Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: The 4th Year (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

In the criminal justice system, sexually based offences are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Nowadays, it isn´t common to see the words "CSI" or "Law & Order" in front of a television show´s title. You can probably credit "Special Victims Unit" and its success as the reason networks find it easy to greenlight spin-offs of their police procedurals into highly regarded franchises. In a rare instance, "SVU" eventually went on to receive higher ratings than its progenitor as well as garnering multiple nominations and wins at the Emmys and Golden Globes. "SVU" follows the same formula that the original "Law & Order" does. Each episode takes the following steps of crime, investigation, arrest, and conviction. Also, the subject matter of each episode (for both shows) has usually been ripped from the headlines, taking inspiration from recent crimes or hot-button topics. Unlike its predecessor, "SVU" centers on a specialized police division in New York City, the Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex-based crimes such as rape and molestation.

The lead detectives on the unit are Det. Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and Det. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay). Stabler is a former Marine and sometimes finds himself taking cases, especially those involving children, very personally as a family man and father of five kids. Benson is a dedicated and driven police officer. She is incredibly sympathetic to the victims due to the fact that she was born from the rape of her mother. Their fellow investigators in the SVU are Det. John Munch (Richard Belzer) and his partner, Det. Fin Tutuola (Ice-T). Munch is a unique character as I can´t think of many other fictional characters that have appeared on multiple shows. Munch began as a detective for the Baltimore Police on "Homicide: Life on the Streets." When that show ended, he was transferred to NY´s SVU. He´s also appeared on the original "Law & Order", fellow spin-off "Law & Order: Trial by Jury", "The X-Files" and "Arrested Development." Belzer brings a glib and dry sense of humor to the character in contrast to his partner. Former rapper Ice-T doesn´t have to try hard to bring an intense edge to Tutuola. The partners tend to clash sometimes due to Tutuola´s right-wing, black and white views compared to Munch´s liberal leanings. The station commander is Capt. Don Cragen (Dann Florek) who was a part of the first "Law & Order" during its first three seasons and is one of the only original characters featured in the "Law & Order" franchise. Cragen is more of a father figure to his detectives in comparison to the stereotype of the abrasive captain. The SVU usually work their cases with Dr. George Huang (B.D. Wong), an FBI agent and the resident psychiatrist who provides an assessment of a suspect´s mental stability, and Alexandra Cabot (Stephanie March), the Assistant District Attorney who is hard-nosed about obeying the law to the letter when it comes to obtaining a conviction.

The show´s appeal is due in no small part to its simplistic formula. As I stated earlier, the series is incredibly compelling while written in an easy-to-follow fashion, but not without several twists and turns. You can also count the self-contained nature of "SVU" as another winning trait of the show. A lot of other shows like "24", "Lost" and "Heroes" take a more serialized approach. It´s difficult to jump right into the show if you´ve missed a few episodes. You´ll find yourself having to play catch up while untangling all the various subplots. "SVU" usually doesn´t dabble in recurring storylines or running subplots. It´s easier to jump right in and you´re not required to watch episodes in order. This is good for fans as Universal, for whatever odd reasons, released the fifth season before the fourth.

That´s been corrected as year four of the show is now available in this 5-disc DVD set. The episodes are available as follows:

-Disc 1-
Chameleon – The detectives track down the murderer of a prostitute until he´s shot to death by his next victim. However, she may not be as helpless and innocent as initially believed.

Deception – Benson and Stabler investigate an alleged affair between a famous actress and her under aged stepson.