Customer Reviews

Dante's Cove - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In the second season of the guilty pleasure "Dante's Cove" (think of it as a cross between "The O.C." and the old series "Dark Shadows", but with gay erotic content that makes "Queer As Folk" look like an afterschool special), the hunky boys and beautiful girls who live at Dante's Hotel are living and loving, while still having to deal with the problems caused by its previous inhabitant, exiled warlock Ambrosius, and his ex-girlfriend and eternal nemesis, the witch Grace.

This season, they're joined by a mysterious, more powerful witch, Diana (played by Thea Gil, previously of QAF). As we rejoin the gang, somewhat naive Kevin is tired of living under Toby's shadow, wants to get a job and become more self-sufficient, which makes Toby insecure about their relationship. Seeing this as a chance to get Kevin back into his clutches, Ambrosius updates his image ("Call me 'Bro!") and tries to dazzle the young man with a fast car and to-die-for beach house. Toby's ex Adam (recast this year, for the better) gets involved with Ambrosius as well, and gets hooked on a local drug with supernatural origins. Meanwhile, Van gets further into dabbling in magic, with a book she found on the beach, learns the truth about Ambrosius and Grace, and takes desperate measures when her girlfriend Michelle says she has to choose between the magic or their relationship. The five (apx.) hour-long episodes also reveal a former boyfriend of Kevin's visiting the hotel, Adam's involvement with a gay afterhours sex club, the resort's handyman trying to seduce boss man Marco, more background on the two child ghosts that appear to Toby, as well as much more detail on the ins and outs of Grace's and Ambrosius' powers, and how they must ally themselves with a hotel guest in order to battle it out by the upcoming Solstice. Comic relief is provided by the appearance of an old porcelin doll, which has a spell causing anyone who touches it to fall in instant lust with the next person (male or female) they see.

Critics say "This is nothing more than a gay soap" and point at the often over-the-top dialogue and occasional overacting. Hey, it is what it is, and it works on that level exceedingly well, as most "guilty pleasures" should! They definitely cranked up the "camp" quotient a notch or two this year, with Tracy Scoggins as Grace (trying to teach young protege' Van the nuances of black magic) losing her cool and occasionally seeming to be channeling Agnes Moorehead in "Bewitched"! The photography, music and eye candy is outstanding, and I found myself powerless to avoid going through all five episodes in one sitting.

Note that the format of this 2-DVD set can be a bit confusing, in that there is a top menu to choose the episode you want to see (which should obviously be viewed in order), and then a submenu to play that episode (No option to view all episodes on the disk consecutively.) The second disk also includes some excellent extras, including deleted scenes, interviews with the cast, "backlot" featurette and "coming out" stories by the three openly-gay cast members. It isn't Emmy-worthy, but a fun diversion for you and open-minded friends. I'm under a spell not to give it anything less than a full five stars out of five.

When i was first told about the show, i had my doubts. Finally i gave in and bought season one just based on my friends reviews and others positive reviews. I was not disappointed. Despite the bits of cheesy acting in the beginning and the campiness, the show is REALLY REALLY good. It is DEFINATLY unlike anything you have ever seen. While it does pay an omage to other shows, blending Melrose Place/Dark Shadows and Queer as Folk, it is a great supernatural gay drama that is uniquely it's own. After watching season one, i was hooked and got my cable provider to hook me to Heretv. Now after seeing season two, im anxiously awaiting the third season. Season two is just as great as season one. I highly recommend this show, after one episode YOU WILL BE HOOKED!!

In the second season of "Dante's Cove" the plot gets better but not enough to make the production much more than a gay soap. Some of the lines will make you groan out loud. My favorite is "think of it (I don't remember what "it" was right now) as a vacation from your brain." For some reason pretty Kevin gets a lot of the clunker lines. Apparently there isn't a clothing store near Dante's Cove since the men are shirtless (and shortless) a lot of the time. On the other hand, this show was never meant to be a rival for "Brokeback Mountain."

In season II new characters are added: Kai, Colin, Marco and Diana, the witch good sister of Grace. There is even more naked sex than in the first season; Van becomes a central character; and Toby, the moral center of the series, slips a little. The witches and warlock step up their fight, zapping in the twinkling of an eye those they consider the enemy. And the whole thing is shot in paradise.

There is nothing wrong with erotic fluff.

In Season One of Dante's Cove, I was willing to look past the horrendous scripts, a story thinner than cheesecloth, and actors that practically broke off chunks of scenery in their haste to chew on it for the sake of supporting here! TV.

No more!

After reading reviews that season two of the show featured better acting, scripts, and plot, I eagerly ordered my copy and can definitively say that it's just crap.

