Bubbles' last name (Cousins) is revealed in this episode.
In Middle Ground (2004) McNulty finds a machine that can pick up phone numbers from nearby towers collecting dust in the police department basement. Similarly Pryzbylewski finds valuable equipment collecting dust in the storeroom at Tilghman Middle, contributing to the central theme of institutional dysfunction.
The book Omar Little is reading in the opening scene is Ghettoheat by Hickson.