Dick Wolf's Law & Order franchise is no stranger to using real events to inspire episodes of their most famous series, most notably the original Law & Order, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. However, episodes with plots that have been "ripped from the headlines" can be controversial.
For victims and their families, seeing their most tragic moments acted out on primetime TV can re-traumatize them. In spite of this, these episodes tend to perform very well due to the public's true crime fascination. No matter which perspective a viewer subscribes to, they find themselves glued to the TV when these shocking episodes appear on their screens.
10 "Babes" Is Inspired By An Alleged Real-Life High School Pregnancy Pact
"Babes" is the 6th episode from Season 10, and it pulls no punches. The episode starts with the death of a homeless man, but it becomes apparent that the motivation for his brutal murder is tied to a pregnancy pact at a local high school.
The real-life connection of the case is an alleged 2008 pregnancy pact that occurred at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts. Eighteen girls were pregnant within a year, and it was denied by students that they were planned in cohesion with other students. The father of one girl's child was an older homeless man, a detail also featured in the episode.
9 "Appearances" Sources Material From A Famous Unsolved Murder Case
"Appearances," the 19th episode from Season 4 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, has a truly devastating origin story. The episode centers around a devastating assault and murder of a child beauty queen, who is undeniably similar to the JonBenet Ramsey murder case.
JonBenet Ramsey was assaulted and murdered in her home in 1996 when she was just six years old. The case garnered national attention due to the victim's age and the odd circumstances of the death. The case remains unsolved and still draws eyes to this day.
8 "Rapist Anonymous" Draws Inspiration From A Notorious Crime Of Passion
"Rapist Anonymous," the 9th episode from Season 15, is not a direct call-out to a specific criminal case. However, one aspect of the plot of the episode is potentially tied to one of America's most shocking murder cases. In the episode, a rape case in Detective Rollins Gambler's Anonymous group becomes a murder investigation when the accused dies and is revealed to be part of an intense love triangle.
The Travis Alexander case shares similar details with the murder investigation aspect of the series. Jodi Arias, a jealous and mentally disturbed woman, killed brutally her lover Travis Alexander. The sheer brutality and obsessive behavior of Arias made the case a household name.
7 "Selfish" Incorporates Details From One Of America's Most Tragic True Crime Cases
"Selfish," from Season 10, episode 19, follows the death of a young girl, with the prime suspect being her chronically irresponsible mother. The plot of this Law & Order: Special Victims Unit eventually branches off from the original case details, but the initial connections are unmistakable.
In 2008, a Florida child went missing and was later found deceased after being reported missing by the toddler's grandparents. The mother, Casey Anthony, quickly came under suspicion and the trial became national news, with the "not guilty" verdict causing public outcry.
6 "Game" Sources Its Plot From A Popular Source Of 2000s Societal Anxiety
"Game" is the 14th episode from Season 6. With this episode, the specific criminal case is only a symptom of a larger problem the show is taking to task. The episode follows the brutal death of a young sex worker killed by a group of young people imitating a popular video game.
In the early 2000s, Grand Theft Auto III debuted and became linked to acts of violence among young people and caused the public to be up in arms about violent video games. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit takes similarities from a 2003 murder case where two teenage boys shot at moving vehicles and killed a man in an attempt to imitate a sequence in Grand Theft Auto III.
5 "Scavenger" Is Inspired By A Terrifying & Puzzling Serial Killer
"Scavenger," the 4th episode from season 6, takes on one of America's most well-known serial killers. The episode follows the SVU team hunting a serial killer who calls himself "RDK," who is leaving them taunting clues. Many serial killers have been known to engage in this behavior, but with the chosen acronym of the fictional serial killer, it's apparent which killer is being evoked in the episode.
"RDK" is an evocation of "BTK," or Dennis Rader. Rader is an American serial killer who killed men, women, and children before being captured in 2005. Rader fostered an environment of fear by taunting law enforcement with puzzles and letters, which eventually lead to his arrest.
4 "Glasgowman's Wrath" Is Nearly Identical To A Bizarre Attempted Murder Case That Began Online
"Glasgowman's Wrath" is the 6th episode from Season 16. This episode is directly inspired by an attempted murder case that occurred months before this episode aired in 2014. The episode's plotline sees a trio of missing girls who go into the woods to find a mythical online figure called the "Glasgowman" that ends with one girl clinging to life.
Months before this episode aired, there was an attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl in Washington state by two of her friends, also 12 years old at the time. The goal of the crime was to sacrifice her to a popular internet urban legend or "Creepypasta" known as Slender Man.
3 "Pathological" Is Based On A Confusing Case Of Medical Abuse & Manipulation
"Pathological" is the 10th episode of Season 19. The episode's premise follows an investigation at a special needs school that uncovers the disturbing origins of one girl's ailments that trace back to her overbearing mother. "Pathological" draws a lot of inspiration from the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case. In 2015, the body of Dee Dee Blanchard was found murdered and her daughter Gypsy Rose was missing.
The police feared she was abducted due to her purportedly having several debilitating medical problems. She was found the next day with a secret boyfriend who helped her carry out the crime. More shockingly, she was examined and found to not have any of the conditions her mother claimed. It is widely speculated Dee Dee had Munchausen By Proxy, which led to medical child abuse.
2 "Sick" Explores The Horrifying Accusations Made Against One Of Music's Biggest Icons
"Sick" is the 19th episode of Season 5, and it runs the full gamut of emotions a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode can evoke. Grief, intrigue, disgust, and rage when injustice wins in the end. "Sick" follows accusations made against a billionaire with a history of odd behavior towards minors.
It's hard to watch this episode and not think of the allegations surrounding Michael Jackson, a famous singer. He was active around the time of the episode and persisted throughout his career in his later years, and even after his death in documentaries such as Finding Neverland.
1 "Reasonable Doubt" Takes On One Of The Most Disgusting Scandals To Ever Hit The Film Industry
Hollywood is no stranger to scandals that range from bizarre to perverse, so it's no surprise when those scandals bleed through into TV. "Reasonable Doubt" from Season 15 is the 22nd episode, and it follows incestuous child abuse allegations against a popular filmmaker by his ex-wife.
The scandal against Woody Allen is incredibly similar to the plotline of this episode. Woody Allen was accused of abusing his daughter by his ex-wife actress Mia Farrow, the child's mother. Woody Allen would later go on to marry another one of his adoptive daughters, which is also a part of the episode, but the producer in "Reasonable Doubt" marries his much younger sister-in-law.