I've been reading the comments and noticed no one has made mention of the fact that she remembers their names. I'm sure she remembers the name of every child she failed to save. And that, in itself, is a heartbreaking fact.
I notice that right away as my mum has bad memories and is very forgetful but she still remembers the names of the old ladies that died in the care home she worked at
@@vlera8447 what isn't factual? That she remembers their names or that I think that's heartbreaking? Both statements are facts. Just because you don't think the same way I do does not make it non factual.
The tears in Jacks eyes right as he calls for recess. He knows she believes every word. Her mental state snapped like a twig unable to save all those kids.
pretty sure "i killed him so he could go to heaven with the children" isn't a valid defense. and i don't know how anyone who sees so many innocents die so young for no reason can believe there's a god in heaven deliberately killing those children.
I've always found her to be one of the few insanity claims I actually believe, given that she went for that when (in the L&O universe) on many occasions, far less sympathetic defendants have successfully used the "fucker had it coming" defense to get away with killing far more sympathetic victims.
@@dietotaku Not sure how you completely missed the point of the scene. It's not a valid defense, and she's not being logical. She's cracked under the stress and grief. The plea deal they give is a mercy. And given that even Jack was affected, I doubt she'd be given a much harsher sentence from the jury.
@@CKarasu13 Dr. Allison was tried under the motive that he robbed her with a real estate scam. Instead, she killed him because of his latest con as a spiritual medium, a con Dr. Allison believed and was devastated to find was wrong. She argued the grief of her job coupled with the pain of the revelation drove her over the edge, and on the stand, she had a psychotic breakdown when she wept that Blake was with the children in Heaven. The prosecution was sympathetic and agreed for Dr. Allison to be institutionalized.
Jeez, Jack basically said why didn’t you kill yourself in order to be with the children and help them. Her reaction to that question even made Jack realize that she truly believed what she was saying. Aunt Lydia has always been a believer.
Jack asked an excellent question. Of course, she’s so dumb that she falls for yet another con. But that’s what con men are good at. That’s why they’re able to steal from people and manage to convince their victims that they brought it on themselves. There are a lot of dumb people.
I actually cried at that last scene. She really didn't think she was doing enough, even though they were at the stage that nothing could help them. But I think she was really the best thing for those children. Props to the actress for making me cry, it felt very real.
"Look, this has nothing to do with the patient. It's all about you. You are afraid of death, and you can't be. You're in Medicine. You've got to accept the fact that everything we do here, everything... is a stall. We're just trying to keep the game going, that's it. But ultimately it always ends up the same way." - Perry Cox
@@rcslyman8929 it's different with Dr Cox and this doctor. Dr Cox was a great physician, who saw death as a part of life and could rationalize it to some extent. Vast majority of his patients were older , many even elderly. Even then he got to save many and this is the same Dr Cox who had a breakdown over losing patients to a botched organ transfer. The patients who died were all adults, the youngest being a 30-40s father. This doctor specialized in an area of medicine where it was often terminal cases and children. Seeing children die is something that's so horrible that most people who do change instantaneously. Seeing children die so often, eventually you just become the harbinger of death, even in your own mind.
@RC Slyman @Sam Jones Love your posts here - nothing like putting life in perspective. Death is real and a part of life. It does seem like robbery when a child dies or is dying vs an adult. However, all of it is sad. But as in Perry Cox's statement, " it's a stall". That took me out. We as humans have to learn to deal with & discuss it at many levels.
This speaks volumes for the need of psychological support for those working these kinds of jobs where they are forced to witness death day in and day out, especially children
If you haven't seen The Leftovers, you should - she plays a complicated cult leader after a catastrophic event. She does more not talking than most actors can with pages of dialogue.
I grew up in a hospital, having various operations and treatments as part of a medical condition. As sick as I often was, the kids with cancer left a mark on me. I would get to know some of them during one stay, and never saw them again. I could only imagine how much those kids touched the lives of the medical staff.
When my brother was in medical school, he said pediatric oncology was his worst residential rotation because he knew not all of the children were going to survive.
@@HeronCoyote1234 I am of the opinion that a God can be loving OR omnipotent, not both. If He truly controls everything (good and bad) that happens on Earth, He cannot be loving. People who love people don't give them fatal cancer.
@@TrueAuthenticSweets This particular doctor had no filter in the episode. Most doctors in her career field are meant to build emotional barriers and safeguards like going to therapy or finding outside outlets to relieve very heavy stress. She went 100% into those kids and it emotional wrecked her every time. her career was basically suicidal.
It’s the look on Jack’s face when she says she failed...the ‘sometimes I hate my job’ what she did was wrong in every definition. But what she had to see everyday in her job watching children die, alone in pain and surely terrified. Her heart was in the right place but that just showed how so many who give so much knowing how a lot of time the inevitable is only around the corner and there’s not really anyone who will support them through it with bleeding them dry either.
I wonder if it's because they both have similar jobs. Neither is preventing, it's cleaning up the pieces. Trying to make best out of a bad situation after the fact (homicide or terminal cancer). I thought it to be that the words of the doctor hit Jack because he feels that too in some way. Unable to help in time, to stop the suffering (only get justice but not prevent it).
I saw Jack’s look as “No way am I going to win this case.” If I were on that jury, I probably couldn’t convict for so many reasons. She really believed what she did was for the children. Would her life be better served going back to work to help at whatever capacity she could? I think sending her to prison would serve no purpose.
I have not seen this episode, but I see this clip that's under 7 minutes long and I am bawling. You could tell the cross examiner called a recess, because he realized she's losing it and truly believes the dead kids and babies were going to have a guardian.....it sounds like Gidian took advantage of her grief to get funds and she killed him truly believing he was going to help the kids not be alone....Gidian caused his own death
HE was going to lose it. Didn't you see the tears in his eyes? It's horrible when children have to die from cancer or any other disease, probably more horrible when a doctor realizes she can do nothing to prevent it.
