all wrapped up into one package.

Performance-wise there are quite a few which are of great and worthy note. As I mentioned in the DVD review before James Gandolfini is dynamite as Tony, Edie Falco is also great as his wife Carmella, and many of the other actors give believable and amazing performances as well. But the major praise in the season would have to be given to the lovely Lorraine Bracco and most of all Nancy Marchand as the completely Machavellian Livia Soprano. I could see what she was up to fairly early on, or at least suspected and gradually had it proven. The passive agressive manipulation of her family is something to really behold, and the moment where Dr Melfi suggests that she might be a borderline personality was one which just rang true.

Another thing I feel the show really succeeds on is the rhythm of it, while the season as a whole progresses with a gradual storyline, each individual episode rises and falls with it's own beat. You can watch a single episode and enjoy it somewhat standalone as there's a story in each episode with hanging threads that connect each. But the season also holds together as a complete entity. This means it lies somewhere between the extremes like Murder One/The Wire with their ongoing season long storylines and House M.D./Star Trek which extensively use the episodic story of the week format. I'd compare the weighting of the storytelling to that of The Shield on this front - some ongoing stories, some which are wrapped up inside the episode. It's a good style, but a hard one to achieve.

Ultimately I'm highly impressed, some of the episodes in particular really stood out; now the first episode was decent, but not gripping. But after that things really took off. College was one of those episodes which was great, mixing the relative mundanity of taking your daughter to various universities against the issue of dealing with an ex-wiseguy turned rat. The future in one hand, the past in the other - this, combined with the viseral and unrelenting brutality of the execution makes it probably the first 'memorable' episode.

Speaking of which, I do adore the violence in this show, it's not glamourised and it's often harsh and very messy. Something which could shock, but at times it amuses - mostly because of the impliments used. Seeing someone whacked in the head with a service bell (ding! ding! ding!) or a phone handset really does provoke a laughter reaction. It's a trick that Evil Dead 2 achieves as well, mixing the horror of the situation with something comical - it blunts the blow from watching and make it a little easier to enjoy. Of course, the killing in College is not amusing - well except for maybe Tony's sudden appearance, but after that it becomes very messy.

There's absolutely loads more I could write about here, but I think that's enough until I've watched the second season. Suffice to say; I think the show is very special indeed.
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Recently HMV have started selling the new and much, much smaller set for The Sopranos for an exceptionally respectable price (£70, both in stores and online), this meant that the series had almost crossed over the last boundary between myself and purchasing it. A small windfall on the National Lottery (same night as the Derren Brown predicted it, only there was no trickery on my part) removed the final obstacle - lack of finances.

So I splashed out and picked up the boxed set, which I'll review in it's entirety at some point in the future. Right now I'm going to look at each season individually. There's a few things to go through before starting, first of all - I've only now watched the first season, I genuinely have no idea what's ahead. Secondly I won't be spoilering the events of the first season here, there will probably be a cut-away post about that sometime next week instead.

All of this aside, let us push on and look at the first season set.



If there is anything you could say about HBO it's that they are pretty much the kings of quality television, looking back at the shows I've enjoyed over the years (and more importantly still continue to enjoy) I have to admit that there are more than a few shows from the HBO stable amongst the ranks. Shows like The Wire, Six Feet Under, Generation Kill, The Corner and Curb Your Enthusiasm - all amazing shows that are great to watch the first time and continue to enrapture even when watched for the dozen-th time.

After watching the first season of The Sopranos I can say with confidence that it will be joining the ranks of the all time greats. It pretty much ticks all the boxes that I look for in a drama show; we've got characters of dubious ethics, dark humour, violence, tight and sophisticated dialog, subtext, fantastic facial (and physical performances) and most importantly of all - an ongoing storyline told over an entire season mixed with 'episodic stories' as well.

The characters are well realised and easily identifiable - with some shows it can initially be overwhelming to try and follow the cast - especially the names of the various characters I didn't find it to be so with The Sopranos, the players fit into place and their names are repeated enough to allow you to follow each one.

