Why So Blu?

Dexter: The Sixth Season (Blu-ray Review)

I didn’t get into the Showtime series Dexter until about its fourth season.  It’s not that I had anything against it, actually I heard quite a bit of positive buzz about it (namely from my ex co-worker Sandy), but it was that I was too cheap to subscribe to the premium channel.  Needless to say, that all changed once I snatched up seasons One through Three on Blu-ray for a good deal on Amazon one fine day and overnight I became an instant fan of the American crime series and even turned others on to it too.  I mean what’s not to love about a “good” vigilante who takes the law into his own hands and is also a serial killer?  I know!  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it.  While the character of Dexter is lovable, quirky and weird, he should be feared as bad as any worst nightmare you can ever possibly dream up.  If your mind is as sick as mine, then by all means…read on!

Show  

Since this is my first ever Dexter TV series review, I thought I would obligatorily start with a little backstory for anyone who is unfamiliar with the show and thinking about giving it a chance…because you should!  Going into this year on Showtime, Dexter will be starting its seventh season, which has been confirmed as its second to last.  The series made its debut in 2006 and has since gone on to win numerous awards and critical acclaim, spawned web series and comics, games and toys and so much more.  The series focuses on Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a blood splatter analyst for the Miami Metro Police Department, who moonlights as a vigilante/serial killer.  The show, as I just mentioned before, is based in Miami and has featured numerous big guest stars in addition to series regulars such as Jennifer Carpenter (her potty mouth is what makes the show…LOL), David Zayas, Lauren Velez, James Remar, C.S. Lee and Desmond Harrington.

The Emmy-nominated Season Six of Dexter premiered on October 2nd last year and consisted of the usual length of 12 episodes.  I have to admit, not being the most religious person in the world, the season’s plot started off very slow for me, but after momentous buildup, the bold and witty plot twist and the episode 12 climatic ending made it so worth the wait.  Trust me.  Hold on tight.  Season Six packs one hell of a powerful punch for those who are patient with the plot’s eminent buildup throughout.

I’m going to try and stay as spoiler free as possible so the rest of the staff doesn’t ambush me like they did with my The Dark Knight Rises review, which by the way, I saw for the umpteenth time recently in Vegas at the Palms in GLORIOUS REAL IMAX.  So where was I?  Oh yeah!  Dexter Season Six, baby!

Season Six starts out a year after Season Five with Maria LaGuerta’s (Velez) promotion to captain and Vince Masuka (Lee) teaching a group of forensic science students.  LaGuerta and Batista (Zayas) are now sadly divorced and tension is heightened when Carpenter’s character, Debra Morgan (Dex’s sister), is promoted to lieutenant over sure-in Batista.  And that’s why they tell you to never sh1t where you eat or something along those lines, right?  But…does LaGuerta have ulterior motives for promoting Debra?  Tune in and find out…LOL.  It’s not like those two have been exactly the best of friends over the past five seasons.  Speaking of Debra, she breaks up with Quinn (Harrington) after he proposes to her.  How rude!  Beeotch!   Quinn is actually a character who I disliked in Season Three, but has grown on me the past three seasons.  It must be his charm, wit and demeanor.  And our protagonist…Dexter Morgan…well he has his hands full with Harrison, his very cute little boy.

Season Six features not one, but two antagonists whom together are known simply as the Doomsday Killers of DDK for short.  Professor James Gellar (Edward James Olmos) and his student Travis Marshall (Colin Hanks) seek to bring about the end of the world through violent murders depicted and based upon The Book of Revelation.  They leave behind some very creative and gruesome signs of the Apocalypse.  Love it!

And last but it least, this season also introduces us to Brother Sam (Mos Def).  He’s a former drug addict and murderer who now runs a body shop and is a minister.  Talk about being born again.  He employs other ex-convicts whom he also preaches to and leads them in crime-free lives.  Sounds too good to be true.  Something smells fishy, huh?  Don’t worry.  You are not alone.  Dexter feels the same way too and he’s on the case.   Dontcha worry!

