Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie Review

Let's get real.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman January 6, 2014

Soooo. . .I’ve been away for a while, I assume nothing much has happened vis a vis the Robertson family in between seasons of Duck Dynasty. I jest, of course; unless you’ve been living under a rock, or been squirreled away in an isolated duck blind, you’ve no doubt been buried in the avalanche of publicity following paterfamilias Phil Robertson’s unvarnished comments about his perceptions of the sins of homosexuality and the happiness of pre-Civil Rights era American blacks, an interview which caused A&E to suspend the elder Robertson and which then brought the expected outrage from left leaning groups and an equally expected glut of defenses from conservatives. Actually, some of the responses to Robertson’s comments have been rather surprising. A completely non-scientific survey of various news pundits which I sampled in the immediate aftermath of the furor saw some Fox heavyweights, people like Charles Krauthammer and Bernard Goldberg, coming right out and saying Robertson’s verbiage was offensive, but that he had every right to say what he thought. These two august pundits were also quick to add that he had no First Amendment right to a television series, and that A&E also had every right to suspend him, opinions which made them rather strange bedfellows with many of the progressives who offered very similar views on MSNBC. It’s to the Robertsons’ credit, whatever one may think about Phil’s particular choice of words, that when they were recently given several opportunities to bash A&E on Fox’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, they took the high road, with son Willie saying he was glad the conflict was over and that all the Robertsons were looking forward to making more “funny” shows in 2014.

Several days after that initial "scandal", older video was unearthed of Phil urging men to marry young, "pure" girls (as in teenagers), something that again raised some hackles in expected quarters. On one level, these recent brouhahas have probably only reinforced what many fans of the show probably at least subliminally realized, namely that the elder Robertsons at least are “old school” personalities, one whose belief in faith and family and a certain way of doing things is as intrinsic as their perhaps now questioned attitudes, which some at least are labeling as prejudice. It will actually be interesting to see how Duck Dynasty ends up dealing with the controversy, for my hunch is the show will indeed choose to confront the issue(s) head on, rather than just pretending nothing ever happened. One undeniable aspect in all of this is that these events have perhaps provided a window into an unscripted Robertson universe, something that is miles away from the prefab world of Duck Dynasty. As I mentioned in Blu-ray.com's Duck Dynasty: Seasons 1-3 Collector's Set Blu-ray review , the "reality" of this so called reality series is highly questionable, with more and more reportage surfacing of just how scripted this show really is. Just within the last few days, a glut of online information, including numerous pictures of completely clean cut (i.e., beardless) pictures of the Roberstons have surfaced to support the contention that just about everything in Duck Dynasty is a fabrication. This probably comes as no great surprise to the more cynical among you, but it may also highlight just how canny the Robertsons have been from an image making and business perspective. With all of this "news" now swirling around the series, it may be make or break time for the show, which is now revving up its fifth season. In the meantime, viewers can enjoy these “PP” (Pre-Phil) episodes from the series’ fourth season, which ran from August to December 2013.

In a way, it’s almost a good thing that all of this controversy has broken out surrounding Duck Dynasty, for it’s actually injected a little vibrancy into what has become a resolutely predictable enterprise. The show continues to amble along as amiably as it ever has, and the Robertsons, however “genuine” (or not) they may be, are as appealing as they’ve always been, but this fourth season pretty much simply offers more of the same, with no variance from what has obviously become a very successful template. That hasn't kept audiences away from the franchise, and in fact this fourth season set some new audience records for A&E.

The quiet but noticeable sibling rivalry between Willie and Jase continues to provide at least a little comedic fodder for this season, though truth be told, a few too many trips to this particular well has resulted in a rather potent example of the law of diminishing returns. There are still a few laughs in one particular episode where Jase movies in with Willie and Korie for a weekend, leading of course to the expected chaos, initial recriminations and eventual reconciliation. This is the one issue that even diehard fans of the series may have with this season: the rut in which Duck Dynasty has fallen seems to have absolutely no room for any innovation in the basic arc of virtually every episode.

Much as with any sitcom that actually admits it’s scripted, Duck Dynasty revisits setups that worked for the show in previous seasons, including a season finale that finds the Robertsons celebrating Christmas. There’s the requisite heartwarming content here, but there’s also an increasing feeling that the series has pretty much done most of it what it can already. Miss Kay is adept at whipping up feasts for her family, but more and more Duck Dynasty seems to be existing on leftovers.

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This latest season of the series is very much in line with the progressive presentations on Blu-ray of the second and third seasons of the show (Duck Dynasty: Season 1 was interlaced). While some of the establishing shots still suffer from relative softness and occasional niggling artifacting concerns, the bulk of this series looks nicely sharp and well detailed. Colors continue to be accurate looking and are nicely saturated, and fine detail is often quite good, revealing things like the scraggly, unconditioned beards of the Robertson males in all their "glory".

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 features an adequate if not overwhelmingly sonic DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. The show really doesn't have huge ambitions from a sound design perspective in any case, so this stereo mix suffices perfectly well for what tend to be largely narrative or dialogue driven episodes. Some of the outdoor footage manages to subtly open up the soundfield, with good rendering of ambient environmental sounds. As with previous seasons, there is no damage of any kind to report on this perfectly acceptable track.

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Webisodes (1080i; 10:02)


• Deleted Scenes (1080i; 10:10)

Duck Dynasty: Season 4 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Can supposed backwoods guys who specialize in crafting duck calls jump the shark? Duck Dynasty has had its fair share (maybe more than its fair share) of publicity lately, but it's notable that none of it has been directly about the show. That may be the most salient sign that whatever pop culture phenomenon the Robertsons have become may have peaked and is on its way into the dusky twilight of "whatever happened to…." status. This fourth season will almost certainly please longtime fans of the show, for it offers little if any new twists or turns, and instead almost delights in simply rehashing ideas and plot conceits that have already been covered in previous seasons. Maybe it's time to send Phil on a lecture tour. That would probably end up being much more provocative and ultimately entertaining than much of Duck Dynasty tends to be. Still, when all is said and done, the Robertsons continue to be affable enough for at least an occasional check-in, and for fans of the series if for no one else, this fourth season comes Recommended.