The Second Season

MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County was a successful venture in reality television. The series focused on a group of absurdly wealthy high school kids and all of the drama that surrounded their lives. The series was quite a hit. In the show's first season, a great deal of the drama focused on one of the cast members, Lauren Conrad. In the show's second season, her role was much smaller as she had graduated high school and moved on to bigger and better things. Lauren's adventures are continued in this spin-off series The Hills. For more details about the show, refer DVD Talk's review of season one.

In the end of the first season, Lauren passed on an incredible opportunity to spend the summer in Paris. She was offered a fashion internship. Despite the great opportunity, she passed on it (which was not easy decision) to spend the summer with her boyfriend Jason. Her co-worker and friend Whitney got the internship instead. Unfortunately for Lauren, the decision turned out to be the wrong one. She and Jason did not have the perfect summer; they broke up. Live and learn. This season kicks off with the dramatic aftermath of Lauren's decision -- having broken up with Jason and trying to move on, as well as not going to France for the summer.

Another intense avenue explored (and revisited) is a love triangle with a new bad boy. In the beginning of season two, Lauren's good friend Heidi is somewhat involved with a hottie named Spencer. The only catch is that he has his eyes on Audrina too. He lies and cheats, wedging himself between the two former friends, despite Audrina's lack of interest in him. The drama from this love triangle is an enticing source of melodrama. The Heidi-Spencer relationship continues throughout the season and gets pretty serious.

From the Heidi-Spencer relationship comes another new guy named Brody. He is first introduced as a love interest for Lauren. The guy is good looking, suave, and full of cheeseball lines. But he impresses Lauren and gets on her good side. The only drawback is when Heidi gets in the middle of it and hooks him up with another girlfriend. This act is the nail in the coffin for Lauren and Heidi. Their friendship goes the way of the dodo bird. Fortunately, Audrina is there to pick up the slack and become the new best-friend-forever.

Overall, The Hills' second season has a similar tempo to the first. However, the drama is taken up a ten notches with more focus on relationships and the escalating drama. At the same time, the advancements of Lauren's internship at Teen Vogue is important and not without drama. She gets new responsibilities and chances to shine. All in all, season two is sassy and overly melodramatic. It is a guilty pleasure and you will not want to miss out on Lauren and friend's adventures in season two.

Episode Guide

1. Out With The Old...: After a rocky summer with her boyfriend Jason, Lauren decides to break it off and returns to Teen Vogue to face her unhappy boss. Heidi finds herself in trouble with a guy both she and Audrina are dating.
2. When You Least Expect It: Lauren goes on her first date since breaking up with Jason and is tested at work when she's asked to work a fashion show. Heidi has a life changing secret she must tell her boyfriend.
3. The Best Night Ever: When an uninvited Audrina shows up at Heidi's birthday, she learns Heidi's not ready to forgive and forget. Lauren, determined to focus on work, falls for the charms of the new guy in her life, Brody Jenner.
4. Who Do You Trust?: Audrina tells Heidi about Spencer's cheating ways, but Heidi is doubtful--until she sees it for herself. Lauren continues to wonder whether she is ready for a relationship.
5. One Big Interruption: Heidi takes a break from Spencer but finds herself missing him more than she'd like. Lauren has to plan a Teen Vogue dinner but takes a backseat to super-intern Emily from New York.
6. You Have Chosen: When Lauren tells Heidi what she really thinks about Spencer, Heidi must choose between her best friend and her boyfriend.
7. With Friends Like These...: Lauren realizes she can't trust her best friends after Heidi hooks Jen up with Brody.
8. Enough Is Enough: Audrina takes Lauren out on a blind double date, while Lauren and Heidi grow farther apart. And a photo shoot with a Vogue stylist makes Whitney impatient for more responsibility.
9. New Year, New Friends: Spencer asks Heidi to move in with him, but Heidi doesn't know what to do or how to tell her roommate, Lauren.
10. Apology Not Accepted: Lauren's 21st birthday is full of surprises when Heidi and Audrina throw her a party and Jen reaches out to make peace with her.
11. Everybody Falls: With a new job on the line, Whitney stumbles in her biggest opportunity with Teen Vogue. Spencer goes too far when he pressures Heidi to leave Lauren and move in with him.
12. Goodbye For Now: In this season finale, tension comes to a head as Heidi makes her final decision about moving in with Spencer. Lauren looks to Audrina to fill the void left by her best friend, and Whitney flies to New York City to interview for a full-time job with Teen Vogue.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in anamorphic widescreen color with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The picture quality is pretty good. There are minimal distortions in the video, with some traces of edge enhancement. Colors look good, especially brighter ones.

