Watching an episode of Tell Me You Love Me is a real roller coaster of emotions. At once uplifting and empowering and agonizing, the show is difficult to define. Yes, there is a lot of sex but the show is also about, relationships, work, family, and faith. As creator Cynthia Mort says on the commentary for episode one, in her view Tell Me You Love Me is pro-family and pro-monogamy. Despite all the sex, the only pair who cheats is Hugo and Jamie, who are not married and their relationship is on the rocks. At its heart, the show is about making relationships work.

The filming style of Tell Me You Love Me creates a sense of unmitigated reality. There is a close, voyeuristic style to the production that makes you feel like you're in the scene with each character. The best example comes in episode four during a therapy session with Katie and Dave. Dave, who has always appeared to be this sort of mild-mannered guy, all of a sudden lets out a laundry list of reasons why he's not interested in sex — picking out the right apple juice, reading the kids to bed, etc. During his tirade, the camera comes as close to his face as possible in one continuous take. It's a spare, brutally honest moment.

The show is brutally honest. Everything is sparse. There is no soundtrack. The viewer is forced to remain completely trained on the characters, their expressions, their movements. If you watch Tell Me You Love Me with an open mind, you just might find someone you know, or a little bit of yourself in one of the characters. In this age of "reality" television, Tell Me You Love Me is one of the most realistic shows I've seen in a long time.

Presented in a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, the first season episodes come across just as Cynthia Mort wants them to: realistic, ordinary. The show was shot using handheld Super 16 cameras. Audio is provided in English 5.1 and Spanish 2.0. Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Tell Me You Love Me - The Complete First Season includes four commentary tracks. Episode one features creator Cynthia Mort talking about her inspiration and ideas for the show. She discusses a lot of the technical aspects of things; how they shot scenes, where they shot them, etc.

Episode 4 features a commentary by Ally Walker and Tim DeKay. They discuss their experiences shooting the show and talk about their real lives.

Episode 7 features a boring commentary from Michelle Borth and Luke Farrell Kirby. Kirby just doesn't say much here. The both seem tickled pink to be watching themselves on screen.

Episode 8 features a commentary with Adam Scott and Sonya Walger. They talk about a prosthetic penis for Palek and mention that the commentary is being recorded before the show premieres.

Each episode includes a synopsis screen as well as the "previously on..." recap segments.