“Scandal: The Complete Second Season” absolutely made me a fan of the series! The acting was well-done, the writing has improved greatly and the way they developed the characters with a longer second season truly makes this series one of the better drama series on television.
© 2013 ABC Studios. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Scandal: The Complete Second Season
DURATION: 22 Episodes (946 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: Color, English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Widescreen (1:78:1) – Enhanced for 16×9 Television, Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese
COMPANY: ABC Studios
RATED: TV 14 DSLV
RELEASE DATE: September 3, 2013
Directed by Ron Undrwood, Allison Liddi-Brown, Stephen Cragg, Mark Tinker, Steve Robin, Tom Verica
Written by Shonda Rhimes, Matt Byrne, Heather Mitchell, Jenna Bans, Mark Fish, Mark Wilding, Raamla Mohamed, Peter Noah, Chris Van Dusen
Produced by Scott Collins, Merri D. Howard
Co-Producer: Chris Van Dusen, Noah Evslin
Executive Producer: Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Bears,
Co-Executive Producer: Judy Smith, Jenna Bans, Mark Fish
Music by Chad Fischer
Cinematography by Oliver Bokelberg
Edited by Gregory T. Evans, Matthew Ramsey, KAren Castaneda, Christal Khatib, Julia Grove
Casting by Linda Lowy, Will Stewart
Series Production Design by Corey Kaplan
Art Direction by Louise Dorton
Set Decoration by Amy Wells, Hernan Camacho
Costume Design by Lyn Paolo
Starring:
Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope
Henry Ian Cusick as Stephen Finch
Columbus Short as Harrison Wright
Darby Stanchfield as Abby Whelan
Katie Lowes as Quinn Perkins
Guillermo Diaz as Huck
Jeff Perry as Cyrus Beene
Tony Goldwyn as President Fizgerald Grant
Joshua Malina as David Rosen
Bellamy Young as Mellie Grant
Matt Letscher as Billy Chambers
Dan Bucatinsky as James Novak
Gregg Henry as Hollis Doyle
George Newbern as Charlie
Debra Mooney as Verna Thornton
Norm Lewis as Senator Edison Davis
Kate Burton as Vice President Sally Langston
Scott Foley as Jake Ballard
Matt Letscher as Billy Chambers
Henry Ian Cusick as Stephen Finch
Susan Pourfar as Becky Flynn
Brian Letscher as Tom
Joe Morton as Rowan Pope
Experience every breathless, jaw-dropping moment as Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and her team of “gladiators in suits” turn up the heat and raise the stakes in Scandal: The Complete Second Season. For Olivia Pope and Associates, cleaning up other people’s messes takes a shattering personal toll. Season 2 blows the lid off Quinn’s identity, exposes Huck’s dark past, and uncovers Olivia’s darkest secret – something so shocking and enormous that it threatens the entire nation. From boardrooms to bedrooms, relive all 22 episodes of Scandal’s explosive second season – plus exclusive, never-before-seen bonus features in this riveting 5-disc set.
If thought the first season was full of scandals, the second season amps things up for one of the best drama series on television!
In the second season, Olivia finds herself in a major scandal, President Fitzgerald Grant is targeted for assassination, Abby and David Rosen may have found love, Quinn’s descent into darkness and Huck’s past is revealed in an exciting season two of “Scandal: The Complete Second Season” available on DVD!
What is “Scandal”?
In April 2012, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice” creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes would create another drama series titled “Scandal” and this time, instead of a medical drama, it would be Rhimes first political thriller.
For Rhimes, this is her fourth series, with the third, “Off the Map” (2011) being canceled in its first season. Fortunately for Rhimes, unlike other ABC drama series that began in Spring 2012, “Scandal” was among the few to be renewed and given a second season.
“Scandal” stars Kerry Washington (“The Last King of Scotland”, “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”, “Fantastic Four”) as the main protagonist Olivia Pope, who runs a crisis management firm, Pope & Associates. Olivia is the former White House Communications Director for President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III (as portrayed by Tony Goldwyn, “Ghost”, “The Last Samurai”). A President that she happens to be having an affair with.
