 "Great season, but one inaccuracy drove me crazy!" | 2008-07-07 |
| - Reviewed By dawsonstreet |
It's great to have the first two seasons on DVD--some of the episodes hadn't made it to TNT reruns (or if they did I missed them).
Most of the episodes in this season are compelling--but I did miss Greevey.
I found one inaccuracy so frustrating though. The episode where the child's body had been discovered after missing for 31 years had the child wearing a "Kennedy for President" button. The election was in 1960 and the child had been missing since October 1962, the year of the Cuban Missile crisis. Plus I believe this season was filmed around 1990, so if he was missing since 1962 that would have been 28 years...
Didn't anyone do a fact check (or a math check?) |
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| "Not fantastic like the first season, but still very good" | 2007-09-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1FV5LUUWMMAN5 |
| The second season of the wildly successful "Law & Order" franchise is much different than the first. Due to sponsors pulling out due to the program's content during the first season, the show severely toned down the dialogue and storylines for the second season. Also, George Dzundza quit after the first season. His character Max Greevey is killed by a hitman in the first episode (an uncredited actor played Greevey, the actor's face is never shown). Paul Sorvino would replace Dzundza and while the chemistry between him and Chris Noth is fine, it's not as good as Noth and Dzundza's. Plus to me, Sorvino doesn't really look like a cop. The rest of the cast returns for the second season. The L&O franchise's notorious "double dipping" starts this season as William H. Macy is back playing a different character than he did in Season One. All in all, while this season isn't the home run that the first season was, it's still very good and a worthwhile add to your DVD library. |
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| "Before casting was based on looks" | 2007-09-09 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1J2N6SSPT4XPO |
| Early Law & Order episodes had many cast changes for various reasons. Moriarity remains my favorite though. I always liked his film work and he is able to convey personality even when spouting procedural dialog. Chris Noth also energizes the show with his 'big' personality. What a mistake to fire him. At least he had the satisfaction of getting a role that lead to bigger fame. It's also interesting to compare the earlier Logan with the new one on the current L&O CI. Recently the show has sufferered from generic characters and mediocre acting. Watch the early seasons to see how riveting the show once was. |
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 "Sir, can I have some more?" | 2007-03-29 |
| - Reviewed By cbrellochs |
Entertainment combined with a little taste of ethics, politics, and general thought about life. Some of the episodes hit the nail on the head in examining social issues while others may not quite be right but at least make you start thinking about the issues.
I recently purchased and watched seasons 1-4; let's push for more to become available soon! |
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| "A LITTLE MORE DISORDER" | 2007-02-10 |
| - Reviewed By michaelbutts |
The second year of this marvelous series unfortunately is not as good as many of the others; the cast changes apparently come through in the production and acting, as evidenced by the interviews in the special features section.
However, the series continued to tackle sensitive and controversial subjects, and its cast is still a great ensemble. The episodes this season seemed a little less suspenseful and talky. The replacement of George Dzundza with Paul Sorvino also seemed to hurt. While Sorvino is a superb actor, he never really seemed to fit in with the rest of them, and Steven Hill's Schiff was a little more annoying in this season. But suffice to say, LAW AND ORDER changed the face of television in the early nineties and this season is still worth a look. |
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| "A slight change in formula - but still essential viewing" | 2006-03-25 |
| - Reviewed By calvinnme |
Season 2 of Law and Order saw the first departure of one of the main characters. The series was originally set to film in Los Angeles, but when creator Dick Wolf won his fight to shoot it in New York, actor George Dzundza did not want to relocate his family there, and this led to Dzundza leaving the show. Thus Dzunda's character, Max Greevey, is murdered at the beginning of the first episode of the season, "Confession", an episode that deals much more with the main characters' personal lives than is typical. For example, this is the only episode in which we actually see Greevey's wife. It also deals with the effect that the murder has on Greevey's partner, Mike Logan. This episode is the first appearance of Dr. Elizabeth Olivet, a clinical psychiatrist who performs consultation work for the 27th Police Precinct and District Attorney's office in Manhattan. In this case, she is working as a grief counselor and helping Logan deal with his partner's death. Her's is a recurring role that makes guest appearances until 1997. This episode is also the first appearance of Logan's new partner, Phil Cerrata, played by veteran actor Paul Sorvino.
Because of sponsors pulling support due to the controversial subjects tackled in the first season, the network suits got involved and demanded that the show be toned down. Thus the heated discussions on topical subjects that so commonly occurred between the various cast members during the first year's episodes and made for great dialogue were largely eliminated. Instead, the "ripped from the headline" format became much more commonly used. Often, starting in this season, you'll see a particular episode that is clearly borrowed from a prominent murder case. However, the outcome of the case is often different than what actually occurred in the case from which the script was borrowed. To quote the show's creator Dick Wolf - "We take the headline, not the body copy, because the first half of the show is supposed to be a murder mystery and the second half is usually a moral mystery...it's not supposed to be the actual case".
