Dexter: The Second Season (Blu-ray)

The writers of Dexter do a great job of increasing the conflict throughout this season as it picks up 38 days after the resolution of the Ice Killer case that concluded the first season. That’s also how long Dexter (Michael C. Hall) has gone without killing anyone because the suspicious Sergeant Doakes (Erik King) has remained on his trail. However, Doakes isn’t the only person Dexter has to keep his true identity hidden from.

After the oceanic graveyard of Dexter’s victims is discovered, the media gets a hold of the story, dubbing the killer the “Bay Harbor Butcher,” and FBI Agent Lundy (Keith Carradine) begins to work on the case. Dexter’s girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) is suspicious of his behavior, and when he admits to having an addiction, he doesn’t dissuade her when she assumes it’s to drugs. Rita demands that he join N.A. but wasn’t counting on his sponsor being the attractive Lila (Jamie Murray), who grows more attached to Dexter than he would like.

Dexter and the writers juggle the storylines well and conclude the season in a morbidly fun, believable way. They also reveal more about the character’s background, better explaining who he is and why he is.

Like the previous season's Blu-ray release, the second season contains 12 episodes that are presented in 1080p and an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Cinematographer Romeo Tirone gets a great look shooting HD video as he and his team continue to bring the stylized look of the series and the Miami location to the small screen. Red is still a vibrant and important color in his palette. In some low-light scenes outdoors at night, however, there is some loss of detail and the richness of black levels.

The audio is delivered in English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby True HD. The dialogue is usually quite clear and presented through the fronts. While the music and ambiance make good use of the surrounds, I didn’t find myself immersed within scenes.

Once again, Showtime does a poor job of delivering on extras. There is an incredibly lame game called “Tools of the Trade” that is basically just busywork where you need to pick five out of seven items for Dexter’s kit. Everything else has to be accessed through BD-Live. Those include podcasts by Michael C. Hall, the first two episodes of United States of Tara, “Blood Fountains” featurette, and two “Dark Defender” shorts.

Fans of Dexter’s first season should find the second continues to deliver the goods and is at least worth renting to learn of his further adventures.

Dexter: The First Season (Blu-ray)

Move over, Hannibal Lecter, because Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) has become all the rage when it comes to fictional serial killers. Since 2006, when Showtime first began airing Dexter, the series has been frequently mentioned among the best that television has to offer.

Based on Jeff Lindsay’s novel, Darkly Dreaming Dexter, and developed for television by James Manos, Jr (whose impressive resume includes being a writer/producer on the first season of The Sopranos, where his writing earned him an Emmy, and the first two seasons of The Shield), Dexter has a very intriguing concept as our “hero” uses his homicidal tendencies for good.

As a young boy Dexter was adopted by a police officer, Harry Morgan (James Remar), who became aware of Dexter’s issues when he started killing animals. Rather than seek help, Harry decided to right wrongs he saw within the justice system by turning Dexter into a vigilante who would kill people guilty of murder that went unpunished. This allows Dexter to fulfill his pathology.

Dexter’s life is consumed with murder. He works as a blood-splatter expert for the Homicide division of the Miami Police Department. Not only is it the department his father worked in, but his adoptive sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) is a police officer there as well. Lt. Maria LaGuerta (Lauren Vélez) heads the division and Dexter works under her, which she wishes was a literal statement considering how strong she comes on. Sgt. James Doakes (Erik King) is the only police officer who senses there’s something not right about Dexter.

Dexter has a girlfriend, but he just uses her as a beard to fit within society because he’s not into sex. Rita’s (Julie Benz) marriage was very abusive, so she has intimacy issues, which works well for Dexter and makes him look very sweet and understanding in her eyes. She also has two young kids, Astor and Cody.

The First Season is comprised of 12 episodes and has a story arc that deals with the Ice Truck Killer, a serial killer who not only neatly chops bodies into pieces, but also removes their blood. Dexter is awed by his peer’s skills and ingenuity and gets pulled into The Ice Truck Killer’s grand scheme when clues are left in Dexter’s home and pictures from Dexter’s past are left at crime scenes.

The series grips you from the very first episode with its compelling premise. Michael C. Hall is captivating on screen and the combination of his acting skills and the series’ writing makes a viewer forget his previous memorable role as David Fisher on HBO’s Six Feet Under. It is rare for an actor to bring two vastly different characters to life and to do each so well in such a short time span. He is also joined onscreen by a talented cast. Even though the show is about killing and murder, the show is very light on gore.

