The title of the episode is also the title of a movie Josh Charles starred in with Tina Fey, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016).
The words "whiskey," "tango," and "foxtrot" stand for the letters W, T, and F in the international NATO Phonetic Alphabet, a military and law-enforcement system for clearly spelling out words and phrases during radio and other audio transmissions. "WTF" is an early twenty-first-century abbreviation for "What the Fuck?" It has also become a popular title for network television shows that are otherwise prevented by their networks' standards and practices departments from the outright use of the word "fuck". Network TV shows including NCIS, Jake 2.0, and Scandal have all titled episodes "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot".
Matt Czuchry (Cary Agos) & Anika Noni Rose (Wendy Scott-Carr) previously worked together on episode 2.2, Hidden Agenda (2003), of Die Straßen von Philadelphia (2002).