Manhattan: Season Two (Lionsgate, Blu-ray, DVD) covers more ground than the first season of the WGN original drama set at the Los Alamos military base where the atomic bomb was developed during World War II, both historically and thematically.
William Petersen joins the show as the base colonel driving the scientific team, now under the direction of Charlie Isaacs (Ashley Zukerman), with falsified information about the German effort to develop their own bomb. Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey), who previously ran the “implosion group,” is now a military prisoner in a secret prison for revealing project secrets to his wife (Olivia Williams), and his journey takes him back to the base, where he tries to rouse the scientists into demanding more say into how the bomb will be used. There are also stories of spies on the base and the effort to study the effects of radiation on the landscape and the men and women working on the project (which the military doesn’t seem interested in knowing). There’s melodrama: Robert Oppenheimer (Daniel London playing one of the only real-life historical characters in the show) is distracted by a self-destructive affair. But there are also moral issues at stake. When Germany surrenders, what is the purpose of finishing a bomb to end a war with Japan that is only a matter of time? What are the ethical responsibilities of the scientists working on the project? What happens when patriotism, humanism, and professional ambition conflict?
It turns out that this is the final season of show—the commercial cable station WGN declined to pick up the acclaimed but low-rated show—which is disappointing, but given that the season builds to the first successful test of the atomic bomb, it’s not a bad way for the show to go out.
10 episodes on DVD and Blu-ray, no supplements.
Strike Back: Cinemax Season 4 (HBO, Blu-ray, DVD) is the final season of the first original drama created for Cinemax, a British co-production with an international scope about a covert British military anti-terrorism team called Section 20, and it ups the ante with a storyline that pits the team against a North Korean plot masterminded by an icy, cunning agent (played by martial arts star Michelle Yeoh) and her son (Will Yun Lee).
The 10-episode season begins in Thailand, crosses borders into North Korea, and chases the terrorists all over Europe as they get their hands on a nuclear bomb for their ultimate act of revenge on a world that has isolated their country. This is an action series that delivers on hard-edged, violent spectacle but it is built on the partnership of its most badass members: British military veteran Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester) and American Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), a former Delta Force Commando. This season complicates things when Scott discovers he has a son, who is kidnapped by the terrorists, and the two men go rogue to rescue him.
In a way, it is a buddy movie bromance for the “Soldier of Fortune” set, about a friendship forged under fire. But this final season is also the show’s most engaging, thanks to a season-long storyline filled with twists and actions sequences and situations where major characters are killed. Most episodes make time for a little sex and nudity (not always gratuitous). It is, after all, made for Cinemax, which once earned the nickname “skinemax” for its constant rotation of late night skin flicks. But the focus is on action and the show delivers with impressive set pieces in each episode. British TV veteran Robson Green returns as the team’s tough, loyal commander and Michelle Lukes and Milauna Jackson fill out the team.
10 episodes on Blu-ray and DVD, with short featurettes.
Heroes Reborn (Universal, Blu-ray, DVD) – The original Heroes, a high-concept take on the comic book superhero genre that placed the existence of people with immense, inexplicable powers in a real world setting, was a sensation that failed to sustain the creative energy and compelling storytelling of its initial season and soon lost its following. It was cancelled after four seasons. The 13-episode Heroes Reborn is a mini-series set years after the events of the original show, after the existence of the gifted humans throughout society has been revealed.
The series opens with a terrorist attack masterminded by Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), an outspoken Evo (as the super powered folks are called), or so everyone is told. The climate of fear drives Evos into hiding as human strike forces go about murdering them. Only a few of the characters from the original series return, notably Noah Bennet (Jack Coleman), the human agent who evolved from villain to quasi hero in the original series, and he uncovers a conspiracy masterminded by Erica Kravid (Rya Kihlstedt), who leverages the hysteria for her own plans. Mostly this is a story of new heroes, including two teenagers at the center: Tommy (Robbie Kay), who can teleport through space and time, and Malina (Danika Yarosh), who can control the elements. The are destined to play a major role in the epic story of cosmic dimension.
The show is interesting enough but it failed to connect with audiences and was not revived for another series so, despite the teaser for a sequel in the season finale coda, this collection marks the end of the story. Which is just as well. TV has finally learned that there are many interesting ways to present a superhero show and there are more than most people can keep up with. Heroes really isn’t necessary anymore now that Daredevil, Jessica Jones, The Flash, and others have gotten it right.
13 episodes on DVD and Blu-ray, with two featurettes and deleted scenes.
Mr Selfridge: The Complete Fourth Season (PBS, Blu-ray, DVD), the final season of the PBS drama of an American department store magnate in London, jumps ahead eight years. Harry Selfridge (Jeremy Piven), dubbed “The Earl of Oxford Street” by the press, is living the high life, spending lavishly on the American showgirls The Dolly Sisters (whose flamboyant escapades invariably end up in the gossip columns) and gambling himself into serious debt. When Harry survives a deadly fall, he becomes even more reckless. That maverick streak that has been his greatest asset becomes his worst enemy and he drives the store to the brink of bankruptcy has he ignores the advice and council of his son Gordon (Greg Austin), who is managing their satellite stores around the country, and his loyal managers.
In addition to the splashy tale of Harry and his flair for publicity and gambling on big ideas, and on the soap opera of the lives of his employees, the series has celebrated Selfridge’s very American belief in the idea that talent and hard work, not social status or impressive diplomas, is the measure of an employee’s worth. This season, he invites Lady Mae Rennard (Katherine Kelly), recently divorced and completely broke, to bring her ideas of high-end off-the-rack fashion to his store and she carries on Harry’s democratic ideas by promoting a young black seamstress (Mimi Ndiweni) whose talent and innovative ideas make her a target of some of her bigoted co-workers.
The series fictionalizes the real-life story of Harry Selfridge but is true to the general contours of his story and this season manages to find a way to make his ultimate failure into a kind of happy ending. As for the other characters, it finds triumph for most and even finds a way to turn the death of a beloved character into a new beginning for his family.
10 episodes on Blu-ray and DVD, with three featurettes and an interview with actor Jeremy Piven.