In the debut season of THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG, in a town full of bounty hunters, bandits and bloody vendettas, Arthur McCoy is the incorruptible sheriff who’s trying to overcome his troubled past to bring law and order to this new frontier. On the other side of things is Red Bill, an infamous solitary bounty hunter known for decapitating his victims and stuffing their heads into a dirty black bag. When the paths of these two men collide, they both learn that in the wild west, there are no heroes, nobody is invincible, and the predators may become the prey.

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Video Quality

The first season of That Dirty Black Bag comes to Blu-Ray with a striking 1080p presentation that pushes towards the height of the format. The series is filled with intricately conceived period interiors and gorgeous cinematography capturing vast expanses that are presented with perfect clarity on this disc. From the sun-drenched scenes to the darker, shadowy sequences that conjure up tension, every environment is impeccably rendered in a way you could almost mistake this for a 4K disc. Subtle facial features are readily visible, such as the various cuts and scrapes that the characters collect throughout their journey. Colors from the blood and landscapes pop off the screen in a pleasant way. Black levels are very deep and never betray the objects on screen. No instances of compression artifacts crept up during the viewing. This is a fetching presentation that perfectly showcases a beautifully composed series that deserves such treatment.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is quite effective. The series score brings a richness to the series that fills up the room on this track. When the action kicks in, which it does quite frequently, there is some heft to the low end that is appreciated in a tale such as this one. The series handles its dialogue well, but there are also fairly frequent moments of violence that kick this track into overdrive. The dialogue primarily stays in front center channels and is reproduced clearly. There is some nice ambient activity in the rear channels, especially as you hear the sounds of horses approaching. The track does a good job of making sure neither sound effects nor the score ever overpowers dialogue. This track brings out the best the series has to offer. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.

Special Features

There are no special features included on this release.

Final Thoughts

That Dirty Black Bag is a series that shows a lot of promise as it reaches the end of its first season. The show does not rely solely on the shock value of bloodshed to justify its existence since it is aware you can get that nearly anywhere these days. Instead, it attempts to craft a layered narrative with ambiguity and shifting allegiances carried out by characters shrouded in mystery. The execution can be a bit messy this first time out, as characters come and go without the proper emotional buildup and things can get confusing rather quickly. Yet, when it is working, it is an enthralling bit of storytelling that keeps you pressing play episode after episode. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray set featuring an excellent A/V presentation but no supplemental feature. Recommended

That Dirty Black Bag: The Complete First Season is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.