This is Tracy Middendorf's only appearance as Tora Ziyal in the series. The role was first played by Cyia Batten in Indiscretion (1995) and Return to Grace (1996). In In Purgatory's Shadow (1997), Melanie Smith assumed the role and appeared five more times.
First on-screen appearance of the Bajoran game of Springball.
Ziyal mentions her grandfather, Dukat's father, who was previously mentioned in the season three episode "Civil Defense", where it is implied that he and Garak knew one another.
Kasidy Yates pleads with Sisko to exempt her transport ship from an inspection so she can rendezvous with the Tholians on schedule. She concludes by saying, "You know how they are about punctuality!" This echoes the TOS episode of almost thirty years earlier, "The Tholian Web", where Spock mentions "The renowned Tholian punctuality."
In the opening scene, part of Sisko's "pillow talk" with Yates includes his description of himself as a Starfleet captain as a "paragon of virtue". This same phrase, also used to describe a Starfleet captain, was used in the original series, in "Mudd's Women".