The book about recovered memories that Dr. Reid refers to during the flight to the crime scene is probably 'Michelle Remembers', published in 1980 and marketed as the recollections of Michelle Smith, who claimed to have suffered ritual abuse by a Satanic cult in which her mother was involved. The book and the "events" it supposedly described have since been almost totally discredited, but not before it was used as a reference in over 1,000 cases, some of which resulted in prosecution and imprisonment of innocent people. Reid also uses the term "satanic panic". This also refers to a book, 'Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend' by Jeffrey S. Victor, which documents the hysteria regarding Satanic activity which swept the nation in the 1980s and 1990s, most of which was a result of the publication of 'Michelle Remembers'.
When the BAU team presents their profile to the local LEOs, Reid mentions that followers of Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple murdered a Congressman before the cult members committed mass suicide. As of 2021, Leo Ryan, said Congressman, remains the only member of Congress to be assassinated in the course of carrying out the duties of his office.
It was revealed that Gideon has been a profiler since at least 1985.
The character Mike Zissou is a reference to the movie The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), in which Matthew Gray Gubler played a part.
During the episode, Gideon claims that there has been no confirmed examples of ritual murder. This would no longer be true six months after this episode aired, as Gerald Robinson was convicted of murder for the ritual killing of Margaret Ann Pahl.