Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Character growth, Hawk storylines
Cons: Formulaic clients of the week, Dani's personal life
The Bottom Line:
This addicting show
Does draw me in while being
Only average"Whole New Season. Whole New Set of Crazy."
I am a self-described USA Network addict, and I keep tuning
in to all their shows out of habit. Of
the ones currently on the air, there’s only one I don’t love, and that’s Necessary Roughness. It’s not that I hate it, it’s just that I
don’t find it nearly as engaging as the others.
While I continued watching season two, it felt like a step down from
season one.
The show centers around therapist Dani Santino (Callie
Thorne) who has become the go to person for the rich and famous after she
started working with the New York Hawks football team. Some of her clients this season include a
husband and wife professional tennis duo and aging rock stars coming out of
retirement.
Of course, much of her time seems to be taken up with the
Hawks where she is dating Matt (Marc Blucas), one of the coaches. She also has to deal with Terrance “TK” King
(Mehcad Brooks), the wide receiver, who is returning for the new season after
being shot. Will this help or further
his self-destructive tendencies? The
team’s owner, Marshall Pitman (guest star Evan Handler) wants to be more hands
on this season, and is causing all kinds of problems in the process.
As if all that weren’t enough, Dani also has to deal with
her two teenage kids all by herself since she has recently divorced from her
husband.
Obviously, there is a lot going on in the episodes. I would say they are fairly evenly split
between client of the week type episodes with stuff with the Hawks taking a
sub-plot status and episodes where the Hawks are front and center in the
story. The client of the week episodes
are the weakest because they are very formulaic. That was a complaint in the first season, and
the writers haven’t changed it here.
Fortunately, the stories with the Hawks are more
interesting, although they certainly show how money does not buy
happiness. There are some messed up
characters on the show. Of course, if
they weren’t messed up, they wouldn’t need a therapist, would they? These are also more interesting because
everything isn’t resolved by the end of the episode, allowing for some real
character growth.
The most interesting character here is TK. Yes, even more so than Dani. Last season he just annoyed me, but because
of what he goes through here, he shows some real growth and even moments of
maturity. Notice I said moments. This is especially true in the season
finale. While I don’t know if I truly
believe his actions, it does show remarkable growth, and I like what I am
seeing.
Now, I’m not saying the other characters aren’t good. If I didn’t like the rest of the main
characters, I would have given up on the show.
They are certainly human with strengths and weaknesses. I do find Dani a bit clichéd since she can’t
seem to fix her own family while she is able to help everyone else.
The acting is always great.
I really can’t single out anyone either good or bad, it really is that
uniformly good.
This four disc set contains all sixteen episodes from the
show in full surround and wide screen.
The only thing we get in the way of extras are deleted scenes.
Yes, I am addicted enough I’ll be tuning in next
season. However, season two of Necessary Roughness did little to change
my mind that the show is only average.
Season 2 Episodes:
1. Shrink or Swim
2. To Swerve and Protect
3. Wide Deceiver
4. Slump Buster
5. Mr. Irrelevant
6. What's Eating You?
7. Spell It Out
8. A Loud of Bull
9. Might as Well Face It
10. Double Fault
11. All the King's Horses
12. Frozen Fish Sticks
13. Hits and Myths
14. The Fall Guy
15. Regret Me Not
16. There's the Door
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