"OCTOBER ROAD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON"
DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Bryan Greenberg as NICK GARRETT Laura Prepon as HANNAH DANIELS Tom Berenger as BOB GARRETT Warren Christie as RAY CATALDO Brad William Henke as OWEN ROWAN Evan Jones as IKEY Jay Paulson as PHYSICAL PHIL Sade Pearce as SAM DANIELS Geoff Stults as EDDIE LATEKKA Odette Yustman as AUBREY DIAZ Rebecca Field as JANET MEADOWS Rated TV-PG Studio: ABC Studios Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Nick Garrett (Bryan Greenberg) is a best-selling novelist who has returned to his home town of Knight’s Ridge after abandoning everyone there years ago. He’s finally getting over the fact that he offended just about everyone in town with his not-so-veiled autobiographical book “Turtle on a Snare Drum.” However, he still has to deal with the drama in his life, including a child that might or might not be his, an old girlfriend engaged to his long-time enemy and one of his best friends who has ran off to New York after discovering his wife had an affair.
WHAT I LIKED
When I saw the first season of “October Road” (which was a mid-season replacement and totaled a slim six episodes), I really detested the series. I thought it was staggeringly overwritten and terribly trite. Fortunately, in this season, the writers toned down the pretentious metaphors and moved a bit from the writer’s fantasy of penning the “Great American Novel.”
Now that the characters had a chance to settle over the break between seasons, the show comes into the second season more level-headed. Oh sure, the angst is still dripping from this series. It’s clearly made for the “Felicity” crowd. But at least with thirteen episodes in the longer season, the characters can breathe and actually take on a life outside of the pressing question about whether Nick is really the father of Hannah’s (Laura Prepon) son.
The show continues to play out as a writer’s fantasy of the creators, with Nick as their own version of themselves. However, in the second season, the focus comes off of Nick, which bodes well for the drama. Minor characters like Physical Phil (Jay Paulson) has a chance to develop and foster a burgeoning relationship with Pizza Girl (Lindy Booth), who continues to be the most interesting character on the show. Additionally, an unpredictable romance between Eddie (Geoff Stults) and Janet (Rebecca Field) offered some welcomed diversions from the Nick-and-Hannah show.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Although “October Road” improved considerably as it moved through its second season, it still suffered some residual effects from the previous year. While the dialogue isn’t excruciating like it was in season one, it still has its problems. It tends to be over-written quite a bit, with everyone telling a story from their past to make a point or dolling out a cute nick-name to various characters.
Nick Garrett continues to be my least favorite character, and Hannah gets no sympathy from me because of how wishy-washy she can be. And the writers milk the question of Hannah’s baby daddy a bit too much and too hard throughout the series.
While the cinematography continues to look fantastic, it blows my mind that a town in Massachusetts can exist in perpetual autumn... until Christmas Eve when the weather suddenly turns into a blizzard.
The show definitely had its fan base (although it wasn’t enough to save the series from cancellation), and this group is going to eat the DVD up. It offers twice as much show as compared to season one, and October Roadies are going to love that.
DVD FEATURES
The DVD comes with a blooper reel and a look behind the scenes. However, the coolest feature, which helped endear me to the second season out of respect for its fans, is “Road’s End: The Final Chapter.” After “October Road” was canceled after a cliffhanger-style season finale, the producers brought the cast back for a final ten-minute wrap-up segment. Sure, it’s shot on video, the writing is as trite as the first season, and the acting isn’t that great, but it was nice to see the series get some sort of closure. Bravo to them.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
October Roadies.
