When Mac (Tina Majorino) comes across Lauren Sinclair (Carlie Westerman) in the library, Lauren says she is reading "The Westing Game." This is a real young adult novel by Ellen Raskin, originally published by Dutton in 1978. The plot revolves around a teenage girl who solves a complicated murder mystery involving a large group of possible suspects - just as the main character of Veronica Mars (2004) does over the course of the first season.
Leo D'Amato tells Veronica that he is twenty, making him older by three years. In real life, Max Greenfield and Kristen Bell were both born in 1980.
This episode marks the first appearance of Leo D'Amato, played by Max Greenfield. He appeared in 14 episodes in total as well as the Veronica Mars movie.
Veronica (Kristen Bell) uses the Internet Movie Database to dig up dirt on the mother of one of her classmates. Only one of the three mentioned roles (Trucker's Girlfriend, Screaming Maid and Bi-Curious Roommate) actually exists and appears in Frankenstein (1931).