• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
  
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), French DTS 5.1, Spanish DTS Digital Surround 2.0
  
• Subtitles: English SDH, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
  
• Subtitles Color: White
  
• Region: ABC (Region-Free)
  
• Rating: TV-MA
  
• Runtime: 240 Mins.
  
• Discs: 2 (2 x Blu-ray)
• Studio: HBO Home Entertainment
  
• Blu-ray Release Date: December 4, 2012
• List Price: $39.98

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Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(All TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

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The Series

[Rating:4/5]

HBO’s Eastbound & Down started off its third season with the intention of it being the season’s last season, and it actually worked really well to wrap up the series. Picking up a year after season two, Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) has returned to the United States from Mexico and is now in the minors playing for the Myrtle Beach Mermen as their closer. Of course, his egotistical, wild side still can’t keep him out of trouble, especially when his life-long love April (Katy Mixon), runs away, leaving their year-old baby boy Toby with him. Kenny has to now quickly learn how to grow up and be a real man, take on the responsibility of being a father, while battling a fresh new Russian closer for his spot on the roster with the Mermen. His growth as an individual – a longtime coming – just may be the ticket to his finally getting what he has dreamed of for so long, winning back April and making it back into the Major Leagues. The season is made up of enough crude humor, drug use, and laugh-out-loud gags to satisfy the fans. Mostly, however, it wraps up the storyline in one of the best ways it could have. Which makes one wonder why McBride & co. have given in to requests from HBO to cough up a fourth season of the series. It could only mean a big payout and Eastbound & Down just doesn’t feel like the kind of series that could benefit from a fourth go around. That said, I’ll reserve final judgement until I see how they work around this season’s ending and what they come up with to continue the story.

Video Quality

[Rating:4/5]

Eastbound & Down is shot on Super-35, but is has a very gritty look to it and often the grain structure is somewhat coarse. This often more noticeable during the brighter outdoor sequences, which is unusual, and on flat-colored backgrounds such as walls, etc. On the plus side, colors are richly saturated and pop nicely and objects do have strong textural detail.

Audio Quality

[Rating:3.5/5]

While the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit) soundtrack has a good balance of atmospheric sounds in the surround channels and direct sounds across the front, plus a wide soundfield and dynamic musical soundtrack, it is hindered by audible clipping in the dialogue straight through. It isn’t terrible, nor does it make the dialogue unintelligible, but it keeps the sound from being perfect and does become annoying.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:3.5/5]

Every episode has an optional audio commentary, plus additional deleted scenes and outtakes are provided.

The supplements:

• Season 1 Recap (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:03:32)
• Season 2 Recap (1.78:1; 1080i/60; 00:01:32)
• Episode Previews
• Audio Commentaries:
  • Chapter 14 with writer Danny R. McBride, writer/director Jody Hill and Katy Nixon
  • Chapter 15 with writers Danny R. McBride, Jody Hill, and Harris Wittels; director David Gordon Green; and Steve Little and Elizabeth de Razzo
  • Chapter 16 with writer Danny R. McBride, writer/director Jody Hill; editors Jeff Eibeneck and Travis Sittard; and Steve Little and Ike Barinholtz
  • Chapter 17 with writers Danny R. McBride, Jody Hill, and Josh Parkinson; director David Gordon Green; and Steve Little and Elizabeth de Razzo
  • Chapter 18 with writer Danny McBride, writer/director Jody Hill; and Steve Little, Elizabeth de Razzo, and Erick Chavarria
  • Chapter 19 with writers Danny R. McBride and Jody Hill; director David Gordon Green, editors Jeff Seibenick and Travis Sittard; and Steve Little
  • Chapter 20 with writers Danny McBride and John Carcieri; writer/director Jody Hill; editors Jeff Seibenick and Travis Sittard; and Craig Robinson
  • Chapter 21 with writer Danny McBride, writer/director Jody Hill; and Steve Little and Katy Mixon
• Dinner with the Schaeffers (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:05:49)
• Deleted Scenes (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:48:10)
• Outtakes (Every Time Someone Fucked Up Our Show) (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:08:57)

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3.5/5]

A strong season with a good psych-out series finale, Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season improves on the Mexican road trip second season for what is one side-splitting moment after another.

Additional Screen Captures

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Purchase Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe

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Purchase Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Series
[Rating:4/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:3.5/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:3.5/5]

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