Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Better Call Saul: Season 2

 

The ten-episode second season of Better Call Saul aired from the fall of 2015 to the spring of 2016. All the main cast members, including Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael McKean, Jonathan Banks, and Michael Mando, return. Ed Begley Jr. has a multi-episode guest-starring arc this season, playing the head of the law firm Davis and Main, which was introduced in season 1. The series also continues to tie into the Breaking Bad universe by bringing back actors from the parent series, both small character actors you may not remember from Breaking Bad and those with larger roles. The main addition to the cast this season from Breaking Bad is Mark Margolis, who, of course, plays Hector Salamanca. The twins, Marco and Leonel, also appear, and Raymond Cruz reprises his role as Tuco. And, while Gus Fring does not appear in season two, there are easter eggs that hint at his arrival.

Interestingly, we see Hector when he can still walk and talk and get a glimpse at just how much of a villain he is. As was the case with the first season, the show uses a serial storytelling format in which the episodes build on each other. The season starts with another flash-forward showing Saul's mundane life in Nebraska as "Gene" but still pines for his life as Saul. Then, the series is primarily set in 2003 before the events of Breaking Bad as we continue to see Jimmy's transition into Saul as he pisses away every opportunity to be a legitimate lawyer because he cannot quite give up the life of the con man. We also see his relationship with Kim and his brother evolve, and we see Mike's transition from a guy who is not afraid to get his hands dirty but still has a code to what he would become in Breaking Bad. 

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc. It has a decent amount of extras spread across the three discs. Every episode has a commentary track that includes at least one of the showrunners, sometimes one or two members of the cast, the writer and/or director of the episode, or other crew members. The extras also include a gag reel, behind-the-scenes material, and a conversation between Mark Margolis and Jonathan Banks, which is very similar to the one on the Season 1 set between Odenkirk and McKean in which they discuss their careers and their characters on the show.

The series continues to be wonderfully written and acted. Even though it is set in the Breaking Bad universe, it has a much different feel than Breaking Bad, as it sets up what would come later. Even though you know that some characters are safe because they have to appear in Breaking Bad, it is still very suspenseful. There is definitely a Cain and Abel feel in the storyline with Jimmy and Chuck, and we see that Chuck has a large role in the creation of Saul Goodman. There is a lot of swearing and violence in the show, and there is a lot of swearing in the commentary tracks (including the use of the f-word). So, the show is not suitable for young kids or the easily offended. Ultimately, however, it is a great season and is absolutely worth watching. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Luke Cage Season 1

 

The 13-episode first season of Luke Cage was released on Netflix in September of 2016. It was the third of the four Marvel Netflix series (including Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist) that exists within, but ancillary to, the Marvel Universe/MCU. It starred Mike Colter, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Alfre Woodard, Mahershala Ali, Frank Whaley, and Erik LaRay Harvey. Rosario Dawson also appears as her character, Claire, who was first introduced in Daredevil. Luke Cage (Colter) made his first appearance in season 1 of Jessica Jones (which is referenced throughout the series) as the owner of a bar. Now, he turns up in Harlem, working in a barber shop and as a dishwasher at a club owned by the local gangster (played by Mahershala Ali). It is partly an origin story for the character and part a fight to take down the local mob, corrupt cops, and politicians, with a bit of a Cane and Abel story and a lot of social commentary thrown in (yes, it does have a take on BLM for any snowflakes out there who cannot handle that). There is no direct tie-in from this storyline to what plays out in The Defenders (which will bring together all the characters from the Netflix shows like The Avengers), but it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger.

The show is well-written and acted. While Mike Colter does much of the heavy lifting, the rest of the cast comprises many great actors, some great character actors and others of more notability. It is a true ensemble cast, however, because when the show aired (and arguably even now), none were really A-list actors (although Mahershala Ali is getting close). While set in NY like the other Netflix shows, it tells its own story and has its own feel.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. The A/V quality is good, but the set is light on extras. It is a bit more than a MOD set, though, as it has a 22-minute roundtable discussion with some of the cast members with interview clips of the showrunners. It was not bad for what was included, but it was not a ton of material. If you are a fan of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, this is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Prison Break Event Series

 

+++Warning, This contains spoilers from Season 4, but no major giveaways from the event series.+++

The nine-episode event series/fifth season of Prison Break aired in the spring of 2017, about seven years after the fourth and (at the time) final season. This series came about when Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell began working together on The Flash and reminiscing about their days on Prison Break and that it would be nice to revisit that story. There was already an unaired storyline from season 4 that showed events that occurred during the time jump to the last scene and set up Michael faking his death, and this series took things from there.

The series starts with Lincoln receiving a picture that intimates his brother is still alive and (again) in prison. He discovers that Michael is indeed in a prison in Yemen, under an assumed name, and is considered an ISIS-sympathizing terrorist. As was the case for almost every season of the show, not everything is what it seems, and for having just nine episodes, the show is packed with twists. Some of the twists worked, and some were kind of silly. The series does retcon the date of Michael's death listed on his headstone, having him die in 2010, most likely to match up with the seven-year break between the original series finale and the event series.

