I have to disagree with previous reviewers of this episode: although Dennehy's performance certainly is good, I found the episode overall to be very disappointing. Unlike other episodes of SVU, it all unrolls very slowly, through hacking cough-laced conversations with a bed- ridden Dennehy. I know it was supposed to be dramatic, a sort of slow build toward a compelling, emotional ending, but throughout the episode, all I felt was frustrated. (Frustrated like the detectives!) It went so slowly, had so many moments of getting stopped just before finding out something interesting... I am not one to ask for explosions and revelations in every minute of every single episode, but I felt like this didn't give the payoff that drawing up so slowly should really promise.
Stabler is roped into the case when his priest asks him to visit a geriatric cancer patient, Dennehy, who has said something in confidence that the police should investigate. Dennehy plays a (very boring) game of cat and mouse with the detectives as he slowly reveals hints about his criminal past. The detectives initially find that he was part of a team responsible for a string of bank robberies; the fact that he admits to them allows them to close dozens of still-open cases. However, the revelations continue, including one familial crime that is much more aligned with typical SVU cases than the average bank robbery. Strong performances abound in this episode, and the tragedy of nearly-failed legal wrangling toward the episode hits home, but this episode is far from SVU's strongest. I would also guess that there is nearly zero re-watch value (unlike the average SVU episode) because you already know what the big reveal will be, and have to suffer through endless minutes of Dennehy falling asleep mid- sentence to get there.
Stabler is roped into the case when his priest asks him to visit a geriatric cancer patient, Dennehy, who has said something in confidence that the police should investigate. Dennehy plays a (very boring) game of cat and mouse with the detectives as he slowly reveals hints about his criminal past. The detectives initially find that he was part of a team responsible for a string of bank robberies; the fact that he admits to them allows them to close dozens of still-open cases. However, the revelations continue, including one familial crime that is much more aligned with typical SVU cases than the average bank robbery. Strong performances abound in this episode, and the tragedy of nearly-failed legal wrangling toward the episode hits home, but this episode is far from SVU's strongest. I would also guess that there is nearly zero re-watch value (unlike the average SVU episode) because you already know what the big reveal will be, and have to suffer through endless minutes of Dennehy falling asleep mid- sentence to get there.