When Troi describes to Picard the moment that he, Data, and Geordi appeared frozen in time, she stops to tap a spot behind her ear. This is called "plexing," a Betazoid relaxation technique that consists of stimulation of neural pressure points to relieve anxiety. She previously shared the technique with the perpetually anxious Lt. Barclay in Realm of Fear (1992).
The only time that a runabout is seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987), they're more often seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993). This is also the only occasion (in both series) where one gets to see the interior aft compartment of a runabout. Although the aft compartments of Deep Space Nine's runabouts were a bit different, the Danube-class runabout was designed so that both the middle and aft sections were modular and could be changed out for different mission profiles. Since DS9 relied on its runabouts far more than a starship like the Enterprise (especially before the arrival of the U.S.S. Defiant) they needed different configurations, DS9's runabouts mid and aft sections were configured to have more bunks and a small science station in the mid section and the aft compartment had a small bio-bed for medical emergencies in place of the conference table. There was also a cargo module that could replace the mid and aft section allowing a runabout to haul a lot more cargo and supplies than a standard shuttlecraft.
At a convention appearance, Marina Sirtis noted that, after getting a standard-issue space uniform like the rest of the cast, she was also suddenly allowed to show much more intelligence on the show. For this episode, she noted the absurdity of her knowing more about Romulan technology than Geordi or Data. (In fact, this was mistaken. Having spent two days on a warbird, she was said by Picard to have greater familiarity with the ship's layout, not its technology.)
During this episode, Captain Picard references events seen in Time's Arrow (1992) and Time's Arrow, Part II (1992), when a subspace force field was used on Devidia II, and Face of the Enemy (1993), when Counselor Troi was aboard a Romulan warbird for several days.
The scenes aboard the runabout were included in part so that the construction of the set for the aft section of the runabout could be paid for out of the Next Generation show budget, taking some financial pressure off the production of Deep Space 9. Ironically, DS9 never used the set, although parts of it were redressed and used to depict parts of the Defiant.