Blood & Treasure: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Blood & Treasure: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Avast, ye scallywags! Batten down the... hatches? Oh... I see. Not a pirate show. Dammit.

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 19, 2023

Maybe it was because I was midway through a replay of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, or maybe it was that annual rewatch of Curse of the Black Pearl my son invited me to join. When I saw the words Blood & Treasure, I thought I was in for two wild seasons of yo ho ho and a bottle of rum kinda sea-faring fun. Much to my disappointment soon turned delight, Paramount's action-adventure series promised something better, something more in the vein of Indiana Jones, National Treasure (a poorly pitched concept movie that's actually a blast to watch) and other globe-trotting, relic-hunting, baddie-battling jaunts to ancient stomping grounds. Blood & Treasure's two seasons didn't ever rise to the level of Raiders of the Lost Ark or Nic Cage's Declaration of Independence heist, but the twenty-five episode run does work as a briskly paced adventure series with likable characters, dastardly villains and a few solid jet-sets-of-the-week to keep things interesting. I'm not entirely surprised the show was cancelled before it reached a third season, but I'm also a tad sad that it didn't find an audience strong enough to keep it growing. So it goes. Season One offers a decent series launch and has plenty of season-contained thrills and peril to satisfy hungry television fans.

'Blood & Treasure' is a globe-trotting action-adventure drama about a brilliant antiquities expert and a cunning art thief who team up to catch a ruthless terrorist who funds his attacks through stolen treasure. Danny McNamara (Matt Barr) is a former FBI agent specializing in stolen arts and antiquities. Lexi Vaziri (former Young & the Restless star Sofia Pernas) is a resourceful art thief who is haunted by the tragic loss of her father, which she blames on Danny. When terrorist Karim Farouk (Oded Fehr) absconds with a priceless artifact and kidnaps Danny's mentor Dr. Ana Castillo (Alicia Coppola), Danny recruits Lexi to help him bring Farouk to justice and rescue the good doctor. As they chase down Farouk, they encounter unscrupulous individuals who may either be useful allies or dangerous enemies, including Aiden Shaw (Michael James Shaw), an arms dealer who acts in self-interest, and Simon Hardwick (Battlestar Galactica's Baltar, James Callis), an expert at procuring pilfered artifacts. Danny and Lexi are assisted by Father Chuck (Mark Gagliardi), a childhood friend who works at the Vatican Foreign Ministry in Rome. Danny and Lexi's hunt draws the attention of Interpol agent Gwen Karlsson (Dexter's Katia Winter), who wants Farouk brought to justice but won't allow Danny and Lexi to break international laws in the process. As they crisscross the world, Danny and Lexi unexpectedly find themselves at the center of a 2,000-year-old battle in the cradle of civilization.

Blood & Treasure gets off to a great start for three reasons: Matt Barr, Katia Winter and James Callis. The rest of the cast steps up, and Pernas finds her footing within a few episodes, but what could be a silly string of melodramatic adventures actually turns out to be an ensemble enterprise with a whole lot of on-screen chemistry. Either the showrunners have a handle on running a tight ship and ensuring everyone on set has a good time, or the actors have that magic to their connection where it all just clicks. Maybe both. Whatever the case, Blood & Treasure would sink under the weight of its network TV trappings, modest budget and tenuous tropes. Sometimes it does, truth be told, but it always seems to pop back up to the surface, integrity intact. There's a lot of convenience and coincidence to the series' plotting, which is never a welcome trait. Though amidst its seemingly destiny-driven storytelling, there are enough distractions -- bursts of action, amusing banter, solid characterization, and a few ripe twists and turns -- to hold your attention, even if those distractions amount to a small fortune in formulaic, sometimes predictable tangent pursuits and dead ends.

That said, let's talk network TV. Or rather that tried-and-true "look" and "feel" that practically screams "NETWORK TV SHOW!" The smooth digital polish, the hero shots bathed in golden sun, the often un-cinematic cinematography, the relatively shoestring FX and blink-and-you'll-miss-it stunt work, and the rhythmic start and stop of perceptible "chapters" to each episode. The CBS-aired Blood & Treasure would work so much better as a premium cable series, with all the grittier, more dramatic, more filmic blessings that come with it. Showtime is forever trying to up the ante and catch HBO, and there's something at B&T's core that, given the proper upgrades and tweaks, might have really worked in the newly anointed Paramount+ streaming channel's favor. Instead, the series does the best it can with the limitations that pen it in. Cheaper, more readily accessible locations are dressed to look like exotic locales, costuming is uninteresting and ordinary, adventure is dictated by the production budget rather than where the story demands to go, and the climactic end to the season's central chase is... okay. Or anticlimactic, if you prefer, in a familiar network TV sort of way.

If all that sounds much harsher than the score above indicates, apologies. Blood & Treasure is good, throwback fun with a healthy dose of adventure-flick nostalgia. It also has a sharp wit to its heroes and a number of genuinely funny bits. It knows its inspirations and toys with homage in clever, snazzy nods and references. Is it the next great TV series? No. Is it even still alive and breathing? Nope, cancelled after Season Two. But is it entertaining enough to warrant watching and getting involved? I think so. Again, I had a good time. Maybe it's just Christmas week and I'm out of things to burn through. Maybe I'm more forgiving in this mode. Does it really matter? Blood & Treasure works. In my book, what else is there to say other than 'nuff said?

The 3-disc Blu-ray release of Blood & Treasure: Season One is comprised of twelve episodes (thirteen if you consider that the series' debut is a two-parter). Episodes include:

1. The Curse of Cleopatra Parts 1 & 2 - The discovery of the long-lost tomb of Antony and Cleopatra sets off a worldwide chase between antiquities expert Danny McNamara, thief Lexi Vaziri and terrorist Karem Farouk.

2. Code of the Halawadar - Danny and Lexi crisscross the world chasing a dangerous, deadly target and unexpectedly find themselves at the center of a 2,000 year old battle in the cradle of civilization.

3. The Secret of Macho Grande - A vital clue leads Danny and Lexi to an Austrian castle where the Germans may have hidden Cleopatra's sarcophagus during WWII. Fabi rescues Dr. Castillo's kidnapped assistant, Max, and Hardwick reveals information to Fabi and Gwen about others who are searching for Cleopatra.

4. The Brotherhood of Serapas - An unlikely ally reveals to Lexi that an Egyptian official has files which could lead her to Farouk. But in order to get to the information, she must enlist Danny in a dangerous plan while lying to him about the source of her lead. Also, Farouk takes a risk to get back the items he stole from the Pyramids, which he needs in order to fund his operations.

5. The Ghost Train of Sierra Perdida - Danny and Lexi follow a clue to the mountains of Spain in search of a lost train car that may have been carrying the sarcophagus of Cleopatra when it disappeared. Also, Lexi crosses paths with antiquities dealer Simon Hardwick, who offers her new information on the Brotherhood of Serapis.

6. Escape from Casablanca - Danny and Lexi must improvise in order to stay alive and out of jail when they're stuck in Casablanca with both law enforcement and their enemies hot on their trail. Also, Hardwick's personal investigation into the Brotherhood of Serapis lands him in a dangerous situation.

7. The Lunchbox of Destiny - The FBI offers Danny and Lexi information that will help them in their search, but only if Danny is able to get his incarcerated father, Patrick, to give up the location of paintings that he helped steal 20 years earlier. Also, Farouk deals with a loose end and takes a big step forward in his master plan.

8. The Shadow of Projekt Athena - Danny and Lexi seek out a famed Nazi hunter whose research leads them to Montreal, where they suspect that the last of the Nazis who escaped with Cleopatra may still be alive and in hiding. Also, tensions between Gwen and Fabi come to a head.

9. The Wages of Vengeance - After nearly capturing Farouk in a sting operation, Danny and Lexi enlist Hardwick to tap into his underworld contacts in hopes of cornering Farouk before he disappears again. Also, Gwen, fed up with Danny and Lexi's tactics, arrests Father Chuck for aiding them.

10. Return of the Queen - The trail of Cleopatra's sarcophagus leads Danny and Lexi to the Bermuda Triangle, where a contact of Shaw's offers assistance tracking down a smuggler's plane that vanished years earlier. Also, Gwen attracts unwanted attention when she investigates a suspicious money transfer.

11. Legacy of the Father - As Hardwick helps Danny and Lexi try to outmaneuver the Brotherhood, Danny learns shocking revelations that shatter everything he thought he knew about his past.

12. The Revenge of Farouk - Secrets are exposed, fates are sealed, and Danny and Lexi's lives will never be the same after Farouk's master plan is put into action.

Blood & Treasure: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

No surprise twists here (other than the discs being BD-R's, which don't play nice with Xbox Ones). Both the 3-disc Blu-ray release of Blood & Treasure: Season One and 3-disc release of Season Two feature comparable and striking 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentations. Colors are bold and buoyant, backing primaries with power and black levels with depth and richness. Skin tones are especially natural, bolstered by well-saturated hues and reliably contrasted tones. Detail is excellent throughout too, thanks to a variety of revealing fine textures that seem to grace every face, jacket, prop, sarcophagus and ancient temple. Edge definition is sharp and clean, and there isn't much in the way of compression anomalies. Some banding creeps into both seasons' presentations on a few infrequent occasions, and there is a bit of crush to contend with when Danny and Lexi channel their inner tomb raiders. But none of it amounts to a major distraction. All told, both Season One and Season Two look great.

Blood & Treasure: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Walk, trot, run or race, Blood & Treasure's Season One and Season Two DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround tracks don't miss a step and certainly don't trip and fall. The series' sound design isn't as nuanced as a film's or the highly decorated dramas you find on the premium cable channels. It's a TV network mix, yet still offers numerous LFE-supported explosions and gunfire, rear speaker-embraced environments teeming with acoustic subtleties and ambient effects, and intelligible, perfectly prioritized dialogue. Both tracks are well rounded, and while many episodes are dominated by conversations and tense, here-comes-the-action-or-intrigue music cues and scoring, voices are never buried beneath the bloom of chaos that ensues when your show's bad guy is a vicious international terrorist and calculating sociopath. Dynamics deliver too, as do the low-end thooms that accompany the aforementioned suspense that builds and erupts from episode to episode. Bottom line, Blood & Treasure's DTS-HD Master Audio mixes couldn't conceivably sound much better than they do here, unless they were, again, redone in the style of a premium cable drama's sound design.

Blood & Treasure: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 3-disc Blu-ray release of Blood & Treasure: Season One features a short collection of deleted scenes and an outtake reel, but you can find each on YouTube. No significant extras are included.

Blood & Treasure: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If you love Indiana Jones but wish it was set in the modern era, if you dug National Treasure but wanted more week-to-week adventures with Ben Gates, and you're willing to dive into a TV series that doesn't quite live up to either (but tries, oh how it tries), then Blood & Treasure's two season run might be for you. The show has since been cancelled, so there won't be a Season Three. But that doesn't matter as much as it might seem, as Season Two ends decently enough to work as a flawed but functional series' closer. Fortunately, Paramount's 3-disc Blu-ray releases of Season One and Season Two are strong, with striking video and involving lossless audio. There are a few extras -- deleted scenes and outtakes to be specific -- and more would have been preferred, but here we are. Blood & Treasure: Season One and Season Two make for a slick twofer that will give you and the fam twenty-five episodes of fun to enjoy over your holiday break. Give it shot. You might even like it more than I did!