Psych-Out: Shawn, meeting Juliet for the first time, provides the dialogue for her side of the conversation. James Roday has likely gone on to win the award for Best Falsetto.

Pineapple Watch: Shawn is out working on building a doghouse one night for Henry. He holds a piece of pineapple in his hand.

This episode marks the first appearance of Gus as a child and of Maggie Lawson as Juliet.

This is one of only two episodes that does not begin with a flashback.

Gus states that "gladiolus" was the winning word from the first spelling bee in 1929. However, while he has the correct word, his date is off. The first spelling bee was in 1925.

While Gus is looking through the pamphlet, he notes the words that won in 1985 and 1943. The 1985 winning word was "milieu." However, there was no spelling bee between 1943 and 1945 during WWII.

Gus tells Shawn to guess the kid who got the winning word from 1953. Shawn later asks Jiri to spell "soubrette." This was indeed the winning word from 1953.

Shawn: Uh, excuse me. You're in my seat.
Juliet: Am I?
Shawn: Actually, yes, you are.
Juliet: You one of those weirdo compulsives who come to the same restaurant, sit in the same chair, and eat the same food every day?
Shawn: Uh, no, no, no, I was sitting right there three minutes ago, and then I went outside to get myself a paper. I ordered a juice, and look, I made a crawling snake with the straw wrapper. You can finish it if you think you're up to the job.

(Shawn had been impersonating Juliet having a conversation with him)
Juliet: OK, can I stop you there? First off, in your portrayal of me, I sound like I'm in eighth grade.
Shawn: Well, in my portrayal of you, you only have an eighth-grade education.

Shawn: What are you watching?
Gus: Nothing.
Shawn: Dude, is that Korean porn?

(about the spelling bee)
Gus: Don't mock me. It's a huge event.
Shawn: No, I'm just, I'm shocked that you didn't take the whole day off.
Gus: It's on Sports Cal2, for your information. And it's hosted by Bud Collins.
Shawn: Really, did they bump the car washing championships for this? And is it over soon, because I'd like to get back to the wood carving finals.

Gus: I tried to get tickets, but you've got to know somebody.
Shawn: Somebody lame.

Gus: I don't care what you think, Shawn. I watch the bee semis every year.
Shawn: OK, for your sake and mine, stop giving the spelling bee hip little nicknames.

Gus: This thing has been sold out for weeks.
Shawn: I can see why. It moves so fast. It's like hockey with words.

Shawn: Oh, come on, dude. You're not bored at all?
Gus: Do you know how to spell any of these words?
Shawn: Proudly, I have never heard of any of these words. I file these words under "things to say when I want to be ridiculed or kicked out of bed."

Gus: See, the problem is, is that butyraceous is clearly a round one word.
Shawn: Oh, God. Stop talking. I'd like to pretend we still have things in common, Gus.

Gus: Wow, so this is what it looks like.
Shawn: What?
Gus: The comfort room. This is where you go to deal with missing a word.
Shawn: Oh, yeah? Where do they take you to deal with missing your entire childhood?

Gus: Shawn, this misplaced malevolence you have with the spelling bee is getting monotonous. Stop hating on the bee. (to Ms. Foote) I'm sorry, ma'am. I do apologize for his inappropriate virulence.
Shawn: Why are you using all these big-ass words all of a sudden?
Gus: I'm not doing that. (scoffs) That's preposterous.

(Shawn and Gus are preparing to interview the contestants about the incident)
Ms. Foote: I'll begin with the eliminated contestants.
Shawn: Um, actually, we'd only like to speak with the ones that were still in the competition when the accident occurred, Ms...Foote. And, uh, let's start with the shifty-eyed ones, shall we?

Gus: The winner of this competition can just about choose his university.
Miklos: (to Shawn) Your friend is right.
Gus: And it teaches grace under pressure. Poise. Dignity.
Shawn: All things you can get at a hot-dog eating competition. Plus...hot dogs.

Shawn: (to speller) Still studying, huh?
Speller's mother: Oh, she loves it. Won't put that thing down.
Shawn: Well, kudos on the child-rearing. Let me know how the therapy goes.

