The episode opens with Jonathan Kent driving, with "Good Ol' Boys" playing on the radio - it is the theme song from The Dukes of Hazzard (1979). John Schneider, who plays Jonathan Kent, also played Bo Duke.
While at the pool, Lana Lang says to Clark Kent, 'you're not made of steel, or are you.' This is in reference to Clark's nickname as Superman the Man of Steel.
Nicodemus is also the name of a town in Kansas and Smallville takes place in Kansas
Clark' Kents line, "With all my abilities, there's nothing I can do" over a comatose Jonathan Kent is a paraphrase of the line "With all my powers, I couldn't save him," that a teenaged Clark says in Superman (1978) when his father dies.