Customer Reviews

Tru Calling - The Complete Second Season

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I loved the premise of the show. This woman has the ability to save lives and does everything she can to, to the detriment of her own personal life does so. Eliza Dushku is a great actor and highly underrated. I loved her on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and she continues to prove her talent in Tru Calling. Shawn Reaves is talented and adds not just drama but certain type of comic relief. Jason Priestly, what can I say that hasn't already been said. He's not only extremely talented, but incredibly charming. He's got what they call in Hollywood the "it" quality. Rob Duncan who scores the show does a wonderful job. He did the final episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it what an amazing work of art. He is quite the musical artist. I bought this DVD set without ever having seen any of it on television, trusting that the casting and creative people behind the scene would be enough for me to be assured that I would like it. Not only do I like it, but I love it. My only regret is that they didn't give the show a fair chance. It still had a lot of room for more great story telling and character development. You won't be wasting your money on this set Seasons one and Two.

I guess that I should be thankning FOX for even producing these six episodes, let alone airing and releasing them. At the end of the first season, ratings were low, and I, along with all the other Tru Calling fans out there, were sure that it would be cancelled. But it wasn't. FOX decided to give the struggling show a second chance now that Friends (which aired at the same time) was ending. However, after only six episodes were produced, FOX decided to pull the plug, and put on a different show instead. Months later, after the show was cancelled due to poor ratings, the network decided to fill the timeslot by airing these episodes.
Anyway, Luc (Matthew Bomer) has been dead for a few months now. Tru (Eliza Dushku), Harrison (Shawn Reaves), and Davis (Zach Galifianakis) have continued to work together in order to save the lives of people who post-mortemly ask Tru for help. And Jack (Jason Priestly), who is Tru's opposite, is nowhere to be found. Jack tries to make sure that the bodies that ask for Tru's help stay dead when both of their days rewind. Anyway, Harrison has given up his old life of gambling and scamming, and has chosen to go straight in life with a normal job. Soon, Tru and Harrison's father Richard Davies (Cotter Smith), who was last seen working with Jack against his children, has moved back into the city where they live (still unnamed) in order to "get closer to his kids". He even offers Harrison a job at his law firm. Around the same time as Richard's arrival comes Jack's return, and the game is on again.
Jack indirectly caused the death of Tru's old boyfriend Luc, which has caused their already bitter relationship to escalate to new levels of hatred. Each member of Tru's team brings something different to the table; Tru has some detective skills, Harrison has certain connections, and Davis is the overall brains of the group. Jack has his own team, including Richard and Dr. Carrie Allen (Liz Vassey), who acts as a mole within Tru's group.
This year, however, Tru must also deal with medical school. Davis pulled some strings which allowed her to audit med school classes this year, so when she isn't saving people's lives, she's studying to become a doctor. With her old friend Lindsay (A.J. Cook) in Europe with her new husband, Tru makes new friends with fellow students Avery (Lizzy Caplan), Tyler (Parry Shen), and Jensen (Eric Christian Olsen), who begins to take Luc's place in her heart.
Stories this year were formatted slightly differently than last year. In Season 1, the rewind usually didn't occur until the end of the first act of the episode. This year, about half of the rewinds happened at that point of the episode, while the other half occured at the end of the teaser, making the rewind day's time in the episode significantly longer than the "Day 1" portion. Also, throughout most of S1, Tru only had to work against time and skepticism. Now she has Jack to compete with, and he firmly believes in what he is doing. I see him as a bit of a misunderstood character. While Tru is clearly the protagonist and the hero, I don't think that it's right to call Jack a villain. He just has a different point of view than Tru does. While Tru thinks that the bodies who ask for her help weren't supposed to die, Jack believes that they were, and are trying to cheat fate, and when fate is messed with, there are dire consequences.
Sadly, we never get to see those consequences pan out, and from what I've found online, one of them is a real doozy (although, it occurs because Tru breaks a major rule). There were so many good storylines going when the show ended: What will Tru and Harrison do when they find out the truth about their father? What will Davis do when he finds out he's being played? What happened to a certain character after Tru wrongfully saved him? Who is right, Jack or Tru? Sadly, we may never get these answers.
While S1 was very good, these episodes were superior in most ways. The cast was trimmed down to the essentials (the third Davies sibling was nowhere to be seen this year), the actors were getting comfortable with their roles, and the stories were getting a lot better. It's too bad that this show was cancelled. With any luck, there will be some sort of movie, similar to Firefly/Serenity, but it's a longshot. At least what we got was great.