(Spellmaster Cavanaugh falls over the balcony)
Shawn: OK...not to belittle this guy's life, but this just got more interesting than the wood carving finals.

Lassiter: Come on, you can introduce me to the press.
Juliet: OK, just be sensitive.
Lassiter: How about we don't sell the seat the guy landed on?

Gus: You smell that?
Shawn: Dude, don't look at me
Gus: It's sulfuric.
Shawn: Gus, I am not the one who had the egg salad.

Shawn: I can't smell anything.
Gus: Well, you don't have the "super-smeller."
Shawn: Gus! You have got to stop calling your nose the "super-smeller." You wanna nickname a body part? Nickname your butt, man. Call it the "tight bouncer" or "the hexagon"! Ladies are gonna dig that. I'm telling you.

Henry: Grab a saw.
Shawn: What, now?
Henry: (carrying a large covered object out of the garage) Well, you said you'd do anything, right?
Shawn: You know, most people will wait five, six whole minutes before they cash in a favor. (looks down at the object) I will not saw through bone for you.

(Shawn is working on the doghouse, frustrated)
Shawn: What the hell are you doing?
Henry: I'm gonna help you.
Shawn: You've never helped me before ever.
Henry: You've never asked.

Shawn: Gimme a word
Gus: A word?
Shawn: Yeah, something hard but something you can spell.
Gus: I can spell anything.
Shawn: Except aggiornamento.

Shawn: (pretending to be the new spellmaster) Banana.
Speller 118: Can you repeat that?
Shawn: Yes. (enunciates) Banana.
Gus: "Banana," Shawn? This is the third round.
Shawn: You could have helped me.

Speller 118: Definition, please?
Shawn: A yellow fruit. Also, a kind of pudding...a delicious pudding.
Speller 118: Sentence, please?
Shawn: Anna Banana would like to hear "Venus" by Bananarama. Banana.

Shawn: (giving another spelling word) Onion.
Gus: "Onion?"
Speller 46: "Onion"?
Spellmaster: "Onion"? Even Dan Quayle could spell that.
Speller 46: (quickly) O-N-I-O-N, onion.

Gus: You're using his grocery list!
Shawn: You refused to help me. Now, I gotta give them something else. (over the loudspeaker) Mitchum.
Speller: "Mitchum"?
Shawn: Yes, when I go to Albertson's, I need to buy some Mitchum Ice Blast...and, bananas.

Shawn: (after having a psychic moment) I know who killed Alvin Cavanaugh.
Karen: Can't he ever just tell us to arrest someone?
Juliet: He does this a lot?
(together)
Lassiter: Yes
Karen: Yes.

Shawn: I'm sorry. I'm kind of a slave to my visions. I'm a slave.
Lassiter: (to Karen) Do you want me to cuff him?
Karen: Why? Why would I want that?
Lassiter: Just a suggestion.

(Shawn explains all the negatives that come with winning the spelling bee)
Shawn: This way you got to be a smart kid and a cool kid. Best of both worlds.
Gus: That's true. I appreciate that, Shawn.
Shawn: Yeah, it's a nice balance. That's why I had to give you the wrong letter.
Gus: You knew that was wrong?
Shawn: Oh, come on, Gus. Aggiornamento? Everybody knew it was an "I."

Shawn: (looking at the spellmaster) Wow, he sits up there all by himself in that fancy box? What is he, the Phantom of the Opera?

The Phantom of the Opera is a character in the novel of the same name. The Phantom lives in seclusion beneath an opera stage. Theater-goers believe that he is a ghost haunting the opera house. He uses this to his advantage by threatening that if he does not receive his demands, he will wreak havoc on them all.

Spellmaster: Onion? Even Dan Quayle could spell that.

In 1992, Vice President Dan Quayle "corrected" a student's spelling of the word "potato" to "potatoe" in an elementary school spelling bee.

Shawn: (to Gus) How come I can't get you this excited about girls? Or Mexico?

In the previous episode, "Pilot," it was established that Gus had blindly done things with Shawn in the past that turned out unfavorable. One of these events involved arriving at the Mexican border (twice, actually).