After the conclusion of the trial A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia expresses her disbelief that someone as evil and wicked as Mrs. Shelby likened herself to such people as Jesus Christ, Mohammad, Buddha and Gandhi. To which EADA McCoy replies: "one may smile, and smile, and be a villain."
E.A.D.A. Jack McCoy is quoting from Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Act 1, Scene 5. Hamlet said this in reference to the main antagonist of the story, which was his way of warning people that the worst and most evil of people will often smile and pretend to be good in order to disarm their enemies and put them at ease, giving them a false sense of safety.
E.A.D.A. Jack McCoy is quoting from Shakespeare's "Hamlet", Act 1, Scene 5. Hamlet said this in reference to the main antagonist of the story, which was his way of warning people that the worst and most evil of people will often smile and pretend to be good in order to disarm their enemies and put them at ease, giving them a false sense of safety.
This episode appears to be based on the Children of God cult and the related 2005 Ricky "Davidito" Rodriguez case. The cult was led by Ann Hamilton Byrne, who thought she was a reincarnation of Christ.
At the end of the episode Jack McCoy quotes a line from Shakespeare spoken by Hamlet: "One may smile, and smile, and be a villain." This was not Sam Waterston's first occasion to say the line: he played Hamlet onstage for the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1975-76.
When A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia is talking to Mr's Shelby's lawyer, Oswald Jackson at the kiosk, he pays for a sandwich and then turns his back and walks away as the storekeeper tries to give him his change.