Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray offers solid video and great audio in this fan-pleasing Blu-ray release
Kenny Powers, an arrogant, burned-out, former major-league pitcher takes up residence in a small Mexican town; there, joined by his lackey Stevie Janowski and a new love interest, Vida, he fashions a comeback scenario that involves a local baseball team, the Charros, and its filthy-rich owner, Sebastian Cisneros.
Eastbound & Down takes a turn for the worse in its third season, which doesn't come so much as a shock as it does an inevitable disappointment. (The same sinking disappointment most fans have been bracing for since the HBO series' shaky 2009 premiere.) And while it might seem a heartfelt "such a shame" is in order, I have to ask: is it? McBride and his cohorts have struggled valiantly to keep the crude, self-destructive misadventures of former MLB superstar Kenny Powers side-achingly funny, but with an increasing number of strikeouts and a dwindling number of hits, it was only a matter of time before people started to take notice. Eastbound is past its prime. Viewers have drifted, critics have grown cold, diehards have become mere casual fans, and HBO even went so far as to kindly inform McBride and co-creators Ben Best and Jody Hill that the third season would be their last. Which it was... until someone planted in a plush, cushy chair decided to give Eastbound & Down one last shot at the premium cable majors. But if the series' near-awful third season is any indication -- with its tiresome manchild-raises-baby gags, best-friends-in-turmoil subplots, and young-upstart-jealousy rivalries -- Eastbounders may not want a fourth season, much less tune in to watch it.
Bringing Up Baby: Wildly Inappropriate Edition
Kenny Powers is back! From Mexico... or the brink... or total obscurity. Pick your Powers poison. Regardless, the man without much of a plan is back in action, signing on with the Myrtle Beach Mermen, briefly reconnecting with his ex, April (Katy Mixon), reuniting with Stevie (Steve Little), taking on cannon-hording arch nemesis Ashley Schaeffer (Will Ferrell), and finding himself caring for a baby. His baby, who April springs on him without warning. Over the course of Season Three's eight episodes, Kenny has to come to terms with being a dad, navigate the arrival of Russian pitching protégé Ivan Dochenko (Ike Barinholtz), live up to the high expectations set by pro scout Roy McDaniel (Matthew McConaughey), avoid going too far with a drug-addled new friend (Jason Sudeikis) and, eventually, face greater challenges than anything he's ever tackled before. Will Kenny rise to the occasion? Fall farther than ever before? Or contract a deadly strain of Will Ferrell's disease, recycle the same three jokes with different inflection, and wear out his welcome before the third season even gets off the ground?
Sadly, McBride contrasts a serious case of WFD, with each episode, and really the entire season, growing same-ier by the minute. After taking Powers and company in a new direction with Season Two's South of the Border run, it's almost as if someone hit reset, dragged everyone back to North Carolina and decided to give it another go. Except McBride, Little and other familiar faces don't seem all that excited to be back, or all that interested in doing anything unexpected, other than finding new ways to pit Kenny against the same breed of quirky malcontents he's fought from the beginning. The writing is sloppier. Most episodes go nowhere. The improv is lazier. The baby shtick is desperate. The guest stars steal entire episodes from the series regulars (Sudeikis and McConaughey are clearly having more fun than anyone else on set). And laughs are sparse. There were already better HBO comedies to be had -- some canceled, some still hanging on -- and Eastbound & Down's third season fails to justify the gift that is its as-yet-unfinished, unscheduled fourth season. McBride, Hill and Best have a lot of work to do, and quite a few gaping wounds to lick, if their next outing has any shot at bringing the Kenny Powers saga to a hilarious and, more importantly, satisfying close.
Already own Eastbound & Down: The Complete First and Second Seasons? Then you know what to expect from The Complete Third Season's overcooked 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. Exteriors are daylit interiors are often too hot, with crushed whites and blacks, oversaturated colors, and plenty of noise. Evenings and low-lit interiors, by unfortunate contrast, are sometimes dull and flat, with little in the way of vibrancy beyond some punchy primaries and relatively natural skintones. But such is the series' photography, making HBO's Blu-ray presentation the victim of an already unsightly source. Thankfully, artifacting and ringing are kept to a reasonable minimum (even though both make a few too many appearances), aliasing and banding are nearly non-existent, and detail is quite good, particularly when it comes to closeups and midrange shots. All things considered, it gets the job done. If you didn't have any complaints with the series' first two BD releases, its third won't disappoint.
The highlight of the latest Eastbound & Down Blu-ray release is, once again, its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. While the third season doesn't feature as explosive a soundscape as Season Two, it still gets most everything right. Dialogue is clear, nicely prioritized and rarely subject to clarity issues. LFE output is hearty and strong -- Schaeffer fires a civil war cannon at Kenny's truck, and it hits as hard as it should -- and rear speaker activity is assertive and pleasantly involving. Directionality pitches a good game, pans are slick and dynamics deliver. Add to that a soundtrack that fills the soundfield, all without detracting from a scene's ambience or atmosphere, and you have a lossless track that impresses even when the show is struggling to do so.
Audio Commentaries: Eight decent but often tangential audio commentaries are spread across both discs, one for each episode. Tracks include "Chapter 14" with writer/star Danny McBride, writer/director Jody Hill and Katy Mixon, "Chapter 15" with McBride, Hill, director David Gordon Green, Steve Little, Harris Wittels and Elizabeth de Razzo, "Chapter 16" with McBride, Hill, Little, Ike Barinholtz and editors Jeff Seibenick and Travis Sittard, "Chapter 17" with McBride, Hill, Green, Little, de Razzo and Josh Parkinson, "Chapter 18" with McBride, Hill, Little, de Razzo and Erick Chavarria, "Chapter 19" with McBride, Hill, Green, Seibenick, Sittard and Little, "Chapter 20" with McBride, Hill, Seibenick, Sittard, John Carcieri and Craig Robinson, and "Chapter 21" with McBride, Hill, Little and Mixon. Just be warned: if Season Three leaves you cold, McBride and company won't make you feel much better about the series' latest.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 48 minutes): If eight episodes aren't enough, feast on the third season's deleted scenes. With 48-minutes of cuts, there's plenty of laughs to be had. In fact, the deleted scenes reel struck me as funnier than the majority of the episodes, raising even more questions about some of the material that made it through.
Dinner with the Schaeffers (HD, 6 minutes): Will Ferrell's Ashley Schaeffer hosts a dinner party.
Outtakes: Every Time Someone F'd Up Our Show (HD, 9 minutes): Standard flubs and gaffes.
Previous Season Recaps (HD, 5 minutes): In the event you forget what went down in Seasons One and Two.
Eastbound & Down loses its edge in Season Three. McBride all but checks out, Hill and Best lose creative steam, and unlovable loser Kenny Powers falls into a rut. None of it feels fresh, more jokes hit the dirt than breeze across home plate, and the cast looks as disinterested as the baby McBride neglects for the better part of the season. There are laughs to be had, I'll admit. But they're few and far between, and retread old ground covered in Seasons One and Two. HBO's Blu-ray release is better thanks to a faithful (but unattractive) video presentation, a decidedly reliable DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a generous helping of extras (among them eight commentaries and 50-minutes of deleted material, some funnier than the scenes that actually made it into the episodes). If you already own the first two seasons, picking up The Complete Third Season certainly won't hurt. Much. The sting of a lesser season always hurts a little; even more if you're a big fan.
HBO Home Entertainment has officially announced that it will release on Blu-ray Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season. The two-disc set will be available for purchase online and in stores across the nation on December 4th.
Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season Blu-ray Screenshots
