Starting with this episode, Maurice Hurley took over the job of showrunner from Gene Roddenberry. Hurley was concerned that the show's writing process had stalled under Roddenberry's leadership, and so personally paid for a holiday for Roddenberry and Majel Barrett on the understanding that he would take over while they were gone. Upon his eventual return, Roddenberry opted to leave Hurley in charge of the writing staff.
First episode to feature Cmdr. Riker sitting in a chair by lifting his leg over the back and straddling it; the unique way of sitting eventually becomes something of a signature move for the character, coined "The Riker Maneuver" by devoted fans of the series.
Room 101 might be a reference to George Orwell's 1984, where Room 101 was used to psychologically break the subjects by torturing them with their greatest fears.
Wesley refers to his upcoming sixteenth birthday. A scene was filmed, but cut for time, which depicted Wesley celebrating his birthday with friends and crew mates, while Worf and Data make observations on human birthday rituals. Stills from the scene were featured in a Starlog Magazine article on the series.
First appearance of a shuttlecraft in TNG.