Law & Order

Season 21

The Right Thing

1. This episode appears to be based on three separate cases:
   • The 2016-2018 Bill Cosby sexual assault cases and his subsequent release in 2021.
   • The 1990s-2021 R. Kelly sexual abuse cases and his subsequent 2019 primetime interview.
   • The 2018-2021 Chrystul Kizer case.
2. First new episode to air in 12 years.
3. Anthony Anderson (Det. Kevin Bernard) and Sam Waterston (DA Jack McCoy) are the only two cast members to return for the revival. Carey Lowell, who previously starred as ADA Jamie Ross in Seasons 7-8, reprised her character as a guest star.
4. This first episode of the reboot of Law & Order aired on what would have been the 100th birthday of Steven Hill (D.A. Adam Schiff, seasons 1-10).
5. The title of this episode takes its name from an original play by Jeffrey Bloom.
6. Previous EADA, Michael Cutter (portrayed by British actor Linus Roache) is replaced by EADA Nolan Price played by Hugh Dancy, another British actor playing an American.
7. Jeffrey Donovan has appeared on the series on two previous occasions as a guest star: Jeopardy (1995) and Good Faith (2007).

Impossible Dream

1. This episode appears to be based on the 2021-2022 Theranos fraud scandal involving Elizabeth Holmes. Sam Waterston (DA Jack McCoy) would later play a supporting role in The Dropout (2022), a drama about the scandal itself.
2. There were two factors that made this homicide constitute murder in the first degree: First Nina Ellis killed her fiancé in order to prevent him from being a witness against her in a criminal proceeding; New York Penal Code, Article 125, section 27, subsection V states: "A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when with intent they cause the death of another person and...the intended victim was a witness to a crime committed on a prior occasion and the death was caused for the purpose of preventing the intended victim's testimony in any criminal action or proceeding whether or not such action or proceeding had been commenced". As Nina was knowingly selling defective medical tests she was guilty of the crime of fraud, and one could argue the fact that she was also guilty of criminally negligent homicide because her faulty cancer test kits played a major contributing factor to a number of deaths.Also Nina killed her fiancé in order to prevent herself from loosing the $2 billion she stood to make from her company going public, in other words she committed murder for profit. Subsection VI of the Penal Code says: "A person is guilty of murder in the first degree when with intent they cause the death of another person and...the defendant committed the killing in expectation of the receipt of anything of pecuniary value."
3. Rachelle Lefevre previously guest starred in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)'s Chasing Theo (2017) as a lesbian whose son went missing.

Filtered Life

1. This episode appears to be based on three separate cases/incidents:
   • The 2021 murder of Gabby Petito by Brian Laundrie.
   • The 2005 Disappearance of Natalee Holloway.
   • The 1996 Disappearance/2002 Murder of Kristin Smart.
   • The 1996 Murder of Aimee Willard.
   As well as highlighting the difficulties of obtaining a murder conviction without a body.
2. This episode was directed by Milena Govich, who starred as Detective Nina Cassady in Season 17 from 2006 to 2007. She cast her aunt Milica Govich as Judge Leanne Dreben.
3. Anthony Anderson, who plays Detective Kevin Barnard, questions a suspect with the words, "Time to tell the truth." Anderson has been the host of the game show, To Tell the Truth (2016), since its present revival from 2016.
4. E.A.D.A. Price says that Garret's prior conduct is admissible under the Molineux doctrine. He is referring to "People of the State of New York vs. Molineux", a landmark case in the New York State Court of Appeals in 1901. The case concerned a New York chemist named Roland Burnham Molineux: he was charged with and convicted of first degree murder for the death of a woman named Katharine Adams, who died of intentional poisoning. At the time of the woman's death, Molineux was involved in a dispute with a man named Harry Cornish over unpaid bills at a fitness club. A few days before Ms. Adams death, Mr. Cornish received a bottle labeled "Emerson's Bromo-Seltzer" (a type of pain killer and antacid) in the mail at his club in an unmarked package. He brought the bottle to his home, which he shared with Ms. Adams (who was his cousin) and her daughter Florence. Ms. Adams woke up the next morning with a headache, and her daughter remembered seeing Mr. Cornish bring the bottle of medicine home the previous evening and gave her mother a dose of it. A few minutes later, Ms. Adams became violently ill, vomiting blood and complaining of severe abdominal pain. A doctor was called for, but by the time he arrived Ms. Adams was already dead. A chemical analysis showed that the powder in the bottle was not Bromide Seltzer but in fact cyanide of mercury. The prosecution had no direct evidence that Mr. Molineux prepared or mailed the bottle of cyanide, only circumstantial evidence which consisted of him being a chemist and having a dispute with the victim's cousin. The evidence that mainly got Mr. Molineux convicted was testimony saying that Molineux had previously killed someone whom he knew and had a dispute and that he had killed them by poisoning this person, who had also died from cyanide of mercury ingestion. But Mr. Molineux was never convicted or even charged with a crime in connection to that person's death. Upon conviction. Mr. Molineux was sentenced to death by hanging: his attorneys immediately appealed the verdict, arguing that prior bad conduct by the defendant that did not directly relate to the crime he was being charged with, that prior back conduct was not evidence and only served to prejudice the jury. The Court of Appeals agreed with the defense's argument, and the murder conviction was overturned. To this day, over a century later, this case remains one of the most important precedents in New York state criminal law. The Molineux Doctrine based on this case states that "a criminal case should be tried on the facts and not on the basis of a defendant's propensity to commit the crime charged." In most instances, evidence of prior uncharged crimes is not admissible because of its potential prejudicial effect. Only under very specific circumstances can prior uncharged crimes be used at trial to show a pattern of behavior, but there are strict guidelines indicating what type of prior conduct is allowed to be used in a trial. If a prosecutor wishes to use a defendants prior "back acts" at trial in order to show a pattern of criminal behavior, the prosecutor must request a Molineux hearing. At a Molineux hearing, the judge hears the prosecution's evidence pertaining to the defendant's prior bad conduct, then decides whether that conduct constitutes criminal acts and, if so, whether those acts fall within the Molineux guidelines as admissible evidence in a trial.