I never caught season one of this show when it was on television, but instead when Fox asked me to review the season one set for DVD. At that point Fox seemed to be playing up the release of that season as season two was set to appear in the fall. Then fall came and went and I was confused by the fact that this show which had proved to watchable and became addicted to over the course of reviewing the first season was nowhere to be found on the schedule. The first few episodes would eventually find their way on TV, but months after Fox had decided to cancel it. It is hardly surprising therefore that they did not invest the same energy in promoting the second season.
It really is a shame that Fox pulled the plug on this entertaining show just as the second season was gathering steam. It's such a great show and Eliza Dushku (Faith from BUFFY and Arnie's daughter from TRUE LIES) is so good in it. Dushku plays Tru Davies, a medical student who works at the morgue to help pay her way through Medical school. She learns that she has the power to relive the previous day and save people from death. However countering her efforts is Jack (played by Jason Priestley) who is intent on keeping things the way they are and preventing Tru from completing her mission. They also tried to do some things different in these episodes, not resting on their success in the previous season.
I hope that soon another network will pick up Tru Calling and we will get more episodes in the future.
The Season 2 set contains the five episodes aired, one unaired episode and a making-of-featurette:

Disc 1
Ep. 1 - Perfect Storm: Jack returns and attempts to stop Tru from saving the life of a female Harbor Patrol Officer, who the previous day drowned answering an SOS. The tension is really ratcheted up here as the officer trusts Jack over Tru in the closing minutes.
Ep. 2 - Grace: Slightly different angle used in this episode as Tru finds herself in the unfamiliar role of fugitive, framed by Jack for the murder of a psychiatrist who was shot by one of his patients.
Ep. 3 - In the Dark: In another twist to the formula, Tru has no idea who has called for help when the lights go out during her surprise birthday party.
Ep, 4 - The Last Good Day: Yet another twist to the formula. Instead of trying to stop Tru from saving a life, this time it is Jack who must save the life of a girl he likes. He turns to Tru's father for advice after she asks him for help. This is my personal favorite episode of the second season and the scenes between Tru and Jack really crackle here.

Disc 2
Ep. 5 - Enough: Another great episode. When Tru's boss from the morgue Jensen is killed and does not ask for help Tru desperately tries to find another body in need of help so that the day will rewind and she can save Jensen.
Ep. 6 - T'was the Night Before Christmas...Again: In this unaired episode Tru's brother Harrison catches his father meeting with Jack after suspecting that his father was having an affair and Jack offers to help Tru save a life.
Special feature: Tru-Calling Opposing Forces - Making-of-Featurette

Why is it that whenever a show breaks away from the precedents of molding the crime scene or ghost interacting moldings, they are quick to be cancelled? It was worse enough that CBS has decided to pull the plug on one of their best non-criminal based shows Joan of Arcadia after it took a dark turn with the series finale dealing with foreshadowing of Joan in the middle of good and evil, now they decide to cancel Tru Calling.

Yes, Tru Davies did talk to dead people. However, it wasn't in the Jennifer Love Hewitt/ Patricia Arquette formula where her purpose is to make them feel complete by solving their "unfinished business." No, Tru was meant to prevent their deaths, which is the twist that primetime TV needed.

