Rae Dawn Chong's first appearance as Billie Vaughn, though she did have a cameo as an unnamed hooker in the Season 1 episode Monday, Tuesday, Sven's Day.
A radio broadcast at the end of the episode discusses the departure of US Marines from the island of Grenada. This refers to the US invasion of Grenada in October of 1983.
The title is from part of the charge of the crime of treason by giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
One of the doctors mentions the phrase "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too". This is a reference to the presidential election of 1840. William Henry Harrison was known for the Battle of Tippecanoe during the War of 1812, and John Tyler was his running mate as vice president.
Anthony Gifford read's from Giovanni Boccaccio's "The Decameron" (1353) writing about the Black Death, or plague.