Set in Dearborn Michigan, a male victim is running down the street to get away from a dog, and runs past McOwen's Irish Pub. Episode 617, Mannequin 3: The Reckoning (2011), is set in Patterson New Jersey, a male victim walks into the same McOwen's Irish Pub.
Sam suggests that the car "might be Christine-like." He is referring to the 1983 Stephen King novel (and subsequent movie) about an antique car gone homicidal.
The title of this episode is taken from the film Defending Your Life (1991) by Albert Brooks. In that film the recently dead wait to have their fate determined whether they will go to heaven or be sent back to earth for a new life. The determination is made during a trial-like procedure.
After the second unexplained death, Dean says, "Alright so what, he causes so much misery that some rottweiler goes Cujo on him from beyond the grave?" He referring to the 1981 Stephen King (and subsequent movie) of the same name about a rabid dog.
When Dean is talking about one of the victims in the episode, he states that vengeance on the guy who Michael Vick'd you makes sense. Micheal Vick was a football player in the NFL, who like the victim in the episode also went to jail for running an illegal dogfighting ring.