THE EPITAPH VOL. 44
DC SUPERHEROES AND AMC ZOMBIE TV EDITION!
BATWOMAN: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2020)
THE FLASH - THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON (2021)
THE WALKING DEAD WORLD BEYOND: SEASON ONE (2021)
BLACK LIGHTINING - THE FOURTH AND FINAL SEASON (2021)
Label: WBHE
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
THE WALKING DEAD WORLD BEYOND: SEASON ONE
Label: Acorn Media International
Black Lightning: The Fourth and Final Season (2021)
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 793 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD AM 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Javicia Leslie, Rachel Skarsten, Meagan Tandy, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson, Dougray Scott
WBHE has released Batwoman - The Complete Second Season on an attractive looking 3-disc set, and while I'm usually a sucker for these DC shows on the CW Batwoman has been one that I feel they didn't nail the tone from the start. It was a great looking season, bit it didn't hit me the right way to hook me into it. I thought that the way that they replaced Ruby Rose after she exited the show with Javicia Leslie as Batwoman in season two was a good move, but while I thought it was an uptick over the first season the storylines and writing were undeniably middling, and still way too full of melodrama and not ass-kicking enough for me to love it. Even with Kate Kane MIA there was an overabundance of Kane family drama - OMG, that search for Kate Kane continued for the whole damn season, and there was still not enough rogues gallery action. That said, I dig the storylines with The False Face Society and Black Mask, but overall I feel the rogues gallery action has been way too weak. Here's hoping the third season kicks it up a notch and dumps the Kane family BS and gives us the vigilante superhero action I know we all want. All 18 episodes arrive on a three-disc set in 1080p HD with DTS-HD 5.1 with optional English subtitles, and it looks and sound terrific, quite a bit better than it appeared streaming, which is how I first watched the season. We also get a handful of extras, an episode guide printed on the reverse side of the wrap, plus a slipcover and a redemption code for a digital copy of the season.
WBHE has released Batwoman - The Complete Second Season on an attractive looking 3-disc set, and while I'm usually a sucker for these DC shows on the CW Batwoman has been one that I feel they didn't nail the tone from the start. It was a great looking season, bit it didn't hit me the right way to hook me into it. I thought that the way that they replaced Ruby Rose after she exited the show with Javicia Leslie as Batwoman in season two was a good move, but while I thought it was an uptick over the first season the storylines and writing were undeniably middling, and still way too full of melodrama and not ass-kicking enough for me to love it. Even with Kate Kane MIA there was an overabundance of Kane family drama - OMG, that search for Kate Kane continued for the whole damn season, and there was still not enough rogues gallery action. That said, I dig the storylines with The False Face Society and Black Mask, but overall I feel the rogues gallery action has been way too weak. Here's hoping the third season kicks it up a notch and dumps the Kane family BS and gives us the vigilante superhero action I know we all want. All 18 episodes arrive on a three-disc set in 1080p HD with DTS-HD 5.1 with optional English subtitles, and it looks and sound terrific, quite a bit better than it appeared streaming, which is how I first watched the season. We also get a handful of extras, an episode guide printed on the reverse side of the wrap, plus a slipcover and a redemption code for a digital copy of the season.
Special Features:
- Deleted Scenes (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD) (10 min)
- Gag Reel (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD) (8 min)
-Villains Analyzed (16 min)
- Never Alone: Heroes and Allies (21 min)
- Deleted Scenes (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD) (10 min)
- Gag Reel (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD) (8 min)
-Villains Analyzed (16 min)
- Never Alone: Heroes and Allies (21 min)
THE FLASH - THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON (2021)
Label: WBHE
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 762 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Nicolet, Kayla Compton, Brandon McKnight, Jesse L. Martin
The CW's long-running The Flash series has been my flagship DC-on-TV property, I wasn't Green Arrow fan myself, but I was into The Flash from the start. Season seven continues and caps the Mirrorverse cliff-hanger from the previous season, and also features Flash having to resurrect the Speed Force, with the return of past season favorites, including Reverse-Flash who is still my favorite villain from the series, plus Ultraviolet, Psycho-Pirate, Rainbow Rider and the big baddie; Godspeed, plus the return of Jay Garrick, Barry and Iris's future-daughter Nora and her little brother. Another decent season full of Team Flash melodrama and plenty of speedster action, of all the CW shows I think it balances fan-service action and superhero melodrama the best, but it can be a bit saccharine and goofy at times, but that's all part of it's charm. Some of the Godspeed clone stuff went on a bit long but otherwise I thought it was very solid, and it ends with a nice tease for season eight. The Flash: The Complete Seventh Season 3-disc Blu-ray set presents all 18-episodes in 1080p HD 1.78:1 widescreen with DTS-HD MA 5.1, it's a very handsome package aside from the eco-case, we get a sleeve of artwork that feature the episode index on the reverse side. We also get a slipcover, and inside there's a redemption code for an HD digital copy of the film.
