This episode is dedicated in memory of Catherine Coulson, who played The Log Lady in this and the original Twin Peaks. She died of cancer in 2015, not long after filming all of her scenes for this series.
Detective Dave Macklay's flashlight flickers the same way as the medical examiners overhead light does when Dale Cooper examines Laura Palmer's body in the original Twin Peaks pilot.
The first two episodes of The Return were shown as a feature at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where they received a five-minute standing ovation. It's the second time that Twin Peaks has been to Cannes since David Lynch brought the prequel feature film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, in 1992.
A TV-14 version of the episode-edited for language and sexual content-was released for the American region on YouTube for a limited time in observance of National Donut Day in early June 2017.
Madeline Zima didn't know she was auditioning for the Twin Peaks revival. Before she was auditioned, there was a different name and no script.