Thomas drew inspiration for his point of view about Veronica's character from his own life, stating, "I've sort of gotten past this, but I certainly lived in that space for a long time." Thomas had had the idea for this mystery of the week since the beginning of the season; in an interview, he stated that he would like to include several "college-age crimes" such as "this idea of a college girl getting pregnant, and someone getting the idea they're doing her a favor by slipping her RU-486." The promos for the episode made it seem as though Veronica was pregnant.