The series is based on the 1999 film of the same name that takes Shakespeare's "Taming of the Shrew" and brings it to a modern high school setting. Some modifications were made in order to allow for a longer TV series setting, but you could really see the classic plot in the first half of the season. The problem was, by the time the initial volume finished, the series had more-or-less run through the movie and play's plot.
Where the last volume ended, Bianca (Meaghan Martin) had become one of the popular girls at the Padua High and was secretly seeing top-girl Chastity's (Dana Davis) now ex-boyfriend, high school quarterback, Joey (Chris Zylka). Before this, school nice-guy, Cameron (Nicholas Braun) confessed to Bianca his feelings towards her, and his revelation about Bianca and Joey left him heartbroken.
Meanwhile, the other Stratford sister, Kat (Lindsey Shaw), had protested the new school uniforms and, standing up for keeping bad-boy Patrick Verona's (Ethan Peck) bag from being searched, has gotten herself suspended as she jumped on the back of Verona's motorcycle and drove off into the sunset.
Now Bianca is trying to keep her new relationship a secret since Chastity has vowed vengeance on whomever was making out with Joey just out of view during a big rally, and Kat has to deal with not only being suspended, but the fact that she and Patrick seem to actually be in a relationship now. Of course, the exact nature of that relationship is one the two of them will try and define as the season progresses.
It quickly becomes apparent that the writers weren't sure where to take the show and that, while they were able to stretch the original film's plot out a bit, they were quickly running out of predefined material. So, 10 Things I Hate About You starts adding in a few more characters and coming up with a few more plot devices in the hopes of keeping up its momentum.
Just as Kat and Patrick start to get a feel for their relationship, Kat's desire to change the menu and have a "No Meat Monday" introduces her to Student Council Member William "Blank" Blankenship (Benjamin Stone, Fred Weasley from the Harry Potter films). Kat starts to get confused about how she feels about Blank, and when he uses her for political reasons, she sees him as a rival and even runs against him for Class President. Also, Bianca decides its her job to find someone who is right for Cameron so that the two of them can be friends again, and she eventually has to deal with Joey being selected for a modeling reality series and the possibility that they could end up apart by the time the show is done filming.
Like I said, the added plots involving Joey and Cameron, as well as the Patrick-Kat-Blank love triangle makes it obvious that the writers were doing whatever they could to keep the show afloat. In the end, 10 Things I Hate About You would have been better as a mini-series, and considering the cliffhanger ending of Season One, Volume Two, you might as well have stopped watching at the first half.
There are several special features including deleted scenes and Kat's campaign rap video and some added footage of Joey's reality TV series, "The Biggest Poser." Nothing exciting really, much like the rest of the DVD.
If you liked the first half of this show, it really is best to leave it at that. The downward and predictable spiral the show takes from that point on doesn't do the rest of the show justice. The acting itself still remains competant and both Shaw and Peck still show moments of their silver-screen actor counterparts, but overall, I would have to say that 10 Things I Hate About You: Season One, Volume Two is a pass.
