Aftershock (Season 6, Episode 23)
Premise: After watching the execution of a killer they caught and convicted, Briscoe, Curtis, McCoy and Kincaid each spend a hard day off that ends in tragedy.
- Air date
- Season/Episode
- Season 6, Episode 23
- Detectives
- Det. Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Det. Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt)
- ADAs/DA
- Exec. ADA Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston), ADA Claire Kincaid (Jill Hennessy), DA Adam Schiff (Steven Hill)
- Guest stars
- Chris Bauer as Mickey Scott, Jennifer Garner as Jaime, Len Cariou as Mac Geller, Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet
- Director
- Martha Mitchell
- Writers
- Story: Michael S. Chernuchin; Story & teleplay: Janis Diamond
Summary
The Investigation
“Aftershock” opens at Attica, where Briscoe, Curtis, McCoy and Kincaid watch Mickey Scott die by lethal injection. Scott raped and beat to death Adele Saunders, 26, after she dented his car, while onlookers cheered. Kincaid, who has argued against the execution, says she has the flu and leaves work; McCoy tells her the pity belongs with the victim.
Curtis lashes out at a mouthy prisoner in the squad room and is told to take his day off. He spends the rest of it with Jaime, a graduate student he meets by chance, while his wife tries to reach him. McCoy brushes off Dr. Olivet over lunch, then drinks for hours with strangers, telling them about his father, a beat cop who pushed him into law and who hit his mother.
Kincaid visits her old law professor, Mac, and says she may quit; he defends the execution and calls her mood self-congratulation. Briscoe’s estranged daughter, Cathy, finds him at an off-track betting parlor and tries to talk, but he cuts the visit short. Briscoe, who has stuck to club soda all day, wanders into the bar where McCoy is drinking and, once a waitress stands him up, orders vodka.
The Trial
There is no case or trial. Kincaid stops by the squad room looking for Briscoe, and Van Buren, who chose not to go to Attica, tells her she saw no reason to watch and that the job’s decisions weigh on everyone. Schiff, asked by reporters on the evening news, says he wrote a brief against the death penalty 25 years ago but the public has since changed its mind. Late that night McCoy calls Kincaid, and she goes to the bar to drive a drunk Briscoe home.
Spoiler, the ending: On the way, their car is struck by a drunk driver. Kincaid is killed, and Briscoe, who blames himself, stays sober from then on.
Why it stands out
- Jill Hennessy’s final appearance as ADA Claire Kincaid, who dies in the crash while driving Briscoe home.
- The episode drops the usual crime-and-trial format to follow the four leads through one day after an execution.
- Jennifer Garner appears early in her career as Jaime, the student Curtis spends the day with.