Rip states he has seen 'men of steel die and dark knights fall' a clear reference to DC's two most popular characters, Superman and Batman. Brandon Routh previously played Superman in Superman Returns (2006).
When Ray Palmer is in Kendra's bloodstream, Professor Stein says the particles should be the size of icebergs, and should be easy to spot. Ray responds "I bet that's what they said on the Titanic!" Victor Garber, who plays Professor Stein, was in the movie Titanic (1997).
The computer Rip Hunter tries to hack into at the bank is a Commodore 64.
Part of the episode is set in Leipzig, Germany, which is the birthplace of Falk Hentschel who plays Carter Hall aka Hawkman.
Rip states he has seen 'men of steel die and dark knights fall' this is a reference to two stories regarding DC's most famous characters 'The Death of Superman' and 'Knightfall' (where Batman has his back broken by Bane). Both stories were the 1st part of a 3 story arc.