DVD/TV Series Review: Modern Family: Season 6

 

The sixth season of Modern Family had 24 episodes that aired during the 2014/2015 TV season. The show itself continues to be very funny, well-acted, and cleverly written. One of the main themes this year is Alex finishing high school and getting ready for and trying to choose a college. The writers and showrunners seem to want to totally overdo the "Alex is a nerd who does not care about her appearance and dresses her like a lumberjack with the most awful glasses they could find" thing. The younger characters, if the show is going to continue on much longer, are going to have to develop beyond what they are to keep the show fresh. And given that Ariel Winter is so very not a flannel-wearing tomboy, allowing her character to move beyond that now is one way the show can do that. While there is some of that with the adult characters, they are definitely more set, and aside from introducing new situations for them to be in (such as Claire and the internet episode) or robot Phil in the season finale, there is not nearly as much room for character development among them as there will be as the younger actors continue to age.

One of the great additions to the cast as recurring characters was Dunphy's new neighbors, the LaFontaine family, played by Steve Zahn and Andrea Anders. Zahn as a distributor of medical marijuana is hilarious, and having them as sometimes friends and sometimes enemies of Claire and Phil on a limited basis is great. The storylines for the rest of the cast really continue to be more of the same. Each of the individual families gets some focus throughout the season, and then there are storylines that involve the entire family. Every so often, there are callbacks to a prior season's episodes and storylines. The Hailey/Andy storyline that was introduced in the 5th season continues this season (especially toward the end), and we get to see that Beth (played by Laura Ashley Samuels) is actually real, and their story leads into kind of a cliffhanger at the end of the season.

The DVD release this season is better than the season 5 release, but it is still horrible that the show (especially as popular as it continues to be, even if there has been a decline in popularity) does not continue to be available on blu ray as it was during the first 4 seasons. There are not a ton of extras, a few behind-the-scenes and making-of features on some of the episodes, including the internet episode (which was almost entirely shot on iPhones, a few deleted scenes, and a gag reel. Good for what is there, but not as much as in prior seasons. There are no commentary tracks on any of the episodes this year, which is a shame because those were entertaining. If the extras are not a huge deal for you, then streaming it will get you the same audio and video quality (or better) as the DVDs will. So, while the DVD release is lackluster the show itself is still funny and worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: iZombie: Season 1

 

iZombie was a very underrated series that aired for five seasons from 2015 to 2019 on The CW. The first season included 13 episodes that aired during the spring and summer of 2015.  The series starred Rose McIver, Malcolm Goodwin, David Anders, Rahul Kohli, Robert Buckley, and Aly Michalka. The premise of the show is that a medical student, Olivia Moore, played by Rose McIver, is turned into a Zombie during a boat party. She ends up distancing herself from everyone in her life (to keep them safe) and starts working in the police morgue, where she starts to help a new detective, played by Malcolm Goodwin, solve murders. He thinks she is psychic, but she really gets visions of the murder victims by eating their brains. The only person who knows she is really a zombie is her boss at the morgue, played by Rahul Kohli, who is trying to help Liv find a cure for zombieism. It is another series based on a comic book created by the showrunners of Veronica Mars.

The show is a blend of a case-of-the-week procedural and a serial with larger story arcs playing out throughout the season. The serial arcs eventually come together by the end of the season. It does take a couple episodes to find its groove, but it does so relatively quickly and the formula works well. It sets up a larger story with multiple "bad guys," one of which is played by the great David Anders (from Alias and Heroes) and another that reveals itself later in the season and carries into season 2. Liv's ex-fiance, Major, played by Robert Buckley, has an increasing role in the story as the season goes on, and Aly Michalka, who plays Liv's roommate Payton, is the main recurring character of season 1.

The show was originally only released on DVD and then given an MOD Blu-Ray release. The extras are the same on both the DVD and Blu-Ray and are very light. Those include a few deleted scenes and a portion of the 2015 Comic-Con panel discussion. The comic-con thing is about a half hour and provides insight into what the showrunners were going for, like not adhering strictly to the comic and how the actors approached their roles. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that while the show ran for 5 seasons, only the first three seasons were released on physical media. This is due in large part to a licensing issue that affected season four and then Warner Brothers just decided not to release season 5. You may be able to find bootleg DVDs for the last two seasons, but there were no official releases. So, if you are someone who wants a complete collection of TV series on physical media, you may just want to stream the show.