Audio:
The audio track included is in English Dolby digital stereo sound. The audio track is dialogue driven, but is supplemented with plenty of music from various musical artists. The music came off rich. For the dialogue, I noticed that the sound levels would sometimes jump around. But it did not occur often enough to be a real problem. However, some portions include subtitles. These are not optional.

Extras:
Similar to The Hills' first season DVD release, the second season comes packed with extras. Located on the third disc (discs one and two each hold six episodes) are all of the bonus features. The content includes featurettes, interviews, deleted scenes, and more. Here the breakdown:

• The Hills Season 2 Photo Shoot (12:42): This featurette contains behind the scenes footage of Lauren, Heidi, Whitney, and Audrina getting ready for a photo shoot. The girls are preparing for the season two promos. The girls provide some commentary about liking being pampered, getting their hair done, thoughts about the season, etc.
• The Hills Season 2 Premiere Party (2:34): This short clip provides brief interviews with cast members from the season two of The Hills and shots of the girls showing off their dresses.
• Cast Commentary (1:05:14): is a collection of short audio commentaries with Audrina, Heidi, Lauren, and Whitney. The commentaries only cover specific scenes from the season episodes and are accessible as individual clips or viewable in sequence via a play all options. The commentaries are further broken down by the girls speaking for the given clip. I would have preferred full-length episode commentaries.
  • Audrina and Heidi: "Heidi's Birthday", "Planning the Surprise", "Sitdown", and "Heidi Bails on Lauren".
  • Lauren and Audrina: "Area Grand Opening", "Three Girl Lunch", "Lauren and Brody Kiss", "Playmates at Area", "Karma Cafe", "Jen Bunney Dinner", "Double Date", "Lauren's Surprise Party", and "Goodbye".
  • Lauren and Whitney: "Ashley Paige Part 1", "Ashley Paige Part 2", "Lauren Meets Emily", "Emily at the Florest", "Jade Shoot", "Whitney is Discovered", "Whitney Falls", and "Whitney's Interview".
• The Hills Remixes (11:21): is a collection of seventeen short clips from The Hills After Show, which were clips available for viewing online after the episode first aired.
• Deleted Scenes (45:15): This special feature include twenty-three deleted and alternative scenes from season two. I would have enjoyed an option to watch them edited into the season episodes. There is also a goofy skit with Joey Manderino and David Young included; they do a parody skit of Lauren and Heidi. It is worth a good chuckle.
• Cast Interviews (50:14): is a series of interviews with Whitney, Audrina, Heidi, and Lauren. The content focuses on specific key developments of season two, opinions about other cast members, what it is like being on the show, and other related topics. One thing I really liked about the interview featurettes was the presentation. The topic being addressed is clearly outlined prior to the discussion portion, which makes it easy to follow.
• Trailers: Lastly, there are several trailers for Virtual MTV: The Hills, Laguna Beach: Season 2, Laguna Beach: Season 3, The Hills Season 1, My Super Sweet 16 Seasons 1 & 2, and Super Sweet 16 The Movie, and Kaya.

Final Thoughts:
The Hills is a melodramatic reality television show about a young rich girl trying to survive in the high-paced fashion world in Los Angeles, CA. The main character is Lauren Conrad. Joining her are a few female friends and a few guys. The end result is drama stemming from breakups to new opportunities to love triangles. It is soapy (and feels scripted despite being a reality television show), but it is still entertaining. This second season has a lot of great drama and moments you will not want to miss out on.