This series serves as a way to give the fans a better ending for the main characters. It also blends in characters from the original series, both in large and small roles, although not every character from the original series appeared in the event series. There are also many new characters, mainly from the Yemen prison part of the story. Given the limited run of the series, there was not a lot of time to develop any of the new characters in detail, but the show managed to give them some depth. The main cast for the event series included Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Sarah Wayne Callies, Paul Adelstein, Rockmond Dunbar, Robert Knepper, Amaury Nolasco, Mark Feuerstein, Inbar Lavi, and Augustus Prew. 

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set. The only extra is an approximately 11-minute making-of feature on how the series was put together. It was okay, but not as extensive as the bonus materials included in the prior seasons. Given, however, that TV series on physical media (especially on Blu-Ray) have sharply declined since the original series went off the air, it is not all that surprising that the extras are very light. The Event Series was released on Blu-Ray separately, but it is easier to find on DVD (especially in the US). The easiest way to get it on Blu-Ray is by getting one of the complete series sets that includes it.

Overall, it is a good series that brings back popular characters and gives them more of a "happy" ending than they got in the original series. I do not think it as good as the original series, at least not the first couple of seasons, but I do think if you enjoyed the original series, you will likely enjoy this. And, it does give the series a full four-season episode count, essentially replacing the episodes that were lost due to the season-three writer's strike.

Blu-Ray/TV Movie Review: Prison Break The Final Break

 

+++Warning, This will contain spoilers from the fourth season of the show as well as a minor spoiler for the fifth season/event series that aired in 2017. ++++

The Final Break is an hour-and-a-half-long TV movie that aired a few weeks after the series finale of Prison Break (on May 27, 2009), showing the events that occurred during the time that passed in the time jump in the series finale where it was revealed that Michael was dead. The basic story is that Sara is arrested for the murder of Michael's mother and thrown into a women's prison in Miami. The General sets up a hit on Sara, and Michael finds out and springs a plan to break her out. Most of the major characters that appeared in the fourth season (Sucre, Malone, Lincoln, and T-bag) also appear in this. Jodi Lynn O'Keef also reprises her role as Gretchen and gets a better sendoff than she got during the "main" episodes of the fourth season. Lori Petty plays the main antagonist for Sara in the women's prison. There is not really any setup for the storyline that would play out in the event series where it is revealed that Michael faked his death, aside from the fact that his death is never shown on screen.

The Blu-Ray is fairly bare-bones. The A/V quality is akin to the series releases; the only extra is about four minutes of deleted scenes. There is no making-of feature, no commentary track, etc. That knocks it down a star for me, but overall, it gives a decent but somewhat unnecessary alternate ending to the original series run. Personally, I think the fourth season's ending was a fine ending without any further explanation, regardless of whether the event series was ever made.

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.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Iron Fist Season 1

 

Iron Fist is another series in Marvel's NY-based series that originally aired on Netflix. The 13-episode first season was released in the spring of 2017. Like the other Netflix MCU series (Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage), this is adjacent to, but not directly intertwined with, the MCU movies. It is directly tied to the plot of Daredevil season 2 and leads directly into the plot of The Defenders, the 8-episode team-up of Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. The series stars Finn Jones, Jessica Henwick, Tom Pelphrey, Jessica Stroup, and David Wenham.

The series tells the origin story of Danny Rand (Jones), the son of a billionaire corporate mogul. The family is involved in a plane crash when Danny is 10, and all of them are presumed dead. Danny mysteriously reappears 15 years later as a super-powered martial artist determined to take down The Hand, the shadowy organization involved in Daredevil. The ties to the other shows are the characters of Claire (played by Rosario Dawson) and Jeri, the lawyer from Jessica Jones (played by Carrie Ann Moss). The story alternates between Danny's reintegration into society and trying to uncover what The Hand is doing in NY. I will not divulge anything else so as not to spoil it, but it packs a lot of story into the 13 episodes.

The show got a lot of bad reviews that, in my opinion, are underserved. The acting is very good, and Finn Jones does a good job with the character Danny Rand. The show is definitely not perfect. One part of the story that I did find a bit ham-fisted was the whole arc with Harold Meachum, but overall I think I think the story of Danny trying to get his life back, reconnect with his childhood friends (played by Jessica Stroup and Tom Pelphrey), as well as trying to take down The Hand was great. The rest of the supporting cast, including Jessica Henwick and David Wenham, did well in their roles. While liking it is, of course, subjective, and for me, it was not as good as Daredevil or Jessica Jones, it was not as bad as many critics made it out to be. I definitely think it is worth taking a chance on.

