Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Quarry: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 13, 2017

It’s probably hard for those who weren’t around at the time to understand how fractured American society became as the Vietnam War dragged on and on, seemingly interminable despite repeated promises by various politicos that “peace in our time” was certainly (finally) at hand. When one considers how vets from World War II were treated as unabashed heroes (as documented in such classic films as The Best Years of Our Lives), it's almost shocking to realize how shoddily Vietnam vets were often treated upon their return. Unfortunately, the political turmoil of the day definitely spilled over into the treatment of vets returning from battle, and I have personally known several veterans from that era who were at least as traumatized by their treatment after returning home to the United States as they were by anything they experienced overseas. It’s kind of a sad, maybe even shameful, chapter in our history, where people’s probably understandable anger over a long lasting and increasingly casualty prone war would project that anger onto the valiant men (and women) who actually fought in it, but it’s something that undeniably happened and may have at least led to more reasoned reactions to vets returning from subsequent skirmishes. Quarry is an often quite interesting series that takes the general premise of vets returning from the Vietnam War to just such a reaction from the general public, and then twists that already existing feeling of discomfort and angst into a kind of pulpy, noir infused tale of contract killers, marital dysfunction and any number of other improbable traumas. It’s not always “believable” in a general sense, but the show has an undeniable mood that propels it forward through any lapses in credulity.

Quarry begins with a hyperbolic scene that makes it clear this is not going to be a “mumble core” introspective series about emotionally stunted men trying to come to terms with the vagaries of their fates. It sets the series off on a somewhat calamitous route, one that keeps the viewer slightly on edge even when apparently mundane things are being depicted. After this intentionally sensationalized opening, the series begins to detail the “back story”, documenting the travails of Mac Conway (Logan Marshall-Green), a Marine who comes back from Vietnam to try to put his life together again in Memphis. Unfortunately, both the general distaste for the war as well as economic realities make his transition difficult, to say the least.

Any number of iconic television series have been fashioned out of stories built around basically decent men forced to do unseemly things due to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune ( Breaking Bad: The Complete Series, anyone?), but Quarry pushes the envelope in that regard a little harder than some people may be able to easily swallow. The show gets off to a viscerally exciting but still kind of rocky start, as it follows Mac and his buddy Arthur (Jamie Hector) getting back from their tour of duty. The series hedges its bets a little in terms of how these returning vets are treated by having them be suspects in a My Lai-esque massacre for which they’ve been cleared of malfeasance, but whose notoriety has made them pariahs from the get go. (I personally think it would have been more emotionally “accurate” to simply have had them be treated horribly simply because they had fought in Southeast Asia, not for any perceived misdeeds.)

Neither is able to easily find work, despite Mac trying to parlay his once promising swimming abilities into a new job. Seemingly only because the show needs this plot contrivance in order to set things into motion, Mac is approached one evening by a guy who prefers to be known only as The Broker (Peter Mullan), who offers the vet a zipper bag full of cash to become a contract killer. Mac wisely declines, but already the show has detailed passing references to Mac having been scoped out by The Broker and a rather odd acolyte named Buddy (Damon Herriman), suggesting that a psychological profile of sorts has been worked up on this prospect, and it’s only a matter of time before he relents. It goes without saying that Mac does of course relent, but the reasons for his decision aren’t inherent to his own makeup and in fact spring from outside exigencies, again rather like Walter White’s predicament once a cancer diagnosis is delivered to him.

Quarry has a number of probably too “on the nose” elements, including The Broker nicknaming Mac “Quarry”, after a showdown in a boulder harvesting valley that The Broker compares to Mac himself—hollowed out on the inside, but still hard as rock. Frequent water imagery suggests a hallucinogenic ambience at times, as Mac attempts to come to terms with his new lot in life. Director Greg Yaitanes also frequently favors some fairly “arty” framings, often featuring “still lifes” of elements in the corner of the frame, with almost Impressionistic, soft focus backgrounds providing depth (see screenshot 12 for just one example of many featuring the corners of cars). This all gives Quarry tons of style, but the show has a little bit of a harder time with substance. The basic setup simply needs to be accepted on its own terms for the show to function properly, and for those who are willing to go with the flow, there’s some really riveting content. Perhaps interestingly, given the whole hyperbolic element of a returning vet becoming a paid assassin, is the fact that much of the most potent emotional content comes courtesy of Mac’s dissolving relationship with his wife Joni (Jodi Balfour).

