The title refers to a quote from "Julius Caesar" by William Shakespeare: "Cowards die a thousand deaths. The valiant taste of death but once."
At 12.23 the camera focuses on Rembrandt as the background music is reminiscent of the theme from "Shaft". This continues throughout the episode.
At 19:25 Remmi sings a brief parody of Shaft's theme. "Who's the baddest dude in town? Downtown Brown".
At 31:35 Remmi flashes a badge and says "I'm detective John Shaft and this (gesturing to Mallory) is Private Dick (Dick being slang for Detective".
In the opening sequence the rival gangs are dressed as clowns (Ronald McDonald) and royalty (Burger King).