It does seem there are a couple versions of the Blu-ray set floating around. I have the region-free version with no extras, just the episodes. You can stream it, for now, on Netflix, but given that Netflix canceled it, and all the other Marvel shows, along with losing the rights to the Disney content which will eventually be removed, that may not last. So even if you usually only get the physical discs when there are a lot of extras, this may be worth picking up anyway.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Prison Break Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season two, but no major season three giveaways+++

The 13-episode third season of Prison Break aired during the 2007/2008 TV season. It does yet another reset of the show, this time finding the group again in over their heads, with Michael, T-Bag, Alex, and Bellick in Sona, the prison in Panama where the inmates literally run the asylum. Apparently, the prison is modeled after a real prison in Brazil where the guards stay outside the prison, and inside it is a "Lord of The Flies" scenario. We know that The Company wanted Michael in prison, and we learn within the first episode that it is because they want him to break someone out. From there, the rest of the season is a take on the season one breakout, but with Michael having to plan on the fly and improvise, with Lincoln and Sucre trying to help him from the outside.

This season was a bit uneven due mainly to it being cut short by the 2007 writer's strike, getting just 13 episodes instead of the standard 22. Sarah Wayne Callies was pregnant and in a contract dispute, which led to a significantly reduced role for her character. There are new characters introduced the main ones being Jodi Lynn O'Keefe who plays Susan B. Anthony/Gretchen who is basically a cleaner for The Company, Chris Vance as Whistler, another prisoner, Danay Garcia, as his girlfriend Sophia, and Robert Wisdom as Lechero, the inmate who basically runs the prison in Panama. As with the prior two seasons, there are quite a few twists and turns, and not every character is who they seem.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. For those who get the blu-ray set, the extras are all on the final disc. There are no commentary tracks, as for the first two seasons. There is a 25-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and a 40-minute director's take feature, which is basically the director of each episode doing a scene breakdown from that particular episode. You can play all 13 at one time or one by one. The extras are rounded out by a short between-takes feature, which basically has some actors saying what they do between takes and a feature on the breakout episode. It is over an hour's worth of extras, so for those who like watching the bonus material, it definitely makes picking up the blu-ray set worth it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Daredevil Season 2

 

The 13-episode second season of Daredevil was released on Netflix in 2016. This season packs a lot in, but it really boils down to the two new characters, Frank Castle (AKA, The Punisher), played by John Bernthal, and Electra, played by Elodie Yung. The first part of the season was about Castle going off and killing members of various gangs involved in killing his family, and Daredevil trying to take him down. Mixed in was the storyline involving Elektra, an old flame of Matt Murdock, which ultimately becomes the focus of the last few episodes and leads into The Defenders series, which brings all the characters from the Netflix Marvel series together. Wilson Fisk also makes a couple of appearances from prison and makes clear he is not totally out of the picture. Of course, a key aspect of the story is Matt's balance of real life as a lawyer (made even more complicated by the fact that Foggy now knows his secret), his feelings for Karen (which become even more complicated because of Elektra), and his vigilante activities.

Like season 1, the show is very violent. There are many fight scenes and lots of blood, not to mention language and sex that you do not get in the MCU movies or Agents of Shield. So, it is definitely a more adult show. It continues to be well-written and acted, and with just 13 episodes the season goes by quickly. For those who get the blu-rays, it is just a MOD set. There are no extras or bonus material. So, really, the only reason to get the discs is if you have a collection of the other movies and TV shows and just want this to have it complete or are one of those who prefer physical media over streaming. But, if you only get discs with a lot of bonus material and extra features, you will probably just want to stream this.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Lethal Weapon Season 3

 

The 15-episode third and final season of Lethal Weapon aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. The show started out with so much promise and ended with mostly a whimper. As many people are likely aware, Clayne Crawford was fired from the show after the second season due, in part, to his behavior on the set and, in part, to his ever-degrading relationship with Damon Waynes. It appears that Crawford was a hothead and Waynes kind of a jackass who did not really even want to do the series in the first place (which makes it kind of surprising that the series was not canceled after season two, and that they decided to go forward with him in the lead role).

The series picks up just after Riggs gets shot at the end of season two, and we find out within the first episode that he died, then there is a six-month time jump and we find out that his brother committed suicide, and that was it for the Riggs storyline (aside from a couple of throwaway lines during the season that mentioned him). The series then focuses on the new Lethal Weapon, an ex-CIA agent named Wesley Cole (played by Sean William Scott), who is new to the department trying to put his past behind him and connect with his 12-year-old daughter.

It is mostly again, a case-of-the-week series, but there are a couple of storylines that play out across multiple episodes. I do think Scott did a great job with the character of Cole. Given that he has mostly played Stifler or slight variations of Stifler his entire career (with a couple of exceptions), this showed he has a range beyond the raunchy comedies. Maggie Lawson (best known for the series Psych) was another good addition to the cast as Cole's ex-wife who is trying to put her past with Cole behind her, yet still, have an amicable relationship with him for the sake of their daughter. One major defection from the cast (aside from Crawford) was Jordana Brewster, who basically left the show after a couple of episodes.

