Like many episodes, some of the biggest fiction is how officials are portrayed and emergencies supposedly handled: for instance, how a law enforcement officer deals with a traumatized, suddenly-orphaned girl -- medical exam? psychological exam? social worker visit? They are never mentioned. He just brings her home to his wife, no problem. Aside from that, with a few changes, this could have been a GREAT episode. For instance, there was no need for the opening scene at all -- it could have started simply with the next scene, leaving the audience to discover, slowly, that the girl doesn't speak and is, instead, telepathic. Secondly, the teacher's explanation of knowing why the girl is telepathic just seems to come out of NO WHERE. I mean really, what are the odds of a person who was also trained as a child to be telepathic living in German Corner? And thirdly, the ending statement by the visiting Germans, saying that Ilse's parents never loved her and she's better off where she is -- an assurance to the audience, perhaps, that's what has happened to Ilse is for the best? With all that said, it's still worth the time to watch. Nice to see Ann Jillian in one of her early roles.
Review of Mute
