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Law & Order

1990-Present

Season 20

Table of Contents

Memo from the Dark Side

S20E01 2009
  1. CPW stands for criminal possession of a weapon in this circumstance.
  2. P.C. stands for probable cause in this instance.

Just a Girl in the World

S20E02 2009
  1. TLC stands for Taxi and Limousine Commission in this instance.
  2. Peter Scanavino later played a rape suspect on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), before joining the cast as Detective Sonny Carisi in its sixteenth season.
  3. The title comes from a lyric in the song "Just a Girl" by No Doubt.
  4. Remy Auberjonois (Bill Murphy) previously played the role of Dr. Evan Fleming in episode 17.5, Public Service Homicide (2006).

Great Satan

S20E03 2009
  1. This episode's plot line is similar to the 2009 Bronx Terrorism plot which also involved fake C4, police informants and claims of entrapment.
  2. Jihadists call America "The Great Satan."
  3. Sean Nelson has played three different roles over the course of the series:

Reality Bites

S20E04 2009
  1. Jim Gaffigan shares the same character name as his role in Super Troopers (2001) (Larry Johnson).

Dignity

S20E05 2009
  1. Ripped from the headlines about the shooting of Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who specialized in late-term abortions who was murdered in church.
  2. Mark Blum has played three different characters over the course of the series:
  3. Pilar Witherspoon (Patty Larson) previously played the role of Gina Sparrow in episode 13.1, American Jihad (2002).
  4. Despite Connie's insistence that the information about the doctor having killed a living infant be turned over to the defense, it was both unproven and illegally obtained.

Human Flesh Search Engine

S20E06 2009
  1. This marks the last appearance of Carolyn McCormick as Dr. Elizabeth Olivet. However, she would later return as her character in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
  2. Todd Bissell is based on former American Apparel CEO Dov Charney.
  3. In Access Nation (2002) a similar plot was used when McCoy prosecuted the owner of a cyber investigation company after information it sold to a convicted rapist was used in the murder of a therapist.
  4. Sam Waterston (DA John 'Jack' McCoy) and Ernie Hudson (Frank Gibson) go on to work together on Grace and Frankie (2015) as Sol Bergstein and Jacob 'The Yam Man' respectively.
  5. Tina Benko (Carrie Sands) previously played the role of Sharon Quaid in episode 16.11, Bible Story (2005).
  6. Steven Boyer has played three different characters over the course of the series:

Boy Gone Astray

S20E07 2009
  1. Peter McRobbie plays Judge Walter Bradley in this, and 13 other episodes. Previously, he played the part of four other characters:
  2. Sean Nelson has played three different roles over the course of the series:
  3. Susan Pellegrino (Patricia Wilshere) previously played the role of Judge Jeanette Donaldson in episode 15.17, License to Kill (2005).

Doped

S20E08 2009
  1. Loosely based on the July 26, 2009 Taconic State Parkway crash.
  2. This takes place the November following Michael Jackson's death. His death, like the fictitious one depicted, involved propofol.
  3. Christina Rouner has played three different roles over the course of the series:
  4. Brennan Brown has played three different roles over the course of the series:
  5. Stephen Bogardus has played three different roles over the course of the series:

For the Defense

S20E09 2009
  1. Kate Burton plays Erica Gardner in this episode and three others, but she previously played the role of Sister Bettina in episode 2.17, Sisters of Mercy (1992).
  2. Andrew Pang has portrayed five different characters throughout the course of the series:
  3. At one point point Lt. Van Buren mentions the "famous blue Audi" that Bart Rainey was driving the day Maggie Hayes was killed. This appears to be an oblique reference to the Leonard Cohen song "Famous Blue Raincoat".
  4. Linus Roach and Jonathan Cake are both British actors but have extensive conversations with each other in this episode in flawless American accents.

Shotgun

S20E10 2009
  1. Shawn Andrew has played three different characters over the course of the series:
  2. Sam Waterston and Elliott Gould appear in Capricorn One (1978).
  3. This story is a repeat of Self Defense (1992) with minor variations from 17 years before.

