DVD Review: The Streets Of San Francisco - Season 1, Vol. 2 - Page 3

In "Act Of Duty," Steve's girlfriend, Evelyn, is being used as bait for a rapist. Instead of having the crime happen right away, we have some tense moments in a dark parking lot before heading back to Evelyn's apartment. Eleven minutes into the episode, the tension is almost unbearable knowing that there will be a crime in Act I. The rapist kills Evelyn in her home. Act I ends at her funeral with a final shot of the murderer in the crowd. Act II brings together the evidence as the detectives try to profile the rapist/murderer and sets up the rapist stalking his next victim, Sheri (Brenda Vaccaro) from the police department.

In Act III, the case comes together again with the clues from Act II leading the detectives to identifying the criminal. But it looks like he's about to get away with committing another murder on Sheri. In Act IV, the rapist is hiding in Sheri's apartment and eludes discovery temporarily. Steve discovers his error at the last second and returns to fatally shoot the murderer to make him pay for his crimes.

Both episodes followed the general formula, but tweaking the timing in each heightens suspense. And that's what works best here. The format continually focuses and refocuses the viewer on the plot. Current shows, with "B stories" and personal lives, often stray from the suspense of solving the crime. And make no mistake, when they say "on the deadly streets," that's usually the fate of the most dastardly of these characters. There's no gray on The Streets Of San Francisco when it comes to putting away a criminal. It’s straightforward, like this DVD set (no extras, just 13 episodes). And that can be very refreshing.

Article Author: El Bicho

El Bicho writes for a number of movie web sites, including Cinema Sentries, which he runs for the geniuses of Forwerd Media. He also occasionally cleans up around here. Follow at twitter.com/ElBicho_CS

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