Of course what Dexter season would be complete without other numerous subplots?   Rest assured…those are all here too!  But what we are congregated here today is to learn two things when watching this Blu-ray set…well three if you count the A/V and Special Features specs.  Can Dexter learn to trust and believe that murderers like himself can really have a second chance in life and right their previous wrongs and will the DDK’s prophecies spell certain doom for the world or can Dexter stop them before mass chaos gets out of hand?  These questions raised and so much more are not only addressed in Season Six, but also answered too.  Hallelujah!  But I truly believe the last episode is the most power and prolific one the series has ever thrown at us.  Wait until you experience the cliffhanger that trumps all cliffhangers in my opinion.  It’s a bone shocking moment that we have been waiting a long time for.  And to find out what the heck I’m talking about…you’re just going have to watch and see…newbies.

Video  

Since I fell in love with Dexter originally on Blu-ray, I kind of already knew what to expect in the A/V department.  Season Six of Dexter makes it kill on the Blu-ray format with a bone chilling 1080p transfer encoded in a AVC MPEG-4 presentation with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.  And I’m happy to report, much like the previous seasons on the format, things look phenomenally great here.  Skin tones are in check, colors are vivid (cranked up in some cases), blacks are inky (more so in certain night time scenes) and detail/sharpness (hair, fabrics, pores, etc…) is prominent throughout, not to mention that three-dimensional pop we all love the Blu-ray format for.  Get this…some of the outdoor scenes are so pristine that you almost feel the sun drenching heat of the hottest of days in Miami, FL.  God!  I’m going to pop this show in my player once again this September when it starts getting cold here again.  Boo.  I’m mean Brr.

Audio  

Dexter is presented here with a lossless Dolby TrueHD English 5.1 surround sound track and also includes English 2.0, Spanish 2.0 and French 2.0 ones with English subtitles.  Dexter is a crime drama.  Anyone that knows the drama format knows that it’s dialogue driven.  Rest assured…things are well balanced here.  Speech is audible and clear throughout.  Daniel Licht’s poppy and quirky score sounds as great as ever.  The rear channels really perk up, although not very frequently, when they need to and won’t I promise…won’t disappoint you.  It’s not a bang bang shoot ’em up kind of feature, but the audio is plentiful and robust when it calls for it.  What else can you ask for?  Well..things are looking good…or should I say sounding good here?  Can these high scores sustain in the next department?  Let’s find out!

Extras  

The Paramount Home Media/CBS Home Entertainment set contains three Blu-ray discs that house all twelve episodes plus bonus features accessible via BD-LIVE.  I have to admit, that’s kind of strange not having the bonus features local and native to the discs, but what are you going to do?  You’re not buying this set exclusively for the extras, you’re buying it for the show. Speaking of the show, Season Six presents a runtime of approximately 618 minutes.  That’s quite a value for this price, don’t you think?  So let me rundown the list of episodes you will find here as well as how they correlate to what discs you can find them on and oh yeah…let’s talk about those BD-LIVE bonus features too.

*

Season 6 Episodes:

1. Those Kinds of Things (Disc One)
2. Once Upon A Time… (Disc One)
3. Smokey and the Bandit (Disc One)
4. A Horse of a Different Color (Disc One)
5. The Angel of Death (Disc Two)
6. Just Let Go (Disc Two)
7. Nebraska (Disc Two)
8. Sin of Omission (Disc Two)
9. Get Gellar (Disc Three)
10. Ricochet Rabbit (Disc Three)
11. Talk to the Hand (Disc Three)
12. This is the Way the World Ends (Disc Three)

*

Special Features Accessible via BD- LIVE on Disc Three:

• Interviews with Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, David Zayas, Lauren Velez, C.S. Lee, Colin Hanks; Desmond Harrington
• First Two Episodes of House of Lies
• First Two Episodes of the Fifth Season of Californication
• First Two Episodes of the Second Season of The Borgias

Final  

Since I’m not a special features kind of guy, I’m not going to let that low Extras score bog me down.   There’s still a lot to celebrate about and appreciate here.  The Sixth Season of Dexter delivers just like all the previous ones do with one big difference…the cliffhanger will knock your socks off here.   And I don’t care if you are wearing footsies or knee high white Parma, OH tube socks.  You’ll be drooling for the summer to end and Season Seven to come as soon as possible.  I’m Brian White and you can take that to the bank and cash it.  Did you like that political slant?  Dexter Season Six hits the Blu-ray format this Tuesday (August 14th) with a killer story, a visual presentation that slays and deadly audio that immerses you in the mischief.  In other words…get it!  Pre-order your Blu-ray set today!