This episode was written to function as a possible series finale, due to an interruption in filming by the WGA Strike of 2007-2008. Fortunately, the strike resolved in time for the Sci-Fi Channel to allow filming to recommence.
The episode title is taken from a line in the folk/blues song Goodnight Irene. The full line is "Sometimes I take a great notion to jump in the river and die." This is referenced literally in the story Admiral Adama (Edward James Olmos) tells to Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan), and also relates to the actions of Anastasia Duala (Kandyse McClure), and the general feeling of dashed hope. The song was written and recorded by Ledbelly and later by the Weavers, Kelly Joe Phelps, and numerous others. The recording of the song, like the planet, was the result of oft repeated effort in collaboration. It was a great tune and Leadbelly knew that he could go to a radio station, record the song and he could sell them the song and be paid in cash. He then spent close to a month going from one radio station to another, selling the same song to each of them. Thus, a number of his recordings survived through time, against the odds for recordings of the time and scale. The episode title is also the same as the 1964 book Sometimes a Great Notion by author Ken Kesey, which was made into a movie in the 1970s.