Grab some snacks and... you may want to keep a light on. By the way, shout out to Warner Bros. for hooking us up with a copy of The Outsider: The Complete First Season to review... for you!
The Outsider... started off with a very interesting launch into the season. You're thrown straight into a situation where a popular high school teacher, Terry Mainland (Jason Bateman), is accused of brutally killing a child and the evidence seemingly line all the ducks in a row to label him as the murderer.
Police detective Ralph Anderson (Ben Mendelsohn) was the one appointed to bring the teacher in, which was interesting because... the teacher was also the little league coach of detective Ralph's son. So he had to battle his own amplified bias while trying to do his job because detective Ralph was still dealing with the recent death of his own son.
You could see how conflicted the detective was while dealing with this situation the more he began to dig because he had evidence that pointed all fingers at Terry, but... there was also conflicting evidence. How in the heck could this teacher be in two different locations in a similar time frame? How? Impossible right? Or... is there something else going on?
The Outsider is based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King, so it's safe for you to assume that there is something spooky going on here.
All hell breaks loose from the point of the arrested (as you can imagine) because the teacher now has all these eyes on him... after his arrest was made at the baseball game (by detective Anderson) and... now the townspeople are giving him the stink eye. Almost everywhere you turn during the initial eerie scenarios... you see this guy or (err) thing standing somewhere nearby, and it has a face only the mother of a monster could love (trust me).One thing that I scratched my head on... was the fact that this thing was standing among a crowd and no one looked at its face. The hoodie could only coverup so much, but you could still see the face. So I thought that was a little weird... because those looks would've cleared a crowd or at least created some serious social distancing.
One thing I appreciated off the bat is that... I didn't notice anything cheesy as far as the acting goes, which drew me into the initial episode. Emotions felt authentic with the way the tragedies affected the families, and so did the actions, specifically those of detective Anderson and Holly Gibney (played by Cythia Erivo). He shifted at one point but didn't lose character... based on something his wife said, and then when Holly Gibney showed up he became even more of a skeptic... but as a detective, he was trying to compare the supernatural with logic. It was interesting.
Even with my understanding of someone being skeptical about what they were appearing to uncover, I became a tad frustrated (even with his wife)... because he experienced a similar situation when it came to this... thing. Wouldn't make any sense to dismiss one hell of a coincidence if more than one person experienced it, but... they didn't let up off the momentum of this tension train (one bit) and I was right there for every moment of it. Yes, there were the occasional breaks between binge-watching to refuel the biggest cup I could find and make popcorn magically appear in my bowl... but I was right back in front of the screen from start to finish.
I really enjoyed the way they laid things out in this season because it's a ride from start to finish. It might seem weird to call it a fun ride... but once detective Anderson comes to terms with the truth and starts to gel with Holly (his opposite in nearly every way)... and her genius plan, I found myself on the edge of my seat. It's a damn good show, and I can't wait to jump into season 2!
Unravel the mystery on Blu-ray, Digital, and DVD... today! You get 10 episodes in season one of The Outsider: The Complete First Season, plus it also features over 40 minutes of behind-the-scenes bonus content... including the featurette "EL CUCO. THE BABA YAGA. THE OUTSIDER."
This is a never-before-seen featurette that dives deep into the real-world origins and supernatural abilities of the being this series is centered around. It will include insights from the creators and the cast... which is cool, and I think it builds up the hype a bit more around the series.
Pricewise, The Outsider: The Complete First Season is available for $24.98 on DVD and... $29.98 on Blu-ray... which includes a Digital Copy (US Only).
Pace: 5
Quality: 5
Acting: 5
Price: 5
5 out of 5 Cool Points!