Fed

S20E11 2009
  1. Based on the case of Bill Sparkman, a part-time census worker found hanged in Kentucky, naked with the word FED scrawled on his chest. Sparkman was found to have faked his suicide to look like murder for purposes of insurance fraud.
  2. The building described in the opening scene as the "Federal Reserve Bank" is the Old Customhouse on Bowling Green, now a Federal building that houses a branch of the Museum of the American Indian and US Bankruptcy Court.
  3. Former Detective Rey Curtis's wife dies from multiple sclerosis (he left the precinct to take care of her the year she contracted the disease). She is buried on Long Island, with her parents. Curtis and family will continue to live in California.
  4. In the opening, the victim was found on the corner of Stone Street and Broad Street in Lower Manhattan.
  5. Sam Robards (Davis Webb) previously played the role of Daniel Hendricks in episode 4.7, Apocrypha (1993).

Blackmail

S20E12 2010
  1. The subplot of a talk show host being blackmailed is based on a similar attempt to blackmail David Letterman.
  2. Guest star Raúl Esparza later became the ADA on seasons 14-19 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999).
  3. Danny Burstein has played five different roles over the course of the series:
  4. Amy Rutberg (Megan Kerik) previously played the role of Courtney in episode 18.3, Misbegotten (2008).
  5. Samantha Bee's husband Jason Jones appeared in the Law and Order episode Shotgun (2009) in season 20.
  6. Jana Robbins (Bella) previously played the role of Asst. US Attorney Jean Piccone in episode 14.12, Payback (2004).

Steel-Eyed Death

S20E13 2010
  1. Though he had played the role numerous times on this series and played it again on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001), New York Undercover (1994) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999), this was the first time J.K. Simmons appeared as Dr. Emil Skoda since 2004, six years earlier.
  2. Inspired by the 2009 Farmville murders in Virginia. Samuel McCroskey was involved in the horrorcore scene, and developed an online relationship with fellow fan, Emma Niederbrock. They made plans to meet and attend a horrorcore festival in Michigan, along with Emma's friend Melanie Wells. While at the festival, McCroskey became jealous when he discovered Emma was texting other boys. Back in Farmville, he killed Emma, Melanie, and Debra as they slept. When Emma's father came to check up on them a few days later, McCroskey killed him as well. Wells' mother reported her daughter missing, leading the police to find the bodies. McCroskey had already fled, and was arrested at the airport while waiting for his flight home to California.
  3. The lyrics about "Screw all 53 states" is a toned-down version of lyrics from the Insane Clown Posse's "Fuck the World."
  4. When Lupo and Bernard find another dead body after the family of four, Bernard lights up a cigar to mask the smell of the decaying corpse. This is frowned upon in the 2020s and even back then in 2010 since the cigar could contaminate the crime scene, but it was and still is done since the smell is horrible.
  5. Kevin O'Rourke has portrayed six different characters over the course of the series:
  6. Kevin Geer plays the father of a girl who claims to have amnesia. In The Billfold Syndrome (1978), he plays an Army medic that also claims to have amnesia.
  7. Lupo quotes the title "Freddie's Dead", a song from the Super Fly (1972) soundtrack composed by Curtis Mayfield.

Boy on Fire

S20E14 2010
  1. This episode is based on the September 2009 murder of of Chicago high school student Derrion Albert, whose fatal beating was captured on video. The teen was attacked during a riot between schoolmates who live in different neighborhoods.

Brilliant Disguise

S20E15 2010
  1. Based on the Craigslist Killer who targeted escorts in hotel rooms in 2009. Like his fictional counterpart, he also was engaged.
  2. This episode also appears to borrow elements of the 2009 murder of Yale graduate student Annie Le. A suspect and coworker of hers, Ray Clark, was later convicted of the homicide. Clark was a lab technician who became heatedly angry when his colleagues left mouse and rat cages filthy. Furthermore, he also had a finance who was possessive and bossy. This episode has similar story lines to the Craigslist Killer, Philip Markoff.
  3. Susan Greenhill (Sarah) previously played the role of Leslie Beecham in episode 13.20, Kid Pro Quo (2003).
  4. Haynes Thigpen (Hal) previously played the role of a mail clerk in episode 12.6, Formerly Famous (2001).

Innocence

S20E16 2010
  1. Despite playing a character being accused of murder motivated by gay hatred, Robin Lord Taylor is in fact gay.
  2. The Matthew Shepard Act that ADA Mike Cutter mentions to the defendant, where he states he will see that the defendant is prosecuted in federal court as well, is referring to a bill passed by Congress on October 22, 2009 and signed into law by President Obama on October 28, 2009. The entire name of the bill is The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr.Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and came about in response to the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. and expands the 1969 U.S. federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. This means that under this law that anyone involved in "gay bashing" can now face federal charges because it is a hate-crime, just like going after someone of the opposite race, religion, or disability.
  3. L.A.G.L.A. stands for the Lesbian and Gay Lawyers Association.
  4. This is the third guest star role for Robin Lord Taylor in this series as of January 10th, 2023.

