Reviews were overwhelmingly positive for " Subway " . It was identified by '' The Baltimore Sun '' as one of the ten best episodes of the series , with '' Sun '' writer Chris Kaltenbach declaring , " Dramas do n't come any better than this . " Kinney Littlefield of '' The Orange County Register '' said it was " perhaps the best '' Homicide '' episode ever " and praised D'Onofrio 's performance . '' USA Today '' gave the episode its highest rating of four stars . Tom Shales of '' The Washington Post '' called it , " a tour de force for D'Onofrio and Braugher " . '' Entertainment Weekly '' writer Bruce Fretts said , " This is as gripping an hour of television as you 're ever likely to see . " Television and literary critic John Leonard said that " Subway " was " an artistic experience that is as genuine and accomplished and crafted as you will get anywhere " . David P. Kalat , author of '' Homicide : Life on the Street : The Unofficial Companion '' , said of the episode , " Writer James Yoshimura proves that he has not lost his touch , with yet another truly grueling screenplay . " " Subway " won a 1998 Peabody Award for excellence in television broadcasting . The episode also received two Emmy Award nominations for the 1997-98 season . James Yoshimura was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for the episode 's script , and Vincent D'Onofrio received a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series . It lost both nominations ; '' NYPD Blue '' won the best writing Emmy for the fifth season episode " Lost Israel " , and John Larroquette won the guest actor award for his appearance in " Betrayal " , a second season episode of '' The Practice '' . However , Jay Rabinowitz and Wayne Hyde won an International Monitor Award for best editing in a film-oriented television series
Emmy Award
50th Primetime Emmy Awards
Subway (Homicide: Life on the Street)