@@q851230 I have not seen this episode. However if you look 10 comments below my post, you'll find Voidcadet posted a dialogue between the two lawyers Jack and Swift. Pretty sure it's lagit dialogue from the episode.
@@q851230 I believe she is to be held in a Psychiatric ward to see if she is any fit to continue without any supervision, but it's a decision everyone agreed on since they think it's for the best.
I lost my sister to a brain tumor almost 13 years ago and it hurt me. Still hurts me to this day but I can’t imagine the hell that cancer doctors have to endure.
my condolences, it's always hardest to lose a loved one to the big C. hold on to the memories you have of her and let her life inspire you to live your life with attributes she passed on to you.
@@suzawilo aww well I know how that feels and I know your talking about children and girls unfortunately dieing but still to be honest I know what’s it’s like to loose a loved one because I lost my grandpa Jim to bone cancer.
@@suzawilo Haven't see The Leftovers but her acting on The Handmaid's Tale is very brutal to the point I knew she would an Emmy when she was nominated for the 1st season.
It’s a crime that she didn’t get the guest emmy for this. I’ve seen many award snubs, this is at the very top. She is so moving here. Impossible to not feel her pain
This was one of the most dramatic scenes I have ever seen. I have watched it several times and tear up every time including this one. She is one hell of an actress and the changing expression on McCoy's face to her action is also stellar. Still crying.
She broke, she got to a point of seeing all that death happening to people who hadn't even had a chance to act in a way that could possibly condem them and it destroyed her, so she grasped on to this belief because without it she'd fall apart entirely. Brilliant actress, really conveyed the desperation to cling onto her belief and the heart wrenching things the character had experienced for years on end
It's a clever outcome to a episode of Law and Order. The con-man was so good at convincing this Doctor that the children needed him that she killed him to be with them. She needed him to be with them because she spent her whole life watching them suffer and die. Sadly, in the end he was never going to join them anywhere and he was killed to soothe the guilt of Doctors own perceived failures. She was truly compassionate and truly broken by her responsibilities.
@@dryb3301 The point Jack was trying to make, was exactly that. She killed him for personal motives. But based on her testimony, she was so far gone, she would have justifiably killed about anyone. Its at least diminished capacity, but she's probably insane.
@@WolfRamAndHartYes, that's what scary. She's at the point where she's so far gone she can justify killing just about anyone "for the children" to herself. She's not evil, but she is very, very dangerous and should not be out of custody.
My oldest daughter has been in remission for a form of child leukemia, don't ask me the name I am very bad with the medical names. This one hit me hard, as we nearly lost her twice to cancer. I cry every single time this episode is on, because I also felt that pain.
Looks like she gres delusions because it’s the only way she could deal with what she was seeing on a daily basis. She genuinely believed what she was saying
Plot twist!! This dang scene has me in tears every time. 🥺😄 The actress did a superb job!! You know she is not just broken and torn, she has lost her mind regarding those babies and your heart breaks for her. Love this show!! It shines the light on topics not often discussed. Burnout for healthcare workers is real.💙💜
I think part way through the sentencing Jack lost his will to truly see her punished/convicted. The lady burned out and became delusional. She should have resignd the moment the job became too much for her though i understand mental health wasn't viewed as important back then as it is now. If he wanted her to do truly hard time then he would have played it from her victim's point of view; She killed the guy so he needlessly could play eternal baby sitter. She mentioned how the children were happy ect, but what about her victim? was he happy? He wasn't dying of a terminal illness or anything and while unfair he still had life left in him, that she stole from him. Those kids were in heaven with no pain or suffering, they weren't alone as she claimed they were with God/angels- it was the parents who needed consoling. So the con of speaking to the dead gave them comfort- a comfort she took from other parents who could have used this conman to 'commune'.
Sitting here painting my model trains on whole marathon of these cases clips I see her in absolute agony all built up Then i see Jack slowly seeing the full picture, i fully wanted him to shed a tear, for the kids, or for her absolute depth of depression and sorrow.
Delusional comes from denying the truth. And the truth can set you free, but can hurt just as being in a life of lies. But unlike lies, truth can help you heal and learn from them. While lying fester and rots. What she did was no different then the terminal illness that took those lives.
The greatest delusion is truth. It's the only one you need to free yourself from. The only value truth provides that can't be found in lies is practical. Important to be sure, but not a stable foundation for any philosophy. Her delusion could have supported her through a cruelling career in which she could have saved many children. Because she believed in truth she didn't recognize the delusion for what it was. As a result she used it irresponsibly. If she recognized truth only for the practical tool that it is, then she could recognize her delusions as well. She could have believed in them to gain strength, without the need to act on them and murder a man.
Being a caregiver for even one terminal patient can have a devastating effect on a person. My mother was my father's caregiver during his last year battling with stage 4 cancer. Hospice came in for the last few days, but the strain of it very nearly killed my mother and her own health was never really the same.
She has a point. Obviously all this 'communicating with the dead' medium stuff is just rubbish (to me)... but if people who are suffering truly believe and find comfort in the 'knowledge' that their passed love one is safe and happy, then it's a good thing.
Its not a good thing at all. Believing in any kind of mythology is no different than being a drug addict or alcoholic who willingly chooses to keep consuming either substance.
I completely disagree. These people every last so-called "psychic" are grifting are forever having the memory of their loved ones tainted. They are hijacking a dead person's dignity and poisoning their relatives into believing a total lie.
