The story is a spoof of the infamous 2014 Sony email hack. A group calling themselves "Guardians of Peace" was allegedly sponsored by North Korea government and asked that Sony not release the Seth Rogen and James Franco comedy film The Interview (2014). The movie dealt with the assassination of the Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The hack revealed, among other things, the negotiations between Yahoo and Sony Pictures Television regarding the sixth season of "Community". Joel McHale was also a victim of the hack, as emails between him and a Sony executive were among those made public. In one of those emails he was asking for a discount on a Sony 4K television.
In a meta reference, Abed explains that this episode is the third part of a trilogy that divulges group secrets, which started with Annie losing her pen and capping off what he says is the "Golden Age." The other two episodes of the trilogy are Cooperative Calligraphy (2010) (season 2) and Cooperative Polygraphy (2014) (season 5). Abed purposely neglects to mention Intro to Felt Surrogacy (2013) (Season 4), where the group again confronted their secrets, possibly due to creator Dan Harmon's absence that season after being fired. Harmon was rehired in season 5 after Joel McHale lobbied on his behalf.
Jay Chandrasekhar, who plays Gupta Gupti Gupta, directed this episode (and eight other episodes of Community).
It is revealed through the email hacking that Jeff writes to astronauts. Britta reads one he sent to Reid Wiseman congratulating him on his return to Earth. Astronaut Gregory Reid Wiseman flew on Expedition 40/41 aboard the International Space Station, returning to Earth on November 10, 2014.
The running gag of the group members questioning each other's sexual orientations is extended to Frankie, as the emails reveal that the group has a betting pool on the subject.