Sons of Anarchy: Season 2 review (Blu-ray) ★★★★

Only the best of the best in TV land have second seasons that top the first. A great number of shows catch your eye from the get-go and you soon find yourself falling in love with them. Then you're so involved that you're essentially playing tongue hockey with the series.

But then there's the heartbreak and sadness as you realise you're dealing with Heroes or Prison Break or Lost. Yes, I said Lost. These are three examples of shows that jumped the shark right after the first season. The Sopranos and 24 are two programmes that didn't disappoint when they returned to our screens, and now they are joined by the sensational Sons of Anarchy.

Following on from the incredibly dramatic finale of the first, the second season of Sons of Anarchy proves to be even more delightful. To really set the tone, the very opening moments depict our favourite Harley-riding antiheroes at target practice, all guns blazing. Literally, the very first thing you see is fire burst from the barrel of a handgun, and what a perfect representation of things to come that is. Within the first few episodes alone we're treated to explosions and firefights galore, not to mention some very dark and disturbing scenes – Gemma is raped in the opening episode by the Mitch Pileggi-lead neo-Nazi gang The Nords, now joined by comedian-cum-rockstar-cum-actor Henry Rollins and a businessman played by the awesome Adam Arkin. Couple Gemma's recovery and her decision to hide her dreadful ordeal from SAMCRO with heated tension between Clay (Perlman) and Jax (Hunnam), and you get a wild new batch of 13 episodes fresh from the oven, all to an electric rock 'n' roll soundtrack.

Season 2 sustains the black humour, hard-edged attitude and surprisingly-good-for-TV camerawork, whilst cooking up a damn-this-looks-good-on-Blu-ray storm with ferociously intense dramatics that will have you flying through the episodes.

EXTRAS ★★?? Deleted scenes; cast and crew audio commentaries on three select episodes; a picture-in-picture commentary on the season's final episode; gag reel; The Moral Code of Sons of Anarchy: a feature on the lifestyles and history of real motorcycle club members and the characters in the show; and a very fun 40-minute roundtable discussion with the cast and creator, based on questions from the fans.