Helping her out there's Will (who's human but has a Sherlock Holmsian deductive ability from visual clues), Henry (tech expert and part time werewolf), Kate (tough girl) and Bigfoot (thankfully looking more like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast than from Bigfoot and the Hendersons!) and occasionally John Druitt (Magnus' ex possessing nifty teleporting abilities... who went through a 'bad patch' as Jack the Ripper)
Season Summary:
There are some good episodes in this season (mostly at the beginning and end), and overall I think it does succeed in what it sets out to do which is expand on the characters and the whole Sanctuary idea. However, there are also some rather 'lacklustre' episodes too, with too much of the character expansion done in an obvious or exposited way, rather than using the visual medium which its being recorded on.
Technically the CGI can be quite weak at times (and once you notice the CGI backgrounds its hard to ignore them) but, to temper that opinion somewhat, it's because of the large amount of green screen CGI that the programme can afford to be made at all, by (for example) avoiding expensive sets, so I try to cut it some slack.
The 'multi-picture' screen (á la 24) is a feature which does occasionally get overused in some episodes (then totally forgotten for others) but most of the time it's used quite effectively so I hope they've now got used to their 'new toy' and its incorporation settles down from now on.
My big complaint about the season as a whole, however, is how much it de-constructed and rejected, rather than building on, the first season with the (far too quick and easy) removal of the Cabal 'big bad organisation' arc and then the changes made with regards to "The Five" which was the core of the set up in season one. Not that moving on from the initial season is such a bad thing in and of itself but, in this case, it seems a lot of it isn't being replaced by something else, it's just being thrown away. I'm hoping that this is because they have used this season to tweak the set-up to one they find more usable in future so they will build on the changes made here in season three (and beyond) rather than changing the ground rules again.
I would also prefer it if they made the tone a little darker throughout rather than sporadically... a bit more grey rather than pure black and white... but for that I may just have to watch something else as it seem that a lighter, less "hard core" attitude is one they are deliberately trying for and I have to accept my preferences aren't always those of the wider audience they're aiming at!
Those negative points made, the closing few episodes (especially) and the nicely put together finalé cliffhanger, plus the generally engaging characters, will get me back for season three to see how they continue the story and see if my hopes for the show's future come about.
The DVDs:
Technical stuff first; the image is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio fitting widescreen TVs and is as good as you'd expect from a modern TV programme shot on HD RED cameras (barring the CGI usage mentioned already).
Audio is a choice of 5.1 Dolby or 2.0 stereo and subtitles are available but only in English.
The episodes are spread over 4 discs (all DVD9s) at 4 episodes per disc except the fourth disc which contains the final episode and the extras.
So, on to those extras for this set and they are quite extensive;
Commentaries: I've not checked these out but there's one on every episode, which is a pleasant change from the 'selected episodes' attitude of a lot of releases, which normally translates as "the first and the last episode of the season if you're lucky". There are, sensibly, a wide range of participants too, to keep the ideas as fresh as possible, including Amanda Tapping (actor, executive producer, director), Damian Kindler (creator and writer) and Martin Wood (director) amongst others.
Sanctuary at Comic Con: A quick hand-held intro of the arrival at Comic Con then a set of questions from the Q&A panel. The Q&A itself is interesting enough to make it worth watching but nothing mind blowing. The sound is annoyingly poor (obviously taken from the camera position in the hall rather than from a direct feed of the microphones) but at least there are subtitles if you miss anything.
As a personal aside, Amanda Tapping seems to look just as attractive here in 'real-life' as when made up on set for filming…
8 minutes
Will Vision - Behind the scenes: Robin Dunn's video diary/video blog where he does a lightning tour of the studio, sets, offices and the people behind the scenes. Not heavy on content but a fun piece with Robin coming across as a likeable guide.
13 minutes
Will Vision - Sanctuary Goes to Japan: Robin's video blog of the trip to Japan including location scouting, shooting days and press days. Again it is quite fun and easy to watch but also quite interesting.
11 minutes
Dancing in Mumbai: A look at the Indian set (the largest ever built for the series) and then onto the preparations and practice for Will's Bollywood dance number with hows, whys and the problems of Robin being a rather uncoordinated person! Interesting and amusing with a nice use of the 'multi-screen' technique to demonstrate what it actually looked like pre and post production... dancing on the hottest day of a Vancouver heatwave!
12 ½ minutes
International Sanctuary: An explanation of the expansion from the single Sanctuary institution (with occasional mentions of others around the world) as seen in season one to the global network seen in season two.
3 ½ minutes
Amanda Tapping Directs Veritas: Comments from various cast and crew on Amanda Tapping's first 'solo' effort at directing an episode, and her reasons for wanting to do so.
4 minutes
Anatomy of an Episode (Next Tuesday): Insights into the making of a single episode (not watched)
17 minutes
Behind the scenes Slideshow: What it says; a series of stills in an automated slideshow, some from the show and some from behind the scenes. The images are good quality but the lack of music to accompany them or any introduction makes it seem a bit 'cheap'
4 minutes
Bloopers & Outtakes; goofing around and corpsing; OK as far as it goes but nothing memorable.
5 minutes
Sanctuary for Kids: A promo by Amanda Tapping for a charitable foundation set up by the show. More info at www.sanctuaryforkids.com
1 minute
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Please feel free to disagree (the reviews are just my personal opinion after all) or correct technical points - all constructive criticism welcome. I also accept praise if you actually like what I've written :)