The episode revolves around Rick and Morty trying to determine which of their friends are real and who's a parasite, leading to paranoia until they devise a crude test. This is similar to the plot from the 1982 film The Thing (1982). Keith David, who appears in this episode as Reverse Giraffe, played Childs in "The Thing".
In one of the false memories, Rick is seen preparing to hoard a collection of limited edition Nintendo 3DS. Rick's voice actor Justin Roiland actually did this in real life.
In the opening credits sequence, Mr. Poopybutthole now appears in every cut scene.
The title of this episode is a play on Total Recall (1990), in which Arnold Schwarzenegger's character tries to work out who he really is and which of his memories are real.
Keith David, who voices Reverse Giraffe here, also voices the President in the next episode, Get Schwifty (2015).