While some who were familiar with the comic book may hate that the show really just uses the comic as the guide and does not follow it to a t may not like the show, I think anyone who is into the more supernatural/superhero genre of shows and movies who does not fall into that category should give it a chance. It is well written and has a talented ensemble cast with actors who were recognizable but not necessarily household names (and others for whom this is really their first big break). Rose McIver does a great job as Liv and has the range as an actress to play a range of characters because she essentially takes on a new personality each week. She owns the role so much that it is hard to imagine anyone else doing as good a job with that role. Whether you stream the show or buy it on physical media, it is definitely worth checking out. The series was a mid-season pickup and, as such, did not get a ton of hype like many of the shows that start out right away in the fall (that was pretty much reserved for The Flash on the CW in 2015). 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Homeland: Season 4

 

++WARNING: This will contain spoilers from the prior seasons and hints, but no major giveaways from season 4. If you have not seen the prior seasons, skip past the first paragraph. +++

The 4th season of Homeland included 12 episodes that aired during the fall and winter of 2014. This season, the main cast includes Claire Danes, Rupert Friend, Nazanin Boniadi, Laila Robins, Tracy Letts, and Mandy Patinkin. 

The season starts off months after the events of season 3. Carrie is still dealing with the death of Brody and being a mother. Most of this season's story is set in Pakistan and plays off the very real-world scenario of they do not trust us, and we do not trust them, and it mainly involves a Taliban leader's grab for power. After the Pakistan CIA station chief is killed, Carrie ends up stepping in for him and begins making dubious decisions. Quinn really steps up to the number two character this season. Saul's role is somewhat reduced, especially since he works in the private sector. While he is still involved in major parts of the story (especially toward the middle to end of the season), he is on the sidelines a lot. Carrie calls many of the shots this season despite being unwell, and Quinn sometimes helps her and sometimes on his own. There is a very good storyline within the season of Quinn trying to get out of the CIA but finding himself drawn back. Because of Brody's death in season 3, we do not see any of his family this season. Although they did find a way to get a nice Damien Lewis cameo in one of the episodes.

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set that includes the episodes and a handful of extras. The A/V quality is very good, and the shows look and sound great in the HD format. The discs have a season-play mode that allows you to stop in the middle of an episode and pick up where you left off. The extras include deleted scenes for some episodes, a few script-to-screen features that detail specific scenes during the season and how they were done, and character profiles. It's good for what is there, but not extensive. Ultimately, the season is good. It is not as good as the first season, but better than the third season. The show definitely had to pivot with the end of the Brody storyline, but that had really played itself out by the end of season three. Even though it could not recapture the feel of season one, it is still worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: Modern Family Season 5

 

The fifth season of Modern Family aired during the 2014-2014 TV season and included 24 episodes. All of the series regulars were brought back this season, and the show continued its format as a procedural sitcom that has one or two longer arcs that span multiple episodes. In season five that was a Cam and Mitchell engagement-to-wedding story arc that ran throughout the season. As has been the case in prior seasons, there were on-location episodes. This season, they did one episode in Vegas and one in Australia. The final two episodes of the season focused on Cam and Mitchell's wedding and had somewhat predictable disasters that almost ruined the day. Of course, everything ended up being okay in the end. They did get a little over the top and repetitive with the storylines during the season about almost canceling and moving the wedding, but by the end, it was a funny and touching episode.

