SVU becomes suspicious when FBI agent Dana Lewis aggressively tries to get a serial rapist confess to a murder that he steadfastly denies having committed.SVU becomes suspicious when FBI agent Dana Lewis aggressively tries to get a serial rapist confess to a murder that he steadfastly denies having committed.SVU becomes suspicious when FBI agent Dana Lewis aggressively tries to get a serial rapist confess to a murder that he steadfastly denies having committed.
- Detective Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
- (as Ice T)
- Victim Kira Stanger
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe plot is inspired by a real-life incident in which detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) interrogated and arrested one of their own detectives named Stephanie Lazarus on camera in 2009 for a 1986 cold case in which she fought, shot and killed her ex-lover's new wife, Sherri Rasmussen, out of jealousy. Then, she staged the crime scene to look like a burglary. A few days later, she went to a police station in a different city and reported her gun as stolen, even though she disposed of the gun so it couldn't be traced. The detectives at the time were fooled into thinking that the victim was killed by two Hispanic male burglars, who were never apprehended. Lazarus remained with the department and rose up the ranks from police officer to detective over the years. DNA testing didn't exist in 1986, so no work was done on a swab taken from a bite mark on the victim's body until many years later. The test proved that it was Lazarus' DNA, and it helped convict her of first-degree murder at her trial in 2012. She is serving a 27-year sentence at California Institution for Women in Corona, California. In 2023, Lazarus finally acknowledged killing Rasmussen but also that she hadn't intended to kill the victim, making it appear as if it was manslaughter.
- Quotes
Odafin Tutuola: I don't wanna move.
Detective Olivia Benson: It's 6 feet, Fin.
Donald Cragen: You're all still too complacent. I've said before, I'll say it again. It's a new year, I wanna shake things up.
Odafin Tutuola: I like my old desk.
Detective Nick Amaro: Well, we can get you a grief counselor.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Best Law & Order: SVU Cameos (2018)
Really sadly do have to agree here. "Secrets Exhumed" is by all means not one of the worst episodes of Season 14, but it is one of the most frustrating ones considering the potential. A truly great recurring character deserved a far better final episode than this and also far better and less contradictory character writing. It was like 'Special Victims Unit' had forgotten what made the character so great to begin with, which is a shame seeing as Harden certainly hadn't forgotten.
Harden in fact is the main reason as to why "Secrets Exhumed" is still watchable despite the flaws, making for an intense but later oddly affecting presence without any over-compensating or under-acting. Mariska Hargitay also gives a strong account of herself and shines particularly in her interaction with Harden.
It was great too to have Munch back and in a role that isn't too under-utilised, he is amusing too in usual Munch style. Photography while very close up doesn't come over as too static or filmed play-like, while the production values are typically solid and have subtle atmosphere while not being drab and keeping things simple. When the music is used it is haunting and has a melancholic edge that is not overdone.
However, "Secrets Exhumed" feels rushed with too much going on and is also predictable. There is a real lack of suspense, was not at all surprised by the truth or the big secret. Lewis just seemed too off and too suspicious from the beginning. The writing lacks spark, coming over as bland, and the climax is overwroughtly written. Not the tense and moving one that was hoped for.
Actually did think on first watch it was those adjectives but that was when not paying as much attention to what made Lewis such a great character in her earlier appearances. Like other fans, the character assassination of Lewis was the biggest problem, the way she was written here just went against everything she stood for in the previous episodes and it was impossible to buy.
Overall, disappointing but not terrible. 5/10.
- TheLittleSongbird
- Jul 13, 2022