The case Lilly Rush is investigating in this episode is eerily similar to a cold case that occurred in Greenwich, Connecticut, the 1975 murder of Martha Moxley. Michael Skakel, Ethel Kennedy's nephew, was convicted in 2002 of bludgeoning her to death with a golf club when they were both 15. His brother had also been a suspect. In this episode, a teenage girl is killed in 1976 in a wealthy suburb with a tennis racket. Years later, someone claiming to have witnessed the murder comes forward. Two brothers were suspects in the case, but were not charged, given their high connections in society.
In the flashbacks to 1976, the victim (Jill) and one of the suspects (Eric) are played by Kate Mara and Finn Wittrock, respectively. Both actors have starred on the TV show American Horror Story, though not on the same seasons; Mara, in S1 and Wittrock in S4, 5, 6, 9 & 10.
Michael Reilly Burke and Finn Wittrock both played Eric Whatley in this episode. Finn played Eric in 1976 and Michael played Eric in 2003. Then in 2015 Michael played Finn's father in the movie "My All American"
One of the characters asks Lily if she is a crusader. She smiles and says, yes. "Crusader" is the name of a 1998, Season 4 episode of Xena:Warrior Princess in which Morris guest stars. (The first of two episodes in which her character Najara appears.)
Jill Shelby was murdered in August 1976.