It is a fairly standard MOD set for those who get the blu-ray set. The fifteen episodes are spread over three discs. It has captions and a true "play all" mode that allows you to pick back up where you stop, even in the middle of an episode. There are no extras like commentary tracks, making-of, deleted scenes, or behind-the-scenes material. It did try to keep a similar feel to the prior two seasons, and I think the writers and cast did the best they could, given the mess they had going into the third season. However, it was not the same show without the character of Riggs.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Prison Break Season 2

 

+++ Warning, this contains spoilers from season 1, but no major season 2 giveaways+++

The 22-episode second season of Prison Break aired during the 2006/2007 TV season. It picks up immediately after the events of the Season 1 finale, with the plane having taken off and the escapees running through the field to get away from the enclosing police. It then shifts the series to a cat-and-mouse game between the authorities, led by a new antagonist, FBI agent Alexander Mahone (played by William Fichtner), and the escaped convicts. There is a ton of cast turnover this season, with some cast members being written out of the show entirely and some having their roles drastically reduced (the best example of which is Stacy Keach). Some roles (such as Agent Kellerman and CO Bellick) are expanded. In the second season, the show has no qualms about killing off characters, no matter how important. Like with the first season, almost every episode ends on a cliffhanger, putting one or more characters in danger. So, being able to watch the entire show in one, two, or three sittings, as opposed to having to wait months to see how everything plays out, is very satisfying.

The Blu-Ray set is a six-disc set. It is much like the first season release, with the one exception that if you use the play all mode and stop in the middle of an episode, it will NOT pick up where you leave off when you restart the player. So, I just watched them episode by episode. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes (sometimes more than one track per episode) and, on the final disc, about 50 minutes of making-of featurettes.

Overall, the writing and acting in the show continued to be very strong. I think all the actors do a good job making the audience love or hate their characters, as called for, and the writers do well to show that the characters are not all bad, or all, good, and the actors do a great job bringing out the human side in even the worst characters. The overarching conspiracy was given a larger focus this season, but you can tell some things needed to be tweaked because of actor availability or lack thereof in season two. But, it seems that the show was able to follow the overall outline that it has been using pretty well.

If you liked or loved the first season of the show, then chances are, even though the show takes a much different track after the escape, you will probably feel the same way about the second season. Conversely, if you did not like the first season then there is probably nothing in this one that is going to lure you back. It is definitely a serialized show, so you cannot just jump into it without seeing it from the beginning without being pretty lost. Plus, without all the character development, you will definitely not get the full effect. So, for those who did not see the show when it originally aired and are thinking about bingeing the show now, I would say start at season one, and see how you like it. If you do, then season two is definitely worth picking up.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Lethal Weapon Season 2

 

The 22-episode second season of Lethal Weapon aired during the 2017/2018 TV season. Most fans know that the friction (to put it mildly) between Wayans and Crawford led to Crawford's firing and Riggs's writing off of the show. I will not spoil how the season ends, but needless to say, it ends on a very big cliffhanger.

Much of the season is devoted to Rigg's past, specifically at the hands of his abusive father. There are a lot of flashbacks throughout the season. Riggs still has guilt issues over the death of his wife, but the storyline that ended the first season (with Rigg's going to Mexico to get revenge) is resolved pretty much in the first episode. Two of Riggs' friends from his youth are brought into the story this season, one of which becomes a new love interest. I will not go into details to spoil anything for those who have not watched, but it follows the same formula as a weekly procedural that deals with the case of the week, with a larger story arc that spans the course of the season. This season's guest and recurring stars include Michelle Hurd, Ernie Hudson, Joanna "JoJo" Levesque, Adrian Pasdar, Scottie Pippen, and Swoosie Kurtz.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc MOD set. They allow for a play-all mode that lets you pick up where you left off, which is better than the "regular" blu-ray sets for the other WB shows. The only extras are deleted scenes for select episodes. There are no commentary tracks on any episodes or behind-the-scenes material, most likely due to the on-set tension that occurred throughout the season. You could tell that by the end of the season, Crawford and Wayans were being kept away from each other as much as possible while filming, and it seemed like every effort was being made to have them together in as few scenes as possible. Even so, they managed to maintain their on-screen chemistry. You could not tell that they were (reportedly) screaming at each other until "action" was called on set.

It is unfortunate that the two leads hated each other because it was a great show, with the two iconic movie characters cast perfectly. Like the first season, it paid homage to the movie franchise and characters without being a carbon copy. Whether it is good or bad going forward into season 3, it will not be the same without the character of Riggs. Chances are it will not survive after season 3, which is a shame because it was really a show that could have had a good 5-6 season (or more) run in it.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Prison Break Season 1

 

Prison Break was the hot new show in primetime when it debuted in 2005. The 22-episode first season aired during the 2005/2006 TV season. It starred Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Sarah Wayne Callies, Robert Knepper, Amaury Nolasco, Wade Williams, Rockmond Dunbar, and Peter Stormare. Robin Tunney, Muse Watson, and Stacy Keach. The show's premise is that a man named Lincon Burrows (played by Dominic Purcell) is on death row in IL. He is set to be executed within a month for the murder of the Vice President of the United States. He maintains his innocence and insists that he was framed. When he exhausts all his legal options, his brother, Michael (played by Wentworth Miller), a structural engineer at the engineering firm that worked on renovating the prison his brother is in, hatches an elaborate plan to break Lincon out. This involves Michael getting imprisoned, which is basically the opening to the pilot episode. The plan plays out throughout the season and involves many supporting characters to a greater or lesser degree as the season goes on. The show is a serialized drama, where each episode builds on the next. It involves multiple threads and storylines that all end up intertwining. Obviously, the plan to break out does not always go smoothly, and It is often a two-step forward, one-step back scenario, which definitely helps with the tension and drama of the show.

