- Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
- Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
- Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
- Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit), French & German Dolby Digital 2.0
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, German SDH, Dutch, Spanish
- Subtitles Color: White
- Region: ABC (Region-Free)
- Rating: Not Rated
- Runtime: 630 Mins.
- Discs: 2 (2 x Blu-ray)
- Digital Copies: UltraViolet
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Blu-ray Release Date: December 18, 2012
- List Price: $49.99
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Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures
(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)
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The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Shameless hasn’t skipped a beat in following the lives of the poor, blue collar, scrounging class that it focuses in on with this second season. The Gallagher family and their drunken patriarch Frank (William H. Macy) are in for a host of shocking twists, turns, trials, and tribulations in the season’s twelve episodes. The writing team, which features among them actor Mike O’Malley, don’t hesitate to burn right through the proverbial lines of correctness and etiquette that most people dare not cross, and the show is all the more real and better for it. Season Two finds the perpetually overworked and overstressed Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum) still hustling to get by and take care of her younger siblings, Steve (Justin Chatwin) now out of the picture. She’s been serving drinks as a sexy cocktail waitress in an upscale nightclub and her neighbor and friend Veronica (Shanola Hampton) is tending the bar. Meanwhile Lip (Jeremy Allen White) is having girl troubles with his nymphomaniac girlfriend Karen (Laura Wiggins) who’s taken up with a brand new, 37-year-old beau and joined a sex-addicts anonymous club. Ian (Cameron Monaghan) is trying to get into West Point, but can’t make the cut due to his poor academic performance. Things begin to hit the fan when Steve reappears, a sexy Latina bride in tow, the relationship between he and Fiona heats up again, and Lip finds out that Karen and her new boy-toy are to be wed, but she may be carrying a Gallagher-flavored bun in the oven. Madness reaches an all new level when Frank intrudes on the ever precarious peace of the Gallagher household with his dying mother and the Gallagher’s mom, Monica (Chloe Webb), resurfaces and heads out on a drug fueled bender with Frank.
Always hip, always edgy, Shameless remains true to its roots and punches you in the gut with the reality of how people live when they don’t have much to get by on and when they just don’t give a damn anymore. Season Two is a fascinating story arc, and the third season, if it follows through on the promise of the first two seasons, should be a good one.
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Shameless Season Two switches its HD production from the Red One camera to the Arri Alexa. It arrives on Blu-ray with an AVC/MPEG-4 1080p/24 encodement that is detailed, clean, and has strong contrast and lots of textural information. The rich midtones really make the color palette standout in this transfer, particular during the pub scenes. Flesh tones are really accurate as well.
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/16-bit) has a lot of wide, directional panning off to the sides and very clear dialogue. The atmospheric effects in the surrounds are engulfing, but the overall sound is hindered by high frequencies that sound far too tweaked and grungy.
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
The behind the scenes featurettes offer a lot of interviews with the cast and writers.
The Supplements:
- Behind the Scenes: The Complicated Life of Fiona Gallagher (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:07:06) — An examination of the character of Fiona in season two.
- Behind the Scenes: The Art of Acting Drunk (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:07:27) — William H. Macy gives his insight into acting drunk.
- Music Video: The Shameless Christmas Carol (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:04:24)
- Behind the Scenes: Writing the Shameless Version (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:18:48) — Roundtable with the writers.
- Behind the Scenes: A Shameless Actor Discussion (1.78:1; 1080p/24) – The actors pair up for jovial interview segments:
- The Ghetto Girl and the Car Thief
- Sibling Rivalry
- The Bartender and the Sex-Cam Worker
- Juvenile Delinquents
- The Agoraphobe and the Beautiful Mess
- Behind the Scenes: A Shameless Look at Season 3 (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:03:41)
- Deleted Scenes (1.78:1; SD)
The Definitive Word
Overall:
[Rating:4/5]
Shameless is gritty, raunchy, and laugh-out-loud funny, but it is also clever, outrageous, and shamelessly offensive. Great stuff, and it looks fantastic on Blu-ray.
Additional Screen Captures
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Purchase Shameless: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
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[amazon-product]B008XFATZA[/amazon-product]
[amazon-product]B0090XPGXY[/amazon-product]
Purchase Shameless: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe
Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com
Overall
[Rating:4/5]
The Series
[Rating:4.5/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4.5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3/5]
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