TV DVD and Blu-ray reviews: ‘Dexter: New Blood’ and ‘The Great: Season Two’

Let’s take a look at a pair of excellent episodic shows back for another season and now available on disc format for binge-watchers.

Dexter: New Blood —  Steelbook Edition (Paramount Home Entertainment, not rated, 2.39:1 aspect ratio, 526 minutes, $39.99) — Everybody’s favorite serial-killing vigilante returned to the Showtime cable network last year to continue his bloody adventures after a successful eight-season run between 2006 to 2013.

His latest 10-episode story arc is now available on a four-disc, Blu-ray set to explore what really happened to Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) after he went supposedly missing by navigating his boat directly into Hurricane Laura.

Ten years later, viewers find him residing in the small town of Iron Lake, New York, and keeping his Dark Passenger at bay (what he calls his trigger to kill) by working as an assistant at a hunting shop and living alone in a remote cabin.

Dexter actually has a girlfriend, the local sheriff (Julia Jones), and is a well-respected member of the community, but life changes when his estranged, now teenage son Harrison (Jack Alcott) shows up to complicate his life.

Despite what one might consider a quiet, idyllic and neighborly surrounding, Dexter manages to get himself back into killing mode after a clumsy hunter poaches a coveted deer, and a drug dealer infringes on his and his son’s lives.

Further complicating matters is a local businessman Kurt Caldwell (a menacing Clancy Brown), father of the dead hunter, who has an agenda much more sinister than Dexter’s killing of the bad guys.

The series shines thanks to plenty of nail-biting, wrenching moments in an often razor-tense story and, just as fun, the return of Dexter’s fiery but dead sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) talking to the killer and acting as his very aggressive conscious.

Viewers and mainly fans may find the ending as shocking as his kills but will not be sorry to dive into Dexter’s latest world.

Best extras: Viewers first get three very short promotional featurettes (roughly two minutes each and spread throughout the discs) covering the return of Dexter, the appearance of Debra and his famous kill rooms.

Next, and the best of the bonus content, is a 30-minute retrospective of the show that, be forewarned, includes spoilers while also mainly covering the new series with interviews from Mr. Hall; John Lithgow (the Trinity Killer); Miss Carpenter; and writer and showrunner Clyde Phillips.

Fans will also appreciate owning the Steelbook edition.

The discs are easily extracted from a smooth and glossy metallic case that features a front cover panel filled nearly to the brim with snowflakes and Dexter’s creepy face. The back cover reveals a snowy, tree-filled landscape and a streak of blood splitting an icy roadway that leads to an isolated cabin.

The spread across the inner panel reveals another winter landscape with a full-bodied Dexter dressed in work overalls, holding an ax and splitting wood.

The Great: Season Two (Paramount Home Entertainment, rated R, 2.00:1 aspect ratio, 539 minutes, $25.99) — The streaming service Hulu bestowed upon fans of its popular fictional historical dramedy another set of shows covering the emergence of Catherine the Great (Elle Fanning) and the decline of her not-so-great, conniving and clueless husband Peter III (Nicholas Hoult). “Huzzah!”

The latest 10-episode story arc arrives on the woefully antiquated DVD format, spread out over four discs, and delivers another thick layer of satire and ribald shenanigans surrounding the all-mighty empress of Russia.

The narrative picks up from last season after Catherine initiates a coup against her husband and follows her ascent to power. She attempts to give her lower-class subjects a better life and fights against the entrenched Russian aristocracy every step of the way.

The Golden Globe-nominated pair of lead actors never disappoint, and they get ample support from Douglas Hodge as Catherine’s loyal general, Velementov; Sacha Dhawan as coup co-leader, Count Orlo; Adam Godley as the despicable Archbishop “Archie”; and even acting chameleon Gillian Anderson (reference her performance as Margaret Thatcher in “The Crown”) as Catherine’s mother Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp.

Best extras: Not only do owners get that subpar visual presentation, a real shame considering the gorgeous and lavish costuming and period-specific production layered through all of the interior palace locations, but the bonus content is nearly nonexistent.

Specifically, the extras show an unfunny gag reel and some deleted scenes. It would have been nice to get a featurette comparing some of the characters to their real historical counterparts or some of the actual history referenced in the series to create the story.