Four Cops Shot

S20E17 2010
  1. The story for this episode is based on four Lakewood, WA cops who were shot in November, 2009 in a coffee shop while going over morning briefings. The suspect was shot before he could be arrested/brought to trial.
  2. Jack McCoy mentions having seen one execution. This is a callback to Aftershock (1996), where the cast witnesses an execution.
  3. Both Michael Potts and Julito McCullum had roles in The Wire (2002), however Potts appeared in his final episode the season before McCullum joined the cast.

Brazil

S20E18 2010
  1. Andrew Polk has played five different roles over the course of the series:
  2. Mark Nelson has played four different roles over the course of the series:
  3. Elizabeth Rich (Paramedic Larson) previously played the role of a woman in the gallery in episode 18.16, Strike (2008).

Crashers

S20E19 2010
  1. The subplot of crashing an official party is based on the 2009 U.S. State dinner security breaches.
  2. In this episode Kathy Baker plays a politician's wife with the first name Camille. In the L&O: Criminal Intent episode Playing Dead (2009), she plays a politician's mother, who also has the first name Camille. In both stories her character is responsible for the murder.
  3. John Ventimiglia has played four different roles over the course of the series:

The Taxman Cometh

S20E20 2010
  1. Richard Bekins played four different characters over the course of the series:
  2. Nance Williamson has played four different characters over the course of the series:
  3. Damian Young has played five different characters over the course of the series:
  4. Mark Linn-Baker previously appeared in the season 9 episode Ambitious (1999).
  5. Kate Hodge (Serena Kensey) previously played the role of Attorney Prescott in episode 17.11, Remains of the Day (2007).
  6. Mark Nelson has played four different roles over the course of the series:
  7. Henry Douglas died on February 10, 2010.

Immortal

S20E21 2010
  1. The immortal NaRo cells that this storyline revolves around are based off HeLa cells. It's based of the Henrietta Lacks from Turners Station in Baltimore MD.
  2. Seth Gilliam (Michael's Attorney) previously played the role of Babatunde Amoda in episode 3.10, Consultation (1992).

Love Eternal

S20E22 2010
  1. De Napoli is also the name of one of the Mafia families on Law and Order.
  2. Orlagh Cassidy has played three different characters over the course of the series:
  3. Reg Rogers has played three different roles over the course of the series: Episode 20.22 Love Eternal (2010) - Joshua Felner Episode 15.22 Sport of Kings (2005) - Edgar Varick Episode 4.12 Snatched (1994) - Jason Bregman.

Rubber Room

S20E23 2010
  1. Last episode of the original series, until the series came back 12 years later in 2022.
  2. This marks the only time Jack McCoy is seen shouting at the top of his lungs. He had raised his voice in numerous previous installments, but not to the degree shown here.
  3. Final line spoken in this episode, which makes it the final line spoken in the "Law and Order" series before its reboot 12 years later: "Thank you...thank you...thank you."
  4. Anthony Anderson and Sam Waterston are the only remaining cast members (from this initial final season and episode) to rejoin the series for its reboot in 2022.
  5. When Anita is getting her MRI, Nessun Dorma is being sung by the great American tenor Bruce Sledge.
  6. At the end of this first run of L&O, there had been exactly 13 actors on the "Law" side and 13 on the "Order" side (excluding Carolyn McCormick and Roy Thinnes).
  7. Bill Cwikowski has played seven different roles over the course of the series:
  8. There's an Aesop in the story itself. Any normal and good person can be driven mad by baseless slander ruining their reputation and their relationships as a result.In the teacher's POV, he was falsely accused and sent to the Rubber Room; his frustration over this only deepened and got worse after hearing how others teachers similarly suffered. Thus he decided to ACTUALLY do something genuinely horrible by blowing up his school and killing everyone in it; it would make Columbine look like a mugging in comparison.What set off this chain of events: he caught some stupid boy peeing on a trash can on school property. The brat falsely claimed to have been molested by the teacher, for stopping him. The teacher lost his girlfriend, whom took it at face value and had his reputation ruined.
  9. John Speredakos has played four different characters over the course of the series:
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