Deathbed confessional episodes are de rigeur for all police procedural dramas, including every series in the L&O franchise, but not many such stories are as well done as "Scheherzade." The first time I watched this episode was to follow the twists and turns; the second and third times to marvel at Brian Dennehy's wonderful, layered portrayal of a dying man who is going to ease his conscience in his own time on his own terms, in an Emmy-worthy performance that was not nominated. It would have been too easy, and the road many lesser TV series would have taken, to make Dennehy's Judd Tierney just plain evil. He isn't, but neither is he the sociopath Benson and Stabler believe him to be before he begins to gradually let them in on his many secrets.
A complex story told well and without contrivance. Judith Light turns in another sharp, pivotal performance as Judge Donnelly. Paget Brewster as the deeply wounded daughter also does just fine. What the interventionists say is true; "secrets keep people sick."
A complex story told well and without contrivance. Judith Light turns in another sharp, pivotal performance as Judge Donnelly. Paget Brewster as the deeply wounded daughter also does just fine. What the interventionists say is true; "secrets keep people sick."