Except when it comes to them being conned. People will legit give up everything just to get that sense of comfort instead of taking the steps to move on. She's a prime example of this. She clearly needed psychiatric help to deal with the trauma of her job but instead this man gave her that comfort fix that fed into her break instead helping her move on. Result: she killed him thinking he could help the kids It's like that episode of Leverage (I know it exaggerates but it still gets the point) where a psychic was cleaning out everything a pregnant, grieving widow had so she could get some type of comfort with talking to her late.husband. It got to the point that she only had the house to use as payment and was considering selling it.
@@dmf1301 it is Everywhere from banking, medical mafia, to your shady boss .Many so called healers can temporarily relieve for $30 the pain of this Demon run world 🔥
Goddammit RUclips! I was just laughing at Chris Pratt doing an impression of Towie and now I'm full blown ugly crying at 3 in the afternoon! I was so not prepared for this!
I have a mom facing stage IV cancer. She talks constantly about how she can’t imagine how it must be for a child. Every day I see her suffer more and more. Every day I pray she lives to tomorrow. I could not in good conscience vote on a jury to imprison a woman like her, who worked tirelessly to save innocent children who didn’t deserve the awful disease that is cancer. She believed what she was saying.
@@yesterdayitrained thankfully yes! they also think that her tumors are “dead or dying” and she’s very close to getting life saving surgery :-) she’s only 46 so we are very hopeful
@@genesisstanley8163 thank you so much; everyone’s prayers have made it possible for my mom to improve drastically- they think it’s possible that she will enter remission before the end of this year thanks to her new chemo + everyone’s love and kind thoughts
I lost my mom to stage four ovarian cancer when I was 16, so even though it was my parent, not my (hypothetical) child, that I lost, I understand why that doctor mentally snapped. To have to see and experience that over and over again every day, it would take a toll on most people eventually.
Ann Dowd plays central roles in 2 of the best, most touching and "trying hard not to cry" episodes of Law and Order (this one and Pro Se). I am happy she is finally getting the recognition she deserves but it should have come much sooner.
@@GAshoneybear I know but they are region 1 and 4 which won’t play in England, then again I was looking at the complete boxset not the individual seasons I’ll have to double check to make sure none of them are region 2 x
@@MandA1900 the first few seasons were produced in Region 2 but that stopped some time ago and they can only be had second-hand now - and very expensive too! I think the Region 2 DVDs stopped at season 7 so that wouldn't help with this episode anyway. Everyone is switching to streaming for the convenience! For what it's worth I just bought season 14 on Prime even though I've already got the Region 1 DVD.
Ms. Dowd is brilliant but watch McCoy's eyes and mouth starting at 5:34. His heart is breaking as he listens to this shattered woman. But he remains stoic and allows her to reveal her mental state.to the jury before making his request for a recess. Then he turns back to her in silent despair. Masterful acting by Waterston. And kudos to whoever wrote the music accompanying the performances.
I am a med student - and one speciality I always thought of as the most difficult was pediatric oncology. How do my fellow doctors and nurses manage to do their jobs every day? If I was in here place, I would start thinking about "children in afterlife, happy" too
Dr. Allison was tried under the motive that he robbed her with a real estate scam. Instead, she killed him because of his latest con as a spiritual medium, a con Dr. Allison believed and was devastated to find was wrong. She argued the grief of her job coupled with the pain of the revelation drove her over the edge, and on the stand, she had a psychotic breakdown when she wept that Blake was with the children in Heaven. The prosecution was sympathetic and agreed for Dr. Allison to be institutionalized.
I remember seeing this as a child and being extremely pissed of because before this scene it is explained that this woman works with children who are dying. Some fat dude in the meeting said “shed probably emotionally overreact towards her money being stolen” then this scene happened and mccoy who’s just being lawfull good untill this point is brought to tears because he realized shes not in it for the money but She somehow got traumatized by working with stage 4 cancer children in their final days. Seriously? This woman emotionally overreacting to something? Where does she get the nerve? Im glad the writers were on my side
McCoy is a fascinating attorney. He has proven himself willing and capable of using unethical and underhanded tactics to obtain a conviction, often prioritizing his sense of justice above the justice system itself. However he's also shown that he will only prosecute someone for what he believes they did. He has the chance to secure convictions for worst crimes but sometimes will take a deal for a lesser crime because he truly believes they only committed the lesser crime. Here he realizes that she truly believed she was sending a person to the afterlife to accompany the many dead children she thinks are there alone, and he realizes she is in fact mentally ill, though under the law she technically committed murder.
Why does she think the kids are alone on the otherside and not with grand parents or great grabdparents etc. You know their individual families who love them.
Question, ma'am. In Heaven, where everything is supposed to be perfect/beautiful/eternal/etc, why would the kids even _need_ a guardian? Why would they need to have someone make them feel better when it's supposed to be all bliss, all the time, forever? EOL/Hospice care is certainly stressful, and can be mind-breaking. I see that in some of my Medicare and Medicaid clients and their caregivers. But this is really pushing the bounds of sanity. I haven't seen this episode in its entirety. Does anyone know if she was given a psych eval or anything?
Because part of the whole process is figuring out how culpable she actually is. Ideally in the United States you don't treat somebody who was not mentally culpable the same way you would treat somebody who committed the same crime but was perfectly sane. Anybody can say what she said but very few actually believe it and it's clear to everybody in that courtroom and obviously to most of the audience that she truly believes what she's saying. Whether or not she's delusional is a matter of some psychological and theological debate,
Faith healers and mediums and people who believe in the myth of an afterlife in which one will be reunited with loved ones are all either crooks or lunatics.
So she had no idea he was the realtor who scammed her @1:54. But she poisoned him so he could avoid going to prison @2:39 . I'm not sure if you can reconcile those 2 statements ma'am.....
