After witnessing an inmate's execution, McCoy, Kincaid, Briscoe, and Curtis react in different and extreme ways.After witnessing an inmate's execution, McCoy, Kincaid, Briscoe, and Curtis react in different and extreme ways.After witnessing an inmate's execution, McCoy, Kincaid, Briscoe, and Curtis react in different and extreme ways.
Photos
Jennifer Estlin
- Cathy Briscoe
- (as Jennifer Bill)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEvery episode of Law & Order opens with the investigation of a crime, usually a murder. This is the only episode that does not open with a crime or feature a criminal investigation and prosecution. This episode opens with four of the main characters witnessing the lethal injection of a prisoner--a convicted murderer--and it revolves around the characters' reactions to the execution.
- GoofsThough this was arguably one of the most powerful entries in the series, the entire premise is fictitious. No one has been executed by the state of New York since 1963.
- Quotes
Mike: What is it with you guys? First darts, now pool.
Detective Lennie Briscoe: Never mess with a civil servant, my friend.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Law & Order: Sideshow (1999)
Featured review
Tears and shock
'Law and Order's' Season 6 was uneven, though not as much as the very mixed bag that was 'Criminal Intent's' Season 6. There were a lot of fantastic episodes, but also a few that could have been a lot better while still being decent. The season finale "Aftershock" made a big impression on me on first watch, when first getting into the 'Law and Order' franchise in my mid teens it was one of the few episodes to reduce me to tearful silence at the end.
"Aftershock" couldn't have been a better way of ending the season, not just a contender for the best episode of Season 6 but also one of 'Law and Order's' finest. It not only has held up extremely well, it actually is one of those episodes that got even better overtime. Being still one of the few episodes that has never failed to make me cry and the shock value hasn't gotten old either. As far as 'Law and Order' goes, "Aftershock" is special and one case of once seen never forgotten.
Everything is of superb quality here. Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston, Jill Hennessy and Benjamin Bratt are all wonderful. Especially Orbach at the end, his reaction to what happens is quite heart-breaking and sees a side to him not seen before up to this point. The chemistry between them is beautifully balanced and always natural. The script is tight and intelligent, the tone is a typically serious one but to me it didn't become melodramatic or dreary.
Structurally, "Aftershock" is a quite unique episode. With it being the one episode to begin with an execution and then concentrate on the four characters that witness it, their reactions and how they deal with it. That didn't come over as soapy and it was interesting how their minds worked and how the execution affects them, we also get some illuminating character development for Briscoe and McCoy particularly in how they work, their motivations for why they came to be the way they are, why they are in the jobs they are and their levels of commitment. It has been said that Curtis behaved out of character, yes he did behave differently to before and does go against what he stands for usually but seeing something that affects you so harrowingly does often make one behave oddly and out of step.
It is a very powerful episode, it was from the very first scene. And it is spot on in how people, police, attorneys and the public alike, feel on the day of executions and watching them, meaning emotional wreck level. The ending, the episode's most talked about scene, is truly shocking and heart-wrenching.
The production values are suitably slick and gritty, with photography that is reliant on close ups that have an intimacy without being too claustrophobic. The music is didn't come over as too melodramatic or like it was emphasising the emotion too much. The direction is sympathetic while still giving momentum.
All in all, absolutely brilliant. The season was an uneven, but it ends on the biggest of highs. 10/10
"Aftershock" couldn't have been a better way of ending the season, not just a contender for the best episode of Season 6 but also one of 'Law and Order's' finest. It not only has held up extremely well, it actually is one of those episodes that got even better overtime. Being still one of the few episodes that has never failed to make me cry and the shock value hasn't gotten old either. As far as 'Law and Order' goes, "Aftershock" is special and one case of once seen never forgotten.
Everything is of superb quality here. Jerry Orbach, Sam Waterston, Jill Hennessy and Benjamin Bratt are all wonderful. Especially Orbach at the end, his reaction to what happens is quite heart-breaking and sees a side to him not seen before up to this point. The chemistry between them is beautifully balanced and always natural. The script is tight and intelligent, the tone is a typically serious one but to me it didn't become melodramatic or dreary.
Structurally, "Aftershock" is a quite unique episode. With it being the one episode to begin with an execution and then concentrate on the four characters that witness it, their reactions and how they deal with it. That didn't come over as soapy and it was interesting how their minds worked and how the execution affects them, we also get some illuminating character development for Briscoe and McCoy particularly in how they work, their motivations for why they came to be the way they are, why they are in the jobs they are and their levels of commitment. It has been said that Curtis behaved out of character, yes he did behave differently to before and does go against what he stands for usually but seeing something that affects you so harrowingly does often make one behave oddly and out of step.
It is a very powerful episode, it was from the very first scene. And it is spot on in how people, police, attorneys and the public alike, feel on the day of executions and watching them, meaning emotional wreck level. The ending, the episode's most talked about scene, is truly shocking and heart-wrenching.
The production values are suitably slick and gritty, with photography that is reliant on close ups that have an intimacy without being too claustrophobic. The music is didn't come over as too melodramatic or like it was emphasising the emotion too much. The direction is sympathetic while still giving momentum.
All in all, absolutely brilliant. The season was an uneven, but it ends on the biggest of highs. 10/10
helpful•183
- TheLittleSongbird
- Mar 24, 2021
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