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| Available at Amazon.com |
Everyone has some kind of vice in their life, but they may not all be of the legal variety. You see, there are those who love to have everything in their homes exactly in their places. Others may have a huge sweet tooth and can’t help but chow down on cakes, candies, and other such goodies. Perhaps you’re the type of person who is a compulsive shopper and can’t help but buy things even if you aren’t sure you can afford them. Some of those things can really affect a person’s life and cause them a lot of problems. But the even bigger issues come about from those that can’t get away from the horrible vices of drugs and alcohol.
in•ter•ven•tion [in-ter-ven-shuh n]
–noun
1. the act or fact of intervening.
2. interposition or interference of one state in the affairs of another.
Intervention is a series that showcases the hardships, trials, and tribulations that come from every kind of awful addiction in the world today. The people involved think they are doing a documentary on some sort on alcohol or drugs, and therefore allow themselves to be followed around and filmed. After a few days of focusing on their problems and addictions, the users are brought into a room where a surprise intervention full of their friends and family is sprung on them. Some of them accept it and sit down for it willingly admit they have a problem to face. Others are actually quite angry and want nothing to do with it, but they end up sitting down anyway. After the intervention is over, they are faced with a tough choice. They can go and get help at a rehab center, or they can decide not to go and continue living their lives as they are.
This DVD set is focused on six of the cases from the first season and goes back over their demons and how they were dealing with them. One of those that we first visit with again is Gabe who is addicted to gambling and has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sara is also visited; she’s a woman who ended up losing everything in her life including her daughter and home thanks to an addiction to crystal meth. Matt has been caught stealing money from his parents time and time again, but that is thanks to his cocaine addiction. As you can see, it doesn’t really matter what the addiction may be, Intervention is there to try and help people with those afflictions. Then And Now does a nice job of going back to some of the cases and seeing how they are now handling their addictions after receiving help from the show. Gabe, Alyson, Sara, and Travis are all revisited to check up on their progress.
Intervention is either going to be a show that you love or absolutely hate. Here is the good side: It appears as if the show’s creators are doing everything they can to help these people get over their addictions and get their lives back on the straight and narrow. The problem is that the show lies to those they are trying to help, and then make it a point to let them know how awful they actually are. I mean, you are allowing these people to think that what they are doing is right by filming a documentary about them, but then you go and bombard them with the bombs of their family, friends, doctors, and facing their addictions head on right now. What is really going on here? Are they trying to help or just hope things get so out of hand and chaotic that their ratings go up?
I’ll admit that I love it when success stories are shown and someone has gotten past their demons and can now live a better life. But it bothers me that these people (as low as they may seem) are being duped. It’s a win/lose situation and a series that everyone must see to believe or detest.
The episodes are shown in Full Frame format and look as good as they did when they first aired on A&E. It doesn’t appear as if there was too much done to touch up any of the episodes, but they look alright.
The episodes are heard in Stereo Sound and also do an adequate enough job for this series. Each one is almost entirely dialogue driven and all can be heard just fine.
Bonus Updates – These are the follow-ups with four of the people: Gabe, Alyson, Sara, and Travis. Each one lasts about five minutes each.
I’m not entirely certain why this couldn’t have been the entire first season instead of just a few select cases and then very short follow-up visits. If you’re going to give us the bun, at least give us the hamburger too ya know? Oh well, fans of the show can only take what they’re given for the time being. As I’ve said before, you’re either already in love with Intervention and love watching the depressing messes that are other people’s lives and either hoping they help themselves or being happy yours isn’t as bad. The rest of you either have never seen it before or have and avoid it like the plague. It may shock some of you that the problems and horrible issues facing some people are exploited and showcased on television. Welcome to modern day America folks. Also welcome to the business sense of things where we don’t get a full season and only a few crappy special features in a DVD set that is probably being released just four or five months before the “complete season one” comes out. I’d wait if I were you.
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A&E Home Video presents Intervention: Season One – Then And Now. Created by: Sam Mettler. Running time: 188 minutes. Rating: PG-13. Released on DVD: May 27, 2008. Available at Amazon.com
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