This third and final season of “Body of Proof” has its hiccups, and the crimes themselves aren’t unique and could be transplanted to any number of shows but thanks to a brilliant cast led by Dana Delaney, it mostly succeeds. The DVD released by Buena Vista is pretty basic with the bonus materials while the audio/video transfers are merely adequate.
Body of Proof: The Complete Third Season (2012-13)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Crime, Drama, Mystery
Buena Vista | TV14 – 559 min. – $39.99 | June 18, 2013
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: Various
Writer(s): Christopher Murphey (created by)
Cast: Dana Delaney, Mark Valley, Jeri Ryan, Geoffrey Arend, Windell Middlebrooks
DISC INFO:
Features: Featurettes, Gag Reel
Number of Discs: 3
Audio: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Region(s): 1
THE MOVIE – 3.5/5
The third, and final, season of “Body of Proof” opens three months following the tragic events with the death of her partner and confidant Peter Dunlop, Megan Hunt (DANA DELANEY) is still reeling but refuses to show it to others and is eager to get back to work, much to the surprise, and concern, of Kate Murphy (JERI RYAN), her boss and Chief Medical Examiner in Philadelphia who this season mulls at a run for congress.
Still aiding her are the show’s comic reliefs in Ethan (GEOFFREY AREND) and Curtis (WINDELL MIDDLEBROOKS), both whiz’s in the lab, digging up clues found on the corpses brought in. New this season, and a replacement for Peter, is Detective Tommy Sullivan (MARK VALLEY), a transfer from the NYPD and an old flame of Megan’s that ended badly 20 years ago.
This season finds Megan and Tommy investigating some of the more unusual cases from a convicted murderer released on a technicality; a street girl found dead with a crude C-section done post-mortem and the prime suspect happens to be Kate’s new flame; another case finds Tommy being framed for murder and it’s up to Megan to prove his innocence; and finally, in the season opener, the two-part episode has Megan’s daughter (MARY MOUSER) kidnapped and the person responsible requiring Megan to follow their directions.
Also at heart this season is a story arc involving the supposed suicide of Megan’s father. While her mother wants to leave it well enough alone believing he had committed suicide, Megan refuses to give up and with Tommy’s help, goes through the evidence including the note. This storyline ultimately concludes in the series finale which, although rushed, at least brings closure rather than a cliffhanger that would never get resolved, a trait I find annoying with programs on the renewal cusp.
“Body of Proof” The Complete Third Season is entertaining with its strong suit being with characters 
rather than storylines which could’ve easily been transplanted into any number of other crime-dramas out there. Dana Delaney has many good moments throughout this season and the addition of Mark Valley (early “Fringe” season one episodes) makes for a fun combo alongside the other supporting cast members including the beautiful Jeri Ryan. Although it ended too soon, the three seasons it did have provided for some solid television entertainment.
Episodes:
1. Abducted (Part 1)
2. Abducted (Part 2)
3. Lost Souls
4. Mob Mentality
5. Eye for an Eye
6. Fallen Angel
7. Skin and Bones
8. Doubting Tommy
9. Disappearing Act
10. Committed
11. Dark City
12. Breakout
13. Daddy Issues
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.75/5
This release comes with a glossy, title-embossed, slip cover.
Getting the Shot (4:17) provides insight from the cast into the process of the director-of-photography and his job in making the show look as good as it does.
VFX the Ultimate Makeover (3:11) – This featurette shows some of the post-production work such as transforming Los Angeles into Philadelphia and going the extra mile for some shots of the corpses.
All Kinds of Props (5:32) looks at the on-set props and the work that goes into creating them.
Creating the World (5:30) delves into the people involved in getting an episode made.
Body of Goofs (4:58) is your typical gag reel with flubbed lines and on-set antics.
VIDEO – 4.0/5
The video transfer for Contagion, on a 25GB single-layered disc, looks alright but as with many of Soderbergh’s other films, they don’t necessarily benefit from HD. Here, the movie goes from cold blues to warmer oranges and yellows and while the transfer itself is clean and free of artifacting and other flaws, it doesn’t exactly have the wow factor. That said, it’s fine but falls short of amazing.
AUDIO – 3.75/5
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA track similarly doesn’t particularly stand out especially since this is very much a dialogue-driven film. Where it does excel is during Cliff Martinez’s great score (which I have on my iPod) and certain sequences where the LFE frequency picks up and the floor starts to shake slightly. This is a satisfactory lossless audio track and should please most home theater owners.
OVERALL – 3.5/5
Overall, this third and final season of “Body of Proof” has its hiccups, and the crimes themselves aren’t unique and could be transplanted to any number of shows but thanks to a brilliant cast led by Dana Delaney, it mostly succeeds. The DVD released by Buena Vista is pretty basic with the bonus materials while the audio/video transfers are merely adequate.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 06/25/201