Fault Lines

1. This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents:
   • The 2021 Britney Spears conservatorship dispute.
   • The 2022 Amanda Bynes conservatorship dispute.
   • The life and career of Serena Williams. Also, Lucy McDaniel's controlling father appears to be loosely based on Richard Williams, Serena's father, who coached her and her sister Venus Williams.
   • Inspired by mental health activism by professional athletes such as Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles. The detectives make reference to Lucy McDaniel's dropping out of a big tournament - Osaka dropped out of the French Open in 2021, citing mental health issues and battles with depression.
2. "Fault Lines" was also a season 6 episode of Law & Order: UK (2009) - Fault Lines (2011).
3. When Bernard talks to Lucy about the DA's plea offer of a reduced charge of manslaughter in the first degree and a sentencing recommendation of 15 years he tells her that she would still have time to have a life, she could be free of her controlling father, marry Jesse and have babies in 15 years as opposed to being behind bars for the rest of her life. It would have been worth him pointing out to her that while she would be sentenced to 15 years, that doesn't necessarily mean she would be in prison for all 15 of those years. Manslaughter in the first degree is a class B felony in New York, and as such has a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison; meaning that with good behavior Lucy could be out of prison in as little as five years, and would then spend the remaining 10 years of her sentence on parole.

Free Speech

1. This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents:
   • The QAnon conspiracy theory and political movement, and its related acts of violence.
   • The 2011-2012 Jared Lee Loughner case.
   • The 2016 assassination of Jo Cox.
   • The 2005-2009 Hal Turner controversies and subsequent trials.
   • The 2016 Pizzagate conspiracy theory and its related acts of violence.
   • The main antagonist is based on right-wing media personalities Stephen Bannon, Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones.
   • The worldwide increase of political assassinations linked to far-right extremism.
   • The ethical debate about redefining the limitations of freedom of speech to prevent the incitement of violence.

Wicked Game

1. This episode is based on several separate cases/incidents: The 2021 Ed Buck case in West Los Angeles. Buck, a wealthy, white political operative, would bring black men to his home and pay them to "slam" meth. Two black men died in his home from meth overdoses because of Ed Buck. Buck was sentenced to thirty years in prison the day before this episode aired for distribution of meth resulting in the death of two men, two counts of enticing men to cross state lines for prostitution and maintaining a drug den. The 2012-2017 Steven Zelich (a.k.a. "The Wisconsin Suitcase Murderer") case. The 1978-1992 Jeffrey Dahmer (a.k.a. "The Milwaukee Cannibal") case. The 2007 Larry Craig sex scandal. On June 11, 2007, Craig, who at the time was a Republican United States Senator from Idaho, was arrested for lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Craig later entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct on August 8. As a result of the controversy surrounding his arrest, subsequent guilty plea, and pressure from his fellow Republicans, Craig announced his intention to resign from the Senate at a news conference on September 1, which was to become effective on September 30. After Craig's efforts to withdraw his guilty plea failed, on October 4, he released a statement refusing to resign from the Senate. Craig did not run for re-election in 2008, and the incident effectively ended his political career. The "down-low" phenomenon in the black community.

