‘Fear’ Was Loaded With ‘The Walking Dead’ Universe Easter Eggs

Fear the Walking Dead aired another strong episode on Sunday night, earning laughs and praise from fans and critics, but also loading a few references to The Walking Dead into its run time.

With Morgan Jones bent on returning to his Alexandria community to reunite with Rick Grimes and company, it’s no surprise that the character who originated on the first AMC zombie show is surrounded by Easter eggs and references to it.

Below, we run through some of the important details and Easter eggs packed into Fear the Walking Dead Episode 4×11! Spoilers follow!

Commonwealth?

In true Dead universe fashion, Fear the Walking Dead Episode 4×11 played with fan expectations a bit. With Morgan finding a radio and hearing from a woman, it seemed like the Commonwealth from Robert Kirkman’s comics might be arriving.

After all, The Walking Dead just recently introduced a woman who looked just like the community’s leader.

However, it doesn’t seem Morgan’s radio contact or any of the boxes offering to help folks will be any sort of connection to the 50,000-strong community. Instead, it seems to be an introduction to the new villain facing the back half of Fear the Walking Dead‘s fourth season.

New Villain

By the end of Episode 4×11, it was clear that the woman who had found Morgan’s starting point for the episode was not going to be friendly. Her demonic expressions while dealing with undead seemed to emphasize that she is someone everyone should avoid.

“I don’t want to say much about that mysterious woman, but I think it’s apparent in that moment that she clearly has some sort of history and relationship with whoever it was who set up that truck stop,” Fear‘s co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss told EW.

“And the fact that in the final moments of the episode she writes on that walker’s face the key phrase that we’ve seen on the boxes the entire episode, ‘Take what you need. Leave what you don’t,’ I think we can see that she’s not too happy with the fact that Morgan is now carrying on that kind of legacy that’s left behind. We will certainly see her again. She’s going to become perhaps an unexpected antagonist to Morgan and the rest of the group.”

Hope

The episode was loaded with layers of hope, none more apparent than the blue colors of the sky and green shades of grass popping through the screen for the first time in Fear the Walking Dead‘s fourth season.

As noted by the cast in several mid-season interviews, the back half is about the characters coming back together and finding hope. Morgan Jones may have found a good bit of hope in this episode with Jim, Sarah, and Wendell. However, there was also the added layers of hope injected into the Dead universe by showing characters who actually want to help people. Many others attempting to do the same have not been introduced and might never grace the screen.

Somewhere, though, there is a group which is dropping supply boxes to help survivors get through the difficult times of the apocalypse. 

Peanut Butter Bar

Early in the episode, Morgan Jones stumbled into a gas station in Mississippi. Once inside, he was quick to find peanut butter protein bars, as he did in the back of the truck which brought him there.

Morgan’s affection for peanut butter protein bars goes back to his days on The Walking Dead. In the original show’s Season Six premiere, Morgan asked Michonne, “Did you take my peanut butter bar?” No one thought much of it because his mind was less stable at the time. As it turns out, Michonne did take it, and Rick revealed as much to him. It was his last one but the universe brought him back with the flavor he loves.

Merger?

Morgan seemed set on returning to Alexandria throughout Episode 4×11. Does this mean Fear the Walking Dead‘s characters will really head over to Alexandria to merge with The Walking Dead?

After all, Morgan said he was going to pick up his friends in Texas and others along the way before ultimately taking them back to the community which is rebuilding the world.

Still, it’s unlikely they will set sail for Virginia any time soon. It’s less likely they will arrive there, at all. Fear the Walking Dead was renewed for a fifth season while the original show is due for a considerable time jump, once again leaving the timelines for the two shows at inconsistent points.