"You and Mom get divorced. Fine. And I have to have two different houses. And, like, now I have to go to Lily's all the time. So I'm gonna have three different houses where I have to live, and do I get to choose? I'm starting a new school, and now you want me to have all these other people in my life who don't like me and don't want me there, and none of this is anything that I asked for, but I have to do it because it's what you want." - Evan Rachel Wood as Jessie Sammler
Once and Again: The Complete Second Season DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Creators Ed Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz have made a career of producing finely nuanced TV shows centering on characters at various major points in life. The short-lived, critically-acclaimed My So-Called Life looks at teen life while avoiding the high school clichés of Beverly Hills 90210 and Dawson's Creek. The short-lived, not-so-critically-acclaimed (but still worthy) Relativity features characters in their mid-20s coping with newfound love and adult responsibilities. The characters in thirtysomething juggle marriage, family, and careers. The duo takes the next logical step in Once and Again as they explore fortysomething divorcees who are faced with starting over.
Season one introduced us to the Mannings and the Sammlers. Lily Manning (Sela Ward, Sisters) has been separated from her womanizing husband Jake (Jeffrey Nordling) for eight months, but their lives are still hopelessly intertwined. Jake runs Phil's, a modestly successful Chicago restaurant founded by Lily's father, a business in which Lily is a majority shareholder. Lily also co-owns a bookstore with her sister Judy Brooks (Marin Hinkle). Lily and Jake share custody of their two daughters, sensitive teen Grace (Julia Whelan) and precocious nine year-old Zoe (Meredith Deane).
Architect Rick Sammler (Billy Campbell, Tales of the City) has been divorced from Karen (Susanna Thompson), a lawyer, for almost three years. They often argue about how to raise their children. Sixteen year-old Eli (Shane West, ER) is a star player on the basketball team, but a learning disability threatens to sideline him for good. Preteen Jessie (Evan Rachel Wood) is beautiful, but lacks self confidence.
At the start of season one, Lily and Rick meet while dropping off their kids at school. The remainder of the season follows their sometimes tentative courtship. Lily is afraid that she is moving too quickly - Rick has had three years to adjust to his failed marriage, after all, but she's only had eight months. How will their kids react to their new relationship? Should they even be in a relationship? The first season ends with a big step forward as the pair bring their kids together for the first time. (Once and Again: The Complete First Season has been on DVD for several years, but was recently re-released to coincide with the release of The Complete Second Season).
Season two picks up several months after the end of season one. Rick is still heavily involved with a seemingly never-ending project for oily businessman Miles Drentell (David Clennon), a character that originated on thirtysomething. As the scope of the project grows, Karen takes on the case of a non-profit organization being displaced by the retail development. Rick worries about how the kids will respond to seeing their parents pitted against each other in court and on the front page of the local paper. Jessie, now a freshman, seems to be eating less and less. And Eli begins dating Carla (Audrey Anderson), Grace's new best friend who recently returned to school after a stint in rehab. Lily is still struggling to make ends meet by working for Christie Parker (Jennifer Crystal), the editor of a trendy internet magazine. When the site's funding dries up, she begins to fear for her job. Jake experiences a turnaround at Phil's, but his newfound success might be short-lived when a tragedy threatens the restaurant's popularity. In a pattern all too familiar to Lily, Jake tires of his girlfriend, Tiffany (Ever Carradine). Grace's self-esteem begins to grow, and even Zoe begins to accept her parents' divorce. Judy revitalizes the bookstore by changing its name to Booklovers and introducing a popular weekly singles event. In the process, she realizes how lonely she is.
Those plotlines (and, of course, many more) play out over the course of the season. The first season was about the giddiness of new love. Rick and Lily were so over-the-moon that they proved even forty year olds can behave like love-struck teens. In season two, reality begins to set in. As the two families begin to merge, shared holidays and even simple family meals lead to a brand new set of problems. The series' writers also find other ways to bring the characters together. Judy and Karen form an unlikely friendship when Karen stops by the shop one day hoping to catch a glimpse of Lily. Grace's earlier crush on Eli becomes more complicated when it becomes obvious that someday soon they might actually become brother and sister. Thanks to Carla, they even become friends.
Once and Again is refreshingly adult. It is romantic, sad, sweet, funny - often all at the same time. The characters and their storylines are so rich that watching the series is as fulfilling as reading a good book. We really get to know these characters. They speak the way we do and they are as flawed as we are, even as their problems make us happy that we are not them.
The series isn't perfect. The relationship between Carla and Eli often threatens to veer into Party of Five territory, especially during its overwrought conclusion. The Miles Drentell storyline, which seems like a gimmick meant to lure former thirtysomething devotees, sucks up too much screen time. Frequent visits by Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy) as Lily's mentally ill brother feel like calculated bids at Emmy nominations rather than organic plot developments. Yet Once and Again's flaws are easily outweighed by its positive traits.
High on the list of positive traits is the series' great cast. Campbell and Ward are both impossibly attractive. They are also immensely talented actors and have chemistry to spare. If the duo were merely attractive, the series wouldn't be as successful. The moment when they first catch each other's eye in season one is absolutely electric - it will leave you hooked on the series. Nordling effortlessly makes us understand what Lily saw in him.and why she wants to divorce him. Thompson brings subtly and depth to her character even when she isn't given much to do. The show's younger actors are just as wonderful.
Rumor has it that Zwick and Herskovitz are in the process of creating another series, this one exploring young adults in their early twenties. Until then, viewers will simply have to cross their fingers that the third and final season of Once and Again makes it to DVD soon so that they can get their fix of quality TV drama.
Familiar faces in season two include James Eckhouse (Beverly Hills 90210), Adam Brody (The O.C.), Barbara Barrie (Barney Miller), D.B. Sweeney (Life as We Know It), Devon Gummersall (My So-Called Life), Devon Odessa (My So-Called Life), Kay Lenz (Rich Man, Poor Man), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), and Michael Tucci (It's Garry Shandling's Show).
The twenty-two episodes that make up The Complete Second Season are divided onto five discs. Each disc is decorated with portraits of the series' characters - Lily on disc one, Rick on disc two, Grace and Zoe on disc three, Eli and Jessie on disc four, and Karen and Jake on disc five. The discs are housed in a foldout case decorated with publicity photos and production stills. The five discs attach to three panels - two of the panels hold two discs one on top of the other in a figure eight pattern. It is slightly inconvenient to remove one DVD in order to get to another, but on the plus side, the packaging takes up far less shelf space than if each disc was housed on a separate panel. Another panel of the foldout case lists the episode titles found on each disc. Unfortunately, no plot synopses are included, making it a little more difficult for viewers to choose individual episodes. The case slides into a cardboard sleeve.
The full motion DVD menus are relatively easy to navigate. Viewers can play all episodes or choose an individual one. There are no scene selection menus, but the episodes include chapter stops - including one immediately after the opening credits. Most of the episodes feature a "Next time on Once and Again." promo following the closing credits. Chapter stops immediately before these promos make them easily accessible.