The first season of Tru Calling seemed a little desperate to grab viewer's attentions, especially with the recurring role of Jack Harper (Jason Priestly) as her complete opposite. But the bickering between Jack and Tru, the race to either save a life or prevent it from being saved, is really what brought in those 4 million audiences. If there was a major complaint in the first season it is that Tru never seemed to reach a limit with Jack. Maybe it was because she is known as the fierce ass-kicking Faith in Buffy, but in the episode "Two Weddings and A Funeral," her encounter with Jack at the funeral lead me to thinking that she would ressurect her old Faith ways on Jack, but instead it was just verbal resentment - something I loathe when I know she can do some damange.

The second season showed much promise, as the stories got deeper as well as the character development. Harrison was on the verge of cleaning up his gambling life while stumbling across daddy's plans to prevent Tru from saving lives. We also saw Jack and Tru in an uncanny predicament where they both switch roles and Jack learns how it feels to lose a life. There was also more action like the first episode "The Perfect Storm" where we are actually shouting to the TV, "Save them, Tru." These ingredients would have really blossomed this show into the hit it was supposed to be.

Now that FOX has cancelled Tru Calling for show like Point Pleasant who fell off the map faster than a Jessica Simpson single, fans are now saying, "Save it, FOX!" Why not ressurect this witty and creative idea rather than following the same patterns that CBS has now been accustomed to. Rather than making the male equivalent to "Ghost Whisperer" (will James Marsters from Buffy be playing the lead role?) Let's stick to something original. But now that I mentioned it, giving James Marsters his own show isn't a bad idea. Can we say, "Spike" spinoff?

Tru Calling Season 2 is a wonderful continuation of the Fox Show Tru Calling. I just wish that this included some sort of conclusion of the entire season. The last episode ends with the audience feeling like we are still in the middle of the season. It already is a let down that Fox cancelled the show. The creaters of Tru Calling could have at least completed the season. OVERALL, I love the show!

This show was unfaily taken off the........i do beveilive the frist 15 episodes were the strongest though many disagree and favorer the later episodes.....anyway it is being sole at many stores nation wide and has been since august 2 the carry it at suncoast cicruit city fye best buy newbury comics tower records and many other store all of these places carry this dvd at under $30 please do not pay more than that!!!!! it is amost every were now ( contains 1 unaired episode )

So once, there was a show. It aired on FOX and it was called "Tru Calling." It was about a girl named Tru Davies. She got a job at morgue and found out she has a calling --- dead bodies ask her for help. Her day rewinds and she tries to save the lives of these people. The show was for the most part brilliant, but the ratings weren't exactly top-notch. Nevertheless, FOX renewed it for a second season, and boy what developed. A character that had come in with a bang in the first season, Jack, returns with a vengeance to foil Tru's plans to save lives --- or if, you agree with his view, he's preserving fate. And so the show was good and getting better all the time, with new twists and compelling plots. And then, FOX cancelled it and left the final episode, a holiday episode, unaired.

Now comes Tru Calling: The Complete Second Season DVD. This DVD features all six episodes from the second-season including the unaired episode "'Twas the Night Before Christmas... Again." I won't spoil what happens in this episode, but let's just say that there's some major stuff going down.

The episodes are presented in their original full-screen format and fully close-captioned. Also including is Dolby Digital sound as well English, French and Spanish subtitles. The presentation and artwork are pretty nice --- nothing to complain about here.

There's only one special feature, but it's a good one --- Opposing Forces Making Of Featurette. In this, Eliza Dushku and Jason Priestly talk about how things have changed in the new season and the dynamic between Jack and Tru. But we also get insights into the new season from not just them, but other characters as well. And there's a funny bit with "Davis" at the end that I won't spoil.

Normally, I would give a DVD of a show I really liked, but only had one special feature 4 stars. However, because of the unique nature of this show and the fact that I'm in a holiday mood --- five stars.

Thank goodness this potentially great show with the gorgeous Eliza was killed off before the idiots at Fox made a fortune on it when it became a huge megahit. How do I know this?

Why, of course that's because dead TV shows TALK to me.

"Help me," cried Tru Calling as it was laid out in DVD form in the video morgue I work in. But it was far too late for it. The clown suits at Fox, due to their ridiiculous multiple scheduling of the show, had totally mucked things up so badly that even people like me couldn't relive any particular day in order to save it.

