I was a little antsy when I learned that A&E was branching off into drama rather than continuing to solely focus on reality television shows. The Glades premiered last year, and ties together a number of up and coming actors with established television personas. Matt Passmore plays Detective Jim Longworth, a transplant to the area from the Windy City. Longworth takes a position at the FDLE – the Florida Department of Law Enforcement – in order to both further eir career as well as get away from the situation that ey was in in Chicago.
The pilot episode of The Glades sets up everything quite nicely, giving the viewers the information that they need to have by the time the show’s second effort, “Bird in the Hand”, starts up. The season continues through twists and turns until the final episode – “Breaking 80” – begins. This episode showcases the possibility that the police and justice system may not always be correct when it comes to arrests and sentencing, throwing Longworth’s entire value system into shambles. Where most shows tend to the realm of the ridiculous for their season closing, I feel that The Glades works on a high level throughout the entirety of the season and does not require these tactics.
Fox has included a number of different featurettes to increase the value of the set. Key of these additions would have to be the commentary about specific episodes along with additional footage that did not make it to the show as it was originally aired. The video quality of this DVD set is incredibly strong, and is linked to a similarly effective audio track.
The second season of The Glades began airing on June 5th, so make it a point if you’ve missed any of the first season episodes to pick up this DVD set.
Rating: 8.2/10
The Glades Season One (DVD) / 2011 Fox / 567 Minutes / http://www.fox.com