West Wing: The Complete 2nd Season (DVD)

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Like the first season´s DVD set, all twenty-two episodes of "The West Wing: The Complete Second Season" are distributed on 3 double-sided discs, with a 4th disc allocated for extra features.

Disc 1 (Side A): "In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen: Part 1", "In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen: Part 2", "The Midterms", "In This White House"
Disc 1 (Side B): "And It´s Surely To Their Credit", "The Lame Duck Congress", "The Portland Trip", "Shibboleth"
Disc 2 (Side A): "Galileo", "Noël", "The Leadership Breakfast", "The Drop In"
Disc 2 (Side B): "Bartlet´s Third State Of The Union", "The War At Home", "Ellie", "Somebody´s Going To Emergency, Somebody´s Going To Jail"
Disc 3 (Side A): "The Stackhouse Filibuster", "17 People", "Bad Moon Rising"
Disc 3 (Side B): "The Fall´s Gonna Kill You", "18th And Potomac", "Two Cathedrals"

Video:
In terms of video transfer, a great improvement in quality has taken place when compared to the look of the episodes on the Season One DVD set, which was presented in full frame format. For Season Two, its episodes are presented in gorgeous widescreen anamorphic video measuring in at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. I cannot seem to recall if the original broadcast version from the second season onwards is in widescreen but it is a welcome change. There are very little flaws to speak of and colors that are beautifully rendered and decidedly natural. Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Audio:
Although only encoded in Dolby Surround 2.0, the patriotic musical scores envelope the sound stage and engage the audience very well. Most importantly, in a series that relies so much on its fast paced banter between characters, the dialogue delivery through the center channel is very clear and sharp. Only an English language audio track is available.

Extras:
Disc 4 is solely set aside for the extra features. Although the disc is double-sided like the rest, only Side A contains any material.

First on the list is a behind-the-scenes documentary titled "Featurette: Constructing Two Cathedrals". It features interviews with Aaron Sorkin, director Thomas Schlamme, the music composer for the show and the film editor. "Two Cathedrals" is the final episode of the second season and also the most emotional and moving one for President Bartlett. There are strong religious overtones throughout the episode as Bartlett looks back to his past to help him make a very important decision. The interviewees also talk about Martin Sheen´s powerful performance filmed on location at the National Cathedral. Be warned that there are spoilers to be found in this documentary.

Next we have "Access Granted" which is a video tour of the various sets of "The West Wing". In this feature, your DVD remote is utilized to navigate between the sets. Moving on, the next extra feature is called "Gag Order", which is made up of about a minute and a half worth of line flubs and outtakes. Also available are ten "Deleted Scenes" from various episodes without any commentaries.

While Season One had a total of five audio commentaries, Season Two presents us with four. They are:

"In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen: Part 1": Commentary by Aaron Sorkin, Thomas Schlamme, actor Bradley Whitford and actress Janel Moloney (who plays Donna)
"In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen: Part 2": Commentary by Sorkin, Schlamme and Martin Sheen
"Noël": Commentary by Sorkin, Schlamme and Bradley Whitford
"18th And Potomac": Commentary Sorkin, Robert Berlinger (director) and actress Kathryn Joosten (who plays Delores Landingham, Bartlett´s personal secretary and close confidant)

In all of them, Sorkin is the most talkative one, volunteering plenty of information about that particular episode. Not very engaging stuff to listen to but informative all the same.

Packaging:
While some companies are giving up on inserts, I am glad that some releases are still receiving some attention in this department. For "The West Wing: Season Two", a nice glossy booklet (yes, a multi-page booklet, not insert) adorns the inner sleeve of the gold-colored 4-disc Digipak package. The booklet contains information on all the twenty-two episodes.

Film Value:
When a television series receives so many accolades and awards in its debut season, the next season after that must be the most pressurizing one for all involved, considering the extremely high expectations from not only your audience but also the network. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised that Sorkin and his crew are able to pull it off and maintain such a high level of quality throughout the entire second season. As for this DVD set, although I am glad that the video transfer has been upgraded to widescreen anamorphic video, the audio still needs a leg up to at least Dolby Digital and there is a need for better and more comprehensive extra features. Going by the stories alone, the second season of "The West Wing" is still an unstoppable juggernaut that it was in the previous season, easily mowing all its competition down.

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