The show itself boasts a stable of nuanced performances from a frankly stellar cast; from James Gandolfini's blistering performance as Tony Soprano and right across the board they manage to nail their roles - mixing just the right amount of stereotyped behaviour alongside actions which buck the aforementioned stereotypes and round out the characters. I was very pleased to see Drea de Matteo in this, my previous experiences of her were from Rescue Me and frankly she's great in both (even if acting the two characters she portrays isn't much of a stretch as they are rather similar at times).

But the greatest enjoyment for myself are in the psychiatric sessions between Tony and his shrink Dr. Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco). I have a more than passing interest in psychology and psychiatry (having both studied and worked in the field in the past) and as such these therapy sessions added a whole extra dimension to the show. Suffice to say the pair are great in them and the scenes between them add a lot to the whole tapestry of the show, I feel they are quite possibly my favourite part.

There is one other performance of considerable note in this season, but to go into who it is and why they give such an amazing performance would run towards spoilering the season more than I want to - it'll have to wait until the later, spoiler laden post which should come out next week sometime.

Suffice to say I was thoroughly impressed with the show's freshman season, it's easy to see why so many people have enjoyed The Sopranos over the years if this is the standard the show starts out at. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into the second season tomorrow.

Now, onto the physical nature of the set itself. It's an exceptional piece of work in many aspects. The new release has discarded the huge boxes of the previous edition in favour of standard DVD cases with interior holders. There are just a few oddities about it which let the production down. The first is the relatively low amount of extras - there's about as many as in The Wire's DVD releases (i.e. naff all). The second is a minor annoyance, the set has four discs for thirteen episodes, you'd expect these to be spaced 3, 3, 3 and a 4 - but they're not. Two sets have four episodes, which means one set has just two episodes on it. Considering the low number of extras it's a little odd.

The third issue is the lack of the old "Play All" button, seriously DVD manufacturers - it's the best button in the menu system after the one for subtitles - don't neglect it! And the final issue is a bit of "special" from the inside cover layout artist. The images chosen and placed above each episode in the list normally bare absolutely no relation to the episode below it. It's like someone just couldn't be bothered to take the extra couple of hours it would take to pick an appropriate picture for each episode. Pretty sloppy work and I hope whoever is responsible feels guilty.

The final issue I have with the set is the relative volume, the show has an exceptionally quiet sound track, I have to turn my television up to around double it's normal volume to hear properly (compared to most other DVD releases) - while I do have slightly impaired hearing this is still a little excessive.

Extras:
Audio commentary on episode 1
Video Interview with David Chase
Two behind-the-scenes featurettes

Details:
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1 Widescreen
Audio: 5.1
Languages: English, French
Rating: 18
Region: 2
Run Time: 12 hours 34 mins
Subtitles: English, French, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Romanian, Swedish
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Flight of the Conchords' first season was a quirky mix of comedy, songs and just general fun tomfoolery on the small screen. It was very well received all round and I enjoyed watching it myself, it felt like a less wacky - but still offbeat - and funny Mighty Boosh. The second season brings us another ten episodes of
"Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo" and continues their quest for fame, fortune and recognition in the Big Apple.

Just like the previous series this takes place in tight episodes which chart the misery, discomfort and humiliation which represents Jermaine and Bret's lives. The pair are still broke, desperate and managed by the ever optimistic Murray. Attendance at their gigs is low and it looks like things couldn't get worse, or could they?

The second season raises the stakes somewhat in the guest star roster, present this season is a wide range of fantastic actors and actresses. Including Greg Proops (Who's line is it anyway?), Alan Dale (24, Neighbours, Ugly Betty), the fantastic Sarah Wynter (Who I've rated since watching her in The Dead Zone), Kristen Wiig (SNL), the brilliant Patton Oswalt (King of Queens), Lucy Lawless and even Michael Potts (Brother Mouzone - The Wire). It seems the second season has been kind to the guys.

