The Pretender – The Complete Fourth Season
Picture: C+
Sound: B- Extras: C Episodes: C
The Pretender is one of those shows that had
some good ideas and the right lead in Michael T. Weiss, but never really took
off like it should have. It was a
moderate hit for four seasons, but the conclusions were too pat following a
show that had so much more potential.
Jarod (Weiss) had been raised in a secret institution because he had an
exceptionally high I.Q. and thus, here is another crazy government
experiment. He escapes and is chased Fugitive-style
until the conclusion of the show.
However, it is never as exciting as the classic and Weiss
is never quite the chameleon the show would like to think, though the plainness
of his looks would help him do most of what he does during the show convincing
enough. He is even at The Centre at the
beginning of this season, but it is so badly done and so sloppy that it becomes
a sign of bad things to come. Sure, he
shows his kindness throughout the series helping the helpless, but we have seen
just about all of this before. Weiss is
the right star for the show, but everyone who is related comes out of the
woodwork and the show ends on a sort of tired whimper. This was the 1999 – 2000 season and that
“millennium mania” was kicking in, but the show at least ignored that
foolishness. As a result, this set is
for diehard fans only.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is older
digital HD shooting with the old HD lenses’ limits most noticeable, plus limited
colors and definition issues. It never
looks as good as Profiler, a show that it once crossed-over with and was
not quite as good as. The Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo with just barely enough Pro Logic surrounds to make that kind of
playback worth it. Extras include three
featurettes, including a two-parter on Jarod’s character that is meant to
celebrate and explain the character, and three audio commentary tracks.
- Nicholas Sheffo
