"Gaijin" (the episode's title) means "outsider" or "alien" in Japanese. It is a term, often used in a negative or pejorative context, for foreigners and non-Japanese. While some people maintain that it is a neutral term without any negative implications others prefer to use the term "Gaikokujin" (translates to "foreign-country person") as a formal neutral term for non-Japanese persons.
This episode appears to be based on two separate cases:
- The 1981 Kazuyoshi Miura case.
- The 1989 Charles "Chuck" Stuart case. On October 23, 1989, Charles Stuart, a furrier, and his pregnant wife Carol , a lawyer, got into their car after attending childbirth classes at Brigham and Women's Hospital. According to police, Stuart shot his wife in the head and himself in the stomach, and then called 911 on his cell phone. Carol Stuart died that night, after their son, Christopher, was delivered by Cesarean section. He suffered seizures due to oxygen deprivation, and died 17 days later after his father discontinued his life support. Stuart blamed the crime on a black man. The Boston police aggressively pursued black men without probable cause. They suspected one Willie Bennett, and on December 28, Stuart fingered him out of a lineup. The case against Bennett came to an abrupt close when Stuart's brother, Matthew, identified Charles Stuart as the killer. Stuart had been involved in an affair, and was having financial difficulties. On January 4, 1990, Charles jumped from the Tobin Bridge to his death.
During Stephen Olson's voir dire questioning, the cases of Susan Smith and Charles Stuart are mentioned. Both were accused of murder after accusing a black man (with vague physical descriptions) for the crimes. Smith was tried, convicted, and sentenced, but Stuart committed suicide before his trial.
Chris Chalk (Thomas Walker) also plays a character by the same name (Corporal Thomas Walker) in the Showtime series Homeland (2011).