@@jaimeduncan6167 You can't know someone should be in prison and not know they are a criminal. If I said Carl was a Poker champion back in the day Then lose a game of poker to Carl and say Man Carl I had no idea you were such a good player! It makes no sense.
@@moneytalks1219 the realtor who *scammed her* that is what you say. I say, easy she knows he was a scammer, but she does not know she was one of his victims.
Now that is some good acting. But we aren’t seriously swayed that is okay to kill a guy who stole your life’s savings because you totally had no idea who he was, you just thought he did such a good job helping the families of dead children that he should instead be dead with children so he can’t help any more grieving families? She makes a very sympathetic victim but she’s still a murderer. With that psycho of an attitude how do we know she hasn’t been killing kids herself with the whole Angel of death vibe she’s got going...
He would have been an idiot to do so and here's why. As you can see he was visibly affected by the tail end of her speech and he has been a prosecutor a great many years. The jury however were just 12 people who couldn't get out of jury duty and who I can say with almost 100% certainty were affected by what they just heard. How do I know they would have been affected because even knowing that these are fictional characters that almost all of the kids she mentions are literally just names her speech has me in tears every single time. For the jury however those kids would be very real and I wager that every single one of those jury members has a son, a daughter, a niece, a nephew etc that they were thinking of when she was talking. If Jack had said what you wish he had said that instantly would have turned most if not all of the jury against him. Best case scenario they would been deadlocked leading to a mistrial meaning he would have to start all over again and jury selection is trying at the best of times to say nothing of the kind of media attention this trial would have received which would have made a retrial much harder. Worst case scenario they would have acquitted her And she would go off Scot free. You might argue they took an oath to be impartial and ideally they would stick to that oath however we and the people of the world not in order takes place in do not live in an ideal world. And as such the oaths that we take only have as much power over us as we are willing to give them.
I've been reading the comments and noticed no one has made mention of the fact that she remembers their names. I'm sure she remembers the name of every child she failed to save. And that, in itself, is a heartbreaking fact.
That really got me. Her listing the kids names and their stories. Heartbreaking
I notice that right away as my mum has bad memories and is very forgetful but she still remembers the names of the old ladies that died in the care home she worked at
Hogwash. You can remember the names if you have motivation enough. There is nothing factual about statement.
@@vlera8447 what isn't factual? That she remembers their names or that I think that's heartbreaking? Both statements are facts. Just because you don't think the same way I do does not make it non factual.
It was in the script...
The tears in Jacks eyes right as he calls for recess. He knows she believes every word. Her mental state snapped like a twig unable to save all those kids.
Not to mention that lousy shyster who played on all her pent up guilt and grief for his own gain.
pretty sure "i killed him so he could go to heaven with the children" isn't a valid defense. and i don't know how anyone who sees so many innocents die so young for no reason can believe there's a god in heaven deliberately killing those children.
I've always found her to be one of the few insanity claims I actually believe, given that she went for that when (in the L&O universe) on many occasions, far less sympathetic defendants have successfully used the "fucker had it coming" defense to get away with killing far more sympathetic victims.
@@dietotaku Not sure how you completely missed the point of the scene. It's not a valid defense, and she's not being logical. She's cracked under the stress and grief. The plea deal they give is a mercy. And given that even Jack was affected, I doubt she'd be given a much harsher sentence from the jury.
@@CKarasu13 Dr. Allison was tried under the motive that he robbed her with a real estate scam. Instead, she killed him because of his latest con as a spiritual medium, a con Dr. Allison believed and was devastated to find was wrong. She argued the grief of her job coupled with the pain of the revelation drove her over the edge, and on the stand, she had a psychotic breakdown when she wept that Blake was with the children in Heaven.
The prosecution was sympathetic and agreed for Dr. Allison to be institutionalized.
Jeez, Jack basically said why didn’t you kill yourself in order to be with the children and help them. Her reaction to that question even made Jack realize that she truly believed what she was saying. Aunt Lydia has always been a believer.
I lol'd on this too much 😂
I thought it was her, she’s a good actress
How was her reaction? What was her answer?
@@adikusuma3839 You're watching it.
Jack asked an excellent question. Of course, she’s so dumb that she falls for yet another con. But that’s what con men are good at. That’s why they’re able to steal from people and manage to convince their victims that they brought it on themselves. There are a lot of dumb people.
I actually cried at that last scene. She really didn't think she was doing enough, even though they were at the stage that nothing could help them. But I think she was really the best thing for those children. Props to the actress for making me cry, it felt very real.
"Look, this has nothing to do with the patient. It's all about you. You are afraid of death, and you can't be. You're in Medicine. You've got to accept the fact that everything we do here, everything... is a stall. We're just trying to keep the game going, that's it. But ultimately it always ends up the same way." - Perry Cox
@@rcslyman8929 it's different with Dr Cox and this doctor. Dr Cox was a great physician, who saw death as a part of life and could rationalize it to some extent. Vast majority of his patients were older , many even elderly. Even then he got to save many and this is the same Dr Cox who had a breakdown over losing patients to a botched organ transfer. The patients who died were all adults, the youngest being a 30-40s father.
This doctor specialized in an area of medicine where it was often terminal cases and children. Seeing children die is something that's so horrible that most people who do change instantaneously. Seeing children die so often, eventually you just become the harbinger of death, even in your own mind.
Ann Dowd is a gifted actress, to be sure.
It didn't feel real to me at all.
@RC Slyman @Sam Jones Love your posts here - nothing like putting life in perspective. Death is real and a part of life. It does seem like robbery when a child dies or is dying vs an adult. However, all of it is sad. But as in Perry Cox's statement, " it's a stall".
That took me out. We as humans have to learn to deal with & discuss it at many levels.
