This episode marks the first time clips from the opening title/recap had been changed to reflect plot developments so far. Prior to this the opening only used clips from the first episode.
The Dark One's name, Zoso, refers to a nickname for Led Zeppelin guitarist and songwriter Jimmy Page, who was represented on Led Zeppelin's fourth (unnamed) album by a symbol resembling the letters ZoSo. This episode premiered on the night before Page's sixty-eighth birthday. Interestingly, the inside cover of the album shows a cloaked figure holding a staff and a lantern. When Rumplestiltskin first meets Zoso, he is also wearing a cloak and is carrying a staff and a lantern. According to Adam Horowitz, the flashback story in this episode is inspired by Led Zeppelin and J. R. R. Tolkien (1998). Interestingly, Led Zeppelin loved The Lord of the Rings and some of their songs contain references to Tolkien's famous novel. In fact, many people wrongly assumed that the aforementioned inside cover was a figure from Tolkien's book. (It was actually inspired by a figure from a Tarot card.)
The name Spindleshanks is also the name of one of the cats from the Broadway musical CATS.