Q: What's worse than a complete season of a mediocre reality TV series?
A: Less than a third of the season, presented out of chronological order!

That's what fans of Inked, a fly-on-the-wall portrait of the Las Vegas-based Hart & Huntington Tattoo Company, have to look forward to with A&E's upcoming Best of Season 1 collection. Perhaps the "mediocre" bit was a bit too harsh, though: in all honesty, such a judgment stems from my relative unfamiliarity with the subject. I'm not a huge fan of tattoos, though I can respect the art and skill involved in creating them---but despite this respect, it's hard for me to feel "at home" with those that do it for a living.

The story of the company---in short, the first of its kind based inside an actual casino---is interesting enough, as are some of the people that frequent the shop. What bogs this series down---at least from what I've seen in this collection---is the attitude of the staff. Most of the personal stories of customers (basically, why they're getting the tattoos done) is interesting enough, but Inked spends far too much time focusing on the employees' image and cocky behavior. We know they're trying to sell an image, but their personal lives and egos are often placed far above their work---and while that's arguably the appeal of most reality shows, it really defeats the purpose of bothering with such an unusual environment.

To be fair, though, their arrogance doesn't always get in the way of a decent story. As a bit of an artist myself---though a pencil is my medium of choice---it was great to see a few of the artists in action (Thomas Pendleton, for example), either sketching away or doing the actual inking. No matter if you love or hate tattoos, it takes serious skill to do it right…so for those interested in giving or receiving 'em, Inked might be an interesting way to get introduced. I can't say I enjoyed the series enough to watch it regularly, but there's obviously an audience out there.

Again, though, it's this very same audience that'll undoubtedly walk away disappointed with The Best of Season 1. While I haven't seen enough of the series to comment either way, leaving out two-thirds of a season is always a bad move. To make matters worse, what's included here is presented out of chronological order, so it'll annoy new viewers and die-hard fans alike. Just for the record, included here are "Pull It Together, Dizzle", "The Trouble with Quinn", "Love on the Rocks", "Get a Leg Up, Thomas", "The Big E-vent", "Trouble in Paradise", "Change of Hart" and "Old School, Nu Skool". Here's how the rest of this release stacks up:

Not surprising for the network, these episodes are presented in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratio and look relatively good. Colors are a bit dull but accurate, while the overall image quality is roughly on par with most comparable shows in the genre. The English 2.0 Stereo mix is of the same quality---it's nothing to write home about, but certainly good enough to get the job done. Unfortunately, no optional subtitles or Closed Captions have been included with this release.

As a reality series, Inked just didn't do it for me. It's certainly not a bad show overall---and again, the premise itself is fairly promising---but it simply caters to a limited audience that I can't identify with. That's not the real issue here, though: even if you enjoy Inked and wouldn't mind having it on DVD, a "best of" collection is never a real substitute for actual season sets. Cast participation (commentaries, interviews, etc.) may have helped round out this release, but The Best of Season One is nothing more than a lazy effort that fans should ignore completely. Skip It.