The show is very well written and acted. Miller and Purcell are definitely the leads, but there is a very large ensemble cast, and the show does a great job balancing character storylines and screen time so that there are episodes in which Miller and Purcell take a back seat. The supporting cast in season one includes Sarah Wayne Callies as the prison doctor who is (unknowingly) integral to the plan to break out and Stacey Keach as the prison warden. The show does a great job of giving all the characters, inmates, guards, and the like, gray areas so that they are not all good and not all bad, and the entire cast does a great job portraying that.

The Blu-Ray set is a six-disc set. The A/V quality of the set is outstanding, and it contains a lot of extras. Those include commentary tracks on select episodes (sometimes more than one commentary track for an episode), deleted scenes, and about an hour's worth of behind-the-scenes and making-of material that includes cast interviews and showrunners, how they came up with Michael's tattoos, and a featurette on the history of Joliet prison where the show is filmed. So, if you like watching the bonus material, you get a lot here.  Overall, the show is a good serial drama with great acting and writing. The showrunners had the entire plot planned out, and you get the idea that, even when twists are thrown in, it is not just ad-hoc and done purely for shock value. Given that it is set in a prison, there is a lot of violence as well as themes of racism, sex, abuse, etc., but it does not come off as gratuitous. It is definitely a good, binge-worthy show and worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Mr. Robot Season 4

 

+++Warning, this will contain prior season spoilers, but no major giveaways from the final season+++

The 13-episode fourth season of Mr. Robot aired during the fall and winter of 2019. This ended up being the final season of what was, in my opinion, along with shows like The Americans, Breaking Bad, and Better Call Saul were the best cable dramas of the 2010s. It is nearly impossible to discuss the season's overall plot without giving too much away. Much of the season is about fleshing out Zheng's/Whiterose's story, including a backstory, and Elliot's takedown of both Whiterose's plan (which has been referred to throughout the series) and the group of the 1% of the 1% who run the country. Some of the cast is relegated to more of a recurring status this season (e.g., Portia Doubleday) while the roles of other cast members are expanded (e.g., B.D. Wong, who is terrific playing a dual role). The showrunners did an excellent job tying up all the threads and storylines, mainly in the second half of the final episode, making it clear (seemingly anyway) that the bulk of the story was planned out from the beginning.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. As with the prior season releases, the show looks great in the HD format, with great views of NY, especially the NYC skyline. The extras are pretty thin, which is the only drawback for me, but really only enough to knock the set down half a star. There are deleted/alternate/extended scenes for every episode and a seven-minute gag reel. There are no commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes material, or series retrospective, which is a shame because there is a lot to be said about how the series ended. It would have been nice to hear the thoughts of Sam Esmil, Remi Malik, and the rest of the cast.

Overall, the season and series were wonderful. It continued to be well-written and acted, and the characters were developed until the final episode. The series still earned a hard TV-MA rating, mainly because of the language and violence. Ever since Tyrell's wife was killed off, and his character took a different arc, the sex was toned way down, but there is liberal use of the f-word, so if swearing gets to you, you will not like the show. The series continued to take chances not only in the character development but also in things like having a dialogue-free episode, which I can only remember being done in season four of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If you liked or loved the prior seasons, you will enjoy the payoff to the series that this season gives you. On the other hand, if you were not a fan of the prior seasons, this will not do anything to make you like it. I definitely recommend it for those who are looking for a great but very different drama, with the proviso that you absolutely have to watch the series from the beginning to be able to follow what is going on.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Better Call Saul: Season 1

 