Legacy

1. This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents:
   • The 1992 Patrick Daly case. Patrick Daly, the principal of P.S. 15 in Red Hook, Brookly, was killed in the crossfire of a drug-related shooting while looking for a pupil who had left his school. The school was later renamed after him, as he was beloved within the school.
   • The 1995 Philip Lawrence case. Lawrence, was an Irish school headmaster who was stabbed to death outside the gates of his school in London, England, when he went to the aid of a pupil who was being attacked by a gang.
   • The 2021 Oxford High School shooting committed by Ethan Crumbley. On November 30, 2021, 15-year-old Crumbley committed a mass shooting at his high school in Michigan. His parents were accused of ignoring warning signs prior to the shooting and fled after the incident but were later detained and charged.
   • The political and legal warfare over involving critical race theory in American curriculum.
   • The parental responsibility dilemma under criminal attribution legal doctrines.
2. When ADA's Price and Maroun are talking to McCoy in the hallway of the DA's office a sign in the background reads: "New York County District Attorney's Office. District Attorney: Jack McCoy, Chief Assistant DA: Jamie Ross." Jamie Ross, played by Carey Lowell, was McCoy's second chair ADA when he was the Executive Assistant ADA during seasons seven and eight. Ross left the DA's office for private practice at the end of season eight. She appeared in three later episodes as a defense attorney, and eventually became a New York State Supreme Court judge appearing in Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005). After her term as a judge was up Ross returned to the DA's office and appeared in the season 21 premier The Right Thing (2022). As the Chief Assistant DA Ross is McCoy's second in command.
3. This episode shares its title with the Season Seven episode Legacy (1997).

Severance

1. This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents.
   • The 2020 Tesla, Inc. workplace controversies.
   • The 2021 "Facebook Files" leak involving Frances Haugen.
   • The disputed "Havana syndrome" phenomenon.
   • The Murder of Tracie McBride by Louis Jones Jr., and the related controversial Gulf War syndrome clemency defense.
2. This episode shares its title with the Season Two episode Severance (1992).

The Great Pretender

1. This episode appears to be based on three separate cases/incidents:
   • The Anna Delvey/Anna Sorokin grand larceny fraud case.
   • The Murdaugh family murders and scandals.
   • Inspired by the opioid epidemic in the U.S. and the role of the Sackler family and their company Purdue Pharma.
2. District Attorney Jack McCoy's hesitancy in allowing Nolan to pursue a criminal case against a pharmaceutical manufacturer for manslaughter may come from a case in McCoy's career as Executive Assistant District Attorney. In the Season 10 premiere Gunshow (1999), McCoy charges a gun manufacturer after a shooter easily converts a semiautomatic to full automatic following a mass murder of nursing students in Central Park. At the conclusion of the case, the jury returns a guilty verdict against the manufacturer. However, the trial judge sets aside the jury verdict and issues a directed verdict of not guilty.

Black and Blue

1. Daren Donofrio, who played Jimmy Doyle, is the second cousin of actor Vincent D'Onofrio, who played Detective Robert Goren on Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001).
2. Anthony Anderson's final appearance as Detective Kevin Bernard. He is replaced by Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks ) in the following season.
3. The possible sentences for aggravated murder and aggravated manslaughter in the first degree are pretty different; aggravated murder would be the charge Kendra would have faced had she not been deemed to be under extreme emotional disturbance. Aggravated murder is a class A-I felony and is the most serious homicide charge in New York, it carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and it technically still carries the possibility of the death penalty, although New York has had a moratorium on executions since 2004. Aggravated manslaughter in the first degree is a class B felony, but carries a sentencing enhancement making the mandatory minimum sentence 10 years in prison with a potential maximum sentence of up to 30 years in prison.
4. This episode appears to be based on several separate cases/incidents: The 2020 murder of David Dorn. The 2020 Kyle Rittenhouse case. The 2021 shooting of Shane Bartek committed by Tamara McLoyd. The 1981 shooting of Daniel Faulkner committed by Mumia Abu-Jamal. The 2004 Cyntoia Brown case. The 2010 Adrian Schoolcraft scandal.