Vinnie Terranova
(Ken Wahl) attempts to put his life as an OCB undercover operative behind
him, but is forced to return when the rise of a white supremacy
group plagues his Brooklyn neighborhood. He initially tries to ignore the threat but when members of the group
murder his brother, he is left with little choice but to go back
on assignment with the OCB. Co-starring Jonathan Banks, Fred
Dalton Thompson and Paul Guilfoyle.
Accepting his destiny, Vinnie next goes undercover in the garment
industry in an effort to expose mobster Rick Pinzolo (Stanley Tucci). Things
nearly implode when he is seriously injured in
an automobile accident, but former agent John Henry Raglin
(Anthony Denison) is brought
in as
replacement and to
ensure that Pinzolo's reign over 7th Avenue must end. In the
meantime,
Vinnie recuperates while wrestling with his past and the specter
of Sonny Steelgrave ravages his subconscious. Co-starring Jerry
Lewis and Ron Silver.
CRITIQUE
Ken Wahl really
impressed in the first season of Wiseguy, which was a
different TV show for its time. The year was 1987, the creator
Stephen J. Cannell, and the network (after a while of searching)
became CBS. Instead of telling a story over the course of one
episode, Wiseguy created story "arcs" that would span a
number of episodes.
In the pilot, Wahl's
Vinnie Terranova gets out of prison and his new assignment on the
order of the OCB is to infiltrate the business of Sonny Steelgrave
(Ray Sharkey), a high-ranking and rich mobster/businessman. The
arc is effectively called "Sonny Steelgrave and the Mob," and it
provided a very intriguing storyline and really good
entertainment. In the second arc of the first season, Vinnie comes
into contact with businessman Mel Profitt (Kevin Spacey), his
sister, and independent hire Roger Lococo (William Russ). The "Mel
Profitt" arc was much more involving and focused on more round
characters, but the intrigue was just as good.
With that in mind,
it makes perfect sense that I had big expectations for the third
volume in the Wiseguy DVD series, called Prey for the
City. I didn't want to know anything about it, so I avoided
reading the synopsis for the next two arcs, "White Supremacy" and
"Garment Trade." Well, perhaps I should've read something about
them because they aren't that overwhelming.
In fact, the "White
Supremacy" arc is somewhat underdeveloped. I like that the show
moved to Vinnie's neighborhood to tell the story of the Pilgrims
of Promise, but the overall execution of the storyline is not very
involving. I didn't really care for the supporting characters,
although the writing focused on them, especially Knox Pooley (Fred
Dalton Thompson), the businessman of the group, and Calvin Hollis
(Paul Guilfoyle), a Nazi believer whose actions are driven by
hate. and there wasn't much intrigue. Neither of them is
interesting, and Hollis is a total nutcase, though Guilfoyle's
acting is good. Vinnie is supposed to bring down the Pilgrims of
Promise, but he really is intent on finding his brother's killer.
Overall, the arc isn't bad, but I was looking for something more.
Episodes include: Going Home, School of Hard Knox,
Revenge of the Mud People, and Last of the True
Believers.
Next is the "Garment
Trade" arc where Vinnie assumes the role as a member of the
Sternberg fashion manufacturers in a bid to indict mobster Rick
Pinzolo, who controls the rag trade. This arc lasts for five
episodes, and overall is more developed than the previous one. The
acting here is also better, especially Jerry Lewis and Ron Silver
playing father and son, respectively. Stanley Tucci's turn as
Pinzolo is good but I wasn't impressed, that's just me, though.
Ken Wahl is basically MIA in this arc as the actor was insured on
the set, plus he doesn't "look" all that good here either. So, our
favorite OCB agent Frank McPike (Jonathan Banks) brings in a
replacement for Vinnie, John Raglin played surprisingly well by
Anthony Denison (who also appeared in Michael Mann's Crime
Story). Well, I wasn't all too thrilled by this arc either,
but it's better than the first one on this set. The writing is
better, and the story more believable, but it didn't hook me.
Episodes include: 7th Avenue Freeze Out, Next of Kin,
All or Nothing, Where's the Money, and Postcard
from Morocco.
Spread over discs
three and four are Stairway to Heaven and White Noise,
and The Reunion and Romp, respectively. The last two
are actually part of the third season. The episodes are average,
they present moderate storylines that are just fine but nothing
exceptional. Well, at this point I'm not asking for greatness
anyway.
THE VIDEO
Wiseguy is presented
in its original 1.33:1 fullscreen format. For a series that
aired over some fourteen years ago, the video quality here looks
quite nice. The print image is in good condition with only minor
grain and specks, though the grain is minimal. Some scenes
appear brighter than they should. Dark tones and black levels
are therefore not very consistent. Sharpness and detail looks
fine. I didn't notice any edge enhancement or compression
artifacts. Speaking of that, the last two discs could've
easily been combined as they hold only two episodes apiece; some
odd authoring, but let's move on.
There are no
captions or
subtitles available.
THE AUDIO
Wiseguy is presented
in both English 5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Dolby Surround Sound.
Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. Channel separation and
positional audio shows good improvement over the previous sets.
I watched the shows in 2.0 because the track sounds louder and
more controlled, the 5.1 is not as loud and the use of
excessive bass causes a few slipups. Surround usage is okay at
best. As I said, I would go with the 2.0 presentation as it
presents the show a little better, and louder for that matter.
THE EXTRAS
While the second
DVD set (season 1 part 2) features a round of interviews and
commentary, this 4-disc DVD set only offers commentary by
actor Ken Wahl on the four non-arc episodes. His comments
seem to be answers to questions, and most likely someone
moderated the tracks (though it's edited). There's some dead
space here and there when Wahl is watching the show. His
comments range from interesting to trivia and whatever. I mean,
I don't know, the commentary is not all that good, but devoted
fans of the show might be interested.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The two arcs offered in
this third volume are not nearly as good as the two from the first
season, but surely it must've been a tough task for the creative team
to continue the series after two great storylines. Well, in a way the
show seems to have lost its "edge", but nevertheless I would like to
think Wiseguy remains a good show. Future releases (volume 4 is
set for late December) of the series on DVD will certainly impact my
overall reaction. The writing here may not be top
notch, but it's good enough to provide above-average entertainment.
I
would like to recommend Prey for the City, but I was just a
little too disappointing by the arcs, and therefore I'm going to
recommend viewers "rent it." Fans of the show may have the
courage/pockets to shell out the $40+ for the 4-disc set,
but anybody else is better off renting the discs.