Better Call Saul is the series spun off from the iconic crime-drama Breaking Bad. It is centered around the "criminal" lawyer Saul Goodman. It was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, the co-creators of Breaking Bad. It stars Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Michael Mando, Patrick Fabian, and Michael McKean. The first season's recurring cast includes Kerry Condon, Julie Ann Emery, and Jeremy Shamos. The ten-episode first season aired in the winter and spring of 2015. The first episode starts out after the events of Breaking Bad, where we see that Saul is indeed working as a manager at a Cinnabon (paying off on the line from Breaking Bad when Saul was about to skip town) in Omaha, Nebraska, under the name Gene. He lives a drab life as a fugitive, longing for his old life. Then, the series flashes back to Albuquerque in 2002, before the events of Breaking Bad (the time period most of the series is set in). We see Saul working under his real name, James/Jimmy McGill, as a struggling solo practitioner who is working on public defender cases for $700 a pop, living and working out of a storage room in a nail salon, trying to drum up clients, and being a caregiver for his brother, Chuck (played by McKean) who was a named partner in one of the largest firms in Albuquerque (HHM) but is not a shut-in because of a hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields. Chuck has disconnected all the electricity from his house using a lantern and gas stove, and relying on Jimmy to fill a cooler with food and ice. Jimmy's best and seemingly only friend is an associate at HHM named Kim, and Mike Ehrmantraut (played by Banks, reprising his role from Breaking Bad) is working as a toll booth operator at the courthouse. Like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul is mostly a serial that slowly tells the story of how Jimmy transforms into Saul Goodman. It also has some story-of-the-week procedural elements that are usually secondary to the serial arcs.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set, with the episodes and the bonus content spread across the three discs. The set has a lot of bonus material, including deleted scenes, a gag reel, a conversation between Odenkirk and McKean about their respective careers and their characters on the show, and some behind-the-scenes material. Each episode has a commentary track featuring Gilligan and/or Gould, the writer of the episode, the director and/or a producer, and one or more cast members. The seventh episode has a second commentary track just featuring Julie Ann Emery and Jeremy Shamos in character as their characters, Betsy and Craig Kettleman hilariously reacting to the episode. The episodes can be watched in a "play all" mode or from their own episode pages (which is where the commentary tracks and deleted scenes are accessed). You can stop the disc and pick up where you left off when you resume playing, even when watching the bonus material.

The series is a wonderful spin-off of Breaking Bad. It is well-written and very well-acted. Throughout the season, we see Jimmy transform from a small-time con artist, turning his life around to secretly get a law degree, pass the bar exam, become a very good lawyer, and sowing the seeds of who he would become as Saul Goodman. Odenkirk is fantastic as the series lead, but all the actors are wonderful. While we know the fates of some of the characters (and there are more than just Banks and Odenkirk who reprise their roles from Breaking Bad), the show pulls off the balance of setting up what will come later with telling its own story and standing on its own. Like the parent series, it is very much an adult drama. There is a lot of swearing, violence, and a bit of sexual content. The bonus material contains spoilers, so if you did not watch the series when it aired, you want to watch the episodes before you listen to the commentaries or watch the behind-the-scenes material. Ultimately, the show is an excellent mix of legal, crime, and character-driven drama with some humor. You do not need to have seen Breaking Bad to get what is going on in Better Call Saul, but some things will make more sense if you have. If you have watched Breaking Bad, this is a must-watch. Even if you have never seen a single episode of Breaking Bad, however, this is absolutely worth your time to watch.

Blu-Ray/Movie Collection Review: The Karate Kid I & II (Collector's Edition)

 

This is a collector edition Blu-Ray featuring the first two Karate Kid movies starring Ralph Macchi and Pat Morita, 1984's The Karate Kid and the 1986 sequel, The Karate Kid Part II. The first movie was an adaptation of the proverbial 98lb weakling being bullied, said weakling being played by Ralph Macchio. He plays Daniel Larusso, who is forced to move from NJ to CA with his mother when she gets a new job. They live in a run-down apartment with an odd janitor (played by Pat Morita) from Okinawa named Mr. Miyagi. As Daniel starts a new school, he tries to win the affection of Elisabeth Shue's character Ali, whose ex-boyfriend Johnny ( played by William Zabka) is not over her and takes to beating the snot out of Daniel regularly. Daniel checks out the local karate Dojo, the Cobra Kai Dojo, only to discover that Johnny is the head student there. It is run by a crazy ex-military vet (played by Martin Kove) who encourages bullying behavior. When the Cobra Kai kids jump Daniel outside the apartment complex, Miyagi saves him and starts training him in Karate.

The first movie has many great themes, such as family, friendship, bullying, self-defense, etc., that still hold up 30-plus years later, even if the cheesy music montages and over-acting that were the hallmarks of 1980s movies have long since gone out of style.

The second movie, other than the first few minutes, takes place six months after the events of the first movie. In it, Daniel and Miyagi travel to Okinawa when Miyagi gets word that his father is near death. When they arrive, they are caught up in a decades-old honor feud and grudge that Miyagi's ex-best friend Sato (played by Danny Kamekona) still has for him. While there, Daniel falls in love with a local woman named Kumiko (played by Tamlyn Tomita), the niece of Miyagi's old love interest, Yikie (played by Nobu McCarthy). Sato's nephew, Chozen (played by Yuji Okumoto), feels disrespected by Daniel and the two battle throughout the movie, culminating in a very good fight at the end of the movie.

I will not give away more about either movie in case anyone reading this has not seen either one. These are definitely the two best movies of the four that were made. A case can be made for the argument that Part II is as good or better than the original. However, I think most people believe the original movie is the best. 

The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set, with one disc for each movie. The blu-ray transfers are okay for both movies, but not a total HD restoration. I don't think one was necessarily needed for these movies, but it would have been a nice touch. The first movie has the most extras. Each one has a "Blu-Pop" version of the movie in which pop-ups with information about the movie appear throughout the movie (kind of like the old pop-up video show on VH1 for those old enough to remember that). The first movie has a two-part making-of feature of about 45 minutes combined and a cast and crew commentary track. The second movie just has the Blu-Pop version and a short making-of featurette.

