The Xindi-Insectoid was created via motion capturing, whereby an actor in a special suit acts out a performance, and the creature is later digitally painted over it. The special effects team was won over by the technique after seeing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), who was also realized in this way.
This episode features the first appearance of the Enterprise's new command center as well as T'Pol's new civilian look.
During the third season, for the first time since the original Star Trek (1966) series, a Trek series faced the real danger of cancellation by its network. But just as Star Trek (1966) was saved from cancellation, a massive letter-writing campaign by fans led to the series being renewed for a fourth season in May 2004 - with the head of UPN acknowledging that the campaign was instrumental in the decision to save the series from cancellation. Unfortunately, the series was canceled following the fourth season. It is the only other Star Trek to be canceled in the middle of its run.
The first appearance of the Xindi-Humanoids, Xindi-Primates, Xindi-Insectoids and Xindi-Aquatics. Although a Xindi-Reptillian was already seen in the previous episode, The Expanse (2003), this is the first time a live one is seen.
Hoshi Sato says that Sergeant Kemper is from Duluth, Minnesota, where Nathan Anderson, who plays Kemper, was born. In fact, when Major Hayes jokes that Hoshi can almost tell what street Kemper lived on, this is hardly a stretch. Some experts in linguistics are able to determine where a person lived, sometimes right down to the neighborhood where hey grew up, based on nothing more than listening to the person's accent for a few minutes.