This speaks volumes for the need of psychological support for those working these kinds of jobs where they are forced to witness death day in and day out, especially children
Ann Dowd is a phenomenal actress! She plays great villians too such as Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid's Tale. So convincing! Great job. 😊
I was wondering if that was her (Haven’t seen Handmaid’s yet). I love her voice!
@@MSW96 With age her voice has deepened and has such gravitas and as Aunt Lydia, elicits fear. She is incredible.
@@maryclaremayo6157 well put
If you haven't seen The Leftovers, you should - she plays a complicated cult leader after a catastrophic event. She does more not talking than most actors can with pages of dialogue.
VERY convincing, I hate her so much😭😭😭
I grew up in a hospital, having various operations and treatments as part of a medical condition. As sick as I often was, the kids with cancer left a mark on me. I would get to know some of them during one stay, and never saw them again. I could only imagine how much those kids touched the lives of the medical staff.
That must have been hard, getting to know a kid only to have then go off, never to see them again.
When my brother was in medical school, he said pediatric oncology was his worst residential rotation because he knew not all of the children were going to survive.
Ugh, I can't imagine how much pain that must be to feel like you can't do anything but help make the time they have left as painless as possible… 😔😢
I once read that someone did not believe in God because of two words: “pediatric oncology”. He has a point.
@@HeronCoyote1234 I am of the opinion that a God can be loving OR omnipotent, not both. If He truly controls everything (good and bad) that happens on Earth, He cannot be loving. People who love people don't give them fatal cancer.
She believed it. She fell so deep into it all, she chose the dream over the harsh reality.
Dream how?
@@TrueAuthenticSweets This particular doctor had no filter in the episode. Most doctors in her career field are meant to build emotional barriers and safeguards like going to therapy or finding outside outlets to relieve very heavy stress. She went 100% into those kids and it emotional wrecked her every time. her career was basically suicidal.
It’s the look on Jack’s face when she says she failed...the ‘sometimes I hate my job’ what she did was wrong in every definition. But what she had to see everyday in her job watching children die, alone in pain and surely terrified. Her heart was in the right place but that just showed how so many who give so much knowing how a lot of time the inevitable is only around the corner and there’s not really anyone who will support them through it with bleeding them dry either.
I wonder if it's because they both have similar jobs. Neither is preventing, it's cleaning up the pieces. Trying to make best out of a bad situation after the fact (homicide or terminal cancer). I thought it to be that the words of the doctor hit Jack because he feels that too in some way. Unable to help in time, to stop the suffering (only get justice but not prevent it).
It’s the look of, “The state doesn’t pay me enough for this bullshit”.
I saw Jack’s look as “No way am I going to win this case.” If I were on that jury, I probably couldn’t convict for so many reasons. She really believed what she did was for the children. Would her life be better served going back to work to help at whatever capacity she could? I think sending her to prison would serve no purpose.
I have not seen this episode, but I see this clip that's under 7 minutes long and I am bawling. You could tell the cross examiner called a recess, because he realized she's losing it and truly believes the dead kids and babies were going to have a guardian.....it sounds like Gidian took advantage of her grief to get funds and she killed him truly believing he was going to help the kids not be alone....Gidian caused his own death
HE was going to lose it. Didn't you see the tears in his eyes? It's horrible when children have to die from cancer or any other disease, probably more horrible when a doctor realizes she can do nothing to prevent it.
What happened to her in the end of this ep?
@@q851230 I have not seen this episode. However if you look 10 comments below my post, you'll find Voidcadet posted a dialogue between the two lawyers Jack and Swift. Pretty sure it's lagit dialogue from the episode.
@@askthehealerofthebroken4516 It is. I know this episode practically by heart
@@q851230 I believe she is to be held in a Psychiatric ward to see if she is any fit to continue without any supervision, but it's a decision everyone agreed on since they think it's for the best.
She just wanted those children to live, but couldn’t because of how sick they were, my hearts killing me
What she did was very wrong. However I felt like I wanted to cry because of how much she had to deal with so many children dying.
Even Jack seems to pity the woman.
Honestly, who wouldn't?
@@codenamejinza Well, Jack 😅 He was known very ruthless.
When he realized she really believed- truly believed- suddenly his job became much more complicated- and much more sad.
yeah after obviously was crazy and clearly not out for revenge.
He arranges for her to plead out with a reduced sentence
That creeping realization she is a True Believer.
If she were a True Believer, she would let God's will be done, not her will. Jesus, I play my Trust in Thee.
I lost my sister to a brain tumor almost 13 years ago and it hurt me. Still hurts me to this day but I can’t imagine the hell that cancer doctors have to endure.
Sorry for your loss 💔
Also lost a sister but to another illness.
@@suzawilo Sorry to hear that. It’s awful losing a loved one.
my condolences, it's always hardest to lose a loved one to the big C. hold on to the memories you have of her and let her life inspire you to live your life with attributes she passed on to you.
@@suzawilo aww well I know how that feels and I know your talking about children and girls unfortunately dieing but still to be honest I know what’s it’s like to loose a loved one because I lost my grandpa Jim to bone cancer.
@@matthewforsyth284 Loss is loss💔🙏🏽
What a beautiful performance! It got me tearing for the pain she feels
I agree, she's a really good actress
@@rosepuff321 Amazing even.
You should check out The Handmaid's Tale and The Leftovers. She's amazing in those shows.
@@rickardkaufman3988 Leftovers I've seen.
Handmaid been trying to avoid, for reasons.
@@suzawilo Haven't see The Leftovers but her acting on The Handmaid's Tale is very brutal to the point I knew she would an Emmy when she was nominated for the 1st season.
It’s a crime that she didn’t get the guest emmy for this. I’ve seen many award snubs, this is at the very top. She is so moving here. Impossible to not feel her pain
She didn't do it for me.
