Acorn Media has released Trial & Retribution - Set 2, a four-disc, four episode continuation of the U.K. crime procedural written and produced by Prime Suspect creator, Lynda La Plante. Focusing quite a bit more on the deteriorating personal relationship between Detective Superintendent Michael Walker (David Hayman) and Detective Inspector Pat North (Kate Buffery), some of the crime and punishment that made Trial & Retribution so riveting gets pushed onto the back burner - a trend that began in the previous set of episodes (at the same time that La Plante took over solo writing duties for the series). Whether or not that development is to your cup of tea will depend on whether you want to watch a soap that subs as a police procedural, or vice versa.

Taking up right where the main story arc left off in Set 1, Trial & Retribution - Set 2 continues to focus on the deteriorating relationship between Detective Inspector Pat North (Kate Buffery) of the London Metropolitan Police Service, and Detective Superintendent Michael Walker (David Hayman) of the AMIP (Area Major Incident Pool) of the London MPS CID (Criminal Investigation Department). Having become live-in lovers in the previous episodes, the on-edge couple now must face the crushing grief of losing their baby to a miscarriage - a miscarriage for which both privately blame themselves. The relationship prior to the miscarriage had been rocky from the start. Walker, having left his clinging ex-wife Lynn (Jacqueline Tong) and two children, still has to deal with Lynn's constant demands, both personal and financial, which necessarily impact his time alone with Pat. As well, the old-fashioned Walker is a constant source of irritation to Pat - not only in his police work, which can often skirt the letter of the law, harking back to the days when the Met police had a much freer hand when it came pursuing a case - but also in his expectations of what constitutes a relationship. Not exactly a communicator, Walker's reliance on "shop talk" at the expense of sharing his feelings keeps a wall up between the two lovers, a wall that will be shattered when Walker commits an act of transgression that Pat can no longer tolerate.

Pat isn't blameless in this dysfunctional relationship, either. Constantly whinging on about Mike's habits, Pat takes to meeting former boyfriend Detective Inspector Jeff Batchley (Paul Kynman) on the sly, discussing her personal problems with Mike - as well as leaking information about Mike's latest cases (and questioning his methods of investigation, as well). Not satisfied in her new position as procedural lecturer (as part of an accelerated program for future police leaders), Pat's personal disappointments spill over constantly into her interactions with Mike, with Pat taking to grumbling under her breath at almost everything Mike does (most of which, admittedly, are annoying as hell). Unwilling to shoulder any more responsibility when it comes to dealing with Mike's ex-wife, Lynn, Pat and Mike's relationship comes to critical mass when Lynn meets someone new on-line, and begins to date him - only to discover to her horror that he's a dangerous, homicidal psychopath who eventually turns his sights on Pat.

SPOILERS ALERT!

Tone seems to be the real variable in this go-around of Trial & Retribution - Set 2, with the four episodes swinging all over the place in their focus on either Pat and Mike's seemingly interminable romantic struggles, or the murder investigations at hand - a trend that seemed all too apparent in the first set of episodes I reviewed last fall. Having enjoyed the first two episodes in the series for their rigid focus on the intricacies of the murder investigations, the exhaustive forensics, and the resulting criminal trials, the final two episodes of Trial & Retribution - Set 1 seemed to focus more and more on Pat and Mike's relationship - to the detriment of the mysteries. And that's certainly the case in the first episode, Trial & Retribution V. The central mystery - and it's a compelling one - concerns the discovery of several skeletons under the porch of an abandoned building, one that served as a bed-and-breakfast 17 years before. The former proprietors of the B&B - a mother, Mrs. Dorothy Norton (Liz Smith) and daughter Kathleen (Maggie McCarthy), hiding a terrible family secret - are prime suspects, along with a former tenant, Graham Richards (Sean Chapman), who lived there during the time frame when the victims disappeared. Unfortunately, Trial & Retribution V constantly cuts away from this interesting mystery time and again to go over the same territory with Pat and Mike that we witnessed in previous episodes. In an effort, I would imagine, to be more "realistic," writer/creator La Plante has vigorously tried to "round out" Pat and Mike, but in doing so, has made them largely unsympathetic. Whether it's Pat's constant complaining and bitching and moaning, or Mike's obliviousness and gruffness and terminal indecisiveness, we soon begin to wonder why we're watching these two unattractive people in the first place - let alone wondering why we should be asked to either identify or sympathize or even root for them to succeed.

Worse, the mysteries (or at least three of the four here in this set) get short-shrift as a result of La Plante's obsessive attention to soapy details about the private lives of the officers. Trial & Retribution V in particular spends far too much time on the homefront rather than at the crime scene, with much of the forensic detail and the minute, step-by-step investigating procedures that were a hallmark of earlier episodes, dropped in favor of increasingly familiar, even cliched domestic drama scenes. Certainly this reaches a peak in Trial & Retribution VI, where we're subjected to the totally superfluous subplot of Mike's ex-wife Lynn meeting a stranger on-line, only to suffer abuse at the hands of the psychopath before he sets his sights on Pat. It's bad enough that these scenes are thoroughly familiar to most crime TV viewers (which aren't helped by the poor, obvious performance by Eric Fowler as looney Eric, played to blubbering levels of unintentional humor as he grotesquely overplays hitting himself over and over again, stuffing his face with sweets and proclaiming himself a "dirty boy"), but couldn't La Plante have gone somewhere else with the inevitable outcome of this quadrangle - a plot development most long-time TV viewers will spot coming a mile off? While I think it's a great plot development to have Mike turn out to be an out-and-out "murderer" (when Eric breaks into Pat's and Mike's apartment and comes after Pat in a homicidal rage, Mike confronts him with a gun Mike took away from his visiting brother - killing Eric on purpose when he gets the chance), couldn't La Plante have picked a more original framework in which to hang that development?

