As a young man is walking past a cop on the subway, the song that is playing on the radio is "Comin' Through" by rap artist Ice-T. A decade later Ice-T would become a cast member on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)."
This episode appears to be based on three different cases/incidents:
- The 1984 Bernhard Goetz (AKA "the subway vigilante") case. On December 22, 1984, Goetz shot four young black men--Barry Allen, Troy Canty, Darrell Cabey (all 19), and James Ramseur (18)--in a Manhattan subway. Goetz surrendered to police nine days after the shooting. He was eventually charged with attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and several firearms offenses. Goetz claimed that the four young men had threatened and tried to rob him. A jury later found him not guilty of all charges except one count of carrying an unlicensed firearm, for which he served eight months of a one-year sentence. In 1996, one of the shot men--Darrell Cabey, who had been left paraplegic and brain-damaged as a result of his injuries--went to civil court (with a black/Latino jury) and won a judgment of $43 million against Goetz.
- The 1976 Michael Carmen case and the involvement of American crime watch group Crime Stoppers through crime playout reenactment.
- Partially ripped from the 1981 American exploitation film Ms .45 (1981).
The title of this episode, "Subterranean Homeboy Blues," is a play on words from a well-known Bob Dylan song, "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
Cynthia Nixon's first appearance on an episode of the "Law & Order" franchise. She would make appearances in all three major series, each time playing a completely different character: Subterranean Homeboy Blues (1990) as Laura Di Biasi. Alternate (2007) as Janis Donovan. Icarus (2011) as Amanda Rollins.
Chris Noth (Detective Mike Logan) and Cynthia Nixon (Laura Di Biasi) would later go on to work on Sex and the City (2008) together.