For those who actually get the discs, the quality is very subpar. First of all, after making the first 4 seasons available on blu-ray, the studio completely went the cheap route and made it only available on DVD, which many of the non-CGI heavy shows are doing. Although Modern Family is still popular enough that it should have still been available on blu-ray. Then, to add insult to injury, the DVD transfer is horrible. Unfortunately, FOX has focused far more on streaming their shows and made the physical media almost an afterthought. On top of all that, there are very few extras. There are scenes on disc 2, then a couple of behind-the-scenes features on the location episodes, a couple featurettes on the wedding episode, and a gag reel. Okay, for what is there, but not as much or as much quality as in the past. The show itself is still great and very funny. The writers do a good job of giving all the characters good storylines throughout the season, and giving the actors great material to work with. There are definitely some episodes, however, in which the kids were kind of relegated to the background, with the storylines for the adults being given precedence. The shitty DVD quality aside, the writing and acting on the show continue to be top-notch, and it is worth the time to watch.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Homeland Season 3

 

+++WARNING This will contain spoilers from the prior seasons and some hints, but no major giveaways about season 3.+++

Season 3 of Homeland included 12 episodes that aired during the fall and winter of 2103. In this season Rupert Friend and F. Murray Abraham were promoted to series regulars, and Tracy Letts was brought on as a power-hungry senator named Andrew Lockhart. The third season is good but kind of disjointed. The plot lines seem to jump around until you get toward the end of the season where everything comes together. The first half of the season was really about the aftermath of the CIA bombing at the end of Season 2 that was pinned on Brody. An elaborate plan between Carrie and Saul was hatched to get the person responsible out in the open, but if you think about it too hard it was a plan hatched to catch someone they did not really know was involved with 100% certainly, relied on information they did not have when the plan was set in motion, or that the bait would be taken. So it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to buy into the whole thing. If you can put that aside, however, the rest of the season is compelling and dramatic, much like the prior seasons were.

The other main point this season was the wrap-up of Brody's storyline. For much of the first part of the season, Brody was not even around or only appeared for most of 1 episode and a few minutes in a few others. Then his story converged on the other storyline. The one unfortunate part of ending that story is that the great story surrounding Dana's response to finding out her dad was a terrorist was also wrapped up, and it was pretty clear that his family will not have a large role in the show anymore. That said, it was definitely time to bring that story, as good as it was for the first season and a half to a close.

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set, with the episodes and extras spread across the three discs. As far as extras go, there is a behind-the-scenes feature on filming the final episodes, deleted scenes, commentary on the final episode, and a feature on Brody's story from the first part of the season. Not a ton, but okay for what is there. All in all, it is not as good as the prior seasons, but does an adequate job of resolving some storylines and moving the show forward.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 4

 

+++Fair Warning this will contain the major season 3 spoiler and some hints, but nothing major from the final season. If you have not yet seen the third season (which is unlikely by now) avoid the first couple of paragraphs.+++

The fourth and final season of The OC was the shortest season (just 16 episodes) of the series and aired during the fall of 2006 into the winter of 2007. The season rebounded nicely from the messier season 3.  The first half of the season was all about Ryan (and Julie) coping with the death of Marissa, who was revealed to have died in the car accident at the end of the third season. Julie essentially recruits Ryan to go after Volchuck to exact revenge, which, of course, Ryan is all too willing to do, While Sandy, Seth, and Kirsten try to get him to stop pursuing Volchuck and come home. Once that part of the story ends, the focus is really on wrapping up the series and the lingering storylines. The various character relationships are tested again, but luckily not by unlikable characters as in past seasons. The focus is kept (as it should be) on the remaining core characters, with a few ancillary characters (including an appearance by Ryan's father) mixed in.

The DVD set is a five-disc set. The extras include commentary tracks on a couple episodes and a few featurettes on the 5th disc. The focus is on the evolution of Christmakah and the evolution of Summer as a character. There is not a ton of bonus material, but what is included is good. The final episode gives a nice glimpse back at the series as well as a flash into the future to see where the characters ultimately end up. While it is not really a show that requires everything to be tied up in a little bow at the end, I think the writers did a good job of wrapping up the series. While this season is still not as good as the first two seasons, it is still worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 3

 

+++Fair warning, this will contain spoilers from season 2, but no major season 3 giveaways. Chances are, after all this time, anyone reading will know how season 2 ends, but just in case, skip the first couple of paragraphs.+++

Season 3 of The OC included 25 episodes that aired during the 2005-2006 TV season. The third season is much darker than the others. The season continues the fallout over Caleb's death, Kirsten going off to rehab for alcoholism, and Marissa's shooting of Trey. The cast shuffle continues this season with the departure of Tate Donovan (the show uses Jimmy's continued money woes to write the character off and introduces a bunch of ancillary characters to stir up relationship issues (mainly the Ryan/Marissa relationship). Personally, I think the best addition to the cast is Autumn Reeser, who plays Taylor Townsend. At first, she is kind of a villain for the younger characters and ends up being (almost) one of the group. She has great comedic chops and brings what little comedy there is during the season. Willa Holland also joins the show this year, taking over the role of Marissa's younger sister, Kaitlin.

