Other than the subject, which is not an easy one and not for the faint-hearted, "Monogamy" is most interesting for John Ritter. Despite my first exposure to him being in the 1990 mini-series 'IT', he was known more as a comedic actor and when the material was good (so not the 'Problem Child' films) he showed a lot of talent in it. Here in "Monogamy", he plays a dramatic role and it was a shock to see him have a character so cold-blooded so as against type as one can get.
Which was what was always interesting about 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit', having very or relatively famous guest stars and showing different sides to them not seen before, sometimes stretching their abilities appropriately, so one can't help but be shocked that they had those sides in them. Which was my exact feeling watching Ritter in this harrowing and very emotional episode, that is among the best of an often impressive Season 3.
"Monogamy" benefits hugely from its enormously compelling story. It has a very wide range of emotions, from intensity with the jealousy and anger to the poignancy of the sadder parts. The story standout was its heart-breaker of a final twist which killed me emotionally. The whole ending is one of the best of Season 3 and one of the few to make me cry and leave me completely shocked. The script is intelligent, always intriguing and quite nuanced, especially towards the end.
The whole conversation between Stabler, Olivia and Cabot about the baby and fetus rights provokes thought too. While the whole of "Monogamy" grips throughout and never lets go, the final third or so makes it a special one. The performances are uniformally great. The best performance of the regular cast comes from Stephanie March, her performance here is one of the best she gave from her time on the show and she has here the remarkable ability of getting a lot of emotional impact out of lines that sound so simple and normally don't have as much impact as seen here (such as "did he cry?").
Biggest surprise of all is how "Monogamy" managed to get such a powerful dramatic performance from Ritter, who spends most of the time being a skin-crawler but wrenches the heart at the end. Have no issue with the production values or music either.
All in all, brilliant. 10/10
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