The Third Season

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a spin-off series of Law & Order. It has a similar format as its parent show. The major difference is the type of cases that the detectives investigate. "Special Victims Unit" (SVU) focuses on the special victims unit, who are responsible for investigating crimes of a horrific nature known as sex crimes. Each episode promises gruesome detail that covers issues like incest, pedophilia, rape, etc. There is also a lot of focus on the emotional burden that the victims and the case detectives have to face. For more details about this series refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, and season five.

In season three, SVU continues the same tone set in its first two seasons. Each episode offers intense drama with powerful emotions spurring from the key players (the case detectives, the victims, and the bad guys). There are some solid episodes that focus on the nitty-gritty with truly dark crimes that Benson, Stabler, Tutuola, Munch, Cragen, Dr. Huang, and Cabot must deal with. There are also character-development-based stories that help show what kind of characters each detective is with their passion for the job taking over.

"Ridicule" is a solid episode with Diane Neal guest starring. Neal takes over as the ADA in season five. However, in this season, she is a normal guest star. Neal plays one of three girls who are being sued for the rape of a male stripper. The case Benson and Stabler uncover turns out to be quite the page turner. "Guilt" is an episode that fairs well because it shows ADA Cabot getting her hands dirty. Cabot pushes the line when she sends the detectives to conduct an illegal search after a witness refuses to testify. I haven't had much opinion about Cabot as a character, but I thought she shined in this episode.

Towards the end of the season, there are some awesome episodes. "Greed" guest stars Henry Winkler as a bad guy. Winkler isn't the strongest villain, but at the same time he does fine in the role because he is the last guy you would expect to be a bad guy. This storyline involves rape and a complex fraud case into a larger plot. The season finale "Silence" offers a truly gruesome, ripped from the headlines story. It is about the Catholic church and priests in their ranks sexually molest young boys. The topic is pretty sick itself and it makes for a solid story. Specifically in Stabler's case because of his religious affiliation and the case affects him.

One of the stronger character-development-based stories is "Wrath". After a string of murders, it becomes evident that they tie into Benson. A killer is targeting people she put in jail and the episode gets pretty powerful as it comes to a close. What really does this episode justice is the strong development it offers for Benson's character. Another good episode along these lines is "Denial". This is an example where Tutuola shines as a strong character. A crime is commited in Tutuola's old neighborhood and it hits him on a personal level.

Overall, SVU's third season should be more than enough for fans of the Law & Order television dramas. This offers many great stories with lots of character development and gruesome cases that should leave you in disgust, but at the same time glued to the screen.

Episode Guide

1. Repression: The therapist of an 18-year-old girl helps her recall childhood molestation by her father. Despite his protests and the discovery of tainted evidence, the family turn on the accused man and become suspects when his punishment is exacted outside the legal system.
2. Wrath: Detective Benson becomes the target of violence when three unrelated people connected to cases handled by her are murdered.
3. Stolen: A kidnapping leads Detectives Benson and Stabler to a private adoption lawyer and reopens a cold case from ten years ago. Cragen is drawn back into the case of a baby kidnapped from his murdered mother and given to adoptive parents.
4. Rooftop: An increasingly violent serial rapist strikes Detective Tutuola's old neighborhood. When the daughter of two of Fin's childhood friends become a fatal victim, her brother's persistence helps uncover the evidence needed to solve the case.
5. Tangled: A prominent doctor is killed and his wife is raped, and Detectives Benson and Stabler suspect the doctor's estranged son. When the doctor's ex-mistress is also raped, the investigation uncovers a complicated web of relationships between the doctor and his lovers.
6. Redemption: Stabler is paired with an opinionated cop, John "Hawk" Hawkins, who is embittered over his job and personal life. The two work to capture a serial rapist/murder Hawk sent to jail years earlier, but the more the detectives learn about the new suspect, the more they believe the recently released criminal is not the culprit.
7. Sacrifice: An unidentified man is found shot and sexually abused outside a gay bar, and Detectives Benson and Stabler's investigation leads them deep inside the porn industry.
8. Inheritance: A young Asian woman is found raped and beaten at a burglary site, leading Detectives Benson and Stabler to suspect members of two rival Asian gangs caught in the middle of a sibling dispute over the girl's loyalties. But the discovery of a second victim suggests the work of a meticulous serial rapist.
9. Care: The battered body of a murdered 5-yea-old girl in foster care leads Detectives Benson and Stabler to a complex array of family connections, leading the squad to suspect the girl's socially withdrawn foster brother.
10. Ridicule: After a young wife is fond dead in what appears to be an auto-erotic encounter, Detectives Benson and Stabler discover that the deceased and a group of her girlfriends had recently been accused of raping a male stripper. The detectives further scrutinize one of the accused after they determine the dead woman was murdered.
11. Monogamy: A pregnant woman's fetus is ripped from her womb during a horrific attack, and Detectives Benson and Stabler search desperately for the unborn child in the hope that it survived.
12. Protection: After a troubled 6-year-old boy is shot and abandoned by his mother, Detectives Benson and Stabler search for his missing family in the hope of finding the shooter. The boy is attacked again, and the search for the mother intensifies, until she, too, falls pretty to a person close to her family.

