This episode was directed by Richard Speight Jr. He commonly plays the Trickster/Gabriel in Supernatural.
Dylan Kingwell is the first actor other than Colin Ford to portray a younger version of Sam since season 3.
In a flashback, Sam tells Sully that he once tried to fly and broke his arm. In an earlier season, Sam and Dean discuss a childhood memory when Sam jumped off the garden shed dressed as batman, thinking he can fly and Dean had to take him to hospital on his bike after he broke his arm.
Dean calls Sully "Totoro." Totoro is a giant lovable wood spirit who befriends two young girls in the 1988 Japanese anime film by Miyazaki, "My Neighbor Totoro."
In this episode the brothers use the aliases "Strummer" and "MacGowan", referring to Joe Strummer (of The Clash) and Shane MacGowan (of The Pogues).