A year after releasing the fifth season of SVU on the heels of
the first season box set, Universal finally gets back on track by bringing
out the second season of Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit. With the second
season of SVU, we begin to see the formation of the present day SVU team that we
know and love. The first episode, "Wrong Is Right", deals with the murder of a
pedophile with connections to a secretive defense contractor, but the episode is
really more notable for introducing Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot as
the devoted prosecutor for the SVU. Stephanie March is excellent as the
hard-driving Cabot, an ambitious and somewhat icy woman who at first sees the
ADA job as a stepping stone to bigger things, yet as the season goes on, Cabot
eventually shows a softer side as she becomes just as compassionate and caring
as the SVU detectives.
"Wrong Is Right" is also noteworthy because it introduced yet another mainstay
character to the SVU canon: Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola, who would become
John Munch's (Richard Belzer) partner. Played to cool-headed perfection by
rapper Ice-T, Fin's introductory scene is a memorable one, as he enters the SVU
squad room on his very first day of work, only to discover that the detective
who greets him--Monique Jefferies--is the very same one whom he is replacing.
Ice-T's on-screen chemistry with Richard Belzer is pure gold; the scenes with
these two oddball characters--the laid back, street smart Fin and the paranoid,
conspiracy-loving Munch--are extremely fun to watch. "Pique", the second to last
episode of the second season, deals with a rather disturbing relationship
between a mother and her adult son. Yet this episode is more famous for
introducing Dr. George Huang, the FBI psychiatrist played by B.D. Wong, to the
SVU universe. Wong is a superb choice in bringing the sensitive, dedicated Huang to
life. He's very credible in scenes where he has to sprout oftentimes-outrageous
psychiatric theories about a perp's behavior without coming off as silly or
overbearing.
As for the returning cast from the first season, the biggest change can be seen
in the character of Olivia Benson. Gone are the drab pantsuits and hairstyle in
exchange for a more stylish wardrobe, along with a shorter, spikier haircut.
These changes are more than superficial, as they suggest that Olivia is becoming
more settled in as a detective, more "comfortable in her own skin" so to speak,
to the point that she's developing a style of her own.
No longer the brash green rookie of the first season, Olivia is now far more
confident--although still no less bold in her actions--and Mariska Hargitay
continues to do a wonderful job at playing her. Christopher Meloni is also great
as Olivia's partner Elliot Stabler--the chemistry between Benson and Stabler is
as first-rate as ever--and Dann Florek is sturdy as always as Captain Donald
Cragen.
Outstanding episodes in this pack include "Closure: Part 2", which is a sequel
to a first season episode; "Noncompliance", where the prime suspect is
a schizophrenic man who refuses to take his medication; "Paranoia" peeks into
Benson's past as her former mentor becomes the victim of rape; "Countdown" is a
real nail biter about the SVU detectives trying to find a little girl in the
nick of time, and "Scourge" is a marvelous episode that has the SVU team
tracking a serial killer in the streets of New York City. The special features
are slightly better than the last two DVD sets, with viewers now having the
option of watching deleted scenes from certain episodes. There's also two
separate interviews with actors Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay--each
runs about five minutes apiece, as well as a fun look at the joke-filled,
free-wheeling atmosphere of the SVU set, and several other featurettes with
pretty slim running times (I'm still hoping to see an SVU blooper reel on one of
these SVU box sets sometime in the future). Still, as with the past two DVD
sets, the main reason to get this is the superb collection of episodes that
feature a great cast performing from intelligent, thoughtful scripts.
--SF
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