First appearance of Carolyn McCormick (Dr. Elizabeth Olivet) since the season seven episode Mad Dog (1997). This episode also marks the first time that J.K. Simmons's character, Dr. Emil Skoda, appears together with Dr. Olivet.
This episode appears to be based on the Russian mafia drug money laundering scams during the 1980s and 1990s between New York's JFK Airport and Russia's Moscow.
Nikita Khrushchev was a Soviet statesman who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Stalin's death in 1953 triggered a power struggle, from which Khrushchev ultimately emerged victorious. On 25 February 1956, at the 20th Party Congress, he delivered the "Secret Speech", which denounced Stalin's purges and ushered in a less repressive era in the Soviet Union. His domestic policies, aimed at bettering the lives of ordinary citizens, were often ineffective, especially in agriculture. Hoping eventually to rely on missiles for national defense, Khrushchev ordered major cuts in conventional forces. Despite the cuts, Khrushchev's rule saw the most tense years of the Cold War, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Jon Shaver (Officer Diego) also played the role of Brandon Gregory in episode 16.22, Invaders (2006).