SECOND SEASON AVAILABILITY????!?!?! ?!?!

Lions Gate currently holds the home video rights in Region 1 and I sent them an e-mail inquiring about releasing the 2nd season (by the way, the entire series was released in one box set in France of all places) and the reply I got back was that while the season 1 box set sold well in North America, they current have no plans to release season 2.

I have to say that after watching all six episodes of the second season, the changes made to the format weren't necessarily all that bad.

I enjoyed Williams' character Pierce and it didn't really seem like they were going anywhere with Garbiras' character in the first season. In fact towards the end of Season 1 Andrea is barely even seen at times.

The biggest thing which did seem a little forced and unexplained was the decision to have Parrilla's character Ortiz become a cop. I get why they did it as by removing or changing the characters that weren't involved with law enforcement you make the show a little easier to follow and easier to write for, but given how it was written in Season 1 that all she wanted to be was a paramedic, it just felt weird to have Teresa join the academy all of a sudden. Had the show gone on however, it would have been interesting to see how the writers further developed the whole Joel-Teresa will they/won't they debacle.

As for the change in the format, I think a lot of folks fail to realize that the show didn't always adhere to the Rashomon style storytelling in the first season either. Yes there were more character intertitle cards in Season 1, but the show didn't always introduce new clues with each shift in perspective. Furthermore, the device often felt forced at times as it seemed like the writers sometimes put more of a priority on sticking to the format rather than actually churning out good stories.

And speaking of writing, for those who complain about Season 2, some of the stories in Season 1 were just plain WHACK. Fearless jumping off of rooftops guns blazing = WTF? I get that his nickname was Fearless but REALLY?

In the end, Season 2 wasn't all that bad and you could get a sense that they were trying to reintroduce the main cast all over again. I actually liked it. Yes it was a bit more cookie cutter and formulaic but the stories being told were intriguing and the acting was still solid. You will notice some changes though, even things like the background music. In fact Boomtown's second season felt like it cribbed a few cues from another one of my favorite (and unfortunately cancelled) cop shows from around that time, CBS's Robbery Homicide Division. All in all, if you get a chance to watch it, give it a try. I'd say that in terms of quality, Season 2 falls right in between the best and the worst of Season 1.