Day Break – The Complete Series (BCI Eclipse DVD)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: B     Episodes: B-

 

 

Day Break was an ABC-TV network series that premiered late in 2006 and at first showed great promise, but with ratings that quickly crashed through the floor shortly after the series’ pilot episode; the series was just as quickly canceled.

 

The series is complicated and its downfall may have been trying to be too unique.  The series stars actor Taye Diggs as Detective Brett Hopper who has just been recently framed for the murder of State Attorney Albert Garza.  The twist, however, is that Hopper is stuck in some kind of time loop in which he gets to relive that same day over and over again.  Hopper quickly realizes he is in this ‘time loop’ and chooses his actions and words accordingly, along the way searching out the people who framed him, saving his loved ones, and gathering the crew of witnesses that will set him free.  Each day Hopper wakes up to watch his clock turn from 6:17am to 6:18am, but even though it is the same day as before he now has the advantage of all the knowledge he previously gained with the disadvantage of any injuries sustained in that time.  If Hopper figures out or makes a difference in the day that he is attempting to change, it will affect the rest of his days and related events will be altered.  The series had an interesting concept, but in the end felt way too convoluted for a series that just did not manage to captivate its audience.

 

This reviewer likes Taye Diggs as an actor, but found this series draining.  The viewer goes into the series expecting to find a unique mix of 24, X-Files, and Ground Hog Day but instead comes out knowing that that mixture just leaves a bad taste in your mouth.  With the exception of Taye Diggs this reviewer did not care for any of the actors, feeling them to be quite bland and/or stereotypical of what they thought the role ‘should be.’  The series created an idea that was meant to standout as a mystery/action/thriller but failed in the sense that it did nothing to make that timeslot its own.  Day Break was seen by ABC as such a dragging concept that it only aired 6 of the 13 filmed episodes; that has to tell you something.  By morning you would have forgotten about this series.

 

The technical features on this 4-Disc set are adequate and consistent with most television box sets that are arriving on DVD today.  The picture is presented as a 1.78 X 1 Anamorphic Widescreen that has a crisp picture, but does display a degree of light/dark as well as contrast issues.  The sound is slightly more solid than the picture in its Dolby Digital 5.1 Surrounds, giving the actions sequences the ‘boom’ they need to be effective.  The extras are surprisingly nice for a short run series such as this.  The extras include 15 audio commentaries on all 13 episodes, cast and crew interviews, behind the scenes footage, and photo galleries.  The amazing amount of extras that are presented here on a series that only lasted 13 episodes leads to one of two conclusions; either they thought the series was going to be a hit and filmed early or they knew this series would not be seen on video for a long time again, so do it now.

 

‘For every decision there is a consequence’ and apparently Day Break is facing those consequences.

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II