Blu-ray Review: Second Season of AMC Smash Hit ‘The Walking Dead’

CHICAGO – The second season of “The Walking Dead” displayed a few of the growing pains of a smash hit series both coming to terms with its own voice after a mini-first season and losing its high-profile showrunner in Frank Darabont. There were some tonal inconsistencies and some repetitive dialogue writing in the first half of the 13-episode season. But by the time Shane (Jon Bernthal) opened the barn, “The Walking Dead” had become a great program yet again and the excellent video/audio transfers and wealth of bonus material on the Anchor Bay Blu-ray release serve as great treats for fans of the cable smash.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

I think what threw so many people about the second season of “The Walking Dead” (and I heard more complaints from viewers than praise…although those scales had shifted by the end of the season) was that the program not only got a bit too talky but repeated much of the same dialogue and moral conundrums. The show (and book, for that matter) has always been more about the survivors than the undead. And our survivors faced some dark times in season two and some tough questions. How would you respond? Would you give up looking for a missing girl to protect the still-living? Would you kill a human if he threatened your safety?

These questions were dramatically interesting enough but the show took on a darker, much-more-sinister tone in the final few episodes as the true scope of the problems in the world of “The Walking Dead” were revealed to be even worse than we first thought. The last three episodes of season two of “The Walking Dead” are among the best cable television that’s aired so far this year.

Knowing they have a hit show that’s likely to sell very well on Blu-ray, Anchor Bay has delivered an excellent package. They’re still not the best in terms of HD video but the special features are copious and should get you primed for the upcoming premiere of season three. Come back soon for a full-length review of the season three premiere and catch up with “The Walking Dead” on Blu-ray and DVD now.

The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season was released on Blu-ray and DVD on August 28, 2012
Photo credit: Anchor Bay

Synopsis:
When the world is ravaged by a zombie apocalypse, police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and a small group of others struggle to stay alive as ‘the dead’ stalk them at every turn. Can Rick and the others hold onto their humanity as they fight to live in this terrifying new world? And, amidst dire conditions and personal rivalries, will they ultimately survive one another?

Based on Robert Kirkman’s hugely successful and popular comic book series, AMC’s original series “The Walking Dead” is an epic, edge-of-your-seat drama where personal struggles are magnified against a backdrop of moment-to-moment crisis. A survivalist story at its core, the series explores how the living are changed by the overwhelming realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous than the mindless walkers roaming the earth. They themselves have become the walking dead.

Click here to buy “The Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season” [13]

Special Features:
o All The Guts Inside
o Live Or Let Die
o The Meat Of The Music
o Fire on Set
o The Ink is Alive
o The Sound Of The Effects
o In The Dead Water
o You Could Make A Killing
o She Will Fight
o The Cast On Season 2
o Extras Wardrobe
o 6 Webisodes
o Audio Commentaries On Episodes 1, 7, 8, 11 and 13
o Deleted Scenes

[14]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [15] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [14]