In the DVD audio commentary, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof said that, although they supposed she wasn't available, they asked the casting director to contact Allison Janney for the role of Mother, saying that they wanted "someone like Allison Janney". A few days later, Janney was shooting the episode.
With the exception of archive footage of Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly and Terry O'Quinn, none of the regular cast members appear in this episode.
The game board that Jacob's brother finds is a board for an ancient Egyptian game, Senet, which may be the oldest board game in the world. Senet boards were often placed in the grave for the dangerous journey through the afterlife. Senet is also known as the "Game of Passing", and is said to represent the souls of the dead moving through the netherworld. The game the brothers play on it, however, is not Senet.
Jacob and the Man in Black are twins. The actors who play the younger versions are one month and one day apart in age. The actors who play the older versions are 3 years and 28 days apart in age. The actors who play the Boy in Black and Man in Black are older than the actors who play Young Jacob and Adult Jacob. On the show, Jacob is older than his twin brother.
Allison Janney is credited in this episode as Mother. She is well known on a show called Mom as the mother.