Review of Hill Street Blues: Season 2

Introduction

The `Blues` returns for its second year run-out on DVD and not much has changed from the first…

Hill Street Blues consisted of a large ensemble cast; it was no star-driven series. Each character played a part, and there appeared to be no bias towards any particular actors. The series also placed many characters in two`s, contrasting with polar opposites, but all were the result of quality writing and first rate acting:

Captain Furillo (Daniel J Travanti) is the cool head within the perfect storm of Hill Street precinct and Joyce Davenport (Veronica Hamel), the brash and confident Public Defender

Officers Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) and Andy Renko (Charles Haid); smart, intelligent Black policeman and his brash Texan cowboy partner with a soft centre. This is a partnership that has stood the test of time, very popular and anyone who remembers Hill Street Blues will remember Hill and Renko; it`s always both, they were inseparable despite their differences.

Sergeant Henry Goldblume (Joe Spano) and Lieutenant Howard Hunter. Goldblume is the one person who seems to have both a real family life outside the job and also a compassionate human being who wants to negotiate. Hunter on the other hand is the gung-ho comic relief who wreaks havoc wherever he goes with his Emergency Action Team.

Detectives JD LaRue (Kiel Martin) and Neal Washington (Taurean Blacque); the former is a chancer and wannabe Ladies man, always on the look out for a quick scam and has a drinking problem that is getting worse. Washington is his long-suffering partner who is slowly losing patience with his increasingly unreliable partner.

Sergeant Phil Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) is the elder statesman who holds the station together by sheer charisma and oozes elegant prose whilst also having relationships with cheerleader Cindy and nymphomaniac cop widow Grace Gardner (Barbara Babcock). Esterhaus also provides the series catch phrase, but actually says it slightly differently every week.

Detective Mick Belker (Bruce Weitz); a growling angry man in pursuit of criminals on one hand, but a gentle Jewish boy who loves his mother on the other.

Faye Furillo (Barabara Bosson) brings up the rear as the ex-wife of Frank Sr and mother of Frank Jr. Always appears in the station in a state of panic over lack of child maintenance, inappropriate toys, being mugged or obscene phone calls.

Video

I couldn`t really detect any damage to the picture at all, which is pretty good for a TV series over 20 years old. There is detectable grain during the credits as each cast shot freezes, but that`s being picky.

Overall it just looks completely chaotic, lots of use of hand held cameras and nice shots that have been copied by everyone ever since. Outside shots and some interiors have been shot using natural light only, so in some places it`s even darker than you would normally expect.

Audio

Mono soundtrack, but that doesn`t matter - especially when Mike Post`s iconic theme tune kicks in. A gentle piano piece, it was deliberately designed to be a complete contrast to the chaos you would see on the screen. It is also one of the most well-known theme tunes of the 80`s and reached number 25 in the UK charts in 1982.

Subtitles are also present and correct.

Features

Quite nice menus featuring cast shots from the opening credits and a revolving police car, combined with the theme tune, radio chatter and police sirens.

No extras at all, looks like they used up the one thing they had with Season 1…

Conclusion

Make no mistake; Hills Street Blues is a landmark piece of TV. That said, the second season doesn`t quite live up to the expectation set by the first. The first season had the early shooting of Hill and Renko, followed by weeks of rehabilitation and psychological drama. The series ended with the shooting of new boy Joe Coffey after he professed his love for partner Lucy Bates. Season 2 opens with Coffey back on duty and nothing has really changed.

On the domestic front, things change quite quickly. Furillo is a little hacked off with just having to snatch moments with Public Defender Joyce Davenport and lays it on the line. Super stud Phil Esterhaus also decides it`s time to call it a day with Grace Gardiner before his back gives in. These are the two main relationships on the Hill though, and it doesn`t take too long before everything is resolved satisfactorily.

Howard Hunter still provides the comic relief, although this is tempered slightly with some pathos as he tries to pick up where Esterhaus finished with the affections of Grace Gardner. It all goes horribly wrong though as Esterhaus rebounds back into Gardner`s arms after being propositioned by an old male colleague. This being Hill Street Blues, Hunter just accepts his lot and fades back into the background before coming up with another oddball scheme, this time the First Strike Estates - the ultimate in post-nuclear real estate.

The gangs still feature, but not as heavily as the first series. David Caruso gets a brief look-in around the time of the Precinct vs. gangs basketball case, but they are pretty much lower key this time around. Gang leader Jesus Martinez (Trinidad Silva) is the only gang member you see a lot of, and there is a definite respect for Furillo.

Mick Belker gets much more air time this season, or it seems like it. The running joke of him arresting the same bloke every week carries on here, with Belker getting the inevitable phone call from his Ma whilst trying to type up the arrest sheet. One of the saddest storylines in this season has Mick getting involved with self-styled superhero Captain Freedom, the end of this storyline (after a blur of slow motion shooting) is incredibly powerful. JD LaRue also goes through the wringer after starting the series back on the wagon, ending up in the Precinct Motor Pool after falling back off big style.

This season sees Hill and Renko hog some of the limelight but for slightly different reasons. Their relationship comes under a bit of strain as politics enters the plot when Hill is elected Vice President of the Black Officers Coalition. Renko also has to deal with the unresolved hostility in his relationship with his father who is introduced and diagnosed as having terminal cancer. There is a funny ending to this particular story line, but not in the way you might expect.

So not quite as good as before, but still a quality series; don`t pass up the chance to watch it.

And hey, hey, hey, let`s be careful out there…