Another significant plot development in the central story arc comes during Trial & Retribution VII and VIII: the arrival of dishy Victoria Smurfit as DCI Roisin Connor. A former protege of Mike's, she now occupies the high ground since Mike has been busted back to uniform duty, heading up a small police station where a high-profile murder has taken place. During this two-episode arc, Mike's jockeying for position to get back on the Murder Squad, a move opposed by the tough-as-nails Connor (who counts Mike's ex Pat as one of her best friends) who sees Mike trying to usurp her role as investigator as a direct threat. As well, she's apparently fully aware that Mike murdered Eric - an act that Roisin seems to see less as an affront to the letter of the law, but more as a sign that Mike will do anything to get ahead (indeed, she later comes to believe that Mike stole quite a bit of money from a suspect to pay off a debt to his new girlfriend). I like the Connor character; she's cool and tough, and seems a far better foil for the banty rooster Mike, with a combative, almost sexual tension between them that makes for good drama. More importantly, the last two episodes of Trial & Retribution - Set 2 featuring Roisin stay almost exclusively on the mysteries, with most sidetracks for personal examinations restricted within the framework of office politics. I still miss the decreased screen time for the courtroom trials, since the deliciously arrogant and humorous Simon Callow as barrister Rupert Halliday is given so little to do (his presence, along with the delightfully churlish Judge Geoffrey Winfield, played to perfection by George Pensotti, gave the earlier Trial & Retributions a much-needed comedic lift), but at least this move away from the bedroom and back to the office and crime scene is positive one.

Still, I can't say the end of Trial & Retribution VIII, where Roisin's sex life becomes confusingly drawn up into an investigation into a high-class brothel, is particularly original, either. Utilizing the obvious titillation factor of having the gorgeous Smurfit parade around in S&M bondage gear (a tactic that's questionable within the show's thematic outlook), La Plante's "edgy" twist is to have the previously closed-off Roisin scare herself by responding to her undercover dominatrix role - while becoming uneasily attracted to pimp Colin Thorpe (Colin Salmon), who is portrayed, as the cliche seems to go for this stereotype nowadays, as a basically kind, intelligent, even gentle whoremaster. It's a ridiculous development (we've seen this "frigid woman liberated/disgusted by unconventional sex" angle endless times before), clearly designed to easily titillate audiences rather than inform them, and it's just one of many missteps within this silly episode (ludicrous plot developments pile up, including Mike, now the Chief Supervising Detective Inspector, actually sleeping with one of the informants - who turns out to be the killer - while Roisin, who almost drowns at the sex club, is given mouth-to-mouth by Colin the pimp...while police stand around, letting their prime suspect work on the police officer). Why this becomes a central point in the drama, I don't know (I suspect ratings), but it would seem that this wild swinging back and forth between the cliched personal tribulations of the police officers of Trial & Retribution - Set 2, and their heretofore detailed forensic investigations, is indicative of a compromised, unfocused aesthetic vision on La Plante's part. And that's too bad, because so many of the individual elements of Trial & Retribution - Set 2 are so good.

The DVD:

The Video:
Correcting the error from Set 1, Acorn Media has released all four episodes of Trial & Retribution - Set 2 in their correct, 1.78:1 anamorphically enhanced widescreen transfers. Looking quite sharp as a result, the image is detailed, with correctly valued colors and little or no compression issues to speak of here. Edge enhancement effects are minimal, but minor interlacing was detectible (although not at all a deal-breaker). Overall - quite a good looking picture.

The Audio:
Thankfully, Acorn Media is becoming much more responsive to putting subtitles on these U.K. imports, which means some of the wonky (from our perspective) accents and the sometimes puzzling colloquialisms now can be deciphered. The Dolby Digital English 2.0 audio track is adequate technically - all dialogue is clearly heard, with mild separation effects left and right.

The Extras:
Several interviews with the cast are included here, including David Hayman (14:18), Victoria Smurfit (7:04), and Colin Salmon (7:42), where they actors discuss their roles in Trial & Retribution - Set 2, as well as their careers. There are also text bios of Lynda La Plante, as well as very brief text rundown on the Criminal Investigation Department.

Final Thoughts:
The tone of Trial & Retribution - Set 2 is all over the place in these four continuing episodes of the long-running U.K. police procedural, created by Prime Suspect's Lynda La Plante. Unfortunately, the mystery, crime, forensics and courtroom elements often times take a back seat to more familiar, cliched domestic drama - a shame, considering the talent involved. Still, these are entertaining and well-shot, and they're still a cut-above the standard TV crime mellers. I recommend Trial & Retribution - Set 2 for fans of the show, but newcomers should rent first before buying.