Review: “Special Unit 2”

Links are all the mythical or Fantasy creatures ever conceived by the human imagination except vampires; those are totally made up says one of the characters. Links exist, preying on humanity, and for some reason, like to inhabit Chicago. The police department of this city has a special undercover unit to deal with the links. This is the premise of a new Fantasy TV series, Special Unit 2, which debuted on UPN recently.

The first episode starts with a woman officer, Kate, trying to save a young girl from a gargoyle. A mysterious man shows up to save the woman by blowing up the gargoyle with a special gun, but not before the girl is kidnapped by another gargoyle; they want food for the hatching of their young. Considered unstable by her superiors, Kate is in jeopardy of losing her job. That is when she meets Nick O'Malley, an officer who tells her about Special Unit 2. He takes her to the underground base of the unit where she learns about links.

This series is trying to be a Fantasy version of the movie Men in Black. There are quirky characters, strange creatures and humor. Some of the scenes can be very funny in this Urban Fantasy mixed with humor. It can be entertaining at certain moments which makes it very light. One of the quirky characters is Carl. He is an informant for the unit and a gnome. In return for his help, the police overlook his bad habit of committing armed robberies. Also, he has a caustic relationship with Nick O'Malley, who is a heroic but distant cop. Nick has a growing chemistry with Kate as the episodes proceed.

In the second episode, Chicago is plagued by a pack of werewolves or Lycanthropes. The lycanthropy is caused by a virus. Unable to locate the pack members, Nick allows himself to get bitten by a werewolf. He goes undercover to join the pack. Kate must save him before he completely changes into a Lycanthrope permanently. This growing closer of the unit and the humor add likability to the series.

The third episode has a Japanese mummy that comes back to life. He wants to obtain the powers of a god, but must regain things from his tomb, including three women for the ritual. A lot of martial art fight scenes like those in the Matrix and humor ensues such as the search for a disembodied head as an informant. This episode adds more character development to the series.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic