Suburban Shootout – The Complete First Series (Acorn Media DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Episodes: B-

 

 

The idea of housewives in a dense suburban environment began in the 1950s, when the post-WWII years made such a thing possible.  Feminism began to subvert this and books like The Stepford Wives became part of the chilling backlash.  While the second film of that book was a disaster, the soap operas equivalent of said situation became a hit with Desperate Housewives and British TV has come back with a wild answer to it with Suburban Shootout.

 

In this wild twist on the whole situation, a young Joyce Hazledine (Amelia Bullmore) moves to Little Stempington expecting peace and the good life.  Instead, she finds intrigue, espionage and murder where it should not be and coming from other ladies in the neighborhood who let her know their ‘hood is one of the most dangerous in the U.K.!

 

She first thinks this is a set-up or lie, but the crazier things get, the more the unreal things she is being told turn out to be real, including drive-by assassinations, exploding buildings and a secret super-estrogen formula many will apparently kill for.  The great British joke goes back to the earliest Mystery stories where a dead body “shockingly” turns up among the rich and well to do.  The writers understand that and so much more as the show goes into high gear from the start.  If they can keep this up, I will be impressed, but even if they burn out early, I give them credit for having the guts to pull off this much and make it work.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a little soft and has some motion blur, holding it back, but I like the way the show is shot and edited.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has no surrounds, but is very well recorded.  Extras include a behind the scenes program, text cast filmographies and audio commentary on all eight episodes by cast and crew.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo