Beth mentions to June that she can get her some butter to make her hands soft. This is a direct reference to the book where Offred describes stealing butter because they don't get lotion.
This episode features the return of Beth (Kristen Gutoskie) who was last seen in season 1.
One shot in this episode is 4 minutes and 34 seconds long.
When June quotes Aunt Lydia by saying "they also serve who stand and wait," Aunt Lydia herself was quoting Puritan poet John Milton's Sonnet 19, "When I Consider How My Light is Spent." In this poem, Milton is considering his own service to the lord now that blindness has overtaken him. The poet decides that not writing due to his blindness is no slight to God almighty who has "thousands at his bidding speed." This parallels June's own determination despite the temptation of giving into helplessness in Gilead.