Season two completes new and different tracks, as Laro and Washington use a desperate trench to solve the murder of prostitutes. Over time, Virgil reports show, which suggests Hudson's control of the Black Arrow gang. Now, Furilo and Joyce meet socially after the breakup, and Hill and Renko handle a local call that reflects the course of many events and may involve an old man who threatens his neighbors with a deadly rifle.
It dares you to turn the dial. It's typical of "Hill Street's" authentic glimpses of police life -- raw, funny and human -- instead of fitting glossy fantasy into a conventional TV format.
Hill Street Blues is back. With a vengeance... The entire hour is marvelously paced, with pains taken to humanize the show's previously exaggerated characters.
It is exactly the kind of complex drama that has earned the show widespread critical acclaim and a small but fiercely loyal following. But it probably is also a good example of why others have avoided it like the plague.
Put together with a gritty realism, the show skillfully blends serious, often intense drama with the black humor and the inspired occasional wackiness needed to maintain sanity in such a situation.
