: Several scenes are lifted nearly word-for-word from the game, including Ellie finding Bill's adult magazine in the truck and her iconic "Why are the pages stuck together?" joke.

: It introduces the character Perry, played by Jeffrey Pierce , who was the original voice and motion capture actor for Tommy in the video games.

: The episode features the song "Alone and Forsaken" by Hank Williams , which was not only the inspiration for the episode's title but also a key track from the original game's Pittsburgh segment.

: While it doesn't feature a cold open flashback like previous episodes, it provides significant backstory on Joel, Tommy, and Tess's history between 2003 and 2023 via dialogue during the truck journey.