Stabler is attacked by a man that he helped put away 19 years earlier. When that man faces attempted murder charges, he claims that he was the victim because of the solitary confinement he f... Read allStabler is attacked by a man that he helped put away 19 years earlier. When that man faces attempted murder charges, he claims that he was the victim because of the solitary confinement he faced during his sentence.Stabler is attacked by a man that he helped put away 19 years earlier. When that man faces attempted murder charges, he claims that he was the victim because of the solitary confinement he faced during his sentence.
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- Special Agent Dr. George Huang, M.D.
- (as B.D. Wong)
- (credit only)
- ME Dr. Melinda Warner
- (credit only)
- Stevedore
- (as John O'Donohue)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- GoofsAfter leaving the bar, Olivia answers her phone as she walks past a series of windows. Just as she starts to say, "Hey Captain," in the bay window to the right, a dark silhouette of the camera taking the shot can be seen momentarily against the bright white building across the street, before it rolls beyond the window.
- Quotes
Detective Elliot Stabler: [grabs a CO after being locked in solitary confinement] You son of a bitch! I said three days, not a week!
Corrections Officer Kravitz: It was three days, I swear. It's Sunday night when you told me to let you out.
- SoundtracksWhere Would We Be Without Love
Written by Malcolm Kirby Jr. and 'James Martin' and 'Joshua Alan Kessler' and 'Clarence Lewis'
"Solitary" is the third episode of Season 11, which started off surprisingly well with the previous two episodes despite reservations. To me, this was on the uneven side and weaker than the previous two. Some good ideas here, a few done quite well, and nice character writing and moments, but the episode doesn't quite come together as an overall whole and felt disjointed. That is not to say that "Solitary" is bad, it absolutely isn't. Just that it could have been better.
Am going to start with the good. The production values continue to be slick and has a nice grit to it, it is very intimate too but not too much so that it becomes claustrophobic. The music doesn't overbear and is not overused. The direction keeps things moving well while letting the drama breathe. The script is tight and thought provoking enough. The acting is excellent, with a powerfully intense performance from Christopher Meloni and Christine Lahti continues to be both entertaining and headstrong. Great chemistry between the two of them. Stephen Rea gives a very compelling and affecting guest turn, despite his overreaction that caused Stabler's situation part of me felt bad for him.
It was absolutely great to see Munch back, after missing him in the previous two episodes, and he offers a strong perspective worth pondering on and should have been respected more as well as his usual dry humour. Also love the chemistry between Stabler and Paxton, the tension is not over-baked and has intensity and is quite fun to watch. My opinion of Paxton is much higher now than it was on my first watch, she comes over as refreshing and while she is pushy and at times rude her viewpoints have been understandable here and in the previous two episodes (more so than the SVU). She has some nice development, instead of being the stock opposition.
Having said all of this, "Solitary" feels disjointed. Feeling like two cases in one, and one is much stronger than the other. Nowhere near enough is done with the initial crime which is sidelined and quite forgettable. The second, which dominates the episode, is absorbing and has some nice tension, but the truly unprofessional behaviour of the detectives (especially Stabler with his too drastic conclusion jumping without evidence and going over the top in how he deals with it) spoils it. While it has harrowing moments, the solitary confinement subplot was where the episode was at its least interesting, feeling drawn out with not much insightful to say and Stabler's unhinging happens too quickly.
Very like the previous two episodes, the ending is dramatically forced and comes over as wrong morally. Olivia is underused and has little presence due to her being too toned down.
Concluding, has a lot to like but uneven and doesn't quite come together. 6/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- May 9, 2022