Esposito says that Simon's story sounds, "like a mash-up of 12 Monkeys (1995) and The Terminator (1984)". Beckett requests a psychiatric evaluation of Simon and, when the psychiatrist arrives, he introduces himself as Dr. Silberman. The same name as the psychiatrist played by Earl Boen in the first three Terminator movies.
The signs on the screen of Simon's gadget are (inverted) Klingon characters from Star Trek.
When first questioned by Beckett and Castle, Simon mentions a "tachyon based technology" that allows humans to open portals in time. First proposed in 1962, Tachyons are hypothetical sub-atomic particles that, theoretically, move faster than light. In fiction, the "tachyon-based time travel devices" are mention in the Trojan Horse book saga by Spanish author Juan Jose Benitez, in which a mysterious character, having traveled to first century Judea, narrates the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Yet another connection to sci-fi TV is the casting Tim Russ to play Dr. Wickfield. He had previously played Lt. Tuvok
on Star Trek: Voyager (1995).