Special Features:
- Deleted Scenes (22 min) (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD)
- Gag Reel (10 min)(Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD)
- The Journey Ends: Carlos and Tom (10 min)
- Never Alone: Heroes and Allies (21 min)
- 2020 DC FanDome: The Flash (Watchverse) (34 min)
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Cert. 15
Duration: 466 Minutes
Audio: English
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Nicolas Cantu, Hal Cumpston, Julia Ormond
With the last season of The Walking Dead nearing completion here we have what looks to be an attempt to expand the scope of TWD universe with a youth-oriented series. The Walking Dead World Beyond explores the lives of four teenagers raised in the post-apocalyptic z-word world, its pretty much all they've ever known, so it's an interesting perspective. Set it Nebraska ten years after the apocalypse we catch up with high school student Iris (Aliyah Royale), and her rebel sister Hope (Alexa Mansour) whom reside in the Campus Colony, a pretty sheltered city of survivors who live a relatively safe and secure life behind secure walls. The sisters team-up with friends Elton (Nicolas Cantu) and Silas (Hal Cumpston) to sneak away from their community to adventure cross-country to meet-up with the sister's scientist father, Leo Bennett (Joe Holt), who was recruited by the CRM (Civic Republic Military), who are either humanity's last best hope or perhaps something a bit more nefarious. The idea of a YA version of THW really did not appeal to me when it was announced, but neither did Fear The Waking Dead and I've grown pretty fond of that series, and heck, I've stuck with TWD for eleven seasons for better or worse. Having been a TWD hanger-on I took in season one with an open mind, and I didn't love it, it's a bit clunky, but it still offers some cool visuals and apocalyptic drama filtered through the lens of teenage characters, which is different (that's good), and also a lot less gory (that's bad). I'm not one-hundred percent on board with show yet, but as the second season is now airing I'm still hanging in there and will give it another shot, and hopefully it pulls me in a bit more than the first season now that I've been introduced to the main cast of characters and can see the storyline unfolding. All ten-episodes of the first season are spread across two Blu-ray discs in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1) with English DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio with optional English subtitles, it looks solid in HD and the surround is fairly active, and we get 33-minutes of extras. Acorn have been doing solid work delivering the Shudder originals on Blu-ray in the UK and they're selection of horror TV is also quite substantial, great to see them bring this TWD expansion series in the fray.
Special Features:
- A Look at the Series (4 min)
- Meet the Characters (6 min)
- Making of Season 1 (23 min)
Label: WBHE
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 547 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Christine Adams, James Remar, Jordan Calloway, Marvin “Krondon” Jones III
It's now on disc, the fourth and final season of the CW's Black Lightning, a series that I have quite enjoyed with Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams, The Doom Generation) as Black Lightning, the electrically charged superhero of the community of Freeland, This was not a comic property I ever read so I went into the series completely cold and with no baggage, and I dug it from start and had fun with right up to the finish. The series started out as it's own thing, not connected to the Arrowverse until season three with the CW's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover. In later seasons Pierce is joined by his superpowered daughters Anissa (Nafessa Williams, Twin Peaks) as both Blackbird and Thunder, and Jennifer (China Anne McClain, Hubie Halloween) as Lightning, as the fiery teen whose body generates pure electrical energy. McClain was seemingly replaced at the end of season three by Laura Kariuki (The Wonder Years), but the final addresses the weird transformative switch-up with mostly good results. Other series-long characters like characters Peter Gambi (James Remar, Dexter) and the metahuman Painkiller (Jordan Calloway, Riverdale) figure strongly into the final season, including a long-brewing final showdown between Black Lightning and gangster Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III) that does not disappoint! The character of Painkiller sort of annoyed me in earlier seasons but I really came around on him the last two seasons, he's a very interestingly conflicted character. Black Lightning has always been a kick-ass and stylish series and this final season does not disappoint, managing to tidy up some long-running storylines and passing the torch to the next generation of heroes. Sadly, this is the last season so the outlook of any of the characters showing up again is iffy, but you never know, I've heard rumors of spin-offs being shopped around, including a Painkiller series, ands maybe we will get some cross-over guest appearances in the future which would be A-OK with me. Black Lightning stood apart from the rest of the CW Arrowverse in a good way, it's smaller scale community based superhero-ing with nefarious forces from within and without offered something unique and appreciated, it will be missed! All 12-episodes arrives on 3-disc Blu-ray from WB in handsome 1080p HD and DTS-HD MA 5.1 with optional subtitles, plus a pair of featurettes. There should have been more extras though, this is not a proper send of for such a solid superhero show.
Special Features:
- DC FanDome Panel: Black Lightning (32 min)
- A Rendezvous In Georgia (6 min)
