"Fat" was one of those early seasons 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' episodes that didn't do much for me on first watch. While appreciating its good intentions and its handling of numerous relevant and important to discuss topics, everything about the character of Lucius Blaine rubbed me up the wrong way, it felt like the episode was trying too hard and Stabler's attitude was puzzling (but for a while couldn't figure out now until now). Didn't hate "Fat", it just didn't connect with me.
Re-watching it a few times since, have re-watched all the seasons a few times for the past sixteen years or so with it airing regularly every night for many years, my feelings on "Fat" are not much different. It definitely has its good things, a few of them not picked up upon on earlier viewings, but my reservations are the same. "Fat" is not one of Season 7's worst episodes, it is better than "Name", "Alien", "Starved", "Taboo" and "Demons". It is also nowhere near one of the best, being vastly inferior to "911", "Raw", "Storm", "Gone" and "Fault".
Will start with the good things. The production values are still slick and suitably gritty (without being too heavy in it). The music is not too melodramatic and is not used too much, even not being too manipulative in revelations. The direction has enough momentum while not rushing, especially in the more eventful second half. Some of the script is thought-provoking and has grit, especially in the interrogations.
There are a lot of topics covered here, which was very admirable, and "Fat" handles them without making any judgement. All covered are hardly out of date and are always worthy of addressing, all that have self-esteem issues or have gone through bullying and harrassment will relate. Did like the sweet, if not seen enough, chemistry between Stabler and Olivia. Some of the second half is compelling when more is revealed and has more of the shock factor. Most of the acting is excellent, with intense Christopher Meloni and poignant Omar Benson Miller coming out on top. Dann Florek proves himself to be a strong authority figure.
My negative feelings on Blaine still stand on the other hand. He comes over as annoying and too aggressive, also very unsympathetic in a situation that realistically would have resonated with him. Anthony Anderson's quite over the top performance, sometimes borderline-screaming his lines when not needed, added to this. The episode itself overall felt like it was trying too hard, Stabler and Blaine never gel as a partnership and their acrimony is far too forced with their dialogue over-heated.
Did think that enough of the second half absorbed, but the first portions are too routine and formulaic and the episode would have benefitted from not trying to cover too many topics and focus more on two or three rather than kitchen sink. Stabler's attitude is puzzling, he has more than once before and since put his job on the line being aggressive with suspects, such as Fin's own son in "Venom", and then when Blaine does pretty much the same thing (except perhaps more aggressively) he challenges Blaine's handling of the case. Maybe he was trying to prove that he could work with people other than Olivia and fails. While the responsible are interesting, "Fat" goes a little too far in trying to make one feel sorry for them despite the extent of the damage they did to an innocent party.
In summary, good intentions but tries too hard. 6/10.
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