Fear References The Walking Dead’s Daryl Dixon

Sunday’s Fear the Walking Dead references The Walking Dead‘s Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) as Dwight (Austin Amelio) continues the hunt for his missing wife.

Though the archer isn’t mentioned by name, he’s referenced when Dwight reveals more of his history to new friend John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) during a quiet heart-to-heart:

“When I left where I was, when I was sent away, the person who sent me away knew all the sh-t I’d done,” Dwight says. “But he knew I loved her. So he said, ‘Find her, make it right.’”

Daryl exiled the former Savior under threat of death in The Walking Dead‘s Season 8 finale, after Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) successfully led a revolt against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his forces. The resolution of that conflict also drove Morgan (Lennie James) west to Texas, bringing Dwight and Morgan together roughly a year after both men departed the Virginia settlements.

“It was a big moment obviously. And I think what we really wanted to have out of it was just A, the kind of shock that somehow they found each other, and also just have a little bit of fun with it. And the interesting thing when we were sitting down with both Lennie and Austin at the beginning of the season, they said to us, ‘We really haven’t worked much with each other,’” co-showrunner Andrew Chambliss previously told EW.

“They were in some of the bigger group scenes, but Morgan and Dwight hadn’t actually had a lot of personal one-on-one interaction. They obviously both kind of know each other as characters and their history. So I think when they find each other, it was really the surprise that these two people ended up in the same place.”

Chambliss added audiences will come to learn “a little bit more about what forces drove them to this area.”

“But the other thing that we wanted to get is just the promise of these two people finding each other when they’re very different than they were when they left,” Chambliss continued.

“Morgan was still very much a broken person. Season 8 was very tough for him, and the same for Dwight. They saw the worst sides of each other and now they’re amongst new people trying to be the best versions of themselves.”