Patton Oswalt and Alan Tudyk both guest star in this episode. Oswalt once wrote a "Serenity" comic book which paid tribute to the character Wash, played by Tudyk.
The Backwoods Whiskey is jokingly referred to as 400 proof, saying that if it comes anywhere near an open flame it will explode everything. In reality the highest proof alcohol that can be legally sold in the United States is 192 proof (96% alcohol), the only 196 proof liquor sold in the U.S. is Spirytus vodka, which is made in Poland. The most common type of high proof liquor is grain alcohol, the most popular and well known brand being Everclear, who makes a 190 proof (95% alcohol); some states have banned 190 proof and higher liquor, so Everclear also started making a 189 (94.5%) proof version for those states. The highest proof possible is 200, which would be 100% pure ethyl alcohol (ethanol), drinking pure ethanol is highly discouraged due to its high potency, it can cause blindness, rapid intoxication and rapid alcohol poisoning, severe alcohol intoxication will occur in people with no alcohol tolerance with as little as 50 milliliters (1.6 fluid ounces) of ethanol, fatal cases of alcohol poisoning have been seen with as little as 150 milliliters (5 fluid ounces) of pure ethanol.