Search - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - The Seventh Year on DVD

SVU Season 7: I love the show, but Universal should've woken

Bibliophile | United States | 03/20/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Law & Order was released when--2002? The included rebate for a discount off of the next season, supposedly available within a twelvemonth, expired before season 2 was available. The "special website" that was supposed to contain updates about availability of coming seasons never showed more than season 1 cover art. IMdB was the L&O junkie's lifeline.

Despite repeated broken promises (did anyone *ever* use a valid rebate coupon without a fight?), I pre-ordered every available season and all spin-offs, including the ballyhooed Trial by Jury. *Every* new season had some manufacturing defect in 1 or 2 discs, but with no local, cable, dish, satellite or interest in acquiring any type of TV, DVD releases of L&O and its many permutations were, in fact, my only television viewing--(meaning all of those cliffhangers carried to another spin-off remain so to me since they weren't packaged together.)

For reasons known only to the studio, seasons of Law & Order, SVU and CI that are *not* still contractually controlled by cable stations doing re-runs still aren't being released. Life happens. Though I would've once gladly bought every season available immediately (and did!) I'm no longer willing to spare the funds, and I'm not alone. Had I had more faith in the studio, I'd have continued buying. Universal has been working against its own interest for years, and may only now be waking up.

Getting off of my soapbox, here's what to expect in Season 7, courtesy of IMDb. I hope you enjoy! I'll catch the show occasionally when at a friend's house--maybe.

Episode 1: Demons (Original Air Date--20 September 2005)
Det. Stabler goes undercover to determine if a recent parolee is reverting to his rapist urges.

Episode 2: Design (Original Air Date--27 September 2005)
A women claims rape by a wealthy scientist but upon further investigations shes not as much as a victim as it appears.

Episode 3: 911 (Original Air Date--4 October 2005)
A little girl calls for help, claiming she's being held hostage, but the team has to keep her on the line to track her down.

Episode 4: Ripped (Original Air Date--11 October 2005)

Episode 5: Strain (Original Air Date--18 October 2005)
An AIDS activist is suspected of murdering a gay couple, and Detective Tutuola discovers something about a family member.

Episode 6: Raw (Original Air Date--1 November 2005)
An investigation of a horrific school sniper attack leads the team to a particularly obnoxious Neo-Nazi group.

Episode 7: Name (Original Air Date--8 November 2005)
After the bones of a boy who disappeared in 1978 are found at a playground, a recovering Stabler teams up with Vizcarrando to determine the boy's identity, which leads them to a cold case involving four missing Puerto Rican boys whom were never found.

Episode 8: Starved (Original Air Date--15 November 2005)
Detective Benson goes undercover at a speed dating event to catch a rapist.

Episode 9: Rockabye (Original Air Date--22 November 2005)

Episode 10: Storm (Original Air Date--29 November 2005)
When a teenager and her younger sister end up in the hospital after a day at the park, detectives learn that both girls were abducted from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina along with a third sister who is still missing. Despite the interference of a local reporter, Jackson Zane, detectives are able to catch the kidnapper, a known pedophile, and recover the girl, but when Alvin Dutch dies and the autopsy determines it was Anthrax, Benson puts everything on the line so that she can get the truth out there.

Episode 11: Alien (Original Air Date--6 December 2005)
An investigation into the serious stabbing of a grade-school boy uncovers a suspect whose trial becomes about the rights of same-sex parents.

Episode 12: Infected (Original Air Date--3 January 2006)
When a boy shoots the man he believes killed his mother, it leads to a legal battle over gun control.

Episode 13: Blast (Original Air Date--10 January 2006)
The abduction of a little girl turns even more desperate when it's found she's suffering from an undiagnosed leukemia.

Episode 14: Taboo (Original Air Date--17 January 2006)
When a baby boy is discovered in the rubbish, detectives Benson and Stabler use a t-shirt found at the scene to trace the crime back to a well-to-do college student.

Episode 15: Manipulated (Original Air Date--7 February 2006)
A successful lawyer's secret life as an exotic dancer is revealed to her boss and her fiancé after she and a stripper friend are found murdered.

Episode 16: Gone (Original Air Date--28 February 2006)
A female student from Montreal goes missing during a class trip to New York City after she spends a night partying with three cocky prep school boys.

Episode 17: Class (Original Air Date--21 March 2006)
A Hudson University co-ed dependent on financial aid is found murdered with an unexplained influx of cash. Her wealthy roommate is found with one of her rings, making her a suspect as the two were not friends. Benson, Fin, and Stabler have several theories about her murderer and their motive and investigate the various suspects; the roommate, her childhood friend, and someone connected to a heavily trafficked website where the victim was selling term papers for cash.

Episode 18: Venom (Original Air Date--28 March 2006)
Detecitve Tutuola is torn between his work and family when his son, Ken, is implicated in a crime. While investigating, Detectives Benson and Stabler find themselves with a much bigger crime

Episode 19: Fault (Original Air Date--4 April 2006)
A serial paedophile murders members of a family and kidnaps the two younger children.

Episode 20: Fat (Original Air Date--2 May 2006)
A band of teenage siblings attack and sodomize a teenage girl, who is a gifted piano student at a prestigious high school in Harlem. When Warner identifies the attackers as overweight, Detective Stabler and his new partner, Detective Lucius Blaine, track down the siblings -- who claim they attacked the victim to avenge an attack on their morbidly obese brother.

Episode 21: Web (Original Air Date--9 May 2006)
After a young boy claim molestation, the investigation turns from his pedophile father to another family member.

Episode 22: Influence (Original Air Date--16 May 2006)
In seventh season finale, rock star Derek Lord goes on a national talk show and lectures about the abuse of psychiatric drugs. Meanwhile, an unstable young woman loses her virginity, goes off her prescribed medication, gets behind the wheel of a car, and mows down 10 people. As these events are played out in a highly charged way, the argument about prescribed "meds" is challenged."

A MUST OWN

Heather | Illinois, USA | 12/10/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great series and has remained so. This is an offshoot of the original Law and Order series. This series focuses on sexual crimes, normally not dealt with on television. The main crimes are rape, child molestation, and everything in between. I am very glad the Law and Order series decided to tackle this once taboo topic and I believe this series has helped open the discussion of rape and sexual abuse which is one of the reasons why I love this series so much.

The acting is great, the plots are amazing and draw in you from the first "dum dum". Since it deals with sensitive subject matter, the episodes may not be appropriate for all viewers. There is high replayability with these episodes which is why it is worth the purchase. If you enjoy crime dramas, especially crime dramas that help open debate and deal with taboo topics, then this is the show for you. I guarentee you will enjoy it."