Richard Belzer's character John Munch helps a potential suicide recover and reveals to her that his father killed himself. In real life, Belzer's father killed himself when Belzer was 23 years old.
The title "Painless" is a homage to the title song of the movie "M*A*S*H" "Suicide is Painless"
Marlee matlin's character says she's been deaf since birth, but if that were true she wouldn't know how speak or to form words with her mouth as she signs