Jhiera's mission is an allusion to ending Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) because women in some societies undergo the procedure to make them marriageable. Women on and off screen are having the source of sexual arousal removed to 'control' their behavior and ultimately them. When they first meet, Jhiera is skeptical that Angel will understand or even care about her mission because he is a man. The source of his sexual pleasure is not being removed by his culture.
This is the second appearance of Sean Gunn in this season. In this episode, he appears as a character named Mars. Earlier in the season, in Hero (1999) he appeared briefly as a demon named Lucas.
While "lecturing" about the Manet artwork, Angel points out a figure in the painting: it is Charles Baudelaire, of whom Angel remarks, "Baudelaire - interesting fellow. In his poem 'Le Vampire' he wrote: 'Thou who abruptly as a knife didst come into my heart.'" (This poem has been translated by many; Angel uses the translation by George Dillon.) He adds, "... some even speculated that the poem was about a real vampire." Angel chuckles. "Oh and, ah, Baudelaire was actually a little taller and a lot drunker than he's depicted here." The implication, of course, is that Angelus and Baudelaire knew each other and that the poem was written about Angel.
Bai Ling said of Jheria, "[she's] so cool. She seduced Angel, and yet she's very dangerous and independent. She's got all those things that a modern woman wants, yet she's a princess. She has her own duty to do good things for the people in her land. She's got all this complexity and beauty." She also said that the character was considered for a return "after that episode aired, David called me. They were so pleased by it, they wanted me to come back. I'd very much like to go back to Angel, because we all had a great time, and they loved the character. I don't know what the schedule is; I guess they're still working on it, so we're gonna talk about it when it is ready. I'm looking forward to contributing something."
Tim Minear had originally put the dance Angel performs in his imagination into Sense and Sensitivity (1999) but removed it on Joss Whedon's request; "Plus," Minear says, "we wanted to save it until it was just right. Here's this guy who looks like this, and he's a complete social retard. I think we've had a lot of success playing that aspect of the character."