The series is a feast for the eyes on Blu-ray with the video presented in 1080p and an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. Miami, Florida is such a vibrant and colorful city; it’s a natural for the format and looks fantastic - from the sunny outdoor scenes at the beaches to the many lavish interiors, red being particularly rich. The skin tones look natural and stay consistent throughout episodes. There is a lot of fine texture and detail except when the scenes appear to be purposely lacking, for example through use of atmosphere.

The audio is presented in English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and mainly makes use of the front speaker. For the most part, the surround presents ambiance but it’s very soft, although there are occasions when it’s put to use well in a scene. The subwoofer also gets little use.

The only Special Features available on the discs are two audio tracks, one with a quartet of supporting cast members from the police force: Carpenter, King, Vélez, and David Zayas, who plays Dexter’s fellow crime-scene investigator, Angel Batista. It’s odd that Hall didn’t take part. The other featured producers are Sara Colleton, Clyde Phillip, and Daniel Cerone.

The remaining special features can only be accessed through BD-Live, which is absolutely foolish on Showtime’s part. They are listed as “The Academy of Blood – A Killer Course,” “Witnessed In Blood – A True Murder Investigation,” a Michael C. Hall Podcast, and the first episode of Dexter - Season 3.

The Season 3 episode seems like an odd choice since new viewers are just as likely to try this set as fans of the series, fans who likely already bought it previously on DVD, so why would anyone who discovered Dexter through Blu-ray want to skip Season 2? There has to be important developments over the next set of 12 episodes. There is also access to the first two episodes of United States of Tara, but that’s marketing, not a special feature.

Those new to Dexter should find the series well worth investigating, and those who are already fans will enjoy the Blu-ray presentation.

Tracey Ullman’s State of the Union: Complete Season One

Tracey Ullman’s Showtime series State of the Union is a hysterical skewer of “The Good, the Bad and the Absolutely Ridiculous” of America. Through a series of monologues and skits, co-written with Bruce Wagner, Gail Parent, and Craig DiGregorio, Ullman crisscrosses the nation and holds up a mirror

Over the five episodes of season one, it is amazing to watch Ullman slip into so many roles, bringing to mind the work of Lily Tomlin. Rather than finding a quirk and a catchphrase to create an easily identifiable caricature, Ullman becomes these characters, finding what their essence is and delivering. Through the Emmy-winning make-up and her amazing voice work, she plays both the famous and the familiar as she travels the countryside.

Ullman has always immersed herself in interesting characters. Gretchen Pincus of Huntsville, Texas is fond of men on Death Row. When we meet her, her husband, the “Wetwipe Killer,” is about to be put to death. Before she has time to mourn, she receives a letter from “The Tastee-Freez Rapist.” Pharmacist Padma Perkesh from Oakridge, Tennessee breaks into Bollywood musical numbers to pass on information, either to help an old man understand the side effects of Viagra or a thief attempting to steal painkillers. Sgt. Lisa Penning from Macon, Georgia. She is on leave from Iraq, and the scene were she reveals she’s only got three hours leave and just barely has time to see her son after his soccer game, is heartbreaking although they stop the laughs.

Ullman has returned to doing celebrity impersonations and they get a good ribbing. Environmentalist Laurie David spends a good deal of time on her private jet and Arianna Huffington is obsessed with blogging to the point where she uses the word “blog” in place of verbs and sleeps with her PC. Two people who get it a severe roasting are celebrity-mom and nightclub patron Dina Lohan and actress Renee Zellweger. The men don’t get a free pass as Ullman plays Tony Sirico (The Sopranos’ Paulie Walnuts as an Intuit Eskimo), David Beckham and Andy Rooney to name a few.

The news people get a good mocking whether it’s the fear-inducing Campbell Brown; the rough-voiced Rita Cosby who tries to get in as close to the story as she can; or Buffalo news anchor Linda Alvarez, a Hispanics newscasters who speaks perfect English until she has to pronounce her own last name and then she overemphasizes the Spanish pronunciation of it.

State of the Union is a funny show and also an unfortunate reminder of how few women get to go all out on television with their comedy.

The DVD has thirty minutes of bonus features that include the title storyboard, Showtime promos, Make-up Tests, Bloopers & Outakes, Extra Material, and a number of Deleted Scenes including two, one of which has commentary, with a character Amber that didn’t make the cut.

The packaging for the disc is terrible. Made entirely out of cardboard, there’s no nub to hold the disc, so it has to be slipped into a holder.