Known for her intellect and her ability to fix a crisis for the White House and major corporations, although her reputation is constantly on the line, she depends on her associates and employees to help her get the job done. Her staff includes Stephen Finch (as portrayed by Henry Ian Cusick, “Lost”, “Hitman”), a womanizer who can get any information that he needs; Harrison Wright (as portrayed by Columbus Short, “Stomp the Yard”, “Quarentine”) who is loyal to Olivia and is one of her key litigators and a person who tries to keep watch over the staff and lending his advice; Abby Whelan (as portrayed by Darby Stanchfield, “Jericho”), an investigator who is very loyal to Olivia for saving her life; Huck Finn (as portrayed by Guillermo Diaz, “Half Baked”, “The Terminal”), a hacker and former black ops who is a man with his inner demons given a second chance by Olivia and new employee Quinn Perkins (as portrayed by Katie Lowes, “Super 8”, “The Job”) who is trying to learn the ropes at Pope & Associates and how to stay on Olivia’s good side.
For the first season of “Scandal”, Pope & Associates have their hands full as they are taking on various clients that includes a decorated war veteran being accused of murder, a well-known DC madam who is trying to keep her clientele list private (especially since she serves many major players in Washington, D.C.) and defending a deceased pilot (representing her family) who is accused for a commercial plane crash that killed everyone onboard.
But the recurring storyline involves a White House intern who has accused President Fitzgerald Grant of having an affair. And when Olivia Pope and her associates defend the White House intern, the White House employees are going to do all it takes to protect the President and the administration from her client’s accusations. But how far will the White House go to stop Pope & Associates?
In the second season of “Scandal”, the scandals are taken to a higher level in Washington D.C. as Pope & Associates must defend various politicians but internal scandals start to hit Olivia and the others when Olivia is involved in a significant scandal, meanwhile President Grant wants to be with Olivia and wants to leave his wife, who is this Jake Ballard that the president has watching Olivia and what happens when someone within the President’s staff is leaking information to terrorists. But also, what happens when there is an assassination attempt on President Grant?
All this and more in season two of “Scandal”!
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Scandal: The Complete Second Season” is presented in Widescreen (1:78:1). For the most part, picture quality for “Scandal” is very good for DVD but as expected for a DVD release, you can see a bit of compression but nothing that would hurt your viewing of the film and for the most part, for most viewers, this is a non-issue for a DVD release.
“Scandal” is presented in English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound with subtitles in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese. As a drama series, audio is primarily a dialogue-driven track with some use of scenery ambiance for surround channels. For the most part, audio is very appropriate for this style of series and dialogue is clear and understandable.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Scandal: The Complete Second Season” comes with the following special features:
- A Closer Look: President Grant’s Assassination Attempt – (4:51) Interviews with Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes, Tony Goldwyn and the cast regarding the Assassination attempt.
- Being Huck – (8:04) Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes talks about Huck, Guillermo Diaz talks about his character.
- Deleted Scenes – Featuring 34 deleted scenes.
- Outtakes – (4:41) Outtakes from season two of “Scandal”.
EXTRAS:
“Scandal: The Complete Second Season” comes with a slipcover case.
After watching season two of “Scandal”, I think that Shonda Rhimes has created one of her best drama series yet!
With her previous dramas, there is only so much that one can go with the medical drama series by trying to keep with the drama in the hospital, among co-workers and trying to introduce action or emotional situations to get viewers interested but this time around, Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers have a chance to explore scandals in Washington, D.C. but also explore darker elements on prime time TV.
I was absolutely surprised to see how much violence was featured in “Scandal” season two but it’s what made the series feel real and shows the danger that Pope & Associates must confront quite often.
But its the further exploration of characters that made this season magnificent.
Olivia was shown as a strong woman in season one but in season two, she is tested. From her off and on affair with the President, someone targeting her life and trying to be strong for her own employees who need her but also having to go behind their backs and hurt them.
The one character that stood out this season was Huck. The former Black Ops serviceman has a past that will shock you but also makes you feel sympathetic to him. Suffice to say, his past continues to haunt him and eventually gets the best of him. And his influence on Quinn Perkins is quite shocking.
But this season also introduces a twist of who is friend and who is foe. There are a lot of secrets being kept and these twists and turns definitely makes this season exciting!
Overall, “Scandal: The Complete Second Season” absolutely made me a fan of the series! The acting was well-done, the writing has improved greatly and the way they developed the characters with a longer second season truly makes this series one of the better drama series on television.
“Scandal: The Complete Second Season” is recommended.
