In the establishing shot, in the background to the left, there appear the ruins of the Great Fire of Toronto (1904), which was depicted in an earlier two-part episode.
While pontificating on the idea of a "scapegoat", Detective Watts states, "Man has been using scapegoats since Leviticus." One popular Murdoch wiki mistakenly claims this refers to Leviticus 23, in which the Lord instructs the Israelites to make particular sacrifices for Pentecost, including a male goat for purification and two lambs for communion (verse 19). However, the term scapegoat actually comes from the Yom Kippur tradition of dispatching into the wilderness a live goat, who would carry away all of the Israelites' sins, as outlined in Leviticus 16:20-25.
Thallium, the toxin used to murder Rex Landon, is a soft, malleable, rare, bluish white metallic element (#81) used in the manufacture of alloys. In the form of its salts, such as odorless and tasteless thallium sulfate, it was historically used in insecticide (especially ant-killer) and rodenticide (rat poison), and also in treatments for ringworm and skin infections. The utilization of thallium salts, as poison or therapy has been banned in many countries since the USA first prohibited such uses in 1972.
Jonathan Goad also appeared on Republic of Doyle, another Canadian series with many actor crossovers with this series.
Jonathan Goad who plays Gus Shanley has appeared on Murdoch Mysteries 3 different times as 3 different characters.