Imposters: Season One Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Imposters: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 19, 2018

'Imposters: Season One' has yet to be released in the United States on Blu-ray. It is only available on Blu-ray by way of this Australian release or a Canadian release, both courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. Fortunately, this three-disc set will play in U.S./region "A" players.

It's not as if people taking advantage of one another is a new concept. The "con game" is a very refined, carefully calculated, and sometimes deeply intricate scheme -- a way of life for the best of the best -- to separate unwitting and unaware parties from their hard-earned treasures. And what better way to a person's money than through their heart? It begs the question of how well people really know those they love and whether matters of the heart are really the one and only motivating factor in a relationship. Certainly victimhood at the level of scam and scheme depicted in Imposters is rare, but history is full of arranged marriages, marriages of convenience, marriage for business or political alliances, and other couplings meant to personally or financially benefit both parties instead of, or in addition to, true love, so there's plenty of precedent out there for pairings made for other than love. But those at least have the benefit of eyes wide open for both sides. Regardless of the reasons why, true love sometimes seems to be the last reason people get together, but Imposters will certainly, with a wink and a smile, challenge viewers to question motivations or, for the more confidently in love, come to appreciate their significant other while having a good laugh at the less fortunate in this show, who aim to turn the tables on the con artist.

Yeah, that's not going to last.

Imposters tells the story of a con artist named Maddie (Inbar Lavi), known by several other identities by those who she has conned. Along with help from her small support crew, Max (Brian Benben) and Sally (Katherine LaNasa), all of whom take orders from "The Doctor," Maddie wiggles her way into the heart of each target, transforming herself into their ideal companion, and forges a relationship built not only on affection and attraction but also carefully calculated scheming meant to melt the target and give them everything they have ever wanted in a romantic relationship. And then she leaves them with everything they hold dear -- their money, mostly -- at an opportune time. But there's a twist. Two, actually. As Maddie stumbles through her latest mission in the great Northwest, feeling down on the idea of targeting a sad and overweight Seattle banker (Aaron Douglas) with a mean streak, she finds herself drawn to a young tech industry hotshot (Stephen Bishop) -- who happens to be loaded -- and her conflicted emotions mean a visit from an enforcer, of sorts, named Lenny Cohen (Uma Thurman) whose job is to keep Maddie on track. Meanwhile, three of Maddie's ex-targets and ex-spouses -- Ezra (Rob Heaps), Richard (Parker Young), and Jules (Marianne Rendón) -- are on to her. And they want revenge. And if they are going to get it, they're going to have to play on Maddie's level and in her world of the con.

Imposters is a show of tonal disconnects. The trio of scorned victims are a mishmash of characters with absolutely nothing in common but their common quest to track down Maddie and...do whatever it is they're going to do to her. There's more joy in their interactions than in their questing, more entertainment value in their individual stories than their group efforts to locate Maddie, or whatever it is she's called herself to each individual. Their journey, their interactions, their ideas, their dreams that Maddie made and dashed are some strange hybrid of humorous and heartbroken as well as hackneyed and heartfelt. The show does a great job of not necessarily making light of the fact that they have been wronged, or of the fact that they want revenge, but there's certainly humor in the way they go about it, in how they are shown thrown together with no commonalities but are forced to find middle ground along the road to reaching their target. Even as it's the destination they share, it's the journey that makes the show, at least on their end. There's good, organic chemistry on their side, a chemistry that stems from some level of disfunction, individually and collectively alike. Heaps, Young, and Rendón are a joy to watch in nearly every scene, and even if Maddie is the driving force, it's this trio that solidifies the show and makes it well worth watching, offering the audience a unique A-1 story perspective that is often played down or ignored in other shows. Here it's a beautiful counterbalance to Maddie's tale.

Maddie's story is the more traditionally set focal point. She's complex and capable, one of a new breed of TV characters who are something of antiheroes (think Walter White) who are difficult to root against but far from traditionally defined good guys. She's a spellbinding character who can transform herself into anything, but it's when she's herself, when her guard is down and she's inching away from the task at hand that the character is truly revealed. Meanwhile, the three amigos on her tail only know the persona she created, not the real person whom the audience seeks to know. So everyone -- Maddie; Ezra, Richard, and Jules; and the audience -- all come into the story and progress through it with differing ideas of identity and thoughts on character wants and needs. It's simple but somehow deliciously complex, too, and the show is a master at intertwining all of these unique perspectives as they push forward towards an intersection.

Indeed, anticipation builds for how these characters will intersect, what truths will be revealed, and, when push comes to shove, which identities, personas, thoughts, and feelings will rise to the forefront. And as good as that sounds, one cannot help but begin to wonder, through some slowdowns in the story's pacing and advancement (which are not a fatal flaw), if the show can sustain itself, if it can find a new angle or direction if they do crash into one another, particularly as Ezra and Richard, with Jules' help, become accomplished cons themselves.

Imposters: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Imposters: Season One features a satisfying 1080p image. It's not a standout, but it's more than capable, a quality overall image that delivers all essential elements in strong working order. Detailing is a strength. Facial textures are of a highly revealing nature. Pores, winkles, and stubble are not supremely intimate, but there's enough depth and definition to give each character a revealing presentation in nearly very scene. Clothing is likewise nice and detailed, with various fabrics, from light blouses to heavier knit tops, enjoying relatively high yield clarity and intimacy. Environments are generally tack-sharp as well. Colors are neutral with a good level of vibrancy. Clothes are rich and healthy, natural greens shine, and building façades and office interiors reveal warm woods and lighter colored high end accents with precision. Black levels are healthy and deep while flesh tones appear natural and pleasing. Noise spikes in lower light scenes but is the only real visual drawback worth mentioning.

Imposters: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Imposters: Season One's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack handles the show's mostly modest sound needs well. Dialogue propels the show. Clarity, placement, and prioritization keep the presentation grounded and accurate. Music presents with good general front-side width and the occasional spill into the back channels, though rarely with any dominating presence. The low end is likewise never prominent but does add a bit of necessary depth to music as well as some more prominent, albeit fairly scattered, support effects. Large, thunderous sound elements are extremely rare, but finer atmospherics are gently immersive and nicely implemented, helping to effortlessly draw the listener into various environments, such as a bar or various exterior city locales.

Imposters: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Imposters: Season One contains no supplements. No DVD or digital versions are included, and the review copy did not ship with a slipcover.

Imposters: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Imposters' second, and final, season is already in the books, having wrapped up its 10-epsiiode run in June 2018, but a Blu-ray release remains off the calendar, for now. Hopefully Via Vision will pick it up, because fans just getting into the show on Blu-ray are certainly going to want to keep pushing forward with it, to see it through to its conclusion. Bravo cancelled the show after two seasons but even with a relatively brief 20-episode arsenal, this is an appealingly fun and somewhat unique little show that TV fans shouldn't allow to fly under the radar. Via Vision's Blu-ray release for season one is disappointingly absent supplemental content, but video and audio presentations are just fine. Recommended.