This was one of the most dramatic scenes I have ever seen. I have watched it several times and tear up every time including this one. She is one hell of an actress and the changing expression on McCoy's face to her action is also stellar. Still crying.
dry eyes here.
My favorite of hers is when she played the sister in "Pro Se." So heartbreaking.
@@paulastiles5507 I will have to try and find that. Thanks.
@@marysisak2359You're welcome! The episode is called "Pro Se" and it's season 6, episode 21.
I've never seen an actor so realistically talk through tears like that
Seeing children die as part of your job, yeah I can see how that would be just a constant emotional blow
@@Art_thecl0wn Hope your Brother stays strong
some people just become insensitive.
It's harsh.
You couldn’t pay me enough to have a job like that. I’d rather dig trenches the rest of my life.
I worked as security at children's hospital a very long time ago. I didn't last very long.
5:34
Thats when he broke. He couldnt keep going. Hes seeing a woman who killed without malice. But out of pain and delusion.
She broke, she got to a point of seeing all that death happening to people who hadn't even had a chance to act in a way that could possibly condem them and it destroyed her, so she grasped on to this belief because without it she'd fall apart entirely. Brilliant actress, really conveyed the desperation to cling onto her belief and the heart wrenching things the character had experienced for years on end
It's a clever outcome to a episode of Law and Order. The con-man was so good at convincing this Doctor that the children needed him that she killed him to be with them. She needed him to be with them because she spent her whole life watching them suffer and die. Sadly, in the end he was never going to join them anywhere and he was killed to soothe the guilt of Doctors own perceived failures. She was truly compassionate and truly broken by her responsibilities.
Con man got what he deserved and no one even went to prison for his murder. Talk about karma
@@dryb3301 The point Jack was trying to make, was exactly that. She killed him for personal motives. But based on her testimony, she was so far gone, she would have justifiably killed about anyone. Its at least diminished capacity, but she's probably insane.
@@WolfRamAndHart probably? ??? She's the definition of insanity. So far gone and not an ounce of insight
@@WolfRamAndHartYes, that's what scary. She's at the point where she's so far gone she can justify killing just about anyone "for the children" to herself. She's not evil, but she is very, very dangerous and should not be out of custody.
This woman’s acting is completely mind boggling. If you can make someone cry in minutes without context, you are so powerful.
My oldest daughter has been in remission for a form of child leukemia, don't ask me the name I am very bad with the medical names. This one hit me hard, as we nearly lost her twice to cancer. I cry every single time this episode is on, because I also felt that pain.
Looks like she gres delusions because it’s the only way she could deal with what she was seeing on a daily basis. She genuinely believed what she was saying
With all the grief she was holding in, my guess is that it was a matter of time before she snapped.
I cried my heart out not sure how the actors managed to film that without breaking down
I found it rather strange that the woman wanted to play God so it didn't hit me at all actually. And I am a cancer survivor myself.
Aunt Lydia always worries about the children
Who is Aunt Lydia?
@@2degucitas She plays Aunt Lydia in The Handmaid's Tale.
man, the eye acting of both her and mccoy was so good in this clip....
Ann Dowd - a wonderful actress!
Is she the actress that plays Frazier s agent Bebe?
@@edwardmoore5325 No. The actress you are thinking of is Harriet Sansom Harris.
That actress pulled me into her heart with that sorrow and grief and sadness. Dear gawd!
Plot twist!! This dang scene has me in tears every time. 🥺😄 The actress did a superb job!! You know she is not just broken and torn, she has lost her mind regarding those babies and your heart breaks for her. Love this show!! It shines the light on topics not often discussed. Burnout for healthcare workers is real.💙💜
The show will never get old to me
I think part way through the sentencing Jack lost his will to truly see her punished/convicted. The lady burned out and became delusional. She should have resignd the moment the job became too much for her though i understand mental health wasn't viewed as important back then as it is now.
If he wanted her to do truly hard time then he would have played it from her victim's point of view; She killed the guy so he needlessly could play eternal baby sitter. She mentioned how the children were happy ect, but what about her victim? was he happy? He wasn't dying of a terminal illness or anything and while unfair he still had life left in him, that she stole from him.
Those kids were in heaven with no pain or suffering, they weren't alone as she claimed they were with God/angels- it was the parents who needed consoling. So the con of speaking to the dead gave them comfort- a comfort she took from other parents who could have used this conman to 'commune'.
This is why I quit working in pediatrics. Death of a child makes a permanent scar in your heart
Sitting here painting my model trains on whole marathon of these cases clips
I see her in absolute agony all built up
Then i see Jack slowly seeing the full picture, i fully wanted him to shed a tear, for the kids, or for her absolute depth of depression and sorrow.
Ann Dowd truly is an amazing actress. How is it only until recent years she’s finally getting the recognition she deserves?!
Awww, I remember crying so much when I saw this episode
Delusional comes from denying the truth. And the truth can set you free, but can hurt just as being in a life of lies. But unlike lies, truth can help you heal and learn from them. While lying fester and rots. What she did was no different then the terminal illness that took those lives.
The greatest delusion is truth. It's the only one you need to free yourself from. The only value truth provides that can't be found in lies is practical. Important to be sure, but not a stable foundation for any philosophy.
Her delusion could have supported her through a cruelling career in which she could have saved many children. Because she believed in truth she didn't recognize the delusion for what it was. As a result she used it irresponsibly. If she recognized truth only for the practical tool that it is, then she could recognize her delusions as well. She could have believed in them to gain strength, without the need to act on them and murder a man.
Being a caregiver for even one terminal patient can have a devastating effect on a person. My mother was my father's caregiver during his last year battling with stage 4 cancer. Hospice came in for the last few days, but the strain of it very nearly killed my mother and her own health was never really the same.
