From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series Season 2

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Season One had a tight story line and a cast that did an excellent job stepping into the movie characters’ roles. Eiza González → Salma Hayek; Robert Patrick → Harvey Kietel; Don Johnson → Michael Parks. Even Sam Medina does a great job reprising Danny Trejo’s bartender role and makes it his own.

Season One used Tarantino-like non-linear narratives to hold viewer interest and develop characters’ back stories. Season Two just plods onward through some ponderous plot.

Charitably speaking, Season Two’s plot line is less focused. Random characters are added for no discernible reason.

“Caprica’s Esai Morales is available? Make up a character for him. We can sign Danny Trejo? Write him into the story line too.”

The Trejo character randomly appears, scowls, and brutally murders someone. There is no back story for the Trejo character or any indication of his relevance to the story arc.

Jake Busey is carried over from Season One. Jake Busey. Crickey.

Utterly bored after the first disc. Probably won’t make through the second disc without completely losing interest in the characters and whatever the plot line is supposed to be.

Fyi, the Blu-Ray disc played normally in a North American player.

-Amazon Customer

I saw the movie a long time ago & was intrigued when I heard that not only was there going to be a television series version but it would also launch a new cable network; El Rey.

In that Richie Gecko & Santanico Pandemonium both perished in the original film, I was surprised to see both characters survive the first season into a second one.

While the original movie inspired a number of direct to DVD releases, I had no idea how the story would transition to a second season.

The first season changed the vampires into snake-like beings called Culebras. I do really like the show & characters. However, I have found the second season to have extremely disjointed storylines. Maybe it has been sloppy storylines or some grander purpose, but there is still one more episode left of the season yet to be broadcast to show game plan of the producers.

This is what I surmise about the grand story of Season 2. Hundreds of years ago, one thousand people were slaughtered by the Culebras & buried creating a massive reserve of blood to quench the thirst of the vampires. The bearer bonds stolen by the Gecko brothers have a stellar map printed in them leading to the location of the blood well. Various people want to get their hands on this treasure map. The season all leads up to major characters getting to this treasure. Who will live & who will die?

The second season introduces a number of new characters.

Lord Amancio Malvado played by Esai Morales, fresh off playing the US President on the HBO series, The Brink. He is the main bad guy Culebra responsible for making Quiza (?) into Santanico Pandemonium. He is fond of peeling off people’s faces & making them part of his jacket. One person who loses his face gets it back a few episodes later with no explanation. Santanico & Richie spend much of season looking for his secret headquarters which is revealed to be a biker bar with great live music called Jackknife Jed’s. Whether Malvado is some grand villain or not, the writers have not been consistent with the character. The character does not survive the season.

Sonja played by Brianna Evigan is an American tattoo artist living in Mexico. She is by far the brightest thing to come out of this season. I really liked what Brianna brought to the show. She becomes a de facto girlfriend for Seth Gecko & new partner in crime. Out of nowhere, she is revealed to be working for Malvado in secret. In that Malvado thinks of humans as food, I don’t get her basic motivation. Her character does not survive the season. Her passing remains pointless.

Narciso is another main bad guy who does bad guy things, loses his face, gets his face back & loses his head. I wanted to know more of his motivations.

The Regulator played by Danny Trejo is a Hispanic Terminator brought to life to track down Santanico. He consumes eyes & other body parts to hear & see what has been seen & heard to track her down. I get the feeling producers did not know what to do with Regulator or Trejo sacrificing character way to soon. How the Regulator is actually killed is very unclear.

Uncle Eddie played by Jeff Cagey is another bright point of season. As the uncle to the Gecko brothers, he dishes out advice looking for his last big score. His character’s early demise after killing The Regulator leaves a void in show.

The character played by Jere Burns is intriguing & endures horrible tortures while still keeping a bright outlook. This character is still going.

The Prospector played by Gary Busey was introduced a few episodes back & is seemingly immortal & murderous. His character has disappeared but could still come back. I was surprised to see him on the show.

Demi Lovato plays some masked Culebra. There is very little to know on this character.

We keep hearing about some big player known as “El Rey”. Will we find out more in Season 3?

I am not sure of ramifications of the found blood well. I realize Quiza / Santanico is major character but I wish writers would try to humanize her making the vampire queen more likeable.

The rep for El Rey seems sinister with his ability to magically fill up a glass with blood. Who is he exactly?

With Katie supposedly shot three times in back, her survival is in question. Will her brother step in to save her life?

Seth Gecko is far less a psychopath this season. While more even-tempered this season, as a Culebra he does indiscriminately kill for food. I do like he is back with his brother.

Richie Gecko goes from shooting up heroin to being level-headed again. How he kicks heroin is never explained.

Despite these misgivings, I want to see more cohesive storytelling in it’s third season. The WB network found its voice with Buffy. I hope this show becomes memorable.

Destroying the Titty Twister may have been risky but Jackknife Jeff’s could have good possibilities.

This season does include bare breasts, extensive profanity & extreme gore (grilled human skin?). It all works. By the way, El Rey is great fun to watch for movie lovers.

– Dean L. Kaufman

Season 2 is so beyond my expectations and I loved season 1 so I had some pretty high expectations. This is one of those shows where the casting is absolutely perfect. I liked the movie version with George Clooney and Quintin Tarantino as the Gecko brothers, but I have to say that D.J. Cotrona and Zane Hotlz blow them out of the water. My favorite part of the show is how the two brothers interact because while surrounded by blood and mayhem, there is still the competitive, jealous, annoying, but don’t mess with him or I’ll kill you sibling relationship. I go back and watch the episodes a few times and I always pick up on some small detail that I missed but that makes the characters or the storyline even more interesting than the first time. Every week I am genuinely disappointed when the credits come on and I know I have to wait another week to find out what happens next. This is definitely a must see!

Added 10/29/15 – Just watched the season 2 finale and HOLY CRAP it was so good! Now, all I have to do is wait, very impatiently, for season 3 to start. I feel anticipate some major binge watching coming up in the meantime! I had a little trouble with streaming the final episode, but it was site-wide issue and Amazon was quick to get things back on track, so no harm no foul.

-lovelylaura78

DVD Wholesale Main Features :  

Actors: D.J. Cotrona, Zane Holtz, Eiza Gonzalez
Directors: Various
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 3
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Entertainment One
DVD Release Date: February 2, 2016
Run Time: 448 minutes