Mention of the Beta Quadrant in this episode has led some fans to speculate that Voyager was approaching the edge of the Delta Quadrant by this stage in its journey. Voyager had traveled over 40,000 light years from its starting position (the edge of the Delta Quadrant and the known galaxy) in seven years. It is possible Voyager was nearing the center of the galaxy (where all four quadrants converge).
Shortly after they completed writing this episode, Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong were called into Brannon Braga's office and invited to join the writing staff of the forthcoming series Enterprise. They were also given the top-secret script for the series premiere, Broken Bow, Part 1 (2001), and told to go on vacation and return with story ideas for the series.
Final appearance of Ensign Vorik, who had not been seen since the 5th season.
During the entire run of the series, Tarik Ergin only ever had a few lines of dialogue. This episode features him speaking while stationed at the helm.
A planet is described as "mostly harmless," the phrase from the "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" novels used to describe Earth in the Guide. These were written by Douglas Adams who, oddly enough, died just five days before this episode first aired.