The actors may have better haircuts and the set is an improvement, it's so different from Season 1 that all you can do is shake your head in disbelief.

To make a long (and bad) story short, here's just a few things that are wrong with Dante's Cove:

- It's not a guilty pleasure. So you're willing to overlook the lack of plot for nudity. The only nudity you'll find is the same character in several episodes; I've seen the handyman's genitals so many times I can draw them from memory. How come the main characters are unwilling to bare it all?

- It features the lamest "witches" ever. There is supposedly so much power to be had, why do they need to drive cars? Couldn't they just transport themselves from one place to another?

- The creators think the audience is stupid. The only way these "episodes" reach normal television lengths is to continually show you flashbacks. Flashbacks from last week, from last season, even things that happened only two scenes ago! We're gay, not stupid.

I hope that someone will come up with a gay Supernatural or X-Files, a show with quality writing and acting. This schlock gives all gay people a bad name!

Don't buy this, rent it and save yourself $[..]!

The second short season of Dante's Cove presents us with a better storyline and worse dialogues. Episodes have grown to five and the season is concluded by as high -and lame- a cliffhanger as that at the end of "season" one.
We have already been introduced to the characters and we find ourselves in the middle of action now, which is always fine with me. Problem is that the script sounds for a good 80% of the time completely idiotic. Short, disjointed sentences are conveying little meaning, no information about the character who speaks them who by the way generally sounds like a complete moron.

The setting has been changed too and, while the beaches are just as beautiful, the new hotel Dante is much less impressive than the old one even if it is much larger and allows more room for interaction.

Acting is just as plain as it was in season one with the possible exception of Thea Gill and Jon Fleming (this taking the role of Adam) who are up to the not much required by the script.

There are several glossy sex scenes, all of them homosexual, most of them involving the male characters. They add nothing to the thrill, to the storyline, to the overall tension and interest if not the pleasing view of the finely groomed bodies of Jon Fleming and some of the others.

I bought this movie under the assumption that there would be a storyline that would define it different from a porn movie,
but embarrassingly enough, porn movies came out the victors.

The characters cannot act.
The special effects are not special.
The budget must have been spare change because it is 90% fluff and 10% sex.

I give it one star, the lowest, out of five.

Too Bad there was a SEASON 2. Though, if you watched Season 1, Season 2 is worth it just to wrap up some loose ends and get some more sexy scenes.
Season 2 has changed locations, changed some characters, added some unnecessary characters and created a terrible DVD menu. The location change is the most egregious problem, besides just plain ol' bad acting. But who is watching the acting anyway. So, the location change completely changes the feel of Dante's Cove. It looks like someones house, up in Palos Verdes, rather than a seaside resort hotel in some old part of Key West. bugged me for the entire second season.
Hotties, hotties and more hotties. Like I said, it's not good, but if you watched Season 1, you need to get Season 2. Just because.

the new male characters are not that hot or exciting as season one. it would have been better if the original cast members were still performing.glad that there are more characters to add to the story.thea is a great addition to the cast.the plot is simple but enjoyable. the music is great and would like to see it on a cd.looking forward to season three. if anyone is interested in starting a fan club email me. thanks

Dantes Cove II continues the gay soap opera where Dantes Cove I left off. It probably does not matter that there is some sort of logic to the plot of this mystical saga of sex from the dark side. It seems like everyone is still hot for innocent Kevin, the beautiful blond boy who awakened a warlock from the past. Guys just can't seem to keep their hands off of Kevin's hot body (he fortunately never seems to find time to put on a shirt), much to the chagrin of his muscular boyfriend Tobey. That is the most reality based aspect of this whole melodrama. Gay culture never seems to change. That people keep coming back from the dead is another matter. This is a not a film for anyone devotged to the Stanislovsky method, as there seems to be no need for any acting talent. All of the focus is upon which gay match up can have the hotest sex. The lesbians don't get left out of this erotic enclave, which is nice to see that the two sides of male/female gay culture come together in one film. Not to give away the ending (as if the plot really mattered), but Kevin is in as much jeopardy from the dark forces at the end of the movie as at the beginng.

I absolutely loved the music within the second season of Dante's Cove 2. I did some investigation and found out my favorite dance track, Truth from episode 1 (when the character jumps into the Hotel Dante pool naked) is now on Itunes.

Mike Andrews Truth (Dante's Cove 2)

About the DVD - Thea Gill from QAF is a great addition to the cast. Her character is must stronger willed versus previous efforts. They recast, Adam and he adds some flavor in Toby's complicated life. One thing is for sure Toby and Michael Gregory's character are doomed.