Wiseguy - Prey for the City Arc (Season 2 Part 1)

The Mel Profitt Arc was released four months after the Steelgrave Arc and when nothing else was released four months later, I guess they figured: Thats all the buying fans would be interestred in. As the other reviews stated, it was definetly a let down going from the Millionare Mob Boss of Atlantic City (Ray Sharkey as Sonny Steelgrave) and the Billionaire, International Drug & Weapon's Contractor (Kevin Spacey as Mel Profitt) to the small time White Supremacy Group "The Pilgrims of Promise". Yeah Vinny's brother was killed but I guess they didn't think past those first 2 guys and were trying to keep it simple. It was still great story telling for broadcast tv at that time and I especially enjoyed the suspenseful "Revenge of the Mud People" where Vinny is wrongfully arrested for murdering a cop and the local police pull a Rodney King on him, while Vince is cut off from McPike and the Lifeguard.

The short four-story arc is a good appetizer to the brilliant Garment story with Jerry Lewis, Ron Silver and Stanley Tucci. Even though most of it was without Ken Wahl, the show never misses a beat. Thats because the catalyst isn't Vinny or his replacement John Raglin, it's the brilliant Jerry Lewis. Watching him struggle to hold on to what's left of his little piece of the 7th Avenue Garment District is powerful and is probably the best pure performance of the series. Great Wiseguy suspense and suprises.(However the finale was way too easy. I guess Joel Surnow was saving something for "24").

THE BIG BONUS on this set is a great return by Ray Sharkey as Sonny Steelgrave. While Vinny is in a rehab center healing his leg, he is mistakenly thrown in the Psyche Ward. There he is drugged, abused by the staff and has a nightly hallucination of Sonny. It's a great "What If?" when Sonny torments Vince about his betryal, and dual identity. One of the few episodes I could never tape when the show was rebroadcast on WGN and Court TV in the last few years.

Well worth the $60 MSRP. Four more VHS Tapes in the trash. Thanks guys, looking forward to the return of Don Iuoppo when he and his stepson Vinnie Terranova take back New York. (Due out December 2004).

Will they release the "Washington Arc" (The revenge of Admiral Stryken), the "Stranger in a Small Town Arc" (the Return of Roger Loccoco), or even the regrettable Steven Baeur era?

Only the toes knows.


It's all good !   May 31, 2004
Mr. Robert Ashford (Nottingham United Kingdom)
21 out of 21 found this review helpful

For a objective review some perspective is needed here.The First Season of Wiseguy (Steegrave/proffitt arcs)was some of the most brilliant,well written and intense television ever produced and clearly difficult to follow up,therefore it's easy to see this half of the second season as inferior in quality, but thats not entirely fare.

At the end of the Proffitt arc Vinnie,completely burned out and psychologically traumatised resigned as a deep cover agent from the OCB. Season 2 opens with him taking stock of his life in his old neighbourhood and when his brother, father Pete is murdered, he begins to suspect and investigate a crusading white supremacist group and is again undercover for the OCB.This is a short story arc of some 4 episodes and of course cannot match the character development of previous arcs over twice as long.This first story line is good and should be seen as a transitional plot for the development of the always brilliant Ken Wahl character.

The second part of this boxset focuses on a struggling garment manufacturers attempts to fight off a powerful and sociopathic mobster Rick Pinzolo , played exceptionally well by Stanley Tucci. Jerry Lewis and Ron Silver are outstanding as the father and son garment traders Eli and David Sternberg.Unfortunately at the start of this arc Ken Wahl suffered an accident and had to be written out, but i think the writers did a splendid job in introducing a replacement character in the shape of conflicted OCB agent John Raglin, very well played by Anthony Dennison.

Perhaps the bad guys in season 2 lack the charisma of Sonny Steelgrave and Mel Proffitt but this is exceptional,engrossing well written drama none the less, and well worth purchasing.Do yourself a favour and BUY IT because no dvd collection should be without it!


Great show; 1 great arc.   May 28, 2004
Bryan Griest (Glendale, Ca United States)
9 out of 11 found this review helpful

Granted, this was my all-time favorite show; even I have to question the quality of the KKK arc presented here. On the other hand, I thought the Rag Trade arc shone brightly despite the lack of Wahl's participation. Ron Silver and a surprisingly effective Jerry Lewis create the tension and dramatic payoffs we expect from the series, but Tucci steals the show with a deliciously slimy turn as the villain. I loved this arc! The KKK arc has its moments; Fred D. Thompson is imperious as ever, and we get the first real glimpses of the underbelly of the world Vinnie left behind to go deep cover. Other than that, however, this was as bad as this brilliant show would get, imho.