Knots Landing - The Complete First Season - DVD Review

David Jacobs, the creator of Dallas pitched a show about suburban couples in California, inspired by Ingmar Bergman's Scenes from a Marriage (anybody who knows me knows I'm a huge fan of Bergman). The network told him they wanted something bigger and he made Dallas. Clearly he never forgot his original premise, because the network wanted a spin-off, and he devised it with underachieving, alcoholic, middle brother Gary Ewing (Ted Shackelford) reuniting with his high school sweetheart and bride, Valene Ewing (Joan Van Ark), and moving to California to start anew. Midway through Dallas' third season the episode "Return Engagement" served as a pilot or prequel to Knots. So if you wanna watch Knots but not Dallas, then check out this episode as it adds a little depth to the backstory - and speaking of backstory, that's something Knots was particularly interested in and may have been key to it's fourteen season reign.

The Ewing's new Californian home, a second-marriage gift from Dallas matriarch and Gary's adoring mother, Miss Ellie Ewing, is located in a tight little cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle. The residents of this cul-de-sac make up the rest of the cast and the tight setting, as you would expect, makes the place a boiler room for conflict. Gary was apparently Miss Ellie's favourite son. But really, who could blame her after having to live in the same house as her ego-driven, maniac sons J.R. and Bobby for so long. Gary, the quiet failure seems pretty appealing in contrast.

Now let's meet the ridiculously friendly and inviting neighbours (if this were really a Bergmanesque character-drama then the families wouldn't be close - I love it - but it's complete fantasy. I don't know the names of any of my neighbours and I have been living in the same cul-de-sac for nearly eight years). Sid and Karen Fairgate (played by talented Don Murray and Michele Lee) are the idealistic and 'perfect' family. They have three teenage children, Diana (Claudia Lonow, who went on to become a successful sitcom writer), Eric (Steve Shaw) and Michael (Patrick Petersen). A slightly younger thirty-something couple, Richard (John Pleshette, who's character's as close to a villain as the first season has) and Laura Avery (Constance McCashin). Richard is a smarmy lawyer who treats his wife like a lower life-form but he is humanised over the course of the first season and even more so in the second - while still retaining his strong flaws. This gives the series a level of character-depth that may have partly been lost if Richard turned out to be a J.R. clone, which is an idea the writers toyed with for a little, but thankfully discarded. To round off the cast there's the twenty-somethings Kenny (James Houghton) and Ginger (Kim Lankford) Ward.

What surprised me most about this set is how much I enjoyed it. I was expecting very dated television, restrained by standalone episodes (Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest also started with only standalone episodes - they all had very humble beginnings...) and while it is these things, it's also very enjoyable and often well-written. Knots' strength lies in its willingness to be a character-driven series and the episodes that succeed in this set are just that.

Arguably the strongest episode from the first season is "The Lie", in which Laura Avery acts out against her restrained lifestyle and domineering husband. The subject of rape is brought up and more specifically, the perception of rape. This episode also has one of the best endings for a show of its time. Similarly to The Sopranos or Mad Men, the symbolic final scene intelligently sums up the themes of the episode and asks the viewer to analyse what they've seen.

"Land of the Free" holds the honour of being the worst episode on the set. Entertaining in it's own right, the terrorising bikers episode attempts to be relevant (apparently this was a problem in California at the time) but comes off campy and exploitative. Basing an episode around something as strange as terrorising bikers will always be awkward, particularly because there's no subtext to the plot. Predictably, the cul-de-sac bands together against this external force, like they will again in variations on the episode later down the track. The essential and underlying misstep of the episode is that the premise of the show isn't about wild external forces, it's about complex, ordinary people dealing with themselves and the people who's lives intersect with their own. The second episode "Community Spirit", where J.R. from Dallas crosses over, suffers the same problem. As entertaining it was to see J.R. on Knots, he is far too cartoonish a character for the show and this highlights the very striking differences between Dallas and Knots

Apart from these two, the episodes range from decent standalone episodes - but perhaps too understated - to very moving and dense standalone episodes. It's about half and half - very admirable for a first season of a spin-off, and even more-so considering the show didn't find it's long-standing identity as a soap-opera/realistic drama meld until season 3 or 4.

This release is a five dual-layer disc set of 601 minutes. The artwork on the inside of the case has a list of the episodes on each disc with brief summaries on every episode. English and German subtitles and the same enhanced subtitles for the hearing impaired.

Video

The 1.33:1full-screen image is kept to preserve the original look of the show and while there are minor problems with the transfer, they may just be source problems due to the shows age. The show does look quite good considering - and keep in mind that some of the later Dallas and Dynasty seasons had sub-par DVD transfers.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0. I'm not sure how much effort was put into cleaning up the audio but it's adequate.

