‘The Walking Dead’s “Choke Holds Are Illegal” Was A Callback To Season 1

When Rick and Daryl decided to exchange a few blows in Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead, the AMC series packed a call back to its first season into the scene.

After Daryl punched Rick, the characters had themselves a feud which saw a pile of explosives being tossed into a slowly building fire. Before they would explode, Daryl would get Rick into a headlock and inflict a choke hold on him until he realized the danger they were both in.

After the fight, the two characters put their fight aside in favor of the greater good and their brotherly love for one another. Before parting ways and continuing Rick’s plan, Rick would look to Daryl and say, “Choke holds are illegal, a–hole.”

The moment was a direct call back to the show’s first season when Shane Walsh had to restrain Daryl Dixon by putting him in a choke hold as Daryl attempted to fight Rick with a knife. After being taken down, Daryl called out, “Choke holds are illegal!”

With such a thorough history to build on, The Walking Dead has made call outs to previous scenes and dialogue a habit. In Season 7, more dialogue involving Daryl served as a callback to previous seasons, one of which referenced the late Glenn Rhee.

The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.