Quarry: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Quarry is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of HBO with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Technical data on the shoot is sparse online, but this is apparently digitally captured and features really superb detail and fine detail levels a great deal of the time, this despite an intentional tendency to deprive the palette of much pop. The show exists in a weird kind of beige, brown and ochre ambience a lot of the time, something that seems inherently "seventies" in a way, but detail levels are commendable in all but the most dimly lit scenes, even if the palette is only rarely vividly saturated. Occasional pretty aggressive color grading comes into play, as in the deep blue tones that suffuse the opening scene (see screenshot 6). As noted above in the main body of the review, the tendency for the show to exploit "arty" framings can occasionally introduce softness into certain shots, and understandably a lot of the underwater moments have unavoidable murkiness. Various southern locales are used quite convincingly throughout this first season and give the series an authentic visual element.

Quarry: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Quarry: The Complete First Season features a winning DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that offers the show's regular use of interpolated musical elements (many due to the Memphis setting) a chance to breathe and provide good immersion. More typical action adventure elements like fights, gunfire and some pretty gruesome activity with a baseball bat also provide lots of opportunities for good surround activity as well as at least occasional bursts of LFE. All of this said, the show also tends to traffic at least as much in more intimate dialogue material as it does in anything showy, and in these moments the track understandably provides less surround activity while still delivering everything with excellent fidelity.

Quarry: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Inside Quarry (1080i; 6:18) offers brief featurettes devoted to each of the three episodes on this disc.


• Car Chase Picture in Picture (1080i; 1:22) is a kind of fun if brief look at how one scene was shot.


• Behind the Scenes (1080i; 6:46) offers three brief featurettes: About Quarry, Music of Memphis and Recreating 1972.


• Deleted Scenes (1080i; 11:27)


• Audio Commentary Episode 1 You Don't Miss Your Water with Graham Gordy (Executive Producer/Writer) and Michael D. Fuller (Executive Producer/Writer)

Disc Two

• Inside Quarry (1080i; 6:51) offers brief featurettes devoted to each of the three episodes on this disc.


• Additional Scenes (1080i; 15:11)


• Deleted Scenes (1080i; 6:45)


• Audio Commentary Episode 4 Seldom Realized with Jodi Balfour (Joni) and Greg Yaitanes (Executive Producer/Director)

Disc Three

• Inside Quarry (1080i; 4:18) offers brief featurettes devoted to each of the two episodes on this disc.


• Music Videos (1080p; 56:15) offers seventeen musical sequences culled from various episodes.


• Love Letters (1080i; 1:21) is a collection of audio "letters" between Mac and Joni that play out to home movies of the couple.


• Quan Thang Inquiry Scenes (1080i; 19:59) is a collection of sequences, including supposed interview footage taken at the time, involving the My Lai like incident that's part of the series' back story.


• Deleted Scenes (1080i; 13:02)


• Audio Commentary Episode 8 Nuoc Cha Da Mon with Greg Yaitanes (Executive Producer/Director), Kevin Koster (First Assistant Director), Patia Prouty (Costume Designer), Richard Burden (Stunt Coordinator), PJ Bloom (Music Supervisor), and Allen Marshall Palmer (Co-Producer)

Quarry: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had a moment in the opening episode of Quarry where I was thinking, "They can't really be expecting us to take this seriously, can they?", but the show had already grabbed me with its emotionally wrenching portrayal of the relationship between Mac and Joni. The whole hitman thing needs to simply be accepted for what it is, and it of course provides subsequent episodes with some of their most exciting moments, all of which are counterweighted by the more naturalistic elements detailing Mac's roiling psyche as he attempts to matriculate back into society after his wartime experiences. I ended up really liking Quarry, and my hunch is others who have the patience to make it through some of the improbabilities will as well. Highly recommended.