{"id":1233,"date":"2010-11-10T16:26:44","date_gmt":"2010-11-10T21:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1233"},"modified":"2012-02-24T11:33:02","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T16:33:02","slug":"dvd-durham-county-season-2-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=1233","title":{"rendered":"DVD: Durham County, Season 2 (2009)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Return to:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/\u00a0D<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Film: Excellent \/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: Good<\/p>\n

Label\/Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada \/ Muse International\u00a0\/ Catalogue: DV-21880 \/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: July 27, 2010<\/p>\n

Synopsis: \u00a0The Sweeney family goes through further hell when daughter Sadie wants to ready herself for Ray Prager’s trial, and father Mike becomes enmeshed in the messy life of Sadie’s shrink, Pen Verrity.<\/p>\n

Special Features: Disc 2: Making-of Featurette: \u201cBehind the Scenes\u201d (37:59) –\u00a0English only<\/em><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Review:<\/p>\n

Although Season 2 debuted roughly two years after the\u00a0Season 1 made its quiet impact on TV, it doesn\u2019t feel like an expansive time gap has elapsed. The writers seemed to have designed the characters with a number of past issues that could be furthered or developed up at any time, and Season 2 begins not long after foul Ray Prager (Romano Orzari) has stewed in jail for a while, awaiting the trial date when Sadie Sweeney (Laurence Leboeuf) will single him out as a killer, molester, and a sadist extreme.<\/p>\n

Whereas Ray is still using his influence among the police department\u2019s grunt cops \u2013 many of them old friends from the days when they would bring pretty girls to a field cabin and engage in rounds of gang rape \u2013 Sadie needs a bit of help in readying herself for the trial. Her solution is to break the ban on seeing Ray\u2019s son, Ray Jr. (Greyston Holt), further the romance with Junior, and use him to re-enact her abduction in order to strengthen her nerves when she\u2019s obligated to single out Ray Sr. in the courtroom.<\/p>\n

Ray\u2019s buddies at the Division plan to tar her reputation, and maybe give her a big scare to ensure she doesn\u2019t testify. If that isn\u2019t enough, Ray also calls her on the phone, and eventually coerces her into meeting him at the penitentiary, where she sees a physically changed man: once the steel-jawed hockey star from long ago, Ray\u2019s now covered in burn scars from setting himself on fire in a moment of heady remorse for his hideous sins.<\/p>\n

Sadie\u2019s father, Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon), is also dating her shrink, now that her parents have decided on a divorce. Shrink Dr. Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes) is initially supportive of father and daughter, but her own family mess \u2013 a nasty custody battle and eviction notice from her lawyer \/ husband Jonathan (Geordie Johnson) has brought up stressors that may reveal Pen as being responsible for neglecting her daughter and perhaps her death, as well as the potential brain-washing and near-drowning accident of son Mark.<\/p>\n

Pen\u2019s also harboring a seething jealousy of Mike\u2019s still potent affection for ex-wife Audrey (Helene Joy), so it\u2019s understandable she might physically poison Audrey and mentally warp Sadie in order to keep Mike close by. Nothing is off limits, which is why she makes Mike believe Sadie may have been raped by Ray \u2013 a ploy that keeps her close to father and daughter, just in case she wants to create a new family of four.<\/p>\n

The characters in\u00a0Durham County<\/strong> are the most messed up on television, and while their issues, anguish, and self-destructive behaviour is rooted in real life, nobody remains unscathed by the season\u2019s finale. More so than the first season, the writers have not only stuck with the low episodic British formula, but gone for full-tilt British bleakism, which makes the series heavy-going at times.<\/p>\n

And yet it\u2019s as compelling as a morbid installment of\u00a0Peyton Place<\/strong>. Characters are desperate to carve out their own sense of normalcy, and Pen\u2019s no different, but her methodology is rooted in a childhood event in whish she never stopped loathing herself to the bone.<\/p>\n

Did she kill her daughter? Is she the monster her husband keeps describing to the police? Are Pen’s reflexive actions understandable? What designs does she have for Sadie? And is Mike culpable in the murder of a pretty girl who liked him so much in high school that she went with the boys to the cabin, only to be raped, tied to a tree, and burned alive?<\/p>\n

Luckily, some of those questions are answered by episode six, though at times one feels\u00a0Durham County<\/strong> is a perfect fusion of\u00a0Twin Peaks<\/strong>,\u00a0Peyton Place<\/strong>,\u00a0Dynasty<\/strong>, and\u00a0Cracker<\/strong>, with peak points of intense misery designed and orchestrated by the restless ghost of Michael Reeves.<\/p>\n

Most of the first season\u2019s actors are back, although to smoothen the recasting of Ray Prager with Romano Orzari (Justin Louis was apparently locked into new series\u00a0SGU Stargate Universe<\/strong>), the burn makeup manages to reshape Orzari\u2019s face into a likeness of Louis \u2013 a smart and creative move that allows the writers to use footage of Louis from Season 1 in some vital flashbacks.<\/p>\n

Like Season 1, the writing and direction are first rate, and Forbes\u2019 portrayal of Pen is quite chilling: in spite of having nervous breakdowns and scheming to destroy half of the most important people in Ray\u2019s life, she also manages to switch into Professional Mode and be a competent shrink when she\u2019s called on a case. Pen isn\u2019t a schizo; she\u2019s just a messed up creature whose self-preservation instincts are extreme, and yet she\u2019s able to detach herself from her personal crises when she must quietly listen, assess, and counsel\u00a0others<\/em> within a professional working environment.<\/p>\n

The weird mask that Sadie\u2019s sister Maddie wears is no longer vogue; she\u2019s outgrown the need to hide her face, but she still uses her imagination now and then, although it\u2019s mostly to attempt a reconciliation with her parents. To replace the lost surreal imagery, the series\u2019 producers have concocted a striking main title sequence that foreshadows events in the season, include a few wacked-out dream sequences for several characters.<\/p>\n

Most of the writers and directors from Season 1 have returned, although new directors include Alain Desroichers, and Rachel Talaly. Anchor Bay\u2019s DVD includes crisp transfers of the six episode run, and the sound mixes are in Dolby 2.0. [*Note: there may be a pressing issue in which the mixes are in Mono 2.0 instead of Dolby Surround 2.0.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Extras include a making-of doc, of which the most intriguing aspects concern the season’s storylines, visual design, and director interviews. There are no teasers for Season 3<\/a>, but hopefully the gap between the airing of the next season and its DVD release will be far less, ensuring this gripping, depressing, and engrossing series will have a better chance at hooking more viewers.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also available: interviews with series producers\u00a0Adrienne Mitchell and Janis Lundman<\/a>, and Season 2 and 3 composer\u00a0Peter Chapman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2010 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related links:<\/em><\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0Durham County<\/strong> – Season One<\/a><\/strong> (2007)<\/p>\n

Related external links (MAIN SITE):<\/em><\/p>\n

DVD \/ Film: \u00a0Peyton Place<\/a> <\/strong>(1957)<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>—\u00a0Official Site<\/a> —\u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Return to:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews<\/a> \/\u00a0D<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Blu-ray, DVD, Film Reviews \/\u00a0D . Film: Excellent \/ DVD Transfer: Very Good\/ DVD Extras: Good Label\/Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada \/ Muse International\u00a0\/ Catalogue: DV-21880 \/ Region: 1 (NTSC) \/\u00a0Released: July 27, 2010 Synopsis: \u00a0The Sweeney family goes through further hell when daughter Sadie wants to ready herself for Ray Prager’s trial, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-jT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1233"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4343,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1233\/revisions\/4343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}