Welcome

Welcome to my ever-evolving blog. It started out as a blog on Beachbody workouts and products, mainly when I was a Beachbody coach. I no longer coach, not because I don't believe in Beachbody's programs (I subscribe to Beachbody on Demand and use their workouts every day), I am just not a salesperson and hated that aspect of it. I am more than willing to answer questions about my experiences with their products and the various workouts, and I feel freer to do so without the appearance of giving a biased review of something.

I have also started adding reviews for various things I have purchased like movies, books, CDs, and other products. This was brought about by a fight with Amazon in which all of my reviews were removed over a completely bullshit allegation that I posted a review that violated their terms of service. After going back and forth with the morons in the community-reviews department (even after they admitted that my posts did not violate their guidelines) they restored my account (which took them six months to do), but I have been posting my reviews on my blog to have them preserved in case something like that happens again. And here, I will post uncensored reviews so I will swear from time to time and post reviews that may be longer than Amazon's character limit. Everything I post here on any topic or product is my personal opinion, and I take no compensation for any product reviews I post. I am a member of Amazon's vine program and because I get those products for free, I keep those reviews on Amazon only, but everything I have purchased with my own money, whether from Amazon or some other store/website/outlet, I will post here.  

I also plan to do some longer blog posts on various topics, such as how to learn physics, how to get through calculus, and longer reviews of workout programs as I do them. Basically, whatever strikes me as interesting at the time.  As you can see if you navigate around the blog, I had many years in between postings. During that time I was going back to school to get an engineering degree, and learning material that I avoided my first time through college was a different experience and one that gave me a lot of insight into how to do well in those classes, which I will try to impart here for those who are looking to get a science or engineering degree. 

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Prison Break Season 4

 


+++Warning, this contains season 3 spoilers, but no major giveaways from the final season +++

The 22-episode fourth season (and original final season) of Prison Break aired during the 2008/2009 TV season.  The fourth season packs a lot into the 22 episodes, starting with two episodes that essentially finish the season three storyline, which was cut short due to the 2007 writer's strike. We find out what happened to the Sona prison and where the various characters end up after the escape (which involves a bit of a time jump). It is not spoiling anything to say that the reveal that Sarah was not killed (Sara Wayne Callies resolved her contract dispute and returned to the show), and from there, the rest of the season involves the group trying to take down the company, mainly surrounding a McGuffin plot point called Scylla. There are some returning characters from prior seasons, as well as new characters, notably a Compay hitman played by Cress Williams, who would go on to play very different characters on Hart of Dixie and Black Lightning, and if you saw those shows before this one, his performance as a bad guy is even more impressive, and Michael Rappaport, who plays a Homeland Security agent with a deal for the team.

The show has a lot of twists and turns, as it did in prior seasons, but I think some of them were things that would have been revealed last season if season three actually had a full season run and was not cut off at 13 episodes. So, it just feels like the season jumps around a lot. There are a lot of reveals, and as you should have come to expect from the show by now, not everyone makes it out unscathed. One thing I think the show did a great job of is not giving a happily-ever-after ending to all the characters.

The Blu-Ray set is a six-disc set. It should be noted that the Blu-Ray release contains the original 22 episodes that aired but does not contain the two unaired episodes (which are available separately under the title The Final Break), which aired as a TV movie and bridges a time-jump gap that occurs in the series finale. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes, mainly from the writers of the particular episodes. However, some cast members appear on a couple of the commentary tracks. Then, the final disc has a little over a half hour's worth of behind-the-scenes material (broken up into three featurettes).

Overall, I think the season ended the series in a good way. Of course, it did not end up being the end of the series, as a limited event series aired in 2017 and gave the show a much better ending. But that was not a given thing when the fourth season was shot. The acting and writing were still top-notch, and the show still managed to do a lot of character development, even with the established cast. Because of the show's serialized nature, you need to have seen the prior seasons before watching this to really get what is going on. If you liked the prior seasons, then you will most likely enjoy this one.

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