The story is as simplistic as can be. Jack is stuck in a future where the evil Aku rules. Jack wanders the world in search of a time portal where he can go back to the past and defeat Aku. Along his journey Jack faces killer robots and meets friendly helpers such as the Scotsman.

There is no denying that "Samurai Jack" is one of the best looking animated shows to hit the small screen. Much like in Genndy Tartakovsky's "Clone Wars" series, the episodes contain bundles of lush locales and inventive shots/styles. It's basically an animation fans dream come true.

The action is equally stunning. Despite episodes having longer than needed action build ups or filler (do we really need to see 3 minutes of water dripping or thumb wrestling?), the action is fast and furious. Whether Jack controls a giant Samurai robot in a Godzilla-esque battle or fights a horde of robot bounty hunters, each battle is unique. No two battles are ever alike.

The show is not without flaws. What "Samurai Jack" sorely needs is more of a story. Having Jack wander the world and defeat robot crabs and bounty hunters and save people is fun for awhile, but not for four seasons. Suffice to say, you are left wanting more. "Avatar: The Last Airbender" has shown how epic and grand animated kids shows can be by creating massive story arcs and deep characterization. In addition, Jack is wildly uneven in tone. Some episodes like "Samurai Versus Ninja" are deadly serious, while others like "Scotsman Saves Jack" are nothing more than a self-parody with more "Star Wars" references than you can shake a stick at.

The 13 episodes of season 4:

XL: Samurai versus Ninja

XLI: Robo-Samurai versus Mondo Bot

XLII: Samurai versus Samurai

XLIII: The Aku Infection

XLIV: The Princess And The Bounty Hunters

XLV: Scotsman Saves Jack (Part 1 of 2)

XLVI: Scotsman Saves Jack (Part 2 of 2)

XLVII: Jack And The Flying Prince And Princess

XLVIII: Jack versus Aku

XLIX: The 4 Seasons Of Death

L: Tale Of X9

LI: Young Jack In Africa

LII: Jack And The Baby

The stand-out episodes are "The Aku Infecion" and "The Princess And The Bounty Hunters." The Infection episode was an intriguing "Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde" tale about Jack turning into an Aku like monster. The episode clearly contrasts both good and evil. The Bounty Hunter episode was a nice departure as the episode focused entirely on 6 Bounty Hunters planning a trap for Jack.

The worst episode is hands down "Jack Versus Aku." What made the episode so frustrating is that the story could have been resolved in this one episode. Instead of Jack trying to destroy Aku (which is his life goal) and save the world from death and destruction, he and Aku are too busy playing hide-and-seek games. A bad move on the writers part.

The DVD

Video:
Aside from blurry edges and a few noticeable lines in the background, the full screen picture quality perfectly captures the variety of colors in the landscapes, weather, character designs, and everything in between. Note: The show sometimes converts to widescreen for a few shots. I personally wish the show was entirely in widescreen as it looks more cinematic.

Sound: The disk includes an outstanding English: Dolby Stereo 2.0 track. The music, dialogue, background noises, and especially the action are rich in sound and only amplify the excitement. The sound team certainly went all out in creating a detailed and exciting world for Samurai Jack to explore. French: Dolby Stereo 2.0 and Spanish: Dolby Stereo 2.0 tracks were the other 2 audio options.

Extras: 1. Samurai Jack Promos

2. A deleted scene from L: Tale Of X9. Aside from a few sentences, the audio is unfinished and the scene is little more than an extended cut.

3. A 4 minute extra titled "Genndy's New Projects." Genndy takes us inside his new animation studio (Oprhanage) and shows off artwork from an upcoming Viking series and a family show. The Viking series looks very promising. One can hope we will get more details on these projects shortly.

4. A 53 minute "Genndy's Roundtable" discussion between 7 crew members who worked on character designs, scripts, storyboards, coloring, etc. The 7 talk about how they came together and how challenging the show was in that each episode took place in a new location. A few clips from the show were shown followed by a discussion on everything from designs to color in that particular episode. At the end of the discussion, Genndy talks about how he was burnt out by all the work and decided to end the show without resolving anything. He hopes to make a feature length film that will conclude the story.

5. English, French, Spanish languages or subtitles.

Final Thoughts:
"Samurai Jack" season 4 is a breathtaking stylistic achievement, but ultimately rather empty in the storytelling department. Certainly worth a rent for animation aficionados.

Film and television enthusiast Nick Lyons recently had his first book published titled "Attack of the Sci-Fi Trivia." It is available on Amazon.com.