The Good

A fun TV show that blends sass with the past and features plenty of shots of Eliza Dushku.

The Bad

“The Complete Second Season” is a whopping 6 episodes on 2 discs no less!!

If I told you that there was a show in which a beyond hot girl had powers to relive past events so that she could save people’s lives would you be interested in watching it? If I also told you that this same girl was battling a guy who was trying to make fate run it’s course would you watch it? Now, if I told you that that bad guy was Jason Priestly and the babe was Eliza Dushku would you still be interested? Your response or lack of response probably indicates why this show was only on for 2 seasons, and why the second of those seasons has only 6 episodes when shows like this seem to have at least double that amount.

I am baffled because Tru Calling - Season 2 seemed to have all the ingredients that people like in today’s TV. Eliza Dushku is an amazing physical specimen. Priestly has the whole 90210-thing happening and you have parents that act anything like guardians. Somehow Tru Calling was not a show that people wanted to hear from.

Features

Tru Calling: Opposing Forces

This was a neat little “making of” featurette because I came into my screening of this 2 disc set cold. In fact, I didn’t even read what the show was about on the back cover! So it was cool to hear from the cast as they talked about the show, sadly, they obviously didn’t know that it wasn’t going to be on the air that much longer. Also, listening to Dushku talk and watching her on this show, I find it hard to believe that anybody would think she was a medical student. This isn’t to say that I don’t think she’s smart, it’s just to say I don’t think she’s smart enough to be a doctor.

Video

Widescreen. 1.78:1 - Aspect Ratio. Normally, and I sadly find that I have been saying this a lot, I don’t go for shows that look like this; that are so stagey and all that. Yet, this show does move well and even though it deals with weird subject matter (seeing into the lives of the dead, anyone?), I have to give this show credit for being light in tone and very much attempting to play to Dushku’s strengths. Ultimately, it didn’t succeed but at least it made an attempt with a somewhat original concept.

Audio

English Dolby Surround. Subtitled in English, French and Spanish. Close Captioned. As I mentioned above there is a “stagey” quality to this show and as a result things feel a bit stilted. Also, there is something about Dushku’s voice that doesn’t speak of great intelligence. Yet, there is something there. She isn’t a ditz and she certainly doesn’t play the “dumb girl.” I guess when you get right down to it the look, plots and sound of this show were just as good as everything else on TV, but that wasn’t enough to set it apart.

Package

This is pretty lacking. There is a front cover shot of Dushku with Priestly behind her. The way the soft lighting is working, Dushku seems to be missing her nose. The back features a very nice shot of her thinking and under that are some very poorly rendered shots from the show. In fact the whole back cover layout looks rushed. There is a description of the show but the extras are just thrown on top of it. Underneath all of this is a technical specs listing. Inside are two discs which are each housed in their own trays inside this regular amaray case. Two discs seems a bit much but two cases would have been WAY too much.

Final Word

I could keep going on and on about Eliza but that would be a bit redundant. I feel bad for her and the creators of this show because it was an honest attempt at giving her her own vehicle. Sadly, I just think that this show came about when we had a crowded marketplace of similar types of shows on the air. The fact that the writing wasn’ t that great, and the battles between her and Priestly get a bit old, certainly wasn’t helping matters. This said, I look forward to Dushku’s return to the big screen.

Tru Calling - Season 2 is many things but to call it “The Complete Second Season” just seems a bit false.

Tru Calling was released .