This was a great but sad episode. Ann Dowd is a powerhouse.
When the Insanity Defense really is legit and you can't help but feel sorry for her.
I don’t know who acted their scene better, the doctor or Jack.
She has a point. Obviously all this 'communicating with the dead' medium stuff is just rubbish (to me)... but if people who are suffering truly believe and find comfort in the 'knowledge' that their passed love one is safe and happy, then it's a good thing.
Its not a good thing at all. Believing in any kind of mythology is no different than being a drug addict or alcoholic who willingly chooses to keep consuming either substance.
I completely disagree. These people every last so-called "psychic" are grifting are forever having the memory of their loved ones tainted. They are hijacking a dead person's dignity and poisoning their relatives into believing a total lie.
Except when it comes to them being conned. People will legit give up everything just to get that sense of comfort instead of taking the steps to move on. She's a prime example of this. She clearly needed psychiatric help to deal with the trauma of her job but instead this man gave her that comfort fix that fed into her break instead helping her move on. Result: she killed him thinking he could help the kids
It's like that episode of Leverage (I know it exaggerates but it still gets the point) where a psychic was cleaning out everything a pregnant, grieving widow had so she could get some type of comfort with talking to her late.husband. It got to the point that she only had the house to use as payment and was considering selling it.
@@ugan2 Good point. It's harmful when some charlatan takes advantage of you and steals all your money or tries to scare you. :(
@@dmf1301 it is Everywhere from banking, medical mafia, to your shady boss .Many so called healers can temporarily relieve for $30 the pain of this Demon run world 🔥
This was truly heartbreaking
Goddammit RUclips! I was just laughing at Chris Pratt doing an impression of Towie and now I'm full blown ugly crying at 3 in the afternoon! I was so not prepared for this!
I have a mom facing stage IV cancer. She talks constantly about how she can’t imagine how it must be for a child. Every day I see her suffer more and more. Every day I pray she lives to tomorrow. I could not in good conscience vote on a jury to imprison a woman like her, who worked tirelessly to save innocent children who didn’t deserve the awful disease that is cancer. She believed what she was saying.
I will keep your mom in my prayers🥺🙌🏾🙏🏾
Prayer is powerful
I am so sorry- I hope she is still with you.
@@yesterdayitrained thankfully yes! they also think that her tumors are “dead or dying” and she’s very close to getting life saving surgery :-) she’s only 46 so we are very hopeful
@@genesisstanley8163 thank you so much; everyone’s prayers have made it possible for my mom to improve drastically- they think it’s possible that she will enter remission before the end of this year thanks to her new chemo + everyone’s love and kind thoughts
So, uh, I'm in tears. Her face... her voice... Jesus.
That was heartbreaking
It’s the fact she not just remembers their names but their stories and their last moments
I lost my mom to stage four ovarian cancer when I was 16, so even though it was my parent, not my (hypothetical) child, that I lost, I understand why that doctor mentally snapped. To have to see and experience that over and over again every day, it would take a toll on most people eventually.
The look on Jack's face at the end always gets me it's just so sad.
Ann Dowd plays central roles in 2 of the best, most touching and "trying hard not to cry" episodes of Law and Order (this one and Pro Se). I am happy she is finally getting the recognition she deserves but it should have come much sooner.
I wish this tv series would be released on dvd I really want to start collecting them!
They have the entire run in a DVD set on Amazon.
@@GAshoneybear I know but they are region 1 and 4 which won’t play in England, then again I was looking at the complete boxset not the individual seasons I’ll have to double check to make sure none of them are region 2 x
@@MandA1900 the first few seasons were produced in Region 2 but that stopped some time ago and they can only be had second-hand now - and very expensive too! I think the Region 2 DVDs stopped at season 7 so that wouldn't help with this episode anyway. Everyone is switching to streaming for the convenience! For what it's worth I just bought season 14 on Prime even though I've already got the Region 1 DVD.
Most of it is now on peacock app
I love this series so much, oh jeez
This was by far one of my favourite episodes. It's raining in my house for the week, goodbye.
Ann Dowd is always phenomenal. A great character actor and a treat to watch
Ms. Dowd is brilliant but watch McCoy's eyes and mouth starting at 5:34. His heart is breaking as he listens to this shattered woman. But he remains stoic and allows her to reveal her mental state.to the jury before making his request for a recess. Then he turns back to her in silent despair. Masterful acting by Waterston. And kudos to whoever wrote the music accompanying the performances.
Great performance!!
Insanity plea looking pretty much in the bag...
I am a med student - and one speciality I always thought of as the most difficult was pediatric oncology. How do my fellow doctors and nurses manage to do their jobs every day? If I was in here place, I would start thinking about "children in afterlife, happy" too
Ann Dowd. She is so good.
Under his eye witches
😂
They pick the best actors and actresses to play the Suspects and the Defendants all too well.
2:53 - McCoy: "Oh boy, I guess here we go..."
Dr. Allison was tried under the motive that he robbed her with a real estate scam. Instead, she killed him because of his latest con as a spiritual medium, a con Dr. Allison believed and was devastated to find was wrong. She argued the grief of her job coupled with the pain of the revelation drove her over the edge, and on the stand, she had a psychotic breakdown when she wept that Blake was with the children in Heaven.
The prosecution was sympathetic and agreed for Dr. Allison to be institutionalized.
Holy smokes, it's Aunt Lydia!