Among the more interesting guest appearances is Jerry Orbach as a defense attorney in "The Wages of Love". Jerry Orbach goes on to play wise-cracking detective Lenny Briscoe from the middle of season three until the end of season 14. "Aria" is the first appearance of Tovah Feldshuh as high-powered defense attorney Danielle Melnick. Melnick is a recurring character throughout the series, doggedly devoted to defending her clients to the point that 11 years later she is willing to go to jail for her principles and is shot by friends of the client she is trying to defend.
The stand-out episodes include "Vengeance", in which an ex-con who is doing the medical billing for a gynecologist uses his access to patients' personal data to pick out his next murder/rape victim. D.A. Ben Stone not only has to fight the ex-con's wife who is giving him an alibi, believing that her husband is being accused because of his past, he has to fight the murdered girl's parents who are trying to have the accused extradited to Connecticut, based on a stretch of the law, because at the time Connecticut had the death penalty and New York did not. In an episode that is prototypical of D.A. Ben Stone's desire to make new law, "Sisters of Mercy" is the case of a troubled young woman who has an affair with the director of the home for recovering addicts in which she is living because the director says that if she doesn't she will be put out on the street. Stone and Robinette go for first degree rape, a charge that requires them to prove a direct threat of physical violence. Stone argues that since expulsion would have forced the girl back onto the street where she probably would have been killed, the threat to expel constituted a threat of violence. Although everyone, including his boss Adam Schiff, tells Stone that the judge will set aside the verdict because he won't share Ben's enthusiasm for making new law, Stone proceeds and wins.
The season finale, "Working Stiff", is one of those rare episodes in which D.A. Adam Schiff gets more than a few lines, and we really get some insight into his character. A powerful businessman is found murdered, and at first it looks like the murderer is an elderly cancer-striken union member whose pension and health insurance were gutted by the businessman's corporate dealings. The union member, played by Eli Wallach, does not deny the allegations and wants to represent himself at trial just so he can make public all the things the victim did to the other union members. When the case against him falls apart, further investigation reveals that the businessman was about to be indicted by the Justice Department, and that this knowledge was leaked to powerful people who stood to be damaged by it, among them Dwight Corcoran, a former governor of New York. Schiff and Corcoran are old friends, but this does not stop Schiff from making the final necessary connection between his old friend and the murder. Hill's portrayal of Schiff is subtle yet brilliant in this episode. There is also a parallel drawn between the union member and Corcoran - they are both destined to meet a slow and lonely death albeit on the opposite sides of justice. If this episode had been made in 2002 instead of 1992, you would swear that it was "ripped from the headlines" of the Enron scandal.
This second year of Law and Order just goes to show that the early years of the show hold up over time and are still essential viewing. Highly recommended. |
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| "Law & Order - The Second Year" | 2006-02-19 |
| - Reviewed By luvthemjets |
| I ordered this product knowing I wouldn't be disappointed. Law and Order is one of the best programs of this past decade. Keep bringing all the Seasons - I want a complete library one day! |
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| "The best seasons were the early ones" | 2005-02-17 |
| - Reviewed By kinggrim |
| As season two of Law & Order opens, Detective Mike Logan (Chris Noth) finds himself assigned a new partner in Detective Cerreta (Paul Sorvino) in the wake of the murder of his old partner Greevy (George Dzundza). From that point on, this is when the revolving door began to turn for the ensemble cast of Law & Order, even though the rest of season one's cast returns here. Michael Moriarty's and Richard Brooks' DA team are still the best duo in the history of the show (say whatever you want about longtime vet Sam Waterston, Moriarty will always be superior), and Sorvino and Noth are excellent together. The characters are given more depth, and the stories are more intense; containing that "ripped from the headlines" feel that the show would gain notariety for. The late Jerry Orbach, who would become the face of the series from season three onwards, appears here as a super slick defense attorney, and his guest spot alone is worth giving this a look for alone. All in all, season two of Law & Order only proves further that the early seasons of the series were undoubtadly the best, and now maybe Universal will finally get around to releasing season three on DVD. |
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| "The good years" | 2004-09-11 |
| - Reviewed By prittirose |
| Each episode of the early seasons lofts far above the majority of the recent dribble, now mostly sensationalist schlock. But if you take a look at this or season one,(i can't wait for season 3!), you'll know why, or remember why, this show has endured for so long. This is genuine quality TV, and i hope with all my heart that the current trend of, well, crappiness will end soon, very very soon. The show should go back to it's basics, because it's so good at it. |
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| "Here Is Where Familiar Episode Rhythm REALLY Starts To Jell." | 2004-09-11 |
| - Reviewed By kandy5001 |
Season One gave us a show of unique creativity and presentation. I would not call it slow in rhythm. It just took its time. With this MTV age, viewers probably preferred a little more speed of pace in the stories.
Season Two starts that. The plots move faster, more twists happen, and the scenes switch quicker. Even the dialogue snaps off with more urgency. This all sets up Seaons 3 and 4 which are my favorites.
I really liked Paul Sorvino. I think he did an outstanding job worthy of his veteran acting resume by stepping into the shoes of George Dzundza.
I predict that Dennis Farina will do a fine job too when he replaces my favorite cop (Jerry Orbach) for Season 15. (Farina is a former Chicago cop by the way in real life) |
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