The Good

A very well put together show.

The Bad

A few commentary tracks by Ken Stott would have been nice.

Rebus: Set 2 is a very well crafted show that hangs heavily on the shoulders of it’s star Ken Stott. Detective Inspector John Rebus (Stott) is a no-nonsense police officer who isn’t given to accepting people’s shortcomings. While his partner Detective Sergeant Siobhan Clarke (Claire Price) doesn’t always agree with his methods (or his tantrums), Rebus always seems to be one step ahead of the people he is going after. And in those moments when he isn’t control? Well, he likes to drink and that usually helps him figure out at least a semblance of his problems. In this 4 episode set, we see Rebus go up against all manner of baddies and his disdain for them is always the same. The episodes in this set are:

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  • Strip Jack

  • A Question of Blood

  • The Black Book

  • Let it Bleed

The model for these 60+ minute episodes is pretty much the same across the board. Somebody (a wealthy man, student, a politician, etc.) commits a crime and Rebus and Clarke come in to figure out what’s going on. Rebus usually pisses a lot of people off in the process, but what nobody realizes is that this isn’t an act. It’s part of his detective process to draw people out in the open. Rebus lives for confrontation and in Rebus: Set 2 that is what he is given in spades.

Features

Rebus: Behind the Scenes

This documentary breaks down the characters and also lets us hear first hand from people like Stott, Price, Jennifer Black, Rebus novelist Ian Rankin, and also the creative-types behind this show. Stott says that the reason why Rebus is so popular as a character is because he captures people’s imaginations. Rankin himself talks about his creation and we also get to hear how Rebus the show came together. Basically, Ken Stott liked the script and the powers that be really never saw anyone else in this role. At 50 minutes this is the kind of supplemental piece that should sit very well with the fans. Good work, Acorn.

Ian Rankin Bio and Cast Filmographies

Video

16:9 Widescreen - This show looked better than I have seen any of the British shows that Acorn Media has sent me. I don’t know what it is but the colors, the tones and everything else felt much more solid and well composed. It could have something to do with this show being made from 2000-2004, but I have watched a slew of Acorn titles that were just as recent, but they didn’t seem as solidly put together. There seems to be an almost David Fincher-like green haze that looms over every shot. There are a lot of blacks, greens and whites and all of these tones seem like they were further heightened in the compression process.

Audio

Stereo. The audio for this film was good. I must be watching a lot of Acorn Media’s stuff because I find that I can follow the accents a lot easier now. There were a few points where I had some problems but nothing that got in the way of the viewing experience. I also didn’t need to turn up my set that loud but Rebus does have a real hard hitting feel to it. The look and overall audio presentation is really strong and this seems to account for why this show sounds as good as it does.

Package

Stott and Price are front and center on this yellowish, green slipcase cover. The back has two shots of Rebus and one of Price (there is also an almost iconic shot of Rebus with a cigarette in his mouth). They have provided a nicely detailed description of what Rebus: Set 2 is about, a Special Features listing and technical specs. For some reason (probably compression issues), they have put all four episodes on 4 separate DVDs. The artwork is almost identical to that of the slipcase cover, but each episode gets a nice bit of description.

Final Word

I gotta tell you, Acorn Media is very easily winning me over to their procedural shows. Aside from the straight arrow narrative of Rebus: Set 2, the characters in this show are so well rounded that it would be hard not to like it. This depth is no doubt brought about by the fact that the characters in question are taken from writer Ian Rankin’s popular crime novels. However, Ken Stott really embodies who this person is. As they discussed in the documentary on Rebus, Ken Stott really looks “lived in.” However, within that is a very strong man who doesn’t seem to shy away from anyone or anything. I love that he can walk into a room full of people, alone, and fear nothing. It is this moxie that makes him the strong figure that he is and it’s also what makes him so imminently watchable.

If you are fan of crime shows and you want to see a true character, Rebus: Set 2 has everything you could want.

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