First scene after opening credits, when Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) is interviewing the candidate parents for adoption, she references Maria's on the waterfront of Annapolis, Maryland. There was a real restaurant in Annapolis called, Maria's Sicilian Ristorante. It was a landmark restaurant owned by Maria Priola, who retired & sold the restaurant on Labor Day 2014. It opened in 1989 and expanded to adjacent buildings next door and the second level. She greeted patrons at the door and would walk by their table and speak with each. Notable patrons included but were not limited to former Gov. Martin O'Malley, former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr., author Tom Clancy, actor Harrison Ford and musician Phil Collins.
The actor playing Red's (James Spader) chief of security Baz, Baz, also happens to be a former CIA officer and veteran US Marine who founded an NGO which rescues kidnapped children in the sex slave trade.