Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (TV Series) A Single Life (1999) User Reviews

Falls in Olivia's lap

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 22 August 2014]

Cases can come to the SVU squad at any time or place. Take this one. A half naked woman jumps from an apartment window while Mariska Hargitay is buying some takeout. She interjects herself and when Christopher Meloni arrives they're investigating a possible murder even though there's no real evidence of a homicide.

The woman was a writer and one desperately unhappy soul who was done wrong by every man she came in contact with. Even her psychiatrist Dennis Boutsikaris had an affair with her. There's also a married news anchor Michael Nouri who kept her on the side. But these are the latest in a series of men since she was an adolescent.

In the end there's no murder here, just a desperately unhappy woman. But her sister Laila Robins stands out in this episode where they get a case of incest/rape. Robins's scene at the climax is gripping.

You will be gripped as well at the story of a desperately unhappy victim.

Not so simple death

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 18 July 2019]

Re-watching 'Law and Order Special Victims Unit', through its regular late night re-runs, overall has seen me having a more positive opinion of it. The early seasons, with many brilliant episodes, are better by quite some way. Despite not being aired as much as the more recent seasons, which to me have a different feel and are not as balanced in focus. Overall though the show has grown on me.

It is episodes like "A Single Life" and even more so the brilliant previous episode "Payback" that helped re-assess my "started off brilliantly but jumped the shark" initial opinion of 'Special Victims Unit', or at least not as drastically as that. This was back when there was a better balance of case, trial and moral issues, when characters behaved with more professionalism and when personal lives didn't take over too much of everything else. "A Single Life" is not quite on the same level as "Payback", then again that would have been a hard thing to achieve, but it is impressive stuff.

Do agree that "A Single Life" starts off somewhat rough, it came over as pretty awkward and Benson's showing up was on the convenient side.

Wasn't sure what to make of exchanges like the one between Stabler, Benson and Cragen when going through the victim's belongings. The dialogue did admittedly make me laugh out loud, but at the same time the exchange didn't really gel with the rest of the writing and tone and one that will be taken either way of amusing or cringe.

"A Single Life" otherwise has a lot of great things about it. It is a typically well made episode visually for the same reasons as with the production values for the original 'Law and Order', being suitably slick and gritty. The music is spare in use but has presence without being intrusive or repetitive. The main theme and voice over have always stuck with me.

The writing has tautness and provokes thought without being melodramatic, a few clumsy attempts at humour (my opinion) aside. The story is not quite as complex or as disturbing as the one in "Payback", but it did make me think, make me feel uncomfortable and balanced its story elements well. The climax is absolutely searing, especially for Laila Robins acting the heck out of it. Can't fault the performances either, from all the regulars, but especially Mariska Hargitay, and from a poignant Robins and creepy Paul Hecht.

Very good episode on the whole if a step down from "Payback". 8/10

Unusual Beginning

[Ard0014 · 28 January 2019]

Although the plot of the story becomes interesting and suspenseful throughout the episode, the way that this episode started was not the best. Olivia happens to be walking home from the grocery store and sees police lights and a crowd. She immediately uses her badge to get in on the scene and attempts to take over the situation (even though there are plenty of cops and EMS already working the scene). She claims that SVU should be called because the victim is wearing a nightgown and almost forces the cops to give her the case. After this awkward beginning, the rest of the story is interesting, but they try to force sexual statements to make it seem like it should be an SVU case. After all this, the very last scene shows that Olivia should had let the cops keep the case in the first place. Good episode but bad start.

Very weak writing

[erichanson-39938 · 3/10 · 8 October 2020]

Season 1 seems poor as far as quality writing, and this episode is no exception. The way they finally reveal the cause of the death for the victim, would be slim if not to none. CAUTION spoiler ahead, for as one of the crime scene units said, the window would have been opened not closed. Grave error on the writers part. Stupid episode.