The first season focused on Amy learning about her pregnancy (after having sex only once ... and with a guy she really didn't like), and trying to keep the secret from everyone, her parents and brand new boyfriend, Ben (Ken Baumann) included. Then, of course, there's what happens as various people slowly find out about her condition. The season did a fairly good job of introducing all of the cast and showing how they are all related. First there's Amy, the central character of the show. During the summer before her Freshmen year of high school, she had a one-night fling with Ricky (Daren Kagasoff) at band camp, and together they conceived. Ricky has a friends-with-benefits relationship with Adrian (Francia Raisa), who is both top of her class, and with the sluttiest reputation. Meanwhile, another freshman, Ben, ends up falling in love with Amy pretty much at first sight, and even though he eventually learns of her pregnancy, he still proposes to her. Yeah I know, they are both 15 -- obviously this is a point of contention in both seasons of the show (especially Season Two, but I'll get to that).
Amy's parents are also a big part of the series, and as the previous season progressed, it became apparent that her father was having an affair, and as it turns out, it was with Adrian's mother. Amy's father (George, played by Mark Derwin), also had a previous marriage, and that family, the Bowman's, play a fairly major part in this series - primarily their daughter, Grace (Megan Park). The Bowman's are very religious to the point that they forced Grace to put on a promise ring to remind her to keep her chastity until after med-school. This became a major problem for her equally-religious boyfriend, Jack (Greg Finley), who allowed his hormones to get the better of him with Adrian. Before the end of the last season, not only were Grace and Jack broken up, but Ricky saw Grace as his new target and was working his charm on her (as well as her parents). While there are other characters in the mix, these are the primary ones that you will see pretty much every episode. Characters like Amy and Ben's best friends, Ricky's therapist, and other siblings play big roles, but aren't the primary focus of the show.
Season Two's 12 episodes start off with a bang as Amy and Ben decide to get fake IDs and go to the local quicky-wedding-chapel and get married. Keeping step with the first season, secrets don't stay that way very long in this school and when the couple (and their selected witnesses) arrive, they find pretty much the rest of the cast on-hand (minus any parents, of course). Even though they go through with the ceremony (and of course get caught by their parents), they realize that the marriage, at least legally, is void since they did everything with fake IDs. The catalyst for this step was to try and provide some sort of real family for the forthcoming child, but the rest of the season really focuses on Amy's decision to keep or put the kid up for adoption.
If she keeps the kid, she will need a job and to figure out how the baby will be cared for during the day. If she gives the kid up, on the other hand, she will possibly never see it again (unless an open-adoption is worked out). For the first half of the season, everyone involved flip-flops on this decision over and over again. Eventually though, Amy knows what she wants to do. Meanwhile Ricky has decided that he wants to be a part of the child's life. It is unclear if he really wants this, or if he is just using this as a way to get close to Amy again, but Ben obviously has issues with Ricky being involved, especially when information about exactly why Ricky is in foster care and what happened to him as a kid comes to light.
Special features are pretty light on this DVD set. The Secret Life of the American Teenager: Season Two comes with only a music video and some cast interviews. It really isn't worth going into, unless you are really into certain characters and really want to know what makes them tick.
Season Two definitely feels a bit better than the first. While there is still a good bit of bad acting to be had, the teenage characters don't feel quite as stupid and don't quite make every-possible worst decision they could. While it's probably possible to jump into this season without having seen the events of the first one, things like Amy's parent's growing seperation and the various relationships wouldn't make quite as much sense without the first half, so if you are interested in buying this DVD set, then at least make sure you've seen the first part already so you don't feel completely confused by the tangled web of characters only briefly touched upon above.
