Series: The Dresden Files was originally a series of novels (Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight, Death Masks, Blood Rites, Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, and White Night) by author Jim Butcher. The novels detail a wizard for hire in Chicago that solves crimes as a private detective with a dark past, using his special abilities to stumble into answers while avoiding the fate of his gifted relatives, most of whom met their untimely demise thanks to various schemes. The television show is not perfectly faithful to the novels though at this writing, the show has been cancelled and fans would do well to check out the books as they are more carefully constructed, using less of the corporate mentality the broadcast medium is known for, and the darker Harry certainly has more depth thanks to the written medium of the books.

The basic story of the television show is this; Harry is haunted by a past that includes using dark magic to slay his uncle, a powerful wizard with ambitious goals, in what his associate Bob routinely suggests was self defense (as in: "You self defensed him to death"). He has a small shop in a slightly seedy part of town, accessible to people of lesser means as well as a police Lt that has caught his eye named Connie Murphy. She is the hardnosed daughter of a tough city cop, picking up where he left off and it is made clear that while she doesn't understand "how" Harry helps her cases, she considers him an invaluable resource for doing so, despite his unorthodox methods that cause her colleagues to laugh at her behind her back. Still, ever the pragmatic type, she bases her belief system in results and as long as Harry provides them, she makes no bones about getting the unsolvable cases, albeit knowing there is more to Harry than meets the eye.

Harry is generally viewed by the majority of people he meets as a grafter of sorts; a man playing off the sense of desperation his clients usually have since he is typically the last stop on their list of people to enlist for assistance. The only wizard in the phonebook, Harry does not come cheap but his natural talents lend themselves to his pursuit of his hero complex; the man trying to prove as much to himself that he works for the betterment of mankind than his uncle. Killing said uncle using black magic saddled him with a number of issues; including his own self doubt (the use of such arts is considered like a heroin habit; extreme tough to break away from once you start) as well as the wrath of the local warden of the High Council; a group of powerful wizards that force others to follow the rules established by generations of gifted wizards over the years. This warden is Donald Morgan, a man much like Harry in terms of pure power but self righteous since he has never broken down to use the darker side as Harry did. Morgan carries a grudge against Harry for doing so, believing the detective got off lightly on the charge and punishes him in any way he can as the opportunity arises (much like the usual television cop always seems to sneer at those out on parole).

Harry is not completely alone in his struggles though as he "inherited" Bob with the death of his uncle. Bob is a spirit forced to live in a purgatory state via his own skull by the High Council for using black magic. As the series opens, it is clear that the initial reason being something akin to world domination is not quite right, though the reasoning of the Council is plainly clear before the season is over with as Bob spills his guts in an unusually candid self expository moment that I won't spoil for you. He is hundreds of years old and has the elitist mentality of a royal noble, coming across as somewhat effeminate though thoroughly educated in booth the arts as well as modern reasoning. Harry uses his abilities to assist with solving cases as well as relies on the man as a mentor of sorts, though it is clear that the wizard has some trust issues with the spirit even though they come across as friends most of the time. Bob lends a unique perspective to the series and while he sometimes "cheats" a little bit, he generally follows the rules these days; still fearful of what Morgan and the Council might do to him.

In any case, Harry is about as competent a crime fighter as he is a wizard; he has all the natural instincts and abilities but fumbles in their daily use as he is more likely to simply stir antagonists up to the point where they attack him and he defends himself using luck as much as skill. He brandishes a hockey stick as his powerful staff (it is Chicago after all) and has a working knowledge of the major players in the geographical location having lived there for years since traveling with his father's magic road show. Like many such shows airing over the last twenty years, Harry is subjected to flashbacks detailing significant points in his life that impact current cases, typically relied on by the writer's as a crutch a bit too often but still handled moderately well. Each hour long episode of the twelve part set follows the same basic principle of most television detectives; a problem arises, it gets Harry's attention, the police get involved, and Harry uses his magic at the last moment to solve the case after nearly getting himself and others killed. The nods to film noir are common and while we've seen it all before, I admit that the chemistry shown by actor Paul Blackthorne (Harry) with Valerie Cruz (Murphy) and Terrence Mann (Bob) combined well with the writing to the extent that I wish a second season was possible, or at least a series of television movies. The relationship between Harry and Morgan (Conrad Coates) was also just getting interesting and a few threads worth deeper exploration would have suited me but it does not appear meant to be (the principles have moved on to other projects).

