The Boondocks – The Complete Third Season (2010/Sony DVD Set)
Picture:
B Sound: B Extras: B Episodes: B
The Boondocks: The Complete Third
Season is
promoted as the most crazy and controversial season yet and it is certainly
true. Whereas the two previous seasons
of The Boondocks pushed the limits,
this Third Season has raised the bar
and explicitly added layers of controversy.
The series is unpredictable and has only gotten better with time. Often times (surprisingly) I have found
myself caught off guard by some of the dialogue and storylines the series
embraces, to the point I wish there was a better word than controversial to
describe the work of Aaron McGruder.
The Boondocks started as a conflict-ridden comic
series with critics all over the spectrum.
Over the years as it grew in popularity it managed to gain a new format
in animation on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim.
The animated series gave McGruder the chance to expand his slick and
comedic wit beyond the 3 panels that the comic strip had confined him to. What audiences got was a brilliant series
that didn’t hold back with no topic being too taboo. Discussions of race, sex and religion were
not off limit and managed to deliver the topics in a much different light than
its competitors.
The Third Season is supposedly the final, sad to
say, but the series went out with a bang.
The series continued to emphasize its views on culture and race through
the Freeman boys (Granddad, Huey and Riley) taking social satire to a whole new
level. The Third Season gets things started (belatedly) with the election of
President Obama and examines society’s reaction to the change of power. McGruder (who uses Huey as his voice on the
series) addresses the topic in a brilliant manner as some see Obama as the
second coming and others think it is the apocalypse; Huey on the other hand
sees it as business as usual, just a new face.
That is only the beginning for The
Boondocks as the rest of the season delves into gang violence, self
limitation, terrorism, domestic abuse, foreign policy and even cookie
pushing. As usual a variety of topics
are discussed in a comical, yet enlightening manner. If nothing else the show is well balanced,
just as something controversial, taboo or cringe inducing is spouted from a
characters mouth the show pulls back to emphasize what was said isn’t so bad or
let it slide by with a little comic relief.
McGruder’s
work is admirable and even as I don’t agree with some of his points of view it
is refreshing to see things from a different perspective.
The
technical features on this Third Season release are well done and
reminiscent of the Second Season.
The picture is once again presented in 1.78 X 1 Anamorphically Enhanced
Widescreen that is heavy on color, with splashes of reds and yellow well
balanced among the brown and often tattered backdrop. The picture remains
crisp and clear throughout, presenting an image that many animated series have
yet to achieve on DVD. There are some mild compression issues and
artifacting, but it is minor at that. As
always this reviewer looks forward to Blu-ray transfers. The sound has
been mildly upgraded to a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound that is not perfect,
but more immersive than the previous two releases. Most of the sound
comes from the front in the form of crisp, clean dialogue, but the rears are
used for the series’ musical scores.
The
extras include the following:
- Every Episode Hosted by
Cedric Yarbrough and Gary Anthony Williams
- Essentially the comedy duo
give brief intros and concluding remarks on every Third Season episode
- Four Audio Commentaries with
John Witherspoon, Cedric Yarbrough and Gary Anthony Williams
- I would have preferred to
have McGruder present for the Audio Commentaries, but they are
informative and hilarious nevertheless.
- Slink on the Street: Who is
Your Favorite Character?
- Short, with nothing to worth
while as the casual interviews fly by
- Animatic to Screen
Comparisons
- Seung Eun Kim Photo Gallery
(Sketches)
A great
series that I am sorry to see end.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
