I never watched SVU when it first premiered on TV. In fact, I
had never even heard of the series until I accidentally came across some reruns
on the USA Network one night. Initially, I mistook it as an episode of the
original Law & Order series, and for the first few seconds wondered who the hell
Benson and Stabler were, and where was Detective Lenny Briscoe? This was January
of 2004, when USA was running the third season episodes--the majority of which I
had considered classics of this series, and were the main reason why I got
hooked on SVU. That, and the fact that Detective Olivia Benson, played by
Mariska Hargitay, became one of my favorite TV characters literally overnight. I
loved Benson’s tough, sassy style in the third year, and her superb chemistry
with Christopher Meloni’s rugged Detective Elliot Stabler made them both a
fascinating team to watch.
Thankfully, Universal has finally released the Third Year of Special Victim’s
Unit on DVD. Where the second season can be considered the beginning of SVU’s
golden age, with the introduction of Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) as John Munch’s partner and
Alex Cabot (Stephanie March) as the unit’s permanent ADA, the third season plugs along confidently
at full speed ahead with a great selection of well-written and well-acted
episodes. B.D. Wong finally joins the cast on a regular basis as Dr. George
Huang, the unit’s resident psychiatric expert and FBI agent. And judging from
some of the cases the SVU will deal with in the third season, they’ll need
Huang’s help. A kidnapped infant leads Benson and Stabler to a baby selling ring
in Stolen, while the SVU squad tries to stop a serial rapist in Rooftop. A case
makes Benson face her past in Inheritance, while Benson and Stabler try to
figure out whodunit--and why--when a prominent doctor is murdered and his wife
is raped in Entangled.
Benson becomes the center of attention--as well as a target--in Wrath, while the
repressed memories of an 18 year old woman tear a family apart in Repression.
Ridicule is an interesting episode, not only for its wild plot twists, but also
for one of its guest stars who would soon be a very familiar face on SVU. Dann
Florek finally gets to shine when an old case comes back to haunt Captain Cragen
in Stolen. Olivia finds herself working with Fin on
a Counterfeit case, while Stephanie March turns in a brava performance when Alex takes the law into her own
hands in order to catch a nervy perv in order to assauage
her Guilt. Stabler, Benson and the rest of the SVU
squad hunt down the stalker of a talented young cellist in Surveillance, and
in Justice, an unknown murder victim turns out to be the stepdaughter of a judge.
Elliot's faith in his church is severely tested in Silence, while a
case involving a female heroin attic becomes personal for Fin in Denial.
My happiness at finally having these classic SVU episodes on DVD is tempered by
the fact that this DVD set has no special features whatsoever. I can't help but
wonder if the fact that the third season premiered shortly after the tragic
events of 9/11 had something to do with this. Indeed, the premiere of this
season was actually delayed for a time, which was understandable, considering
the monumental events that took place. The first batch of SVU episodes, starting
with Repression, were already shot prior to 9/11, but they were still shooting
new episodes throughout the year following September 11, 2001, and they even
make mention of the attacks in several episodes (look for whenever the SVU
detectives flash their ID, and you'll see a black band across their badges,
commemorating the fallen).
Any retrospective documentary of the third season would be remiss without
mentioning the attacks, and perhaps the Powers That Be decided it was better to
leave that story untold, at least for now. Of course, this is just conjecture on
my part. For die-hard SVU fans, this is still a DVD set well worth owning. Because we
can enjoy 23 episodes of Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit
from the third season, back when the series was hitting its creative stride.
--SF
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