We’re seeing a higher than usual amount of Easter Egg/Call-Back talk for episode 506. Not sure why that is, but we’ve culled the stuff we’ve seen on Twitter and Reddit (huge shout out to Redditor thejealousone) and packaged it and commented on it for you here! Let’s do it!

RETURN TO ATLANTA

I think the return to Atlanta was a lot of fun for people, at least visually. It had everyone comparing the very first episode of The Walking Dead to this episode. First up is the obvious (and iconic) entry shot:

You can click for a larger image. I tried to brighten the night shot up as much as possible. Everything is pretty much where it should be, from the derailed train on the right to the bus on the left. Cool to see how much things have overgrown. Very nice touch.

THE TANK

This next one has people pretty evenly split.

Is this a call-back to the tank from the first episode? Well, certainly a few things would indicate it’s not: the turret is turned the wrong way, it’s at a different intersection, the gunner’s nest is missing, and it has a lot of viscera on the front and sides like it was driven through a horde. But not so fast. It’s not always possible to film in the same exact location, the large road cones are there, it’s positioned the same way in the road, someone could taken the machine gun, the blood stains could be from a horde that was taken out since Rick was there, and it’s the exact same type of tank (but that’s to be expected, being in downtown Atlanta). Still, I’m willing to say, probably not the same tank.

MORLEY CIGARETTES

“OMG X-FILES!!!” Well, kind of. Certainly The X-Files seems to be where everyone remembers Morley Cigarettes from, but Morley has been used as a generic, rights-free stand-in for Marlboro (which apparently used to be referred to as Marleys) for ages. That bottom pic above is from Psycho, which came out in 1961. Morleys also appeared in The Twilight Zone (the awesome “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet”), The Dick Van Dyke Show, Beverly Hills: 90210, Buffy, 24, etc, etc. In fact, they’ve also appeared in network sibling Breaking Bad, a show which The Walking Dead likes to reference. AND, last but not least, this is not the first appearance of Morleys on TWD. Dale smokes em in the second season.

Read more about Morley Cigarettes here.

THE VIRGIN MARY

Is this an Easter Egg homage to the show everyone loved and then hated and then maybe kind of loved again but probably still hated, LOST?

I’m not quite sold. It’s certainly a very different statue. And it’s not like Virgin Mary statues are uncommon. But, it is interesting that both scenes involve main characters inside precariously balanced vehicles which then crash to the ground. Or maybe it’s just an allusion to the fact that buckling yourself into a van that’s about to drop 40 feet is a bit of Hail Mary.

Fun fact: The statue disappears in the shot from inside the van as it flips off the bridge, and then it’s back again (on its side) when the van settles.

TOM SAWYER

What is this, the FOURTH mention of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer we’ve had on this show? Carol teaches it at the Prison, Hershel has Lizzie reading it for homework, Lizzy, Mika, and Carol talk about it on the train tracks, and now Carol is packing a copy of it. Am I missing any? Anyone want to break down the parallels between the Mark Twain classic and TWD?

In any event, I look forward to an episode dedicated entirely the Survivors staging an elaborate stage production of the story. Daryl was born to play Huck Finn, amiright?

DAT FIRE IMAGERY

Ok, yes, we’d expect some allusions to fire given that the episode is based around the speech Carol gives about how this world consumes you, like a fire, BUT, there are a LOT of scenes with either smoke or flame. Like, A LOT. Let’s take a look:

1) Carol reads by candlelight.
2) Carol spots smoke in the distance from the Prison.
3) We see the reflection of the Prison burning.
4) Daryl burns the bodies from the shelter.
5) Carol sees smoke as she buries the girls (flashback).
6) Daryl lights a fire to distract walkers.
7) Carol burns Karen and David at the Prison (flashback).
8) Daryl lights his Morley.
9) Carol sees the smoke from Terminus (flashback).
10) Daryl starts a dumpster fire to aid his and Noah’s escape.

Whew! That is A LOT. And we didn’t even discuss how THREE different times we see Carol’s face through either a flame or a reflection of flame:

What do you guys think? What did we miss? Thoughts on if it’s the same tank or not? Think that’s REALLY a Lost homage? Any fire scenes we missed?