
Law & Order Season 23 Episode 11 Review: Castle in the Sky
Considering Law & Order Season 23 Episode 10, “Inconvenient Truth,” is the worst episode in a long time for the franchise the only way to go is up. Thankfully, a case that pits the unhoused against the rich plays on our emotions in just the right way to make us appreciate the series a little bit more.
Law & Order Season 23 Episode 11, “Castle in the Sky,” works really hard to set the victim up as a rich playboy who can get away with anything. In fact, early on, it’s revealed that he has a drug problem that his influential father has simply shoved under the rug.
While we always try to find something to relate to or commiserate with regarding the victim, this case makes it extremely hard.
Dixon Family Affair

One of the things that I feel the writers and producers of this show don’t give enough credence to are the talents of one Camryn Manheim. This woman is a powerhouse and has been gracing our TV screens for decades on major hit dramas.
Luckily, Law & Order seems to have wised up, at least for this episode, about how complex and interesting the story can be when it centers around Kate Dixon. What’s even more, the addition of her son, Patrick, brings another side to her we rarely get to see — the personal, mom side.
We’ve known since the show came back that Dixon knows how to communicate using sign language. In fact, previously on Law & Order Season 22 Episode 3, “Camouflage,” Dixon steps in to communicate with a young deaf witness when an interpreter falls through.

Now, we get to see up close and personal why Dixon is fluent in ASL and what motivates her to have a softer spot for families within the Deaf community. Patrick is deaf, and the teacher of Alex Marley, also deaf, whose father is accused of killing the rich, affluent victim.
She is able to utilize her son as a means to get more information on the family and the suspect without lawyers or even certain laws getting in the way. It’s not often that Dixon steps in and takes over part of an investigation from her detectives, but we don’t hate that she does.
The best part about this episode is Camryn Manheim getting more of a spotlight due to the inclusion of Kate Dixon’s son and her connection to the Deaf community. This is where the sympathy for the killer over the victim really starts to take hold.
A Sympathetic Defendant

As evidenced many times, ADA Price struggles to hide his true feelings about a case if he feels strongly enough about it. The same goes for ADA Maroun; it’s why we find ourselves drawn to the courtroom side of Law & Order more than the investigation side.
With this case it’s clear that neither Price nor Maroun really want to throw the book at this father, especially when it seems extremely credible that he was defending himself. However, ever the more strict one, Price points out that the law is the law, and this man needs to see consequences for his actions.
The great thing about Hugh Dancy during this discussion is how he conveys just how hard it is for Price to say that. He, too, doesn’t want to put this man away if they can avoid it, which is why he jumps so quickly to offer him a deal.

What really increases the sympathy we have for Ryan Marley is that he’s working a full-time job, and yet his wife’s death, medical bills, and his daughter’s therapy and communication equipment have forced him to be unhoused. He just wants to have a life that is safe and secure for his daughter, even if that means squatting in his boss’ empty penthouse apartment.
The performance by Alona Jane Robbins as Alex Marley on the stand in defense of her father makes you really choke up. This little girl vehemently states that she would do anything to protect her father but that she’s telling the truth now.
It feels as though, at that moment, Price and Maroun are going to have to take a loss, which they won’t agonize over too much. But, then the tables are turned thanks to Kate Dixon.
Kate Dixon Choosing What’s Right Over Her Heart

Once again, I have to commend the talents of Camryn Manheim. She gives her all on this episode at a level we’ve rarely seen on Law & Order.
When she discovers that Alex has admitted lying on the stand to Patrick, Dixon immediately agonizes over what to do. She has gone out of her way at this point to ensure Alex and her father have a home to live in once his deal is finalized.
It’s a hard pill for her to swallow because Dixon always wants to do the right thing, but what does it mean when the right thing is putting this young girl into foster care and her father in jail?
Manheim does a phenomenal job of showing us Dixon’s emotions without her actually saying much of anything. In fact, the look on her face when Det. Riley gives her an out breaks all of our hearts.

She is fighting against herself because her heart wants so badly to ignore what Alex has told her and keep it between herself and Riley. But, the police officer side of her knows she has to tell Price that it’s not a clear-cut case of self-defense after all.
That moment of her on the stand admitting what she knows says more than words could ever express. Dixon is heartbroken and feels like she betrayed her son and possibly the Deaf community because she didn’t protect one of their own.
Then there is Price’s face of resignation as he asks Dixon questions he doesn’t actually want to in order to send Ryan Marley away.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. Law & Order is at its best when the resolutions of the case aren’t a hard and fast win for either side.
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Law & Order airs Thursdays at 8/7c on NBC.
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