Hunter: Season Two DVD Review:

“Hunter” was a detective series made for the 1980s.

The series starred former football star Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter, a no-nonsense LA detective who would do almost anything to nail his suspect. He was a hero born in the 80s and his whole action persona reflected that. His partner was a sharp and sexy female officer named Dee Dee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer), who would stand her own beside her partner. The series was created by Frank Lupo and executive produced by legendary 80s television producer Stephen J Cannell.

The series in its second season finally found its legs and would eventually last an impressive 8 year run, if you include the revival season just last year.

During its second season, “Hunter” released its classic two-parter “Rape & Revenge” where McCall is raped and left for dead by a filthy diplomat who has diplomatic immunity. This leads Hunter to go on a vengeance filled rampage where he will stop at nothing to bring this “untouchable” to justice even if it means killing his career. The episode was a classic because it was one of the first of its kind to deal with rape in a major television program. Crimes of this kind were never dealt with on network TV back in 1985.

The rather interesting bit of trivia is that when the show was going into its seventh season, the writers asked Kramer if her character could be raped again for a ratings boost and that lead to Kramer’s departure from the show.

Today we look back on the episode and its clichéd and an obvious ratings grabber but you really have to remember it was a breakthrough for its time. And back in 1985, violent sex crimes were never really talked about on TV not like the detective shows of today.

Another rather impressive set of episodes in the second season was the season’s second two-parter “The Beautiful & the Dead” where Hunter comes home after a long day to find the body of a beautiful woman laying on his couch. The episode isn’t a landmark but it’s smartly written and shows this series at its best.

Hunter wasn’t a great show by any means but it was a solid 80s cop show and if you compare it to the likes of “T.J. Hooker” or “CHiPs” then it was definitely one of the better ones.

DVD Details:

The set from Anchor Bay Entertainment includes interviews with Stephen J Cannell and Mike Post. The set also includes a comprehensive DVD-ROM that features the script for the episode “Six Million Dollar Misunderstanding”.

Rating:

Season 2: 3.5 out of 5

Extras: 1 out of 5

Series: 3.5 out of 5

So Says the Soothsayer and now back to the tube. (dwkish@shaw.ca)

Episode List:

1. Case X

2. Night of the Dragons

3. The Biggest Man in Town

4. Rich Girl

5. Killer in a Halloween Mask

6. Rape and Revenge (1)

7. Rape and Revenge (2)

8. Million Dollar Misunderstanding

9. The Big Fall

10. Waiting for Mr. Wrong

11. Think Blue

12. Blow-up

13. War Zone

14. Burned

15. Scrap Metal

16. Fagin 1986

17. 62 Hrs. of Terror

18. Death Machine

19. The Setup

20. The Beautiful & the Dead (1)

21. The Beautiful & the Dead (2)

22. The Return of Typhoon Thompson

23. Saturday Night Special

Dean Kish