The second season of AMC’s Revolutionary War drama TURN: Washington’s Spies picks up right where the first season ended. Culper Ring spy Abraham Woodhull (Jamie Bell, Fantastic Four) and wife Mary (Meegan Warner) had been discovered by a redcoat and were forced to kill the soldier and then burned down their barn to cover up the situation.

The second season kicks off when a sculptor/spy working within King George’s chamber steals an important document and hides it in a bust of the king, which she then ships off to America. The king, who is already showing signs of going mad, commissions trapper Robert Rogers (Angus Macfadyen) to get it back by any means necessary in exchange for a title and the rights to explore the Northwest passage.

Back in the States, Woodhull knows he needs to get to New York because that is where the information Washington needs is located. He comes up with a plan, asking Major Hewlett (Burn Gorman, Torchwood) to allow him to infiltrate the Sons of Liberty in New York and pretend to be a spy in order to feed back information to him. This would give him both the freedom to move about and to control the intel that comes back to the British. While in New York, Woodhall meets a man a man named Robert Townsend (Nick Westrate), whom he thinks could be a major asset to the Culper Ring.

Meanwhile, the ruthless John Simcoe’s (Samuel Roukin) court-martial is over and he is placed in a clerk position. Major John Andre (JJ Feild), who detests Simcoe, knows that the man is a cold-blooded killer, and offers him command of the Queen’s Rangers for a special mission he has planned. Simcoe requests that he be stationed in Secaucus so he can be close to Anna (Heather Lind, Boardwalk Empire). Simcoe leads his men more like his personal murderous and rogue group of mercenaries—a fact that has him constantly butting heads with Hewlett.

At the same time, General George Washington (Ian Kahn) is growing increasingly afraid that congress is plotting to have him removed from his command. And his general Benedict Arnold (Owain Yeoman, The Mentalist) is growing increasingly discontent as he is forced to sit on the sidelines due to an injury. Andre decides to use this to his advantage, arranging for socialite Peggy Shippen (Ksenia Solo, Lost Girl) to try to turn Arnold by stoking his feelings of resentment.

I enjoyed the second season even more than the first. As the season opens, we see Abe in full spy mode, creating new gear to help him in his mission and finding new ways to pass secret messages. At the same time Abigail (Idara Victor, Rizzoli & Isles) is also behind enemy lines, dangerously trying to pass information back to the ring. There are many different storylines going on at once as each party tries to lay out its pieces just so on this American chess board. There is a lot of plotting, backstabbing and surprises.

The second season has some really exciting and tense moments. Woodhull is constantly in danger of being discovered, and there are there are an increasing number of forces out to get him. Simcoe (who may be my favorite character) is so wonderfully evil—even more-so than last season. Just when you think he’s crossed the line as far as he can, he goes even further.

Each episode usually ends in some big cliffhanger, so the great thing about this DVD set is that you don’t have to wait a week to see what happens next. I basically watched all 10 episodes straight through—as one ended, I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I could usually tell when the episode was about to end as things were building up to some big reveal, and already had my hand on the remote to skip to the next episode.

In addition to the tense drama, the show also has some really fun moments sprinkled throughout the season. Many of these scenes usually involve Abe’s friend Caleb (Daniel Henshall, The Beautiful Lie).

While the first season was released on both Blu-ray and DVD, Anchor Bay has chosen to only release the second season on DVD. Before starting the second season I had watched the first season finale on Blu-ray, and I definitely noticed a difference in the picture quality—the DVD didn’t look as sharp as the Blu-ray, especially any text on the screen. However, by the second episode, I was used to the picture and it was not an issue. The audio track provides clear dialogue, and I found that the surround channel was utilized well to help provide ambiance. For example, in a scene where it was raining I could hear the rain all around me, helping the scene really come to life.

The DVD includes over an hour of bonus material including episode analysis featurettes for all 10 episodes, 12 minutes of deleted scenes, and two character relationship featurettes.

What’s Included:

Episodes: (7:18:11)

• All 10 Episodes of the Second Season:
  “Thoughts of a Free Man”, “Hard Boiled”, “False Flag”, “Men of Blood”, “Sealed Fate”, “Houses Divided”, “Valley Forge”, “Providence”, “The Prodigal”, “Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot”
• 480p / Widescreen 1.78:1
• Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:

• Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies
  The cast and producers discuss the major developments of each episode of the season. These were originally made available on amc.com after each episode aired. Those interviewed include executive producers Craig Silverstein and Barry Josephson, and cast members Jamie Bell (“Abraham Woodhull”), Samuel Roukin (“Lt. Simcoe”), JJ Feild (“John Andre”), Ksenia Solo (“Peggy Shippen”), Heather Lind (“Anna Strong”), Meegan Warner (“Mary Woodhull”), Seth Numrich (“Benjamin Tallmadge”), Ian Kahn (“George Washington”), Kevin McNally (“Richard Woodhull”), Burn Gorman (“Major Hewlett”), Daniel Henshall (“Caleb Brewster”), and Owain Yeoman (“Benedict Arnold”).
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 201 (4:32)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 202 (4:30)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 203 (5:01)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 204 (4:46)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 205 (4:26)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 206 (4:09)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 207 (4:17)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 208 (4:40)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 209 (4:58)
  • Inside TURN: Washington’s Spies Episode 210 (5:02)
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (12:14)
  A collection of 8 fully-produced deleted/extended scenes that didn’t make it into the episodes. There is some interesting material here, and the technical presentation is excellent.




• A Trecherous Trio: Arnold, Peggy & Andre (5:55)
  A look at what leads Benedict Arnold to betray his cause, and how John Andre uses socialite Peggy Shippen to manipulate Arnold by stirring up feelings of discontent. Includes interviews with co-producer Alexander Rose, executive producers Barry Josephson and Craig Silverstein, and actors Owain Yeoman (“Benedict Arnold”), Ksenia Solo (“Peggy Shippen”) and JJ Feild (“John Andre”).
• Washington & Billy Lee: The Foundation of Friendship (6:27)
  A look at the friendship between George Washington and his trusted and loyal aide Billy Lee. Includes interviews with executive producers Barry Josephson and Craig Silverstein, and actor Ian Kahn (“George Washington”).

Final Thoughts:

TURN: Washington’s Spies is a really interesting and entertaining Revolutionary War spy drama that has some really tense and exciting moments, but also takes some time to have some fun. I enjoyed this second season even more than the first. While I wish they had offered a Blu-ray release like the first season, the DVD picture and sound quality are more than sufficient, and the discs contain a nice selection of bonus material. If you haven’t seen the first season, there may be a bit of a ramp-up before you fully understand who all the characters are (unfortunately there is no “previously on” type recap included). But I definitely recommend checking out this DVD, and catching up before the new season starts in a month.