As for the main cast; both Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie continue to be great as their hapless fictional counterparts, but it's Rhys Darby as Murray who really steals the show repeatedly with his misguided attempts to manage the boys. Kristen Schaal remains fantastically annoying and creepy as Mel and Arj Barker doesn't skip a beat with his performance as man's man Dave. All in all the cast remain as good as ever.

The songs on the other hand vary a lot in quality, the first season had nothing but pure dynamite in the tune department. But the second season is a bit more of a mixed bag, some of the songs are marvelous to listen to and have hilarious lyrics, but some of the others fall a little flat. It's a bit of a shame that the show is let down in this department.

Ultimately the second season of Flight of the Conchords is very watchable and funny. But it's not as good as the first season was, the cracks are beginning to show a little and as such it falls down at times. When it's funny, it's incredibly funny, but when it's not - it's really off the mark. Fortunately Rhys' performance as Murray is always on target, but he can't carry everything by himself. Jermaine and Bret on the other hand are a little uneven, and some of the stories are as well. Oh and Mel really begins to grate on my nerves after a while, I realise she's meant to be annoying, but when you find yourself wishing a character in a sitcom would get killed off in a horrible fashion, maybe they've gone a little too far with her.

It's fun to watch and a pleasant way to spend a few evenings, but not an instant classic comedy.

Extras:
Flight of the Conchords on Air Documentary Feature
Dave's Pawn Shop Commercials
New Zealand Consulate Meetings with Murray and Greg
Deleted Scenes
Outtakes

Details:
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Full Frame
Run time: 269 Mins Approx
Languages: English
Subtitles: English, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Rating: 15
Region: 2
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I've always enjoyed Bill Paxton's work on screen, he's an actor who I've felt has had leading man qualities but never quite broke through as one. In addition to his genuine screen talent he's also the one man who's been killed by a Predator, an Alien and a Terminator - sort of the Science Fiction triumvirate there. So his name along with the fact that Big Love is from HBO was enough to put the show on my radar and when Zavvi/Head dropped the price down to a meager £6.74 for the entire first season I figured that it would be crazy to not pull the trigger and give the show a go - if I didn't enjoy it I wouldn't be much out of pocket.

Big Love is about Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton) who is a practicing polygamist with three wives and seven children. The family consists of himself, his first wife Barb (Jeanne Tripplehorn), second Nicki (Chloë Sevigny) and his third Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin). The series deals with the trials and pressures of being a polygamist family in America, pressures which come from both inside the family unit and without - especially the fear of being discovered as polygamists. Bill's a successful hardware store owner who has just opened his second building, but the "Prophet" of his ex-commune (and father-in-law) Roman (Harry Dean Stanton) owns a stake in his business and is unwilling to lose his grip on it despite Bill's desire to distance him from the past.

Big Love is a very soapy drama which has a lot in common with Desperate Housewives in it's style, but instead of following the lives of a series of neighbours we instead follow the lives of three families which have the additional perk of being one family as well. The three wives all adore their husband and Bill functions as the head of the family but there is also a hierarchy between the three (based on order of marriage) - Barb is the most competent of the three wives, working and managing the households effectively, Nicki is one of Roman's daughters and has a severe problem with debt and Margene is the youngest at 23 and is still getting to grips with her life. The three families live in neighbouring houses, which is a rather effective and brilliant move on Bill's part - allowing them to remain close without rousing too much suspicion, but of course this is a very expensive way to live.

The other cast members of significance are Don (Joel McKinnon Miller) fellow polygamist, employee and confidant of Bill's, Bill's two eldest children Ben (Douglas Smith) and Sarah (Amanda Seyfried) and Bill's father Frank (Bruce Dern) and mother Lois (Grace Zabriskie). Ben and Sarah both have lives and problems of their own, while Frank and Lois's own problems threaten to engulf Bill's already complicated life at times.

Big Love is a show which has suffered it's fair share of controversy, it's an uncomfortable subject matter for many people, polygamy is something which is unusual and often looked down on by society. But if you're able to get past the strangeness of this fictional family's situation there is a fun and unique drama beating at the heart of it all. In many ways Big Love is a show which challenges your perception on what consists in a 'normal life' and gives you an insight into a way of life you may never have encountered before.

It's an interesting series, something which is an enjoyable show to watch - while it didn't grip me as tightly as some other drama shows I've watched in the past it did evoke the style of Six Feet Under and Desperate Housewives, both of which are highly competent and enjoyable shows in their own right. And Ginnifer Goodwin is just adorable.

Extras:
Two Audio Commentaries with Bill Paxton, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chloe Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin
Big Love: A Balancing Act - the making of the opening title sequence.

Details:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Rating: 15
Region: 2
Runtime: 613 mins approx
Soundtrack: English, French
Subtitles: English, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Romanian, Castillian Spanish, Swedish
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In 2001 Alan Ball, the writer of the Academy Award winning American Beauty released his newest creation on an unsuspecting public. A show about a family run funeral home located in Los Angeles, a show looking at the lives of people who live in a world focused on death. From the pilot episode people noted that this show was something exceptional and this boxed set contains the complete first season.

Six Feet Under follows the story of the Fisher family and the people close to them; eldest son Nathaniel Jr (Nate) Fisher (Peter Krause) having turned his back on the business for years returns to spend a little time with his family for Christmas. In the airport he meets a beautiful woman and has a spontaneous fling with her, unaware that his father Nathaniel Fisher Senior is killed by a bus on the way to the airport. This traumatic event changes his life forever and he reluctantly returns to the family business, taking over running and living in the Fisher & Son Funeral Home with his mother Ruth (Frances Conroy), his sister Claire (Lauren Ambrose) and his brother David (Michael C. Hall). The other three core members of the cast are their brilliant mortician Federico (Freddy Rodríguez), David's boyfriend Keith (Mathew St. Patrick ) and the lovely Rachel Griffiths as Brenda, the woman who Nate has his fling with at the airport and later becomes his girlfriend.

Six Feet Under is a show which works on several distinct levels, the primary one being a family based drama which deals with the problems each family member encounters. Nate is struggling to adjust to this new life, David is having problems coming out of the closet, Claire is utterly lost in the wilderness of adolescence and Ruth has lost her life long partner, husband and father of her children.

It's also a philosophical program which took a fresh look at the subject of death and made a bold decision not to shy away from it. Most TV deaths before Six Feet Under were in police procedural and were essentially little more than the initial drive for an investigation. Six Feet Under features at least one death per episode (some of them are exceptionally inventive) and builds the show around both life and death with a darkly comic perspective. It's a show which says, death is to be embraced. It comes to all of use, but there is something beyond, so don't be afraid.

The four disc set itself is wonderfully designed, it's dark and stylish with striking cover art and a brilliant pop up part to it's construction. When you open the box up the internal tray is lifted out slightly, making it easy to pick up the DVDs. Also, in theme with the shows black sense of humor the moving tray reveals a macabre message saying "Your whole life is leading up to this." It simply is an incredibly well thought out and superbly constructed product. The first time I saw that little message when opening the box I was simultaneously amused and provoked into quiet reflection about the truth of it.

Six Feet Under is one of the most significant shows of this decade and the first season is a spellbinding tour de force, if you haven't already seen Six Feet Under you haven't lived.

And who'd want to die without living first?

Extras:
Behind the scenes featurette including interviews with the cast and Alan Ball
Deleted Scene from the pilot episode
15 min "making of" featurette
2 music tracks

Details:
Aspect Ratio: 1:33.1
Audio: 5.1 Dolby Digital
Language: English
Rating: 18
Region: 2
Run time: 11 hours 33 mins
Subtitles: English
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