Extras

Special Features:

• Commentary on 2 key episodes by Joan Van Ark and Ted Shackelford

• Gary and Val: Together Again. The stars reminisce.

The commentaries are interesting because the show and the people clearly meant a lot to these two. The show was on the air for such a long time that there is a rich history to the behind-the-scenes of the show.

The reunion between Joan and Ted is good to watch (especially for fans of Gary and Val), but only if you've seen the entire show as there are clips from pivotal moments while the characters are discussed.

A surprisingly good first season, giving the longer second season a lot to build from. Starting season 2, Donna Mills moves into the cul-de-sac and many people credit her with spicing the show up as husband-stealing vixen, Abby Cunningham. I'm interested to see how and when the tonal and stylistic shifts in the show come about - bring on seasons 2 to 14.

Sons of Anarchy - S03E01 - So

Yes, I've been extremely lazy when it's come to episodic reviews this year. I've neglected both Louie and Mad Men, which if you weren't aware, had incredible seasons. With eight billion new and returning shows beginning their seasons over the next couple of months, I feel I should get back into weekly blogging mode. Without further ado, the visceral and emotional season opener of Sons of Anarchy season three.

Spoilers follow.

With a season opening montage reminiscent of the 'It Was A Very Good Year' montage from the start of the second season of The Sopranos, we see what the characters have on their minds. Jax is stewing in depression after the kidnapping of his son, Abel. Tara looks to her bloodstained floor where young Half-Sack was stabbed, protecting her. Gemma is getting antsy while held up in a flat on Clay's orders to keep her safe and out of sight. This directly clashes with her character, which is that of a fiercely loyal mother to the club, and a woman who can take care of herself.

This episode was surprisingly character-driven for the show, with the bulk of the episode being about and meditating on the characters circumstances - as opposed to throwing them into new plots. Gemma, however, starts a journey - after she convinces Tig to let her go, by letting him accompany her - by visiting her father (Hal Holbrook), whose mental health is declining. This new story is still an extension of Gemma's current situation. Now that she's without the club, who is she? What was her old life and how does it relate to her current one? I commend Sutter for taking this route - however it plays out, it was an organic plotting move.

Meanwhile, Jax pushes Tara away, in part due to his current depressive mindset and in part because he still thinks the life is too dangerous for her. There are a couple of very well written and acted scenes here as the couple fight and then have a moment of clarity. In my opinion, Tara's already too far into the club to leave now - despite what Jax wants to believe. No doubt Gemma is to thank for her more brash disposition.

The other side of the manipulator coin is Clay, who tries to push Jax out of his hollow misery by giving words to him several times throughout the episode. The thing is, we know Clay pretty well now, and yes, this is about getting Abel back, but Clay wants Jax to be the kind of leader he himself is, when he's too old to sustain the position. It's a subtle move from Clay, with a result that I doubt even he expected.

Jacob Hale Jr. is going to be another problem for the Sons this season as he runs for mayor against Oswald, who the Sons count on for support. The guy seems very dodgy, and I'm sure he will stop at nothing to get the support of the town.

I wonder how long these stories can sustain themselves - Do you think Gemma going to be away for the bulk of the season - to keep her in the dark about Abel's kidnapping? And what about Jax and the crew, will they spend the whole season looking for Abel? It's such an all-consuming plot, that if it's drawn out until the end of season there won't have been room for anything else - not that I'm necessarily against that - if done well, a whole season revenge story could be amazing. On this route, a nice mid-game plan would be to let Gemma in on it around episode six or seven and have her flip the lid. Because of the kidnapping, and because she wasn't told about it.

The most foretelling sequence in the episode was the last, which pushes the plot forward immensely. It was also one of the best scenes the show has done with skilled direction and editing. When Jacob walked partly off the scene before the van arrived, was that the writer's telegraph that he may have something to do with his brother's death - probably. Although the shock on his face when saw the caved-in head seemed genuine - it still doesn't excuse him yet.

Hunman delivered, in my opinion, his best performance as Jax in this episode. He really steps it up whenever he's called on for 'intense' and the final scene of him smashing a stray van shooter tells us he's finally found a different channel for his grief. I'm sure this makes Clay happy, and now we'll get to see more struggle about what kind of man Jax wants to be as he adapts angry, revenge mode. He'll have to do that while not playing into the hands of Clay. I know I'm being hard on Clay, but the MC will always be his first priority.

Was awesome seeing Kenny Johnson (The Shield) back as Kozik, and it sounds like he wants to stay in Charming. I wonder what Tig's beef with him is...

Paula Malcomson was another good casting choice and I'm intrigued as to what her role will pertain. She's doing an eight episode stint, so perhaps that's how long the 'finding Abel' story lasts, or maybe her role expands beyond that and Abel has many handlers over the season.