The plot involving the parachutist was based on a real event. In 1985, a narcotics officer turned drug smuggler from Lexington named Andrew Thornton died parachuting into Knoxville, Tennessee, along with guns, cash and 75 lbs. of cocaine. The character of Drew Thompson was named after Drew Thornton.
The "million dollar" bill that advertised the church was based on a similar bill writer/producer Chris Provenzano brought back from Harlan, where he went for a research trip before the fourth season.
The character of Constable Bob Sweeney was created by the writers for Patton Oswalt, who had been a vocal fan of the show.
Raylan's Lincoln Towncar now has a black interior versus prior seasons when it had tan.
Features the introduction of Joseph Mazzello as the snake-handling preacher Billy St. Cyr, a new nemesis of Boyd Crowder Walton Goggins. Goggins would go on to portray a snake-handler in Them That Follow (2019), also starring "Justified" alumnae Kaitlyn Dever (Loretta McReady).