The Fox clods have also screwed up in this very same way with other great shows like Wonderfalls and a host of others during recent years.

So R.I.P., Tru Calling. You were solid gold placed at the feet of Fox and they were so stupid that they threw you out the window.

That's why they deserve all the negative future karma which fate will be likewise throwing their way.

When Tru Calling's pilot started I originally thought, "well, this show will be cancelled soon". it was messy, unoriginal & kinda lame. but that's how it was supposed to start. then the 2nd episode was more believable & was a little better in every area that Pilot lacked! & from then to the middle of the season, it had its high points & its lows, Closure being one of my fav episodes! then, enter Jason Priestley as Jack, I'm thinking, why on Earth is he on this show? they must be desperate or something. but his character suddenly started making the show more interesting, things started moving faster & the show became darker, there were more things going on in the episodes & by the finale, Tru Calling hit its high point! everything was looking good for the show! but had they started out that good, maybe Fox would've gave it a better promotion. One of my fav moments is in Death Becomes Her when Jack saves Harrison's car by calling the thief's bluff. & from that moment, you have to know there's something up with Jack. especially after the audience presumably found out that he got a girl to commit suicide by making a phone call to her parents telling them about her constant gambling. & then with some help from Tru, Davis has to re-find out what he did on day one & tell her that Jack also relives days which in the next episode we find out why. He's there to stop her! & after getting Luc(Mat Bomber) killed, he takes a vacation & hopes that Tru will stop saving lives that are suppose to die. but Tru doesn't give up & when Jack comes back, things start getting tricky.

Perfect Storm- 5/5 Jack's return makes it difficult for her to save the life of a cop who died in a white squal but Jack sending her back out in the water at night makes it even harder after Davis saved her the first time by making a "phony" phone call. & Davis gets a replacement psychiatrist & things don't go so well with her.

Grace- 5/5 Jack sets Tru up for murder & things hit rock-bottom before they get better for her.

In the Dark- 4/5 In one of the more obvious deaths for the viewers anyway, Tru is forced to figure out who died after a party is thrown by her brother at the morgue. Jack keeps Tru on her feet & makes her go on a wild goose chase.

The Last Good Day- 5/5 My fav episode of Tru Calling. Everything changes when Jack gets asked for help from a girl who commited suicide. now the only question was, why? & why does the relive day feel so cold to Tru?

Enough- 5/5 Tru crosses the line when she tries to save life of her boyfriend Jensen as Jack tries to stop her & even Davis warns her of the reprecussions of saving the life of someone who doesn't ask for her help. She shouldn't be able to choose, it's up to fate. but she doesn't listen & something severe does happen in return.

Twas the Night Before Xmas, Again- 4/5 Harrison finds out about his dad's alliance with Jack but before he warn Tru, her day restarts. Tru reluctantly lets Jack help her in solving a murder case possibly after an old cadaver asks for help.

It's an ok ending cause it at least it isn't a cliff hanger but it's a shame it didn't get a whole season & stupid shows that shouldn't be around cause their just getting stupid(cough*the oc*cough) are still on??? but Fox screwed Tru Calling, see my review for the first season for more about how ticked off I am at fox, lol.

plus some features on the show & I think anyone should get into this show! the second season could've been so great had they had a whole season! these six episodes are worth your money just the same! a memorable show too bad it wasn't given a real chance cause it did become something great!

While I was sad this was the last season of Tru Calling, I am so glad to have purchased it. These episodes are so well done that I've watched them several times and noticed new things I missed every time.

I'm not a fan of showing off how good makeup artists are at gore. This show has excellent makeup artists without the gore. While this show does feature plenty of corpses, they are not difficult to look at.

I highly recommend this to any fan of mystery, suspense, supernatural, etc. This show has these and so much more to offer. The dramatic, comedic, and romantic will enjoy this show in equal parts.

Davis, Tru, and Harry team up just like in Season 1. But the new twists have really drawn us in. I wish there was a season 3!