The first time the Enterprise NX-01 actually gets to warp 5.
This marks Fionnula Flanagan's (V'Lar) third appearance in the Star Trek franchise. She also appeared in Dax (1993) as Enina Tandro and Inheritance (1993) as Doctor Juliana Tainer.
This is the first episode to mark the fact that ships cannot fire phase cannons while at warp, as Malcolm Reed tells Archer.
V'Lar is one of only a handful of female Vulcans whose name does not begin with the letter T, the others being Saavik, Selar, Sakonna, and Valeris, though her name still includes the apostrophe common to female Vulcan names.
John Rubinstein has played three different characters on Star Trek. He played John Evansville on The 37's (1995), Mazarite Captain in Fallen Hero (2002) and Minister Kuvak in Awakening (2004)/Kir'Shara (2004).