Ray (Zach Galifianakis) finds himself in the same boat as Ames, when Leah (Heather Burns) dumps him, devastating him. Ironically, Ray's recent Super Ray comic, which is all about his love for Leah, is gaining lots of success, but Ray can't share it with the woman he loves. When he tries to see her and convince her to take him back, he busts in on another man in her bed, the very naked and pale Irwin (the real life Jonathan Ames), and chases him out, only to have Irwin plague him later on in the season. Jennifer Gladwell (Kristen Wiig) returns and actually hooks up with Ray for a while when he is apart from Leah, only he finds her a bit clingy. Ray also has a brush with fame when Kevin Bacon wants to option the rights to play Super Ray, but it fizzles when he can't figure out how he'd manage to play a "stocky" guy like Ray, what with his washboard abs and all.
Jonathan's friend, George Christopher (Ted Danson), is going through changes of his own. His magazine has been bought out by a very conservative corporation and George's role is greatly diminished, with his column being cut and he finds out he has prostate cancer! He finds himself at odds all season with Kathryn (Mary Kay Place), a woman from corporate, only to discover she is into him. Although George eventually finds out his cancer diagnosis was a mix-up, he does happily use it as a "medicinal" excuse when the new company forces him to take a drug test, which he patently fails.
Jonathan takes on some crazy clients this season, including a cross-dressing policeman who needs him to retrieve a hard drive with sensitive info from a dominatrix's dungeon; George's publishing rival, Richard Antrem (Oliver Platt), who suspects his wife (and George's ex) of cheating; an Indian restaurant-owner/wife who suspects her husband of cheating; Ray's ex, Leah, who hires him to find her missing dog, Little Ray; and finally, a dermatologist who needs Jonathan to deliver a message to his beloved, a young woman (maybe?) who works for her family at a Korean massage spa. Jonathan also finds himself kidnapped by thugs, attacked by drug dealers, and constantly at battle with his own nemesis, Louis Greene (John Hodgman), whether it's for the same job or a writing contest in the New Yorker.
Overall, I enjoyed Bored to Death: The Complete Second Season, but not quite as much as I enjoyed Season One. I did have several laugh-out-loud moments while watching the show and it is greatly amusing, but the season finale just didn't have as much "punch" as the last one did. I did really enjoy the episode where George and Ray take up arms to rescue Jonathan after he has been kidnapped, and seeing Ray get shot in the forehead with a rubber bullet was pretty damned funny.
Bonus features include audio commentary on select episodes, deleted scenes, outtakes, and "Inside the Episode" featurettes where writer Jonathan Ames discusses the ideas behind each episode. they are nothing spectaculr, but are a fun watch. I didn't really notice a huge visual upgrade in viewing the Blu-ray version as opposed to standard DVD. Sure, it looked crisp, but the show isn't particularly visually arresting, so it didn't make that big of a difference.
Bored to Death is all about the aimlessness in life of a trio of friends who soothe themselves with drugs and alcohol and this show definitely earns its mature rating with a plethora of nudity and excessive drug use. However, it's a pretty funny jaunt through Brooklyn and also through the mind of one Jonathan Ames, unlicensed detective, part-time teacher and sometimes successful writer. If you've been following the show, you'll probably want to see where it goes this season.
