In the episode, Zendaya (then 22) portrays a 16-17 year old, while Hunter Schafer (then 19) plays a character that claims to be 22 years old.
The episode is filmed under the working title, "The Original", which is referenced to Westworld (2016).
In 1996, New Line Cinema originally begin development of a TV Series about Rue's Life, and TV Series about Joel and Ellie's Life (now The Last of Us (2023), based on a video game with the same name). It was supposed that Thandiwe Newton will play as Rue Bennett, and set in late 1980s and early 1990s, with Paul Thomas Anderson as a creator/director. In 2001, New Line Cinema converted this project as a movie, with the impact of The September 11 attacks, changing the setting it from New York City to Chicago, with several changes, retaining production sites of Singapore, until the project was abandoned in 2003. In 2012, Warner Bros. announced to adapt the Israeli Series with the same name as a movie, with Zendaya as Rue Bennett, with Michael Mann as writer/director. However, in 2017, the film was converted into a TV Series instead by HBO, until it was released in 2019. The production, currently as of 2023, are Dublin, London, New York City, Rome, and Singapore.