The band The Filthy Youth's song "Orange" is playing in the background when all the teens meet at Blair's place. The lead singer of the band is Ed Westwick, who plays Chuck.
The new headmistress is "Ms. Queller", a reference to one of the show's executive producers, Jessica Queller.
Taylor Momsen did in fact appear in this installment, but both her scenes were deleted due to time constraints. In the first, Jenny carried such a cumbersome stack of books that she bumped into Nate, and they shared a chat about Blair, which showed them to have become friends. In the second, Jenny used Dan's cell-phone to check up on Gossip Girl, and lamented that she had no chance to redeem herself to Blair.
Dreama Walker is credited, but appears only in the background, mainly at the pool party, most notably on a photograph taken on the cell-phone. She has no speaking lines other than being one of the girls yelling for help when the injured guy falls into the pool.
Each episode's title (except the pilot) is based on the name of a film or book. This episode is based on the movie 'School Ties'