Matt jokingly states that Newcomers have "bionic ears," a reference to The Bionic Woman (1976) in which the title character Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner) had a bionic right ear. This is an in-joke as Kenneth Johnson, who developed this series for television, was the creator of The Bionic Woman (1976). He was also a producer on its parent series The Six Million Dollar Man (1974).
The footage of the interior of the Tenctonese slave ship, the Gruza, seen in the opening credits for the first time in this episode was taken from Buck's nightmare in Little Lost Lamb (1989).
This is the first episode in which Molly Morgan (Jill Molasky), Jeff Doucette (Burns) and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Sgt. Dobbs) are not credited as regular cast members.