The rest of the season is really about the characters spiraling off the rails. Sandy takes over the Newport Group and becomes more and more like Caleb than he or anyone else wants. Seth goes through a "troubled" phase, which is fairly tame considering but threatens his relationship with Summer. Marissa continues the tailspin she never really got out of, which leads Ryan to have to choose whether to try and protect her or let her go. Like in the other seasons, they jam-pack a lot of storylines into the season. Some play themselves out within a few weeks, and others linger throughout the season. I don't necessarily think trying to take the characters in a different direction (which they were clearly trying to do, at least to some extent) always worked very well this season. I think the show would have been better off putting a heavier focus on a few of the storylines and not trying to jam as much in. The season does end on a massive cliffhanger that will definitely have reverberations in season four.

The DVD set is a seven-disc set, and the extras include a few behind-the-scenes featurettes and a gag reel. While there are no episode commentary tracks, there is a feature with commentary/interviews about specific scenes.  The acting in the show was still very good despite some lackluster material to work with. Autumn Reeser pretty much stole every scene she was in, especially toward the end of the season. The recasting of Kaitlin Cooper with Willa Holland was okay, but they never really gave the character much to do besides being a trouble-making brat. There was not as much of the main cast interaction that made the first couple of seasons of the show really good, and the show did fall off some as a result. I am not in the camp of people who totally despise this season, but I did think it was more lackluster than the first two seasons. Even so, it is still worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 2

 

+++Fair warning, this will contain some spoilers from season 1 and plot lines (but no major spoilers) from the second season.+++

The second season of The OC included 24 episodes that aired during the 2004-2005 TV season. This season was all about the relationships between the various characters and how they were strained after the events at the end of the first season played out. At the start of the season, Ryan is back in Chino with a pregnant Theresa, and Seth has run away, sailing off into the sunset. While those storylines were brought (somewhat) to a conclusion after the first episode of the season, the repercussions play out for the teenage characters and the adults all throughout the season. The basic stories around the teenager relationships were the will-they/wont-they get back together for Ryan-Marissa and Seth-Summer. A couple new characters get thrown into that mix, including Olivia Wilde joining the cast as a major recurring character for most of the season. The adult relationships are also strained throughout the season. Sandy and Kirsten are both tempted to stray and cheat on each other, and there is a Julie/Caleb/Jimmy triangle for part of the season.

Overall the second season has less jumping from storyline to storyline than season one did. There is still some of that, but it is clear what the focus of the season is. The show also benefited from paring down some of the cast. Although more recurring characters did appear throughout the season, you did not have as many episodes where someone would totally disappear or have nothing to do, as was the case in the first season. The show kept its blend of witty comedy, family drama, and trashy soap opera going this season. I thought the show really found its footing this season and even made fun of itself a little.

Toward the end of the season, they put a twist on the initial season one storyline when they brought back Ryan's brother Trey (recast and played by Logan Marshall-Green). Trey's storyline is kind of a doppelganger-like version of Ryan's story from season one and plays on the differences between the two characters. The season also dealt with issues like infidelity, alcoholism, same-sex relationships, rape, and drug use. The show did not dive into the deeper stories all the time, but when it did I think they were well done. Like in the first season, it is enjoyable enough to watch as an adult outside the "target" age group of those who were in high school or college when the show aired.

The DVD set is a seven-disc set. Most of the bonus content is on the final disc in the set. The bonus content includes gag reels from season 1 and season 2, a half-hour retrospective on the first season and the wild popularity the show had right out of the gate, and then a 12-minute feature on the style and fashions on the show. There are also commentary tracks on select episodes and a few deleted scenes spread throughout the other discs. All in all, enough to make the people who like going through the bonus material happy. If you are a fan of the first season, the show continues to evolve and get better in season 2, and is definitely worth the time to watch.