The history of modern television is replete with shows cancelled before their time, especially after getting lame time slots or having the running order of the episodes monkeyed with (both factors in the demise of Firefly) and this type of show is the kind that needs to be nurtured in order to reach its fullest potential but the limited run on the Sci-Fi Channel was as predictable as the low end budgets on the Canadian sets it was shot in so it is lucky that the creator of the books is still churning them out at a decent pace (I have yet to read more than a little bit of them but all indications are that he is a very talented guy and the books are "better" by a wide margin). The actual use of magic was downplayed in the series and as much as I liked the show, there were always plot holes or unexplained breaks with the established set of supernatural rules as the writers probably did not have a cannon of guidelines to follow as with other series in science fiction/fantasy to go by. In all then, the recent release was worth a rating of Recommended by me, a higher rating held back because the lack of the original unaired pilot in the set and the relatively light extras on the three disc set. The order it was shown in was the same as it aired on cable rather than the originally planned structure (no one associated with the show has claimed the order of episodes as shown impacted the viewing experience or what they were going for but I still wanted the pilot included).

Season One Episode Guide:

1) Birds of a Feather (1/21/2007)
2) The Boone Identity (1/28/2007)
3) Hair of the Dog (2/11/2007)
4) Rules of Engagement (2/18/2007)
5) Bad Blood (2/25/2007)
6) Soul Beneficiary (3/4/2007)
7) Walls (3/11/2007)
8) Storm Front (3/18/2007)
9) The Other Dick (3/25/2007)
10) What About Bob (4/1/2007)
11) Things That Go Bump (4/8/2007)
12) Second City (4/15/2007)

Picture: The Dresden Files was presented in 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color as shot by various directors and aired on cable television on the Sci-Fi Channel earlier this year. I know a lot of syndicated shows on cable look really weak these days but this one was a cut above the pack in many ways, The fleshtones were accurate, the amount of grain minimal, and the lighting gave the show the right look for the darker nature of the material at hand. The special effects were definitely on the cheesy side but used sparingly so they did not really cause problems; coming across as a natural extension of the overall dynamic quite well. I saw no compression artifacts or edge enhancement, the DVD looking even better than the cable airing for me by a significant margin (to the delight of this fan). But for the supernatural elements of the show, it would have easily fit in on prime time network television, albeit on the low end of the scale in some minor ways.

Sound: The audio was presented in a 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround English with no subtitles, using a 448 Kbps bitrate. While not particularly aggressive, there was a decent amount of use in the rear channels when called for, typically during an action sequence or when the ambience of a scene needed it. The separation of the channels was noticed much more readily than when the show aired on cable and the clarity almost made me forget it was a low budget Sci-Fi Channel release thanks to the way the moody music and vocals fused together to instill the proper setting each time. There were a few parts that seemed rushed but overall, it was a fine aural experience and a step forward compared to many other shows shot in Canada.

Extras: As a twelve episode, three disc set, I really did not expect a lot of extras but there were some notable ones to go with here all the same. There was a paper insert detailing some basic facts about the episodes (writer, director, airing date, order of the episodes, and which disc had which episode) as well as an advertisement for the upcoming hardcover version of the first novel by Jim Butcher in the series (White Night). The first disc had a few minutes of deleted scenes from Rules of Engagement and Hair of the Gog; neither of which added a whole lot to the bigger picture though Morgan's dealing with the devil in the former was interesting all the same. The audio commentary by Paul Blackthorne (Harry Dresden), director Michael Grossman, and writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe on Rules of Engagement was a lot of fun and made me appreciate it all the more for taking all three of the pivotal contributors to the episode and putting them together. Fans will understand when I say that while it was a casual discussion where they all seemed to want to add in a lot of stuff, they managed to provide some ideas as to where the series could have gone. The second disc had no extras at all, surprisingly enough given the wealth of opportunities a commentary track could have had on any of the four episodes, but the third disc showed some promise with a second audio commentary by Paul Blackthorne (Harry Dresden), director Michael Grossman, and writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe on Things That Go Bump. It was clear that they did not figure the series would be picked up by a few of the comments (or at very least, they doubted it even while hoping they would be wrong, but they seemed relaxed in their roles here, almost as if resigned to the fates as to what would happen). There was also an 18:11 minute long feature called Inside the Dresden Files where Robert Hewitt Wolfe took the lead as clips played, with a few of the other production crew given the nod as well while they described the process of making the show.

Final Thoughts: The Dresden Files: The Complete First Season was a show that grew on me months back as I watched Battlestar Galactica during its late night run on Sunday Nights. Paul Blackthorne was perfectly cast as the wizard detective, as were all the leading roles of the show, the writing and direction of the episodes showcasing the potential of the series better than anything I could speak of in this short review. As a latecomer to the world of Harry Dresden, I will be picking up the novels soon to enjoy and hope the television series gets a renewed release on life after a brief hiatus as other genre shows have received in recent years, though a series of movies would suffice in presenting the alternative universe the TV show presents just as well. In short, The Dresden Files: The Complete First Season was the latest result of corporate decision makers dropping the ball but given the time slot and lack of promotion, I doubt many people really expected the show to continue past this set of twelve episodes. I just hope that a future release will include the unaired pilot episode and even more commentaries seeing as how this one offered up so much potential compared to shows that were really lame but given ample time to develop. Give it a look if you're a genre fan though and I think you'll be happy.