Writer/Director Jody Hill is one of those talents that inspires a real passion.. you either love or hate him. Hill’s writing style is either seen as wildly funny or just crass, but I’ve never seen anyone who has given a “take it or leave it” attitude.
Season 3 of Eastbound and Down kicks off with Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) right where he left off at the end of Season 2- he’s now made it on a small-market minor league club, the Myrtle Beach Mermen, and he’s enjoying his stroke of good luck. While he bums around town and has his way with young college girls, he stays in full denial of the child from the love of his life April (Katy Mixon). It doesn’t take long for April to realize that Kenny is never going to be there, and after a night of passion she runs off and leaves him with the child.
Eastbound And Down Season 3
2 Disc Bluray Set
1080P Video in MPEG-4 @ AWBR 36Mbps
DTS-MA 5.1 Audio
There are some real highlights here.. Jason Sudeikis as his best friend Shane, and then Shane’s twin brother; a raised truck that has Lambroghini style swing doors, keeping a child in a rucksack full of lettuce and other leaves; Will Ferrell as a criminal car dealer who uses an old cannon with a Wyle E Coyote style fuse to attack people.. Lily Tomlin as Power’s mother.. but for all the zany nature of the season, I was most reminded of an older era of HBO, when shows like "Dream On" filled the airwaves. I think that because Eastbound and Down reminds me a lot of the kind of show that people first thought of with pay cable - dirty jokes, off and on nudity, and a zany storyline. It doesn't always work, but when successful it can be quite humorous... or offensive, depending on your point of view.
If you enjoyed Seasons 1 and 2, Season 3 resolves a lot of the plotlines quite well and has some good laughs. A lot of people who just want to peer in on this show may be turned off by the scripting style, so this is a real “acquired” taste.
Video Quality 4.5 / 5
Recorded in MPEG4 @ an AWBR of 36Mbps, this is a really high bit rate encode that looks very good. The blacks are dark and deep and the overall picture quality is quite good. This has the feel of being shot on HD Video, and as a result it has a really smooth/gloss look to it that I find fairly pleasing. But you definitely won’t be let down, HBO seems to do a great job of keeping up their PQ
Audio Quality 4.5/5
The audio is crisp and clean, dialog is easy to understand and stays centered which makes for a good presentation of a simple comedy. There is nothing exceptional here, but it does it’s job quite well.
Extras 1/5
This set is incredibly thin on the extras. There is a 5:50 extended scene “Dinner with the Schaeffers” , 8:58 blooper real, and… that’s pretty much it. There are flashback looks at Season 1 and 2. But while I praised HBO for all the extras on their set of “Girls” the extras here are very minimal and there isn’t reall that much here.
In Conclusion: 3/5
This is the kind of set that really only attract people who are already real fans of the program. The presentation is good, the audio and video are both good, but there is nothing to really stand out about this set. The blooper real alone doesn’t quite make for a reason to buy a season set, and a single cut scene also doesn’t really add value. But if you are a fan of the show who just wants the episodes, the low price may offset the thin nature of the set.
Season 3 of Eastbound and Down kicks off with Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) right where he left off at the end of Season 2- he’s now made it on a small-market minor league club, the Myrtle Beach Mermen, and he’s enjoying his stroke of good luck. While he bums around town and has his way with young college girls, he stays in full denial of the child from the love of his life April (Katy Mixon). It doesn’t take long for April to realize that Kenny is never going to be there, and after a night of passion she runs off and leaves him with the child.
Eastbound And Down Season 3
2 Disc Bluray Set
1080P Video in MPEG-4 @ AWBR 36Mbps
DTS-MA 5.1 Audio
There are some real highlights here.. Jason Sudeikis as his best friend Shane, and then Shane’s twin brother; a raised truck that has Lambroghini style swing doors, keeping a child in a rucksack full of lettuce and other leaves; Will Ferrell as a criminal car dealer who uses an old cannon with a Wyle E Coyote style fuse to attack people.. Lily Tomlin as Power’s mother.. but for all the zany nature of the season, I was most reminded of an older era of HBO, when shows like "Dream On" filled the airwaves. I think that because Eastbound and Down reminds me a lot of the kind of show that people first thought of with pay cable - dirty jokes, off and on nudity, and a zany storyline. It doesn't always work, but when successful it can be quite humorous... or offensive, depending on your point of view.
If you enjoyed Seasons 1 and 2, Season 3 resolves a lot of the plotlines quite well and has some good laughs. A lot of people who just want to peer in on this show may be turned off by the scripting style, so this is a real “acquired” taste.
Video Quality 4.5 / 5
Recorded in MPEG4 @ an AWBR of 36Mbps, this is a really high bit rate encode that looks very good. The blacks are dark and deep and the overall picture quality is quite good. This has the feel of being shot on HD Video, and as a result it has a really smooth/gloss look to it that I find fairly pleasing. But you definitely won’t be let down, HBO seems to do a great job of keeping up their PQ
Audio Quality 4.5/5
The audio is crisp and clean, dialog is easy to understand and stays centered which makes for a good presentation of a simple comedy. There is nothing exceptional here, but it does it’s job quite well.
Extras 1/5
This set is incredibly thin on the extras. There is a 5:50 extended scene “Dinner with the Schaeffers” , 8:58 blooper real, and… that’s pretty much it. There are flashback looks at Season 1 and 2. But while I praised HBO for all the extras on their set of “Girls” the extras here are very minimal and there isn’t reall that much here.
In Conclusion: 3/5
This is the kind of set that really only attract people who are already real fans of the program. The presentation is good, the audio and video are both good, but there is nothing to really stand out about this set. The blooper real alone doesn’t quite make for a reason to buy a season set, and a single cut scene also doesn’t really add value. But if you are a fan of the show who just wants the episodes, the low price may offset the thin nature of the set.
