At the Double R Diner, as Pete wins three concurrent chess games against Toad, Cooper, and Doctor Hayward, he mentions José Raúl Capablanca who was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927, and who is considered by many one of the greatest players of all time, widely renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play.
The song Windom Earle plays on his bamboo flute is "Questions in a World of Blue" by Julee Cruise. The music in the scene where Harry tells Cooper the name of the dead vagrant alludes to the same melody, as does the saxophone music playing while Evelyn Marsh is blowing smoke rings.
When Twin Peaks was rerun on the Bravo cable network in 1993, David Lynch wrote new introductions for each episode that were performed by Catherine Coulson as The Log Lady. The one for this episode was thus: "A death mask. Is there a reason for a death mask? It is barely a physical resemblance--in death, the muscles so relaxed, the face so without the animating spark. A death mask is almost an intrusion on a beautiful memory. And yet, who could throw away the casting of a loved one? Who would not want to study it longingly, as the distant freight train blows its mournful tone?"
There are three scenes involving owls: (1) As Josie talks with Thomas Eckhardt on the phone, and Catherine interrupts, welcoming Eckhardt to Twin Peaks, a painting featuring an owl is visible behind her; (2) as Donna approaches Evelyn at Wallies Hideout, there is an owl statue on the counter; (3) as Windom Earle walks through the Great Northern, he picks a postcard featuring an owl from the reception.
With neither Harry Goaz or Michael Horse appearing, this marks the only episode in the original run not to feature either of the two regular deputies.