Overall, the movies are good and hold up relatively well. There are certainly parts of each movie that are dated 30+ years down the line, but they are generally good movies with good messages and will definitely evoke a nostalgic feeling in those of us who were kids in the 1980s.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Mr. Robot: Season 3

 

+++Warning, this has spoilers from seasons 1 and 2, but no major season 3 giveaways+++

The 10-episode third season of Mr. Robot aired during the fall and early winter of 2017. This season brings the show back into the "real world" after spending much of season 2 in Elliot's head while he was in prison. It is still about the fallout of the 5/9 hack of E Corp. and setting up a much more massive phase-two attack that was hinted at last season. This season reveals more about the Dark Army and the various operatives they have working for them. It also reveals what Wellick did during season 2, for which he was mostly absent. I will not go into too much of what happens this season because it is hard to do so without giving too much away. I will say that the various characters, even the "good" ones, continue to be morally ambiguous (at best). And some even take a turn for the worse.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set. The extras are okay but not extensive. There are deleted scenes for some episodes, a gag reel, and a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes. It is definitely not a show that will appeal to everyone. But, if you liked the first couple of seasons (especially season 1), you will probably like this. The blu-rays have unedited episodes (which basically means the f-word is not bleeped out as it is when it airs on TV), and there is violence, sex, and drug use. And, even though the show is set in the past, it does manage to take a few shots at t***p, whom, if you follow the show's creator on Twitter, you know he despises. So, if any of that would turn you off to a show, you probably want to skip this. For everyone else, it is well written and acted, even it is a bit (and sometimes more than a bit) weird. Definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Shameless Season 9

 

The 14-episode 9th season of Shameless aired from the fall of 2018 to the spring of 2019 (split into two seven-episode parts). As anyone who is a fan of the series knows, the show has had a ton of cast turnover throughout its run, and this year is no exception. Notably, this is the last season with Emmy Rossum, who has been the co-lead of the show since season 1. Also, Cameron Monaghan had a very reduced role after the halfway point of the season as he was contemplating leaving the show as well.

I will not go into much of the season's storylines for those who have not seen it. Still, the basics are, that Frank totally drops the "Saint Francis" act from last season and is back to being horrible, Lip is struggling with trying to raise Xan and dealing with a new, not necessarily healthy, relationship, Carl and Debbie end up in a love triangle with his new girlfriend, Ian faces the consequences of blowing up the van last season, Debbie is starting to take charge of the family, and Liam (again) gets actual storylines, including a pretty hilarious one at the end of the season. Like the past few seasons, Kev and V are around, but their storylines mostly revolve around the bar and their family life. The show does make a lot of jokes revolving around the current political climate, with a pretty hilarious storyline with Frank as the campaign manager for "Mo White," a former congressman on probation (and not allowed near schools), allowing for Frank to say things like "We Need Mo White" and print t-shirts with basically racist slogans. There is also a great episode with Bob Saget, Courtney Cox, and Katey Segal (who has a recurring role in the middle of the season), all guest-starring.

The Blu-ray set is a four-disc MOD release. The only extras are deleted scenes for every episode, ranging from 25 seconds to a few minutes. So, unless you get it to add to an existing DVD/Blu-ray collection, you are not missing a ton of extras if you just stream it. There are no other making-of or behind-the-scenes material, which would have been nice given it was Emmy Rossum's final season. Overall, the series is definitely starting to drag a bit. It was renewed for a 10th season and an 11th final season, both of which have already aired. While I do not think it is as good as in the first few seasons, I think it is still entertaining and worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Shameless Season 8

 

The 12-episode 8th season of Shameless aired from November 2017 to January 2018. It tries to continue character development and take the characters in new directions. Some of it works (Lip has a great arc this season), and some do not (cult leader Ian, for example). Of course, that is all subjective, however. This season also sees Fiona as a landlord and getting into yet another complicated relationship, Frank trying to be an upstanding member of society (which, as you would expect, does not exactly last long), and Carl gets into a Fatal Attraction-like relationship. Liam actually has more than two lines, and Deb is balancing work and being a parent along with (kind of) being a girlfriend. Kev and V continue to have issues with Svetlana, which have mixed results for all but result in a pretty good (and funny) couple of story arcs.

Instead of a two-disc Blu-Ray release as seasons 1-7 received, this season gets a single-disc MOD release. While it is a MOD title, it does have some extras (mostly deleted scenes, but it does have a couple of featurettes) and captions. Plus, you get a true play-all mode that lets you pick up where you left off. Overall, the show is still good but getting a bit long in the tooth. For those who follow the series, you know that there is, and will be, more cast turnover (this season, no major characters are leaving the show as in past seasons). There is a lot of sex, swearing, and some drug use (although that is a bit more toned down than in the past), plus the unapologetic LGBTQ storylines. So, if any of that will turn you off to a show, this one is not for you. But it has a good blend of dark humor (sometimes very dark) and drama. While it is not as good (in my opinion) as in prior seasons, it is still worth watching and better than many shows out there, especially on network TV.

