Sam's character, Taryon, in a conversation with the astral Pike, recalls an event in his youth when a gnome with a traveling entertainment troupe was hired for an event at his father's estate. He is referencing Scanlan Shorthalt, his former character.
According to CritRoleStats, this episode broke the record for most DM facepalms. The standing record having been 10, this episode upped that number to 16. This is talked about on the concurrent Talks Machina episode.