13. Prodigy: A man and woman are found stabbed during what appears to be a romantic rendezvous in the park, and Detectives Benson and Stabler are given the gruesome job of trying to identify the woman, who is missing her head and hands.
14. Counterfeit: A woman is found raped and murdered, and when a similar crime is committed, Detectives Benson and Tutuola talk to the second rape victim, who tells them that her attacker was a police officer who captured her during a routine traffic stop.
15. Execution: Detective Stabler races against time to determine whether Matthew Brodus, a serial killer on death row, also raped and murdered another victim whose assailant was never identified. Stabler and Dr. Huang have 72 hours to prove Brodus was responsible for the crime and give the slain woman's parents a measure of closer.
16. Popular: Detective Stabler's wife tells him that a friend of hers, a nurse at a local hospital treated a young girl who was raped but who refused to report the crime. Although bound to maintain his wife's confidence, Stabler and Benson seek out the victim. But once they locate the 14-year-old girl, they uncover a maze of sexual activity among her and her classmates that makes the Stabler family concerned for the well-being of their own daughter.
17. Surveillance: A young cellist is brutally attacked in her apartment, and Detectives Benson and Stabler investigate her orchestra conductor. When the detectives learn that there are hidden cameras throughout the cellist's apartment, they realize the invasion is the work of an obsessed stalker determined to watch his victim's every move.
18. Guilt: An overzealous ADA Cabot crosses the line when trying to find evidence to convict a serial abuser after her witness refuses to testify in the molestation case. She jeopardizes her case, her reputation and everyone's career when she lies to Benson and Stabler to convince them to illegally search the traumatized boy's home for evidence.
19. Justice: When the stepdaughter of a prominent judge known for his harsh sentencing of sex offenders is found raped and murdered, the detectives uncover shocking relationships in her troubled past.
20. Greed: The wife of an entrepreneur is found bludgeoned and brutally raped on her kitchen floor, and Detectives Benson and Stabler suspect a serial rapist. The focus of their investigation changes when another rape occurs, revealing oddities that lead the detectives to focus on both sets of grief-stricken husbands and recovering wives.
21. Denial: A heroin addict is sexually assaulted, and detectives make a gruesome discovery; a decomposing baby finger in her purse. Benson and Stabler search for both the rapist and the identity of the baby and discover the assault victim may be withholding evidence to protect her mother and her grandmother.
22. Competence: The mother of Katie, a woman with Down Syndrome, reports that Katie has been raped and is now pregnant. Detectives Benson and Stabler have the delicate task of determining whether Katie was sexually assaulted or whether her overprotective mother is in denial that she has consummated her relationship with her boyfriend.
23. Silence: There has been a murder in a church, and Detectives Benson and Stabler discover that the man responsible has been receiving payoffs from the church to cover up the sexual abuse he suffered.

The DVD

Video:
This release is given in 1.33:1 ratio full frame color. The picture quality for the most part is fairly good. Detail is good, with colors looking pretty sharp and minor effects from distortion and grain. There are some traces of edge enhancement.

Audio:
The audio track included with this box set is in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The sound quality is good, the track is pretty clean and spoken dialogue is easily heard. Like most TV on DVD releases it is fairly flat and there is not much to it, but it fits the presentation well.

This release also comes with subtitles in English and Spanish.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this release.

Final Thoughts:
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a crime drama that has received a lot of focus for its emotionally powerful stories, grotesque content, and strong characters. The series details the special victims unit, which deals with crimes of a sexual nature. What the third season does best is offering intense episodes that leave you wanting more. It comes recommended.