Why So Blu?

NOS4A2: Season 2 (Blu-ray Review)

RLJE Films, a business unit of AMC Networks, will release Season 2 of the AMC series NOS4A2 on October 20, 2020 on DVD and Blu-ray.Eight years after they finally faced off for the first time, Vic McQueen remains more determined than ever to destroy Charlie Manx. Charlie, having faced his own mortality, emerges desperate for revenge against Vic. This time, he sets his sights on the person who means most to Vic – her eight-year-old son Wayne. The race for Wayne’s soul sends Vic and Charlie on a high-speed collision course, forcing both to confront the mistakes of their pasts in order to secure a hold on Wayne’s future. RLJE Films will release NOS4A2 SEASON 2 on DVD for an SRP of $39.98 and on Blu-ray for an SPR of $44.98.

 

The Series 

NOS4A2 Season 2 picks up 8 years after the shocking events that closed out the first season. Vic (Ashleigh Cummings) is married to the man that rescued her and has a young son. Charlie Manx (Zachary Quinto) is presumed dead and Bing Partridge is, for all intents and purposes, living a “dormant” life just waiting to be reactivated. The first episode in season 2 is a bit jarring in that so much time has passed since the first season. You have to get used to it. Where the end of one seemingly brought people together, by the start of season 2, close friends and family have all moved apart.

Once the season picks up steam, the pacing and gears begin to shift and off we go to the races. Manx returns and is in hot pursuit of Vic but now has his eyes set on her son, Wayne McQueen (Jason David). No one in her family believes that Manx is still alive and neither does her faithful companion Maggie Leigh (Jahkara Smith). In fact, Maggie is in a relationship with one of the FBI agents originally investigating Vic.

As I mentioned before, NOSA42 Season 2 is not without its faults and I believe it has more than season 1. For instance, we’re introduced to characters who seem to have some vested interest in the game Charlie Manx is playing. You have a character that has the power of persuasion come into the story before he is dispatched or just written out. In fact, there’s another character played by Tom Savini who just randomly shows up apparently for no reason whatsoever – almost for us to just say “hey, there’s Tom Savini!” It’s weird.

Other threads are never explored like Maggie Leigh’s origin story, but the smattering of flashbacks involving Charlie Manx and Vic’s father, Chris McQueen (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), were quite poignant. I think Ashleigh Cummings continued to do a great job in her portrayal of the tortured Vic. I think season 1 is a much stronger and more cohesive season than season 2 is. I am not familiar with the source material, but I can’t help to think that this show was planned for a long haul and it either ran out of steam before getting canceled outright this past summer.

As a whole, NOSA42 has some great visuals, make-up special effects, and performances. The storylines in season 2 could have been tightened up a bit, though. NOS4A2 Season 2 is an above average season, but just can’t touch the first season. Still, I recommend NOS4A2 Season 2.

 

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Clarity/Detail: NOS4A2 Season 2 looks great on Blu-ray. Clarity is assured and detail is present. The BD is not overly processed, and contrast levels appear nice balanced. Sharpness levels are also stellar – no post-tweaking on that end.

Depth:  Scenes taking place in Haverhill may look a bit bleak and muted but that changes once we get more into the Charlie Manx flashbacks. Some of those scenes are low-lit – offering a warm balance to the rest of the show’s muted palette.

Black Levels: Black levels are strong, and I don’t recall any scenes involving crush.

Color Reproduction: The color palette, like the overall palette, can come in nice and cool in parts and then light back up with vibrancy. The scenes taking place in Christmasland are terrific. They showcase the neon, the rides, the snow, and the spirit of Christmas itself.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones look great. Charlie Manx, depending in what state he’s end can also look great or decrepit. Manx’s special effects make-up is great and the transfer on this Blu-ray shines the spotlight on a creepy ass character.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

 

 

Audio

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: As is customary with RLJE releases, this Blu-ray set is reference in nature. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless track is powerful and well-balanced. The show can be quiet as mouse, or loud like thunder in an instant.

Low Frequency Extension: The LFE subwoofer channel gets a nice and heavy workout throughout the series. It pummels when it has to, without distorting or interfering with the sound field.

Surround Sound Presentation: The surround channels are really active, while handling ambience tones, as well. In one of the episodes a character shoots at other characters with bad aim and you can clearly hear the wayward bullets zip past your head and ricochet all over the place. It was an awesome display.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are nice and clear, even when Charlie Manx goes into his 135-year old diatribes.

 

Extras 

The extras are the usual fluff featurette pieces about the series. What makes it bittersweet is that the Comic-Con@Home Panel infers that there may be further adventures past season 2 left to explore. The bummer is that the series was canceled way before the Comic-Con@Home Panel was recorded.

• A Look at Season 2
• Catching Up with the Characters
• The Origin of Charlie Manx
• Comic-Con@Home Panel

 

Summary  

NOS4A2 Season 2 was an okay season. It started out really strong and kinda-sorta fizzled about towards the end. The fact that it gets set up for a potential season 3 was a buzzkill, but it is what it is. The video and audio specs are top notch as always and the special features are fine. Season 2 is definitely worth a watch, but season 1 is miles better.

 

 

NOS4A2: Season 2 on Blu-ray October 20, 2020

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