Sanctuary: The Complete Third Season Review
Though Torchwood got the jump on Sanctuary by about six months, there’s no denying the similarities between the two in both plot and style. Whereas Torchwood had BBC backing it from day one thanks to its roots in the Russell T. Davies revival of the Dr. Who mythology, Sanctuary had far more humble beginnings being one of those rare success stories where a made-for-internet production becomes something of an underground phenomenon and gains the attention of a cable network, in this case SyFy. The series’ basic premise is that an impossibly old scientist Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) heads an underground agency devoted to the investigation and containment of supernatural beings called ‘abnormals’. Her team consists of a techie (Ryan Robbins), a forensic psychiatrist (Robin Dunne), a newly acquired and unpredictable con artist (Agam Darshi), and a teleporter (Christopher Heyerdahl). Each week they encounter a new monster or monster-created problem-of-the-week, and they set things right.
It sounds weird to say that the first and second seasons of Sanctuary feel grounded by comparison to the third, but that’s exactly the case. The events of the third season make it seem as if the writers have lost all control of direction and have begun writing wild deus ex machina into the series to explain away other smaller absurdities introduced before. The result is an avalanche of ideas and concepts which if explored one by one could offer up compelling character development, but as is the series feels like it’s tumbling wildly out of control. With the discovery of a city inside Earth where abnormals and humans live in harmony and a trip to a spiritual plane where vastly powerful beings dwell, the writers seem to be grasping at straws to give the show enough draw to keep its fanbase interested. If its receipt of a fourth season is any indication, it worked, but barely.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Among the featurettes are two pieces about the direction of the series, specifically the episode Amanda Tapping helmed along with series creator Damian Kindler’s perspective. The more basic extras include deleted scenes, a music and special effects featurette, audio commentary, a blooper reel, a character profile on Nikola Tesla, and a behind the scenes piece. That leaves a look at the series making it accessible to children as well as an exploration of the city inside Earth.
"Sanctuary: The Complete Third Season" is on sale September 13, 2011 and is not rated. Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi. Directed by Martin Wood, Peter DeLuise, Steven A Adelson. Written by Damian Kindler, Alan McCullough, James Thorpe. Starring Agam Darshi, Amanda Tapping, Christopher Heyerdahl, Robin Dunne, Ryan Robbins.
