What if you could talk to God? Would you bend his ear with trivial complaints about how unjust the world is? It's difficult to sometimes reconcile the belief in a Supreme Being that cares about his/her creatures when injustice reigns as often as justice does on our cozy little planet. "Joan of Arcadia" tackled some of these issues in a two season drama that focused on Joan (Amber Tamblyn) communicating with God. God being who he/she is decided to appear to Joan almost like a master of disguise appearing in each episode as different people. ***

Luckily "Joan" avoids most of the claptrap that made "Touched by An Angel" so popular and made me so nauseous when I would the series. "Joan" appeared at about the same time as the ill-fated comedy "Wonderfalls" where the disaffected slacker girl that was the focus of that show spoke to inanimate statues that appeared to ask her to do the will of God or some other being with the skills of a ventriloquist. That show was witty, at times cynical but always had its heart in the right place (even if it was never quite on its sleeve). "Joan" like "Wonderfalls" has God giving Joan advice that will have an impact on her life and others. Like "Wonderfalls" "Joan" doesn't exactly where its heart on its sleeve but clearly has its heart in the right place with sharp, witty and intelligent scripts. ***

Unfortunately God wasn't looking after "Joan" as the show slipped in the ratings in 2005 and was quickly cancelled. It's a pity because the show did offer quite a bit of potential and was one of the few shows with a religious angle that attempted to meld the concept of religion with insightful, dramatic storytelling. *** The second season of "Joan" has the girl returning from a camp for those with mental illness. Everyone has a hard time believing that Joan communicates with the big G on a regular basis. Joan's life quickly took on a more dramatic turn during season two with the introduction of her new wild friend Judith. Judith likes to live on the edge which is something that Joan never did. ***

On top of all of this Joan's parents Joe and Helen Girardi (Mary Steenburgen, Joe Mantegna) struggle with their own issues. Kevin (Jason Ritter) their oldest son became a paraplegic after a car accident. In season two Joan's family is sued by the family of the drunk driver involved in the accident. It adds insult to injury in this case and Girardi family doesn't quite know how to handle it. ---

Image & Sound:

All 22 season two episodes are presented uncut and look good in their presentation here. Colors are bright and vibrant complimenting the often unusual cinematography of the show. Images are crisp and clear. While there are some minor digital artifacts such as edge enhancement and digital grain issues (caused by compression of the image), overall the show looks extremely good. ---

Four featurettes on the show and four commentary tracks highlight this set. "A Look at Season 2" provides an overview of the second season with cast interviews discussing changes that occurred to the show and how it impacted their characters. "The Making of 'Queen of the Zombies'" highlights that episode where Joan's school puts on a musical. "A Tour of Joan's High School" allows production designer Bill Eigenbrodt to show off the set he designed for the series. "Common Thread" features a rehearsal session where the cast does what's called "a table reading"; essentially the entire cast gathers in the room to read the script together for the first time. This allows the writers to fine tune the script, the cast to give input and the director to have an idea of how the episode will flow. ***

The commentary tracks are on "Only Connect", "Friday Night", "Common Thread" and "Something Wicked This Way Comes". Two of the commentary tracks feature creator/producer Barbara Hall with producer/director James Hayman and two feature Hayman with writer/producer Stephan Nathan. All four are interesting with fascinating tidbits about the respective episodes.

Final Words: