6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
The series follows Tom Kane, the mayor of Chicago, who has recently been diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disorder.
Starring: Kelsey Grammer, Connie Nielsen, Martin Donovan (II), Kathleen Robertson, Jeff HephnerDrama | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
English, English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
My, my, my, how the world of television has changed. For years, it was de rigeur for new series to get an order of 13 episodes to prove their mettle. Series that took off right away then got their orders for the so-called “back 13” (or fewer) episodes to fill out their first seasons, while those that didn’t cut the ratings mustard were either left to wither on the vine, or in especially spectacular cases of failure, were pulled from the schedule before even the first baker’s dozen of episodes could finish airing. The niche aspect of cable networks has changed all of that. While the broadcast networks still tend to work in this “group of episodes” buying gambit, cable networks sometimes follow a completely different paradigm altogether. The case of Boss is a salient example. Before this show even aired, it was picked up for two seasons, a decision that may have seemed ill advised once the show premiered to mixed if slightly favorable reviews but a less than thrilling audience count, leading to its rather unceremonious cancellation seemingly as quickly as it had been greenlit for two years. Of course in the shorter form world of cable, even two seasons can mean fewer total episodes than those typically produced during one season of broadcast network fare, but even so, the situation with Boss is an object lesson where initial expectations are perhaps so unreasonably high that no one is able to meet, let alone exceed, them. The series will no doubt be remembered as a prime opportunity for Kelsey Grammer to ditch memories of one Dr. Frasier Crane once and for all, but with plot threads left hanging, character arcs stopped in midstream, and no ultimate answers given to several pressing questions, whether anyone will want to devote copious hours to delving further into the lives of Mayor Tom Kane and the cast of supporting characters may be a losing proposition.
Boss: Season Two is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Boss continues to be one of the more cinematic series on television, and this high definition presentation offers often incredible fine object detail, especially since the series to frequently exploits extreme close-ups (as several of the screenshots accompanying this review reveal). The series does tend to color grade (frequently to the ever popular cool blue-gray side of things) and even desaturate fairly aggressively, two tendencies that can occasionally make the image appear a bit less crisp. This season includes some hallucinatory material as Kane's mental condition worsens, and those elements are rather well woven into the otherwise gritty imagery. Contrast is quite strong throughout this presentation, though again some directors and their DPs have intentionally pushed things in some scenes.
Boss: Season Two follows in the sonic footsteps of the first season of the series by featuring a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 which is admittedly excellent through and through but which may still seem like a bit of overkill to some listeners, especially since the series is not especially ambitious from a sound design perspective. While surround activity is fairly consistent, it tends to be limited to ambient environmental effects or nice representations of depth, as in some cavernous offices where there's clear delineation between foreground and background speakers. But the glut of this series is dialogue, and often fairly small scale dialogue at that, such as hushed conspiratorial whispers between two characters and the like, and so there's really not much "wow" factor in what tends to be a highly nuanced but extremely understated track. Fidelity is top notch and there are brief bouts of dynamic range here and there, made perhaps all the more noticeable by dint of the fact that the bulk of the series tends to be more conversational.
Boss was an interesting attempt, that much can't be denied, and it's anchored by a commanding performance by Kelsey Grammer, who more than likely won't be remembered as only Frasier Crane from here on out. But the series is often muddled, overly hysterical and ill at ease with its Shakespearian ambitions which blend none too well with its more low rent soap operatic hyperbole. If the show had been able to muster a third or fourth season, my hunch is some of these inequities would have evened themselves out, but as it stands, the second season is going to be a mere curiosity more than much of anything else. Fans of the series will no doubt want to include this Blu-ray set in their collections as it offers superior video and audio and some fairly interesting commentaries.
2011
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