Jump aboard the high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter, The Class) as he investigates the disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila (Sarah Roemer, Disturbia), unwittingly exposing a cover-up so big it could change the fate of all mankind. Sean’s quest sends ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including newly-elected U.S. President Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood, In Treatment) and Sophia Maguire (Laura Innes, ER), the leader of a mysterious group of detainees. Scott Patterson (Gilmore Girls), Ian Anthony Dale (Daybreak), Clifton Collins, Jr. (Star Trek), Taylor Cole (The Violent Kind) Lisa Vidal (The Division), Bill Smitrovich (The Practice) and Zeljko Ivanek (Damages) also star. From Nick Wauters (The 4400), Steve Stark (Medium), Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) and Evan Katz (24) comes a suspense-filled journey where the answers only lead to bigger questions.
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Video Quality
The Event: The Complete Series arrives on Blu-Ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment with an admirable AVC encoded 1080p transfer. The series arrives on Blu-Ray with 22 episodes spread across five discs, which is not too bad for a company that routinely overstuffs their TV releases with an overly ambitious number of episodes per disc. There are still fleeting instances of some unappealing compression artifacts, but the set holds up better than many we have seen from the label.
The series presents a natural color palette revealing some vibrant colors in the tropical setting and the appropriate colors at the arctic base – and everything in between. Black levels are fairly deep, giving way to a fair amount of detail in more dimly lit scenes. The highlights of the show are luminous, but do not fall victim to any blooming in this presentation. Skin tones appear natural throughout the series, revealing a good amount of textural nuance in the face. This transfer has some minor inconsistency, but this Blu-Ray presentation is a solid enough effort for a show that has all but been forgotten.
Audio Quality
This Blu-Ray comes with a strong DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track that brings an additional sense of urgency to this thriller. The array of environmental sounds of the various locales engage the surround speakers in a really welcome way. Every storyline is taking you to a space with distinct sounds that are realized thoughtfully in the mix. This includes ambient noises precisely placed in the rear channels.
Dialogue is an important facet of the show, and it always comes through crisp and clear without being clipped by any competing sounds. The propulsive score is used to create a breathless atmosphere which fills the room during appropriate moments. The audio track holds up very well from the first episode to the last. There are optional English SDH subtitles provided.
Special Features
- Audio Commentaries
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- I Haven’t Told You Everything: Creator/Co-Executive Producer Nick Wauters, Executive Producer Steve Stark, Director/Executive Producer Jeffrey Reiner, and Series Stars Blair Underwood and Ian Anthony Dale
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- Loyalty: Creator/Co-Executive Producer Nick Wauters, Executive Producer Steve Stark, Director/Executive Producer Jeffrey Reiner, and Series Stars Blair Underwood and Ian Anthony Dale
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- And Then There Were More: Production Designer Stuart Blatt, Special Effects Supervisor Gary D’Amico and Visual Effects Supervisor Victor Scalise
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- Inostranka: Production Designer Stuart Blatt, Special Effects Supervisor Gary D’Amico and Visual Effects Supervisor Victor Scalise
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- Strain: Executive Producers Evan Katz & Steve Stark and Series Stars Ian Anthony Dale, Laura Innes, Jason Ritter & Lisa Vidal
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- Arrival: Executive Producers Evan Katz & Steve Stark and Series Stars Ian Anthony Dale, Laura Innes, Jason Ritter & Lisa Vidal
- Deleted Scenes: There is 56 minutes of unused material provided here in standard definition with some text frames to give some context to certain sequences.
- Magic Behind The Event’s Special Effects: An eight-minute piece in which the visual effects team takes you through the process of how they create some of the more spectacular sequences in the pilot.
- Dr. Dempsey Alternate Story: A 12-minute storyline that was excised in favor of something different later in the season is provided here with an opening statement from Showrunner Evan Katz.
- Building Collapse: Another five-minute piece with the visual effects team revealing some of the secrets from Loyalty.
- The Event’s Visual Effects: Another two-minute piece with the visual effects team revealing some of the secrets from Everything Will Change.
- Visual Effects Magic for Inostranka: Another five-minute piece with the visual effects team revealing some of the secrets from Inostanka.
- Creating An Event: A 12-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss the creation of this series, the character dynamics, the structure of the series and more.
- A Day In The Life of Jason Ritter: A humorous 12-minute piece with the star guiding you around the set from craft services to hair & makeup and beyond.
Final Thoughts
The Event debuted at a time when everyone was looking to have the next Lost on their hands. The “mystery box” subgenre was one difficult to pull off as evidenced by the graveyard of single season shows, but when they connected they kept audiences riveted. Unfortunately, this series is more of a cautionary tale rather than an exception to the rule. There was pretty consistent payoff to some of the bigger questions at play, but the narrative was a bit overly complicated at first, and audiences didn’t care to stick around to see it course correct. There are plenty of fun ideas within this one, and the cast is strong across the board.
That being said, it is difficult to recommend this to first-time viewers with the knowledge that the series ends on a major cliffhanger to which you will never get a resolution. Mill Creek Entertainment has released the complete run on Blu-Ray with a pretty good A/V presentation and a surprising amount of special features. This one is a huge surprise to have on Blu-Ray, but if you know what you are getting into and still want to pick it up, it is worth a watch. Recommended
The Event: The Complete Series is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.