The last scene of the series finale is a mirror of the first scene of the series premiere, with Detective Meldrick Lewis and his partner searching an alleyway. The final line of the series "It's a mystery" is also the first line spoken in the series.
In the last show of the series, Forgive Us Our Trespasses (1999) the dialogue between the two detectives is identical to the exchange between two detectives in the opening scene Gone for Goode (1993), the inaugural show of the series.
The show was never a favorite of the bosses at NBC, since its ratings were lower than the network's mega-hits of the 1990's, especially "ER". But ironically, the overall power of NBC allowed the show to last for 7 seasons and 122 episodes, because it was one of the best-reviewed and generally admired NBC programs by critics, writers, directors, and actors. "ER" even helped the show by drawing such a huge rights-renewal fee that NBC stated that some of the revenue was going to be used to keep "Homicide" for its 6th and 7th (and final) seasons.
John Munch refers to Billie Lou as "Mrs. Munch. Billie Lou says her full name will now be Lillian Louise Pardene Kushman Petrovsky McCoy Munch which is curious since her name listed on the series credits is Billie Lou Hatfield and because in the Law & Order/Homicide Life on the Street Universe exists a character with the last name of McCoy, Jack McCoy who is the Executive ADA on Law & Order (1990).
This episode takes place in March, April and May 1999.