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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Solitary

Season 11, Episode 3, Aired Oct 07, 2009

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7.9

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In a case full of twists and surprises, Stabler and Benson investigate the disappearance of a young woman and the alibi of her neighbor, a bank robber who's done hard time in prison.

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Cast & Crew

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GUEST STAR
Deborah Ann Woll

Lily Milton
GUEST STAR
Bobby Campo

Parker Hubbard
GUEST STAR
Stephen Rea

Callum Donovan

Christopher Meloni

Det. Elliot Stabler
Mariska Hargitay

Det. Olivia Benson
Richard Belzer

Sgt. John Munch
Ice-T

Det. Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
Dann Florek

Capt. Donald Cragen

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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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In a case full of twists and surprises, Stabler and Benson investigate the disappearance of a young woman and the alibi of her neighbor, a bank robber who's done hard time in prison.moreless

10

"Perfect"

By dbyun456, Feb 22, 2011

OMG That episode was AMAZING! Chris Meloni really was at his A game, he's earning every penny of that raise, Kudos to him. As a little spoiler, I haven't seen him in that type of setting since HBO's Oz, and lemme just say, it was unbelievably good. Not only that, but the give and take between him and Christine Lahti was palpable. I swear, if Meloni doesn't at the very LEAST get nominated for an Emmy this season, I'm gonna scream. If you don't follow the SVU show, then this episode is gonna be one hell of a start for ya.moreless
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5 1

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Eerie but convincing

9.0

"Superb"

By XMLarry, Feb 22, 2011

Very good episode as it tracks the human mind exposed to solitary confinement over a long period of time. Christopher Meloni gives an excellent performance as he tries to deal with a man he sent to prison 19 years ago, trying to put himself in this convict's shoes. There is the inevitable butting of heads with this soon to be gone ADA, but even she has a bit of a heart towards the end (didn't think that was possible). They never did follow up on the original story about the girl this convict supposedly beat up but one can assume she got her comuppance.moreless
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6 1

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Slow, dragged out.

6.8

"Fair"

By thefanof, Feb 22, 2011

This episode seems to be scoring fairly well among the tv.com faithful, but personally I found it very slow and drawn and out and just not too entertaining from start to finish. The commercial hyped Elliot Stabler going to prison to get into the mindset of a criminal, but that only came about in the last 10 minutes so it was odd for them to give that away, and it only lasted for about two minutes, clearly not being the focal point of the broadcast like said advertisements would lead you to believe.

The story as a whole was just very unconvincing and very generic. I would have been better off saving my time and not watching this or checking out a rerun of an old episode on USA Network.moreless
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2 8

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When will Stabler realize that he is a bad cop?

4.0

"Poor"

By hankgillette, Feb 22, 2011

Apparently, Stabler learned nothing from finding out a few weeks ago that he put an innocent man in prison. At this point in the series, Stabler (and Benson to a lesser extent) is not a good detective. He makes snap judgments about who the guilty person is, then single-mindely tries to make a case against that person until the person is shown to be guilty or is somehow proved to be innocent. Without any evidence, I feel that Stabler was unprofessional to try to turn the suspect's coworkers against him when they were searching the workplace for evidence. It is true that the guy was a possible suspect, but considering the lack of real evidence, he should not have been treated as though he had already been found guilty. Without the alibi that was finally uncovered, he would have been taken to trial, and in all likelihood, convicted.

Stabler shows remorse after it's shown that his initial conclusion was wrong, but it's too little, too late. As for being "thrown off the roof", that's not exactly what happened. When Stabler invaded the guy's space, the guy shoved him. A good defense attorney could argue that he didn't even realize that Stabler had his back to the edge of the roof and that it was an accident. Stabler should not have been going to see the person alone, given their past history, and he certainly could have made the guy realize that he was off the hook before getting so close.

The man screwed up, but if Stabler had done his job properly, he never would have been in the position to screw up.moreless
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I enjoyed this episode, but I have to say some things let me down.

7.3

"Good"

By edsappless, Feb 22, 2011

I thought the whole idea off the episode was GREAT. Solitary confinment is really a terrible thing and I must that if I would have to be on that place, I would go crazy. Probably, everyone would. So, I understand all of the acts of Donovan to escape from go this place again.

What I didn't liked from this episode:
- oh, AGAIN another perp with a past envolving Stabler? this was done before in 'Rage' and also, 'Unstable'.
- not a sex crime here.
- Stabler always trying to be the hero. oh, so he locked himself up in there? really? this was just unrealistic, nobody would do that. BUT... those scenes with him locked up were great.

and I was glad that Stabler understood Donovan's side, at the end. this was a good episode, that could have been better...moreless
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Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stable...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.
Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stable...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.
Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stable...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.
Stephen Rea as Callum Donovan and Chris...

© 2009 NBC Universal, Inc.

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NOTES (1)
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- Original International Air Dates: Czech Republic January 17, 2012 on TV Nova
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- Paramedic: Another miracle on the Hudson. On January 15 2009, US Airways Flight 1549 took off from La Guardia airport and lost thrust in both engines after colliding with a flock of geese. After realizing that there was not enough time to reach an airport, pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger managed to bring the plane to a safe landing in the Hudson River. All 155 people on board survived. New York Governor David Paterson described this as, "A miracle on the Hudson," during a news conference and this phrase was frequently repeated in media reports about the accident.
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