On Sydney's bookshelf is a copy of a Stephen King book. Series stars Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff starred in "It" (2017) and "It: Chapter 2" (2019) based on the book by Stephen King. Speaking of Stephen King stories, "I Am Not Okay with This" bares story similarities to "Firestarter" and "Carrie", where a girl has strong paranormal powers that get out of control when she's angry. Also the name of the episode is "Stan By Me" a reference to the movie "Stand By Me" which was based on Stephen King's short story "The Body".
Sophia Lillis said that the "Liam's Loaded Lasagna" was simply mac 'n cheese, with some more ingredients added. Although she didn't know what else was in it, she ate it anyways.
When Syd and Stan are in the bowling alley, going over origin stories they mentioned some established super heroes. Spider bite Spider-Man, radioactive goo, Toxic Avenger, alien gem stone Green Lanten, military experiment Captain America, bionic limb transplant Cyborg and inherited from parants could possibly include the X-Men.