Review:
It took me a little while to warm up to From Dusk Till Dawn: The TV Series, but once I’d given it a fair shake, I really got into the first season. The first season (totaling 10 episodes) detailed the brothers Gecko – levelheaded Seth (D.J. Cotrona) and psychotic Richie (Zane Holtz) – and their fateful exploit to Mexico after they heist some cash and end up in a Winnebago belonging to a fundamentalist preacher (played by Robert Patrick) and his two kids Kate (Madison Davenport) and Scott (Brandon Soo Hoo). They all sidewind deeper south and make their way to the Titty Twister – a biker bar owned and operated by a bunch of vampires and their sexy queen Santanico Pandemonium (Eiza Gonzales) – where the big showdown between the Geckos and the vampires commences. Season 2 (also 10 episodes) gets off on the wrong foot right away by splitting up the Gecko brothers (and Richie is no longer crazy, which makes him less interesting), and so the show is divided into several storylines, each following the path of the two brothers. Seth hooks up with a shifty tattoo artist (played by Briana Evigan), and Richie becomes partners with Santanico as they try to topple the vampire empire and rebuild it from the ground up. The big villain this season is a super powerful vampire named Lord Malvado (Esai Morales) and his underlings, namely The Regulator (played by Danny Trejo who is always welcome in anything called From Dusk Till Dawn), and while the body count, gore quotient, and sexiness has been amped up this season, it’s not as focused, compelling, or immediately satisfying as the first season. That said, it’s certainly pulpy and more entertaining than most shows on TV these days, and the guest star appearances alone (by the likes of Gary Busey, Jeff Fahey, Don Johnson, and others) more than make up for the fact that this season got a little off course.
The blu ray set for From Dusk Till Dawn: Season 2 was recently released by eOne and I always enjoy their releases and their packaging. The bonus features are aplenty on the three-disc set – including audio commentaries by creator Robert Rodriguez and the cast and crew, as well as featurettes and tons of other material I didn’t have time to explore. All said and done, this package is worth owning, despite the show’s shortcomings in season 2, and it’s a good primer for season 3, which is premiering soon.