DVD/TV Series Review: The O.C. Season 1

 

The O.C. was the latest in a line of teen-centric nighttime soap operas that sprang up in the early-mid 2000s. The first season consisted of 27 episodes and aired during the 2003-2004 TV season. The show was created by Josh Schwartz and starred Ben McKenzie, Mischa Barton, Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody, Melina Clarke, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Tate Donovan, and Chris Carmack. It was what I would describe as a mini "it-show" in that it was very popular out of the gate and had some mainstream exposure. It was not necessarily a show that you could not miss on a weekly basis, but it was talked about a lot. The easy comparisons are to shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, etc, and there are certainly similar elements from those shows and pretty much every other show in the genre that got incorporated into this one. But unlike some of those, the OC also made the stories with the adults interesting enough that you did not have to be in (or recently graduated from) high school at the time to appreciate and enjoy it.

The first season had a lot of episodes (27 in all) and as a result, the storylines were kind of all over the place. It had a very large ensemble cast (some of whom would eventually be weeded out), and there was a lot going on with all the characters. The main story revolved around Ryan Atwood (played by McKenzie), who was a good kid from Chino but who had a bad family situation and was starting to follow his brother into a life of crime. His public defender, Sandy Cohen (Gallagher), ends up taking him in (initially for the weekend), much to the chagrin of his wife (Rowan). The first part of the season really plays on Ryan adjusting to life in the rich, glitzy Newport Beach as he falls for the girl next door, Marissa (played by Barton), befriends the Cohen's teenage son Seth (played wonderfully by Adam Brody) and is always teetering on the edge of going back to juvie.

The adult stories center around the Cohen's, the next-door neighbors, the Coopers, and Kirsten Cohen's rich real estate mogul Caleb (played by Alan Dale). The standout from that story, in my opinion, was Julie Cooper, played by Melinda Clarke, who plays a great "bad guy" character. At the beginning of the series, she is almost an over-the-top caricature of the rich, snobby housewife who only cares about money, gossip, and how she looks. Clarke stole almost every scene she was in, especially when her character was basically the butt of a joke. Over the course of the season (and the series), she became more and more central to the story, and she was one of the best-developed characters on the show.

The first season almost suffered from doing too much too soon. They were jamming so many stories into the first season that the storylines seemed to jump all over the place. They honestly probably had enough material in the Ryan "crossing the tracks" story and developing that to get through the season without introducing Kirsten's sister, some of the other Chino characters, etc, until season 2. That said, the show did a good enough job of juggling it all, ending a couple of the storylines (even though it meant getting rid of a couple of the characters), and making things flow well enough that it did not get too hard to follow.

Overall, the show was very good and entertaining. It was, at times, somewhat formulaic, given the genre. The themes mirrored many other similar shows but threw in a Westside Story vibe and made it unique enough that it did not just seem like a carbon copy of other shows. The writing and acting were very good. The Ryan-Seth relationship (and all the things that stemmed from that, like the Seth-Summer-Anna love triangle) made the teen part of the show work, and Peter Gallagher, who was involved in almost all the storylines set around the adults, made everything else work. It definitely had the guilty pleasure soap opera elements to it. Lots of skin (especially early on) and the will they/won't they bounce with the Ryan-Marissa relationship, but it also focused on more serious subjects like physical abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, homosexuality, abortion, and the seemingly required adult-teenager sexual relationship.

The DVD set is a seven-disc set with the episodes and the extras spread throughout the discs. As far as extras go, there are a few making of and behind-the-scenes features on the last disc, as well as some deleted scenes. There are also commentary tracks on select episodes that usually include Schwartz and one or two cast members. There are definitely a lot of decent extras for those who like to watch the bonus material. The show is (and especially the first season) very good. It could appeal to people who were in high school in the early 2000s as well as people who were in their mid-20s and into their 30s and 40s. It is certainly not a show that will appeal to everyone. If you only watch documentaries and high-brow dramas, this is probably not going to be your cup of tea. But it is a show that blended comedy and drama and touched on enough serious subject matter that if you are a fan of coming-of-age shows and movies, then it is worth the time to watch.