Early last year, cable channel Trio aired the first five episodes of Footballers Wives and I was hooked. Since then, I said I was going to get the first two seasons on DVD and finally I have. Ordered from China, it came in on 11 single sided discs with 2 DVD of extras for each season. To make the deal sweeter, it only cost me $30.

While watching the irresistible 8-part series, I’m finding that Trio left out a lot of interesting plot developments including the lavish wedding of Kyle (Gary Lucy) and Chardonnay (Susie Amy). In pure British fashion, the tabloids were there as well as hundreds of guests and the entire wedding looked like something out of a fairy tale.

Before the wedding, Chardonnay was severely burned in the chest by some guys at her bacholorette party. This ends her modeling career and causes her to reexamine her life. She chops off all her hair ala Natalie Imbruglia, takes time for herself and unbeknown to herself, neglects Kyle. Fast forward past the wedding, Kyle finds himself being courted by a beautiful Scot. Throughout the season, they go back and forth, on whether or not they’ll have an affair and it ends with shocking results. How will fragile Chardonnay react?

In other parts, Earls Park signed Salvatore Biagi (Daniel Schutzmann), an Italian Stallion who makes aging captain Jason Turner (Cristian Solimeno) nervous. Along with wife Tanya (Zoe Lucker), they go confront team chairman Frank Laslett (John Forgeham) on the side of the road. Trouble ensues and Frank ends up in the hospital...in a coma. Tanya and Jason’s life is now in a whirlwind while they wait to see if he lives or dies and whether or not he’ll press charges.

Tanya decides to spend as much time with Frank as possible. She befriends a Nurse Janette (Julie Le Grand) who also has a few secrets up her sleeve. In addition, Tanya has to deal with Jason’s being unfaithful. Much to her surprise, his latest "breed of slag" is Marie Minshull (Micaiah Dring), sister of Donna Walmsley (Katharine Monaghan) who is married to Earls Park striker Ian (Nathan Contance). The Walmsley’s have no idea Marie’s relationship with Jason, probably due to the many problems they face.

They’ve been together since childhood and even had a love child at age 13, but aren’t used to the fast paced life of Footballers and their wives. Donna decides she wants to go find their son Daniel (the love child I mentioned) who they were forced to give up for adoption. Only problem, Ian wants nothing to do with the boy and to make matters worse...he has an affair. This sends the Walmsley’s marriage to the gutter and things get worse before better.

With the background info aside, I must commend the fantastic writers who make a solid series. American Dramas have anywhere between 22 and 30 episodes per season which leads to lots of filler, but with only 8 episodes, each is great, the plots progress and you overall have a better feeling with the show.

In addition to great writing, the acting isn’t too shabby either. Zoe Lucker rivals even Stephanie Beacham in the bitch department. She’s thoroughly impressive and makes you feel empathetic for Tanya. You get a good sense of why she’s become what she is which keeps her from being one note or cartoonish.

Also turning in a commendable performance is Micaiah Dring as Marie. She plays the 16-year-old nymphet to perfection and despite all her shortcomings, you do muster up a little sympathy for her. On the male front, Nathan Constance and Cristian Solimeno both deserve props. They have the most difficult work and really make it work.

After watching the first season, I’m already halfway through the second season and am eagerly awaiting the 3^rd season’s DVD release. Trust me, it’s not just hype, the show gets better and better each season, and yes, more shocking.