Las Vegas: Season 3

When people are asked what is the most exciting city in the world on place always makes the top five on the list, Las Vegas. While most cities are founded on the more practical aspects of commerce Las Vegas was created for one purpose, hedonism. Here is a place that is devoted to the twenty four hour a day pursuit of gambling, sex and good times. There is little wonder that this particular city is so often used as the setting for television shows. The third season of NBC’s series ‘Las Vegas’ is now on DVD and like the previous season box sets captures the pure guilty pleasure entertainment value of this show. The danger of a series like this is falling into a routine and revisiting the same old stories each week. Fortunately the writers have always come up with ways to shake things up. In the third season many changes are imposed but for the most part they work well.

At the end of the second season the Montecito Resort and Casino was demolished to make room for a far grander version. Season three starts out with the newly refurbished casino was just about ready to open and the staff are about to meet the new owner. Ed Deline, (James Caan) at more than his usual degree of being worried. The former CIA field operative has taken his promotion from head of security to being president of the casino well but he is concerned about who his new boss will be. As it turns out it is Monica Mancuso (Lara Flynn Boyle), a young woman who inherited a large fortune from her much older husband and was able to buy the casino lock stock and barrel. Most of the staff really hates her. She is a micro-manger without the business background to make all the decisions required by her new holdings. She is more concerned with her appearance than the feelings of others and is resented by the close knit group of Montecito employees. Leading the brigade of people who loathe Monica is Samantha Jane "Sam" Marquez, (Vanessa Marcil), considered the most aggressive casino host on the strip. Sam deals exclusively with ‘whales’, high rollers who consider loosing millions as just part of a fun weekend. Sam will go to almost any lengths to make sure her clients are happy and that they loose a good deal of money. The most stable of the main characters is Danny McCoy, (Josh Duhamel). He is an ex-marine who was brought in by Ed to work for him in security and now works as the Chief of Surveillance and Security. This job requires using not only the vast network of high tech camera but also his wits to foil the many people out to cheat the house. Danny’s childhood sweetheart, Mary Connell, (Nikki Cox) works at the casino as the Director of Special Events. Her job is to overseer the weddings, concerts and other social gatherings hosted by the Montecito. She has a body that puts any showgirl to shame but it is balanced by a truly loveable heart of gold. Even Ed’s beautiful daughter is employed at the hotel. Delinda Deline, (Molly Sims) has two functions; she manages a five star restaurant, the Mystique and serves as the love interest for many of the male guest stars. Rounding out the cast is Mike Cannon, (James Lesure) who made the unreal rise in work status from Head Valet to being Danny’s right hand man in security. This promotion is justified by the engineering degrees that Mike holds.

It is difficult to place this series in any one genre. Perhaps this is why a show with such a simple premise works so well. There is of course action as Danny and Mike are called upon to break up theft rings and scammers. There is romance as the cast change partners more often than a pit boss changes deck of cards. There is also a really nice touch of dark comedy in the offering. In one episode, ‘For Sail by Owner’ Monica, played by a notoriously under weight actress, is literally blown off the roof of the casino by a strong gust of wind. When it comes time for the employees to deal with her cremated remains they decide to flush them down the toilet of her luxury suite. The writers are able to keep the series fresh by constantly shifting the way it is presented to the audience.

The cast here is better than most television series are able to assemble. After all there are few actors who could play a powerful man and ex-CIA spy like Ed in the way done here by James Caan. He is an actor that can make the audience identify with him even in roles where his tough side has to come out. He plays Ed as a no-nonsense kind of guy who runs the casino as if it was his own. He gives depth to Ed especially in scenes where he has to deal with his wife, played by Cheryl Ladd, or his daughter. These two women are able to manipulate this former spy with ease. Josh Duhamel is the typical rugged, handsome leading man. In the multi season story arc he is a highly decorated war hero who is great at his job but unable to manage his personal life very well. He loves Mary but is also attracted to Delinda. Most men would give anything to have a problem like this. Vanessa Marcil portrays Sam as a driven and ambitious young woman. She knows that she is the best in her field and is hard as nails when on the clock. In her off time she turns into a teenage girl as she relates to Mary and Delinda, talking about clothes, men and romance. The series also sports many well known names in the sports and entertainment fields to keep the action moving.

As with the other two season box sets Universal has released this as uncut and uncensored. Even with the added material the show is not explicit it what is shown. What is provided here is a reasonably good television series on a DVD box set that does it justice. The anamorphic 1.78:1 video is crisp and clear. The colors are amazingly bright and vibrant. The audio is in a full, rich Dolby 5.1. All the speakers get a workout sometime in each episode. The musical numbers by the occasional guest stars really are worth it. For extras there is a gag reel that shows just how well the cast gets along with each other. There is also a time lapsed featurette of building the set for the new casino. This is not the deepest show around but is enjoyable entertainment that is worth a place in your collection.

Posted 9/13/06