I remember seeing this as a child and being extremely pissed of because before this scene it is explained that this woman works with children who are dying. Some fat dude in the meeting said “shed probably emotionally overreact towards her money being stolen” then this scene happened and mccoy who’s just being lawfull good untill this point is brought to tears because he realized shes not in it for the money but She somehow got traumatized by working with stage 4 cancer children in their final days. Seriously? This woman emotionally overreacting to something? Where does she get the nerve? Im glad the writers were on my side
McCoy is a fascinating attorney. He has proven himself willing and capable of using unethical and underhanded tactics to obtain a conviction, often prioritizing his sense of justice above the justice system itself. However he's also shown that he will only prosecute someone for what he believes they did. He has the chance to secure convictions for worst crimes but sometimes will take a deal for a lesser crime because he truly believes they only committed the lesser crime.
Here he realizes that she truly believed she was sending a person to the afterlife to accompany the many dead children she thinks are there alone, and he realizes she is in fact mentally ill, though under the law she technically committed murder.
In every aspect....a truely tragic and pitiable character.
Some of the best actors on Law and Order are the ones who we don't know their names but they are real closers . They are amazing actors.
This woman is one hell of an actress
Hey it’s Ann Dowd, she’s so young, fantastic actress
I couldn't work somewhere where I would have to watch countless children die. I just couldn't watch that.
I love law and order
I can get behind that. It's one of those shows I never really get tired of.
@@mmmuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiirrrrr I've dreamt of a channel that'd show just Law and Order, SVU and original CSI. 🙏🏽
@@suzawilo I'm into it
Why does she think the kids are alone on the otherside and not with grand parents or great grabdparents etc. You know their individual families who love them.
Aunt Lydia really had an interesting life before Gilead, huh?
….I’m gonna double check but I’m almost 100% sure that’s Aunt Lydia.
I have no sympathy for her. Put her in jail. She'll keep doing what she's doing because she is greedy.
She also played in another SVU episode as the mother of a boy who was "evil" .
Question, ma'am. In Heaven, where everything is supposed to be perfect/beautiful/eternal/etc, why would the kids even _need_ a guardian? Why would they need to have someone make them feel better when it's supposed to be all bliss, all the time, forever?
EOL/Hospice care is certainly stressful, and can be mind-breaking. I see that in some of my Medicare and Medicaid clients and their caregivers. But this is really pushing the bounds of sanity. I haven't seen this episode in its entirety. Does anyone know if she was given a psych eval or anything?
@Annistar Probably so.
I would not blame Jack or the writers if this was Jack's final episode before resigning.
So... maybe I'm missing a clip, but if she's openly confessing to killing him (reasons aside) why are they having a courtroom scene at all?
Because part of the whole process is figuring out how culpable she actually is. Ideally in the United States you don't treat somebody who was not mentally culpable the same way you would treat somebody who committed the same crime but was perfectly sane. Anybody can say what she said but very few actually believe it and it's clear to everybody in that courtroom and obviously to most of the audience that she truly believes what she's saying. Whether or not she's delusional is a matter of some psychological and theological debate,
Killing and murder are two different things in the legal system
One of those days at work that absolutely sucks
Aunt Lydia's back story? lol
Faith healers and mediums and people who believe in the myth of an afterlife in which one will be reunited with loved ones are all either crooks or lunatics.
I can’t believe this actress only has one prime time Emmy. (Believe it or not, it wasn’t for this! How??)
So she had no idea he was the realtor who scammed her @1:54.
But she poisoned him so he could avoid going to prison @2:39
.
I'm not sure if you can reconcile those 2 statements ma'am.....
It''s not that difficult, maybe he tell her about her past, but did not knew she was a victim or did not tell her.
@@jaimeduncan6167 You can't know someone should be in prison and not know they are a criminal.
If I said
Carl was a Poker champion back in the day
Then lose a game of poker to Carl and say
Man Carl I had no idea you were such a good player!
It makes no sense.
@@moneytalks1219 the realtor who *scammed her* that is what you say. I say, easy she knows he was a scammer, but she does not know she was one of his victims.
Ok no ones talking about that woman. That woman was Mitch Wilkins mom. From another law and order episode...
Goodluck getting 12 guilty votes. I must have seen this 20.....25 years ago and it STILL gets me. Stellar acting. Exceptional. Exemplary
Now that is some good acting. But we aren’t seriously swayed that is okay to kill a guy who stole your life’s savings because you totally had no idea who he was, you just thought he did such a good job helping the families of dead children that he should instead be dead with children so he can’t help any more grieving families? She makes a very sympathetic victim but she’s still a murderer. With that psycho of an attitude how do we know she hasn’t been killing kids herself with the whole Angel of death vibe she’s got going...
before asking for a recess he should have said sorry im not so delusional as to think i can talk to the dead
He would have been an idiot to do so and here's why. As you can see he was visibly affected by the tail end of her speech and he has been a prosecutor a great many years.
The jury however were just 12 people who couldn't get out of jury duty and who I can say with almost 100% certainty were affected by what they just heard.
How do I know they would have been affected because even knowing that these are fictional characters that almost all of the kids she mentions are literally just names her speech has me in tears every single time.
For the jury however those kids would be very real and I wager that every single one of those jury members has a son, a daughter, a niece, a nephew etc that they were thinking of when she was talking.
If Jack had said what you wish he had said that instantly would have turned most if not all of the jury against him. Best case scenario they would been deadlocked leading to a mistrial meaning he would have to start all over again and jury selection is trying at the best of times to say nothing of the kind of media attention this trial would have received which would have made a retrial much harder. Worst case scenario they would have acquitted her And she would go off Scot free. You might argue they took an oath to be impartial and ideally they would stick to that oath however we and the people of the world not in order takes place in do not live in an ideal world. And as such the oaths that we take only have as much power over us as we are willing to give them.
All hail aunt Lydia.
Aunt Lydia's past I guess.
should have been her first emmy
Aunt Lydia before Gilead
theres right and thers wrong, good and evil, and somewhere in between those two is life.
she sold them on the insanity plea
Aunt Lydia!!!
This is just sad 😞