Joan of Arcadia: The Second Season is now available in a DVD box set containing the last 22 episodes of the groundbreaking series which ran on CBS from 2003-2005. In this powerful and controversial series, 17-year-old Joan Girardi (Amber Tamblyn) believes she talks directly with God, who contacts her in human form with a list of demands for her to carry out. If Joan fails to comply, her life as well as the universe will be adversely altered.

At the conclusion of the first season, Joan was hospitalized with lyme disease which caused her to hallucinate and talk to people who do not exist. The second season unfolds with our heroine returning from a treatment facility where she spent the summer working with a psychiatrist, hoping to put an end to all her hallucinations. However, Joan  has not been truthful with her doctor because she doesn’t want to be locked up indefinitely in a psychiatric ward for seeing and talking to God.

During the second season, Joan’s family members -- brothers Luke (Michael Welch) and Kevin (Jason Ritter) plus father Will (Joe Mantegna) and mother Helen (Mary Steenburgen) -- are outraged when Kevin’s former best-friend Andy Baker (Andrew Ableson) serves Will with a lawsuit at the police station where he works. Andy’s family is suing the Girardis for emotional distress following a car wreck that left Kevin paralyzed. Andy miraculously walked away without a scratch when he drove Kevin home drunk after a night of partying immediately following homecoming. Will and Helen grapple throughout this  season with whether or not they should counter-sue the Bakers and hire a ruthless litigator that Will’s supervisor Lieutenant Lucy Preston (Annie Potts), has recommended.  

Meanwhile, Luke can’t understand why Grace (Becky Whalstrom) wants to be secretive about their romance. Grace forced him to sign a contract stating he cannot talk to her during school hours and must pretend to hate her. He can only kiss her for five minutes per day at a secluded spot. Grace wants nobody, including Luke, to get close enough to discover her mother is an alcoholic.

Another key event of the second season involves Joan’s best-friend Judith (Sprague Grayden). After spending a few nights at Joan’s house, she says she will be visiting friends from her old school while Joan goes out on a date.  Several hours later, Judith clings to life as a result of multiple stab wounds during a purchase of crystal meth in an alley.  After waiting to speak with Joan one final time, Judith suddenly dies.

Series creator Barbara Hall is not afraid to tackle controversial issues. Hall, her cast members and writers attempt to answer such questions as: What is more important -- freedom of expression or not offending someone else’s beliefs? Should Joan reveal photos she snapped of a classmate kissing a person of the same sex just so her friend can win a student council election?

I admire Jason Ritter’s strong performance and his ability to find humor in Kevin’s awful situation. Tamblyn is also strong in the lead role here, and Grayden stands out for her haunting portrayal of Judith, a character whose life and death inspire Joan to tackle her deepest fears.

(Released by Paramount Home Video; not rated by MPAA)