Season 4 on the whole was a very good season. It did have three disappointments, "Pandora", "Tortured" and especially "Disappearing Acts" and also had a few reservations about "Rotten" too. Every other episode though ranged from very good to outstanding, with "Chameleon", "Dolls", "Mercy", "Desperate" and "Dominance" being examples of the outstanding ones. After Season 4 began so strongly with "Chameleon", it is hard to not expect a lot from the season finale "Soulless".
Luckily "Soulless" delivers, a great ending to Season 4, a great episode of of the season (towards the better end) and a great 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' episode. One elevated to an even better level by especially one of the show's most amoral perpetrators, an amazing guest performance and an interrogation scene to remember. It is episodes like "Soulless" that shows what prime-'Special Victims Unit' is all about, not one of my favourite episodes of the show or quite a classic but it's close.
It starts off on the slightly conventional side, but once the story really gets going (which it does very quickly) it immediately grabs the attention and doesn't let go. The direction is accomodating but also alert. The production values are slick and have a subtle grit, with an intimacy to the photography without being too claustrophobic. The music isn't used too much and doesn't get too melodramatic.
The dialogue is smart and always intriguing, with plenty of it moving, chilling and provoking thought. The story is riveting for a vast majority of the length, brought me to tears and had hairs standing up on the back of my neck. The interrogation scene is truly chilling, the most chilling one since "Dominance", and even more so is the perpetrator who makes the skin crawl and their amorality is quite terrifying. Stabler and Olivia are on great form.
Acting is dead on from the regulars, and it is agreed that Logan Marshall-Green dominates and brings chills down the spine. Ann Dowd has powerful moments as well but this is Marshall-Green's episode.
Concluding, wonderful episode and a great ending to a very good season. 9/10