Castle is mentioned as one of New York's 10 most eligible bachelors in the paper. A newspaper front is shown with Castle's photo and some of the show's writers/producers as the other bachelors, including Andrew Marlowe (Andrew W. Marlowe), the show's creator, as #8, Terence Paul Winter as #10, and David Grae as #2. When the female bachelorette counter-part list is briefly shown, #2 is Elizabeth Beall, a regular writer for the show.
When Beckett is setting up her date with Brad the firefighter, Castle notices her coyly twirl her hair around her finger. At the end of the episode, when Castle invites her out for burgers, she does it again, though more subtly, as they leave the precinct.
Rick Gonzalez (Mickey) and Nathan Fillion (Castle) both guest starred in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) about a year apart from each other. Gonzalez was in the episode "Help" (2002) as the character named Tomas and Fillion made his first appearance in the episode "Dirty Girls" (2003) as Caleb.
Rick Gonzalez, who starred in this episode, also appeared in another episode called "The Third Guy" from another procedural NYPD based TV series, The Third Guy (2000). In both episode he breaks into a house in order to steal.
The title of this episode is a reference to Orson Welles' "The Third Man" (1949).