Rick Grimes tries to make it home, but the power of the CRM may be too much for him to overcome.
Always with You: After their fight, Okafor tells Rick that his family will always be with him even though he can’t escape as a last cold comfort.
Arc Welding: Okafor reveals that he took part in the napalming of Atlanta and