‘Absolute Cinema’: The Walking Dead Fan Collects Almost Every Callback and Parallel Throughout the Series

AMC's The Walking Dead featured some incredible callbacks and parallels throughout its captivating 11 seasons, and one fan of the series has managed to hone in on some of its best and most noteworthy in one incredible collection. During its 12-year run, the series changed the face of the zombie genre that was initially created by the legendary George A. Romero. Not only did The Walking Dead feature how people could survive in a post-apocalyptic world on a human level, but it also showcased how relationships could be formed during its tragic events, as well as sadly severed.

Despite the show ending in November 2022, with season 12 never materializing due to declining viewership, The Walking Dead's beloved characters still live on in the franchise as it continues with spin-offs like Dead City and Daryl Dixon. Even though many fans ended up switching off their TVs after the series' Season 7 premiere in 2016 due to the outrage following Glenn's death, The Walking Dead has fought hard to regain the viewership and respect it once had. This can be seen in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, ​​which revealed where Rick had been since Jadis snatched him away in a helicopter, making it the highest-rated The Walking Dead series of the lot. However, there's still a lot of love for the original series, as one fan shows off how brilliantly the show dealt with many of its callbacks and parallels.

The Walking Dead Fan Collects the Show’s Best Callbacks and Parallels

Over in a post on Reddit, a Walking Dead enthusiast has collected a slew of callbacks and awesome parallels from the series into some images. User evertBackwards may not have been able to fit every single one in over the course of The Walking Dead's 12 years on AMC, they've certainly made an amazing stab at getting some of its most memorable, with one fan so impressed by the collection that they've called it "Absolute cinema". In one image, evertBackwards includes Shane putting Daryl in a chokehold after Daryl finds out the group left his brother Merle handcuffed to the roof, with Daryl stating, "choke hold's illegal". Later on in the series, when Daryl puts Rick in the same chokehold, the exact parallel can be found.

Some of the other callbacks and parallels include Merle seemingly talking to God while handcuffed on the roof, saying, "I ain't begged you before. I ain't gonna start begging now," while trying to escape. This same sentence can be heard further in The Walking Dead as Merle talks to the Governor who is about to end his life. One of the most noteworthy callbacks that the Walking Dead fan included is an early scene with Glenn and Daryl, in which Daryl says to Glenn that he "has some balls for a China man", to which Glenn replies that he's Korean. Again, in a later scene with Daryl and Merle, Merle calls Glenn a "Chinese Kid", but Daryl sets him straight that he's Korean, showcasing that Daryl has changed his racist language and, although hopeless, wanted Merle to change too.

Fans who have stuck with the franchise through its ups and downs can watch Season two of The Walking Dead: Dead City on May 4, 2025, with Season 3 of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon premiering in the fall of 2025 on AMC and AMC+