This is the first western episode where Jonah Hex doesn't show up.
Bass Reeves, was the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi River. The character was briefly mentioned in Watchmen (2019) where he served as the childhood role model for Will Reeves, the man who eventually became Hooded Justice. The character also made an appearance on Timeless (2016).
David Ramsey spoke about bringing the character of Bass Reeves to life in the Arrowverse. "Well, I think, like Watchmen (2009), it's probably the similar audiences in the respect that they may or may not be as educated about who Sheriff Bass Reeves was within history. And obviously, Watchmen is a different tone in how they handle Bass Reeves is just a totally different tone," Ramsey said. "But what I do like about Legends is that that Bass fit within the kind of irreverent tone that Legends has. And I think for our audience it's nice when you hear Nick Zano's character say, 'Hey, Bass Reeves wasn't a bad guy. He was a sheriff. And how did this thing happen?' I think for a certain amount of audience, they'll say, 'Oh David Ramsey is playing this character Bass Reeves. Who is that?' They'll look him up and there's kind of this infiltration of more knowledge about this fantastic historical figure that otherwise, maybe wouldn't have been known by the audience."
Nate reveals that he's built up a lot of stress since Season 2 from being part of the Legends. He lost both his lovers Amaya Jiwe and Zari Tomaz. Most living Legends Nate has met have happy endings in the love department. Ray Palmer is married to Nora Darhk; Jefferson Jackson is married with a child; Zari Tarazi is sleeping with John Constantine; Sara is marrying Ava. Nate is the only one that replaces the cartridges in the Fabricator. He is annoyed someone changes the thermostat settings at night, and it isn't Gideon. He asked to be given a chair at the Crisis Team's meeting place but wasn't given an answer.
Since he wasn't portraying Diggle, David Ramsey said he got to create a whole new voice for a new character, letting him not only hopefully inspire people to learn more about Bass Reeves, but entertain them while doing so. "You know, you get to create this new voice. I'm all about voice. John Diggle has a very specific sound, very specific voice. And it was fun to kind of create this new voice that kind of came out of my body in Bass Reeves. That's always fun as an actor, just to kind of play with these techniques of creating a new character," Ramsey said. "But, to your point, I think it was in this universe. I'm not on the Watchmen. This isn't some movie of the week where I'm recreating or I'm creating Bass Reeves. This is what's in the Arrowverse. So to kind of do it within this is a real special treat. And it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun to just put on, you know as an actor you're having fun, you're playing a cowboy. But it's John Diggle. No, I mean Bass Reeves." He added, "So it's a different kind of spin. It's a Legends spin. And I think that's fun. And then I think as much as we could, we handled the character with a certain amount of respect and with a certain amount of reverence within the confines of the irreverent show Legends is. And I think just enough where people will be curious about who he is and maybe do some research on their own, which I think is, for me, kind of the ultimate goal besides entertaining the hell out of people."