6.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.8 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A high-school Spanish teacher becomes the director of the school's Glee club, hoping to restore it to its former glory.
Starring: Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Matthew Morrison, Kevin McHaleComedy | 100% |
Romance | 95% |
Musical | 65% |
Teen | 58% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Glee’s rise to pop culture ubiquity was one of the biggest surprises of the 2009-2010 TV season. Who’d have thought a musical drama/comedy about show choir geeks would rocket so quickly to the top of the charts? And I’m not just talking about TV ratings. Cover songs by the Glee cast now consistently rank in the iTunes top-10 best sellers from week to week, and in February of this year, the show’s fictitious New Directions show choir beat out Elvis Presley—not to mention The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Michael Jackson—for having the most songs ever included in the Billboard Top 100. In an era when the downloadable 99-cent single is now the de facto music-delivery medium, Glee has become a kind of pop recycling factory, churning out 4-5 cover songs each week, from Broadway classics to the latest hits. And in season two, the Glee cast even started performing original songs, one of which—“Loser Like Me”—made it to #2 on the Billboard charts. Clearly, the show is doing something right. That said, in season two, the narrative string that ties these top-40 tunes together starts to fray into a few too many tangents, some of the them akin to soppy, pedantic after-school specials. It’s frankly amazing that the show can be so good and so bad, sometimes all at once. Glee has become that high school crush you hate to love. She shows you a great time, but she’s also kind of annoying and self- important. She’s funny and sweet, but sometimes she gets too weepy and melodramatic. You want to leave her, but she keeps drawing you back.
The New Directions
While most TV shows have made the switch to shooting digitally, Glee is still shot on film, which sets it apart with a slightly more cinematic look. If you've seen season one on Blu-ray, you can expect a practically identical presentation for season two, with strong 1080p/AVC-encoded transfers for all 22 episodes. The overall look is slightly soft compared to most contemporary theatrical productions, but there's still a satisfying sense of clarity. Textures in close-ups are finely resolved, so much so that you can actually make out when the make-up department has tried to cover up a pimple on an actor's face. Color is dense and saturated but very realistic—the musical numbers may be stylized, but the image never is—and the picture looks especially fantastic during outdoor, daylight scenes. Skin tones, throughout, are perfectly balanced, black levels are deep, and contrast is nicely tuned. If you caught the show on Fox in high definition, you can expect a slightly more pristine look here, with fewer compression problems, but there are still a few small issues that keep the presentation from higher marks. Darker scenes are often peppered with bluish chroma noise, some fine color gradients look a little splotchy, and there are a few instance of mild banding. None of these are overt distractions, though, and if you say season one on Blu-ray, you know exactly what to expect.
Like the video, the quality of the show's sound design—presented here via lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks—is practically indistinguishable from last year's season one release. And that's a good thing. Season one sounds great, and so does season two. Obviously, the main source of "Aural Intensity" here—if I can namecheck one of the New Directions' rival show choirs—is the music. As you'd hope, the various pop songs and show tunes sound fantastic, especially if you've got a capable 5.1 home theater set-up. The music has real presence, clarity, and dynamic punch, without ever sounding overly compressed or bottom heavy. (That's not to say the songs don't sound glossy or extremely processed. They certainly do, but that's all part of the default pop music style nowadays.) During the bigger numbers, the instruments and voices are spread throughout every channel, creating an enveloping soundfield that puts you right in the school auditorium. When we go back to reality, however— the day-to-day drama of school life—the mix is much less active. You'll hear occasional ambience in the rear speakers—the clamor of between-period hallways, cheers from the audience at the big competitions, New York street sounds, etc.—but there are also plenty of instances where there could be more immersive sound design and there simply isn't. No big deal, though. Where it counts, Glee's audio delivers. The dialogue is unerringly clear, and the music sounds great turned up loud. English SDH, Spanish, French, and Portuguese subtitle options are available, all appearing in easy-to-read white lettering.
There are no audio commentaries, unfortunately—I assume the cast and crew are pretty busy working on season three—but this set comes with a strong assortment of featurettes.
It wasn't quite a sophomore slump, but Glee's second season did have a hard time finding its focus for the year. With few exceptions—most notably the Kurt/Blaine relationship—overarching character development was sacrificed in favor of more self-contained, didactic, "theme"-based episodes. (The religion episode, the "we're all different" episode, the alcohol episode, the sex-ed episode, et cetera.) From what I've read in interviews, though, it seems like the show's writers have learned from some of their season two mistakes, so it'll be interesting to see how season three turns out. Regardless of its storytelling shortcomings, Glee: Season Two is a worthwhile entertainment investment, especially if you were a fan of the first season. The set looks great, sounds fantastic, and comes with a decent collection of special features. Recommended!
2009-2010
w/ Bonus Disc
2009-2010
2009-2010
with Vudu eCopy Of Season One Finale
2010-2011
2010-2011
2011-2012
2012-2013
2013-2014
Rockin' Rydell Edition
1978
2009
2018
2-Disc Shake and Shimmy Edition
2007
Sing-Along Edition
2018
10th Anniversary Edition
2008
Extended Dance Edition
2009
20th Anniversary Limited Edition Packaging
2004
2010
2006
2015
2011
2005
Extended Edition
2008
15th Anniversary Edition
2006
2016
2010
1980s Best of the Decade
1984
1999
2015