Law and Order Special Victims Unit The Fifth Year

This second spin-off from the popular Law and Order series details the cases of the elite Special Victims Unit working out of the New York City Police Department. Mainly seen through the eyes of Detective Elliot Stabler (Christopher Meloni) and his partner Olivia Benson (Hargitay).

SO IS IT ANY GOOD?

On air since 1999 and initially very similar in content and style to its parent show Special Victims Unit definitely notches up the stakes more than a little with this fifth season bringing in a couple of new characters in the shape of a forensic psychiatrist from the FBI and a permanent medical examiner, most of the cases deal with hard hitting subjects too, often not for the squeamish. Thanks to the fine ensemble playing of the largish regular cast there is a real feel of continuity amongst the episodes, it’s assumed that by season five that you already know the characters so exposition and back story is kept to a minimum which is good as it lets you get right into the heart of the stories.

Over the course of 25 episodes spread over four double sided discs Special Victims Unit ventures into the dark heart of man with episodes touching on such gruesome subjects as paedophilia, rape, racism and even slavery. Sometimes hard to watch but always interesting season five of Special Victims Unit proves that the series is going from strength to strength and is well worth a look.

ANY SPECIAL FEATURES?

A reasonable set of extras (all on disc four side one) kick off with SVU Alumni, a clip driven guide to some of the shows guest stars, next up is three interviews (Police Sketches) with cast members Ice-T, B.D.Wong and Dann Florek.