Featured TV on DVD Review: Vegas: Season Two, Volume Two

March 27, 2011

Vegas: Season Two, Volume Two - Buy from Amazon

Robert Urich returns as private eye Dan Tanna in Vegas. I was able to review the first DVD release and found the show fun, most of the time, but not very substantive. Can it continue

The Show

Robert Urich returns as Dan Tanna, a Las Vegas private eye solving a myriad of cases. For instance, the first disc starts with Binzer, Dan's somewhat geeky assistant, getting hypnosis for self-impovement, only to be turned into an assassin for an organized crime syndicate that is into point-shaving. One of Dan Tanna's old partners, Mitch Costigan, comes back to Vegas in The Comeback, and he arrives with his new wife, who almost immediately dies in an explosion. The hit was obviously meant to Mitch, and given the number of enemies the pair have made, the culprit could be any number of people. In All Kinds of Love, Dan's secretary returns from a Hawaii vacation, with her fiancee. But as soon as Dan sees him, he tries to punch him out. Romance is rough in Vegas. He claims the fiancee is someone he knew, someone who stole his girlfriend and then after she died he inherited all her money. A hitman comes after Dan in Magic Sister Slayings, but he's not very good at his job and Dan's able to take him out very fast. So fast he's not able to ask him any questions, but that's okay, because he knows who sent him. It was Mr. Gleaver, a mob player looking to open a casino in Vegas, but he won't be able to because Dan Tanna has evidence linking him with organized crime, prostitution and drug trafficking. When the hit doesn't work, Mr. Gleaver goes to plan-B: Kidnap Mitch Costigan. (He should have left Vegas after his wife blew up.)

Disc two starts with Lido Girls, in which three sexy ladies cheat at baccarat. They clean the casino out for more than $300,000 in a week, but when the dealer overhears them talking about their scam, they have to kill her, which draws unwanted attention. Fortunately, Dan Tanna has the help of a legendary detective, Nicholas Rambeau. But while Nicholas is a legend, he also has a secret. Dan's brother-in-law, Vic Fontaine, is part of a Consortium looking to get a gaming license for a casino in Toronto, Canada. The group of them are in Las Vegas to elect a president, but the competition wants to discredit Vic, by killing one of the girls "working" at a party he set up. However, the one they kill was one of Dan's old friends. The Hunter Hunted has an old enemy coming to get revenge on... Lieutenant David Nelson, that's a change of pace. In The Man Who Was Twice a female impersonator is getting death threats and Dan Tanna is called in to investigate. However, the more he investigates, the more obvious it is that the person behind the threats is very close to the victim.

Disc three starts with The Golden Gate Cop Killer, a two-part special episode that has Dan Tanna traveling to San Francisco to stop a cop killer. Siege of the Desert Inn has a group of robbers trying to steal from the Desert Inn, but when that goes wrong, they take the showgirls hostage, including Dan's friend / secretary Beatrice Travis. (Being Dan's friend in dangerous.) The season ends with Vendetta, which features a guest spot by Joseph Campanella. He's an uncle of Dan's whose daughter is getting married. The episodes starts at the lucky couple's engagement party. But when another of Dan's uncles dies at the party, the celebration turns to sorrow. Dan's Grandma, and the victim's mother, think it's part of a vendetta, but no one else believes them. Of course, the viewer knows they're right.

Like I said before, the show is best when it's more fun-spirited, as the mysteries tend not to help the show stand out. Unfortunately, that's usually not the case on this three-disc set. It's not a bad show and fans of the genre should enjoy it, but it is not one of the best examples of a detective show either. Additionally, there's zero reason to split the season into two volumes, as the full-season set would only be six discs, which is standard for an hour-long drama like this.

The Extras

You can watch episode promos, which I hate, as they are nothing but spoilers for the episode. However, they have some small value as extras. There are subtitles and proper chapter placements, so it is a minor improvement over the first DVD I reviewed.

The Verdict

Vegas is a good show, but not a great show. Season Two, Volume Two has no real extras. Plus there's no reason to split the season into two volumes. I can recommend checking it out, but I can't be really enthusiastic in that recommendation.


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