"The Falcon and the D'ohman" also reveals the fate of the relationship between the characters Ned Flanders and Edna Krabappel that was initiated in the previous episode of the series, "The Ned-Liest Catch", that aired in May 2011.

"The Falcon and the D'ohman" features a reference to the previous episode of the series, the twenty-second season finale "The Ned-Liest Catch" that aired on May 22, 2011.

"[2] Comic Book Guy opens the season premiere by telling the viewers that there will be hints in the episode as to the conclusion of the romance between Ned and Edna.

One night, while Wayne is walking home in the rain and hail, he reluctantly agrees to let Homer drive him to Moe's Tavern for a drink, though insists they remain professional afterwards.

The story spreads quickly and a news segment that features an interview with Wayne by Kent Brockman and an animated Taiwanese dramatization of the incident soon airs on television.

He is plagued by recurring flashbacks from his previous missions, which cause him to act or shout them out, as evidenced when he unintentionally attacks Mr. Burns, the boss of the power plant, which results in Wayne being fired.

At the DMV, he has a flashback to the time he was a prisoner in North Korea and was forced to write Being Short Is Not A Hindrance To Greatness, a ridiculous musical play paying tribute to Kim Jong Il.

For example, in a sequence at the beginning of the episode, Homer sings about working at the power plant to the melody of The Police's song "Walking on the Moon".

[5] According to Chris Ledesma, music editor on The Simpsons, the staff was "very fortunate to have obtained the original master tracks from The Police without vocals.

When we need to do our own lyrics to an established hit song, [composer Alf Clausen] usually arranges and records a 'sound-alike' that tries to capture all the spirit and nuance of the original so that the audience immediately identifies the track, but allows us to add our own vocals.

Another cultural reference appears in one of Wayne's flashbacks, in which he is seen receiving special training against enemies such as Chucky from the Child's Play film and basketball player Kobe Bryant.

"[8] Other guest stars to have done this are Albert Brooks, Jon Lovitz, and Phil Hartman, all of whom have played one-time characters and recurring parts.

[12] The Simpsons became the second highest-rated program in the 18–49 demographic in Fox's Animation Domination lineup that night, finishing with a higher rating than The Cleveland Show and American Dad!

The best episodes, ... definitely have some absurd elements but they're all firmly grounded in a fairly real world of Springfield, USA and its colorful cast of characters.

"[16] Matt Roush of TV Guide wrote more positively about the episode, noting that "Fox's eternal The Simpsons kicks off a night of all-new animation, welcoming Kiefer Sutherland in a very clever guest role as a security guard trying without much success to escape his violent past.

"[17] Similarly, Umika Pidaparthy of CNN's The Marquee Blog commented that "there were a lot of light laughs in this episode, like when Wayne walks through the Ukrainian part of Springfield (Tsarbucks, anyone?).

"[18] Mike Hughes of the Lansing State Journal commented that the episode was "inconsistent, but [had] great moments", and that it was "much better than Fox's other season-openers" that premiered on the same day.