Blu-Ray/Documentary Review: Aliens Expanded

 

Aliens Expanded is a massively long documentary (just under five hours if you watch the entire credits sequence) created by a group of documentary filmmakers who were fans of the 1986 movie Aliens. Of course, Aliens was the sequel to Ridley Scott's original movie. It was the second entry in what has become a franchise of films and the only one written and directed by James Cameron. This disc does not include the movie itself. Still, it does feature interviews with most of the surviving cast and crew members, including James Cameron, producer Gale Anne Hurd, Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Lance Henrickson, Jenette Goldstein, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser, Colette Hiler, Mark Rolston, Willam Hope, Cynthia Dale Scott, Daniel Kash, and Ricco Ross. 

The film talks about pretty much every aspect of making the movie, from the initial approach by the studio to Cameron to write the screenplay, the casting process, including getting Weaver to reprise her role as Ripley, to the almost mythic battle that Cameron had working with the crew at Pinewood Studios in England, who were pissed off that a "yank" with no experience (Terminator had barely come out when Aliens was being made) was replacing Ridley Scott, to the grueling process of actually shooting the film. There is a discussion of the infamous "Tea Lady" incident in which Cameron (who is notorious for being difficult to work with anyway) kicked the tea cart that was brought for the crew every day, shutting down production while the crew drank tea and ate scones, and yelled at the tea lady to get the fuck out and ripped into the crew for being lazy. 

If you have watched the behind-the-scenes material and have listened to the commentary tracks on the physical media releases of Aliens, then you will have heard some of the stories that are discussed in the documentary, but this goes into much great depth and includes discussions of things that are not included on the official commentary tracks, such as why Michael Biehn replaced James Remar as Corporal Hicks. 

The documentary can be ordered on the website aliens-expanded.com. You can order a digital edition or a region-free Blu-Ray. The digital edition of the film itself is about $18, and the Blu-Ray is about $112-$119 (including the shipping cost), depending on whether you get the T-shirt. If you order the Blu-Ray, you get swag to go with it, including a patch, a poster, a certificate of contribution, and a T-shirt. If you ordered before the release date, you had the option of the T-shirt or having your name appear in the credit sequence.  There are some extras, including deleted scenes that are snippets of interviews that did not make it into the main film, including an interesting discussion of the rumored direct sequel that would have ignored Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection and would have brought back the characters of Ripley, Newt, and Hicks. There is also a Zoom meeting discussion between the filmmakers where they discuss the process of making the documentary, including the hoops they had to jump through to get in touch with Sigourney Weaver and get her to agree to sit down for an interview, which happened at the very last minute and ended up pushing the release date back. Thankfully, you can resume watching from where you left off if you do stop watching before the end of the film.

Ultimately, this is a very good documentary for die-hard fans of the film. It is not something that a casual fan will likely want to sit through, given that it is about 4 hours and 15 minutes long if you don't watch the credits and 4 hours and 42 minutes if you do. While it is not a scene-by-scene discussion of the movie, it does include a lot of clips from the movie and a lot of behind-the-scenes material from when the movie was made. Again, if you have watched the bonus content from the physical media releases, some of it is repetitive. It does not, however, feature any of the archived interviews that Bill Paxton did for the movie before he died. It does have a few f-bombs in it, so that is something to be aware of, but the movie had a lot of swearing in it, so that should not be too shocking. So, if you love the movie and don't mind watching a very long documentary about it, this is worth watching.    

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Shameless Season 7

 

The 12-episode 7th season of Shameless aired during the fall and winter of 2018. It again sees more character development, along with more cast turnover. I will not go into the various storylines too much so I do not spoil too much for those who have not seen the season yet. However, all the characters (even Liam) get storylines this season. Ian, Carl, and Fiona are making their way out of their respective rock bottoms, while Lip and, to some extent, Debbie continue to spiral. Lip, because of the fallout with his professor, and Debbie being a teen mother and dealing with in-laws. Frank comes up with another scam after being fished out of the river, trying to come up with a replacement family. There is also a storyline involving Frank's ex-wife and the mother of the kids, Monica (played by Chloe Webb).

For those who get the Blu-ray set, it is much like the prior seasons. It consists of two discs, with deleted scenes making up the bulk of the extras. There are also two behind-the-scenes features: one on how Emma and Ethan have grown up on the show and one on Frank's politics (basically how the writers and William H. Macy see Frank's belief system).

Overall, the show continues to be well-written and acted. If you have liked the prior seasons, then you will probably like this one. Macy does a great job of playing Frank as an awful guy with almost no redeeming qualities, and Rossum is wonderful in portraying Fiona's character development. If you have not liked the prior seasons, then this is probably not going to convert you. There is still a lot of swearing, drug and alcohol use, and sex. That has not really changed at all. So, if that would turn you off to a show, then this one is definitely not for you.