“Crime Story” is one of those little seen TV shows that deserved better than it got. It originally aired back in 1986 and lasted a full two seasons before ending its run. It was the brainchild of director Michael Mann, who had previously given us “Miami Vice.” But where that series was all slick production and hip clothes, “Crime Story” offered a grittier look into the war between the cops and the organized crime. The series starred Dennis Farina as Las Vegas cop Mike Torello. He was the type of cop who didn’t take any gruff from anyone, and was as obsessed with cleaning up the streets as most criminals are to keeping them. Torello and his team could be almost compared Vic Mackey’s in “The Shield”, at least insofar as they have no compunction against beating the crap out of the bad guys. There are times you root for them and other times you wonder if they are really the good guys.

During the run of the series, Torello’s main target was mob kingpin Ray Luca, played by Anthony Denison. Towards the end of the first season, we were led to believe he had finally been killed, but in the second season we were proven wrong.

When it was learned in the second season that Luca was still alive, it came as a shock to Torello. What was even worse was that Luca was now under Federal protection and had become untouchable. This doesn’t sit well with Torello or with D.A. David Abrams (Steven Lang), who is just as obsessed with putting the bad guys where they belong.

The first season of “Crime Story” was excellent, though I’ll admit I didn’t see it until it was released on DVD a while back by Anchor Bay. Now the studio is releasing the second (and final) season and while I’d like to say it lived up to expectations, I can’t. There were some terrific episodes to be sure and overall it is still a darn sight better than most crime dramas, but it started to go off in some weird directions. First off, the dynamic between Torello and Luca was incredible in the first season. When Luca was resurrected for the second I thought we’d be in for more, but it didn’t seem like the show’s creators did as much with the storyline as they could have. It was a little weaker.

Then there were some all out strange episodes like ‘Paulie Taglia’s Dream” which really felt out of place. It wasn’t a straightforward episode and seemed more like it was intended to indulge someone’s over-creative imagination. (Perhaps the producer’s nephew or the like?) But mixed in with episodes like this were some powerful ones, like “Atomic Fallout”, where Torello first learns that Luca is very much alive.

Regardless of some of its shortcomings in the second season “Crime Story”, was still a very dark and mostly well-written show. It attracted quite a few name actors as guest stars, including Kevin Spacey, David Caruoso, Steven Weber, David Hyde Pierce and Dennis Haysbert.

The new DVD from Anchor Bay does not have any extra features to speak of, which I found quite surprising as the studio is well-known for its high-quality releases. But in spite of this, I still recommend both seasons of “Crime Story” as the good far outweighs the bad.

Episodes:
The Senator, the Movie Star and the Mob
Blast From the Past
Always a Blonde
Atomic Fallout
Shockwaves
Robbery. Armed
Little Girl Lost
Love Hurts
Mig-21
Moulin Rouge
Seize the Time
Femme Fatale
Protected Witness
Last Rites
Pauli Taglia’s Dream
Roadrunner
Desert Justice
Byline
The Hearings
Pursuit, Part 1
Escape, Part 2
Going Home, Part 3

Starring: Dennis Farina, Anthony Denison, Ted Levine, Stephen Lang
Extras: None
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release Date: 9/20/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Crime Story: Season 2 a C+.