This is an episode with a good story and the actress playing Grace did a fantastic job. She made me believe what she was saying. Her mannerisms were on point.
Great episode.
Great episode.
6 Reviews
Great episode
Kenny91822 July 2019
Good!
ritokessah2 November 2018
I spit on your grave
phuketboy6 December 2018
Shades of Random Harvest
bkoganbing1 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A young girl is raped and when she's found it's minus her panties. That's enough to get the SVU squad involved.
But it turns out the whole case is a pack of lies that young and homeless Aimee Spring Fortier has told the squad. Still they pursue.
I won't say more other than Fortier gives a riveting performance of a woman whose whole identity went because of trauma. Her scenes with Mariska Hargitay trying to track down the source of her trauma are first rate. It reminded me a lot of Ronald Colman seeking his identity in Random Harvest. A bit of Gregory Peck from Spellbound as well.
Try to catch this one.
But it turns out the whole case is a pack of lies that young and homeless Aimee Spring Fortier has told the squad. Still they pursue.
I won't say more other than Fortier gives a riveting performance of a woman whose whole identity went because of trauma. Her scenes with Mariska Hargitay trying to track down the source of her trauma are first rate. It reminded me a lot of Ronald Colman seeking his identity in Random Harvest. A bit of Gregory Peck from Spellbound as well.
Try to catch this one.
Identity
TheLittleSongbird16 May 2023
'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit' really did vary when it came to showing the detectives' personal lives. It did well with Stabler and Olivia in the early seasons, where there was some powerful storytelling that furthered their character development. Too many personal life stories however did come over as melodramatic and was focused upon too much, doing so while overshadowing the case, especially in the latter seasons.
"Exile" sees a little more development to Phillip Stone, who was a lifeless presence in all the previous episodes since he was introduced and unfortunately very little was done in making him interesting throughout the time he was on 'Special Victims Unit'. "Exile" does little to change my mind on him sadly and it is with him with it is at its least interesting. Luckily the first half of the episode and most of the case is so good it still is enough to make "Exile" a quite good episode and one of the better instalments of Season 20's first half.
Starting with the numerous good things. There are good things. The production values are solid and the intimacy of the photography doesn't get static or too filmed play-like. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. The writing is mostly very thoughtful and intriguing, not feeling heavy handed. The case is very compelling and a lot more unpredictable and relevant than expected, memory loss is not a new topic for the franchise but is given even more freshness here. Didn't see the truth coming, ending with a powerful scene between Grace and Olivia, and the first half on the whole is taut and has edge and suspense.
Carisi and Fin's roles in the case are great and it's their scenes where the episode is at its most interesting. Fin's reaction to his shoes getting soiled was very funny, great to have a classic Fin feel to his material here. The acting from most of the regulars is very good and Aimee Spring Fortier excels wonderfully in a challenging role, as a very interesting character.
Didn't find the second half however to be as riveting, with the pace slackening and the tension dissipates. Especially in everything with Olivia, who comes over as rather holier than thou and near-manipulative. Her dialogue is still rather condescending at times too. The personal life drama felt too shoehorned in, especially with Stone.
It felt like an attempt to make him more interesting and address the fandom's issues with him, but he is still coming over as too bland and neurotic and the show is actually not doing very much with his character yet. Phillip Winchester is very one dimensional and wooden, but the way Stone is written here does him no favours.
Bottom line, quite good if uneven (the case with quite a lot of the better episodes of this season), starting off great but loses its way a bit. 7/10.
"Exile" sees a little more development to Phillip Stone, who was a lifeless presence in all the previous episodes since he was introduced and unfortunately very little was done in making him interesting throughout the time he was on 'Special Victims Unit'. "Exile" does little to change my mind on him sadly and it is with him with it is at its least interesting. Luckily the first half of the episode and most of the case is so good it still is enough to make "Exile" a quite good episode and one of the better instalments of Season 20's first half.
Starting with the numerous good things. There are good things. The production values are solid and the intimacy of the photography doesn't get static or too filmed play-like. The music when used is not too over-emphatic and has a melancholic edge that is quite haunting. The writing is mostly very thoughtful and intriguing, not feeling heavy handed. The case is very compelling and a lot more unpredictable and relevant than expected, memory loss is not a new topic for the franchise but is given even more freshness here. Didn't see the truth coming, ending with a powerful scene between Grace and Olivia, and the first half on the whole is taut and has edge and suspense.
Carisi and Fin's roles in the case are great and it's their scenes where the episode is at its most interesting. Fin's reaction to his shoes getting soiled was very funny, great to have a classic Fin feel to his material here. The acting from most of the regulars is very good and Aimee Spring Fortier excels wonderfully in a challenging role, as a very interesting character.
Didn't find the second half however to be as riveting, with the pace slackening and the tension dissipates. Especially in everything with Olivia, who comes over as rather holier than thou and near-manipulative. Her dialogue is still rather condescending at times too. The personal life drama felt too shoehorned in, especially with Stone.
It felt like an attempt to make him more interesting and address the fandom's issues with him, but he is still coming over as too bland and neurotic and the show is actually not doing very much with his character yet. Phillip Winchester is very one dimensional and wooden, but the way Stone is written here does him no favours.
Bottom line, quite good if uneven (the case with quite a lot of the better episodes of this season), starting off great but loses its way a bit. 7/10.
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