When the underground location "The Castle" is first introduced, Chuck quips, "This looks expensive, I guess we'll be staying a while." This was an inside joke on behalf of the producers, who had just found out that the series had been picked up. Although this episode aired in Season 2, because of the writers' strike, it was actually part of the "back end", or last nine episodes, of Season 1.
The character name Sasha Banacheck is a nod to Linda Fiorentino's character of the same name in Gotcha! (1985). She portrayed a CIA agent that seduced a college student (played by Anthony Edwards) in order to have him unknowingly smuggle a film canister out of East Germany. This allusion may also be self-referential, as it is revealed in Chuck Versus the Alma Mater (2007) that Chuck and Bryce played a version of Gotcha! (known as "Assassin") in Stanford's library.
Adam Baldwin (John Casey) and Melinda Clarke (Sasha Banacheck) have appeared in Firefly episode Heart of Gold (2003), where they played Jayne Cobb and Nandi, respectively.
It's amazing John Laroquette would portray an alcoholic spy, considering he had been alcohol free since February 6, 1982.
A shot of the Sunset Tower Hotel is visible at the 16 minute mark, this was the location of The Lux from Lucifer.