Agent Adams mentions Archie playing in a band with his "pals and gals." This is a reference to both the band The Archies and to the long running comic book Archie's Pals 'N' Gals.
Coach Kleats mentions that Hiram Lodge's wrestling nickname was "The Ram." This is a reference to The Wrestler (2008), where Randy Robinson's nickname was "The Ram."
Mädchen Amick and Canadian Graham Greene had previously acted together on Wounded (1997), a movie which was shot in Vancouver.
Gregg Araki, who directed this episode, has written and directed several indie films focused on LBGTQ characters and he said that the wrestling match in this episode is the "gayest thing I've ever seen." He pointed out that, in his opinion, the show is obviously aiming for a gay audience by featuring young guys in very homoerotic situations, but as a network series, they -and other shows -are restrained on what they can do. He said, "Riverdale and Teen Wolf and all those shows, they're all made by these super-gay creators, right? And they all have these super-hot guys in them. But they're a tease because all they ever do is get naked, take a shower, slap each other. Like, I get it. I get that there's this gay sensibility at work, and they're objectifying [Archie] to a ridiculous degree. But they feel almost frustrating. It's on the CW, so they're very 'This is what we can do.' I mean, [Archie] was kissing some dude this season. Anything they can do to gay-bait the audience, they do. But they all do it. It's like, what's his face, Nick Jonas. It's just like, 'I'll f**king pose in my underwear, grab my dick, show my ass.' It's like, 'Whatever, I'll do anything. But I'm still straight.' If you wanna get super queer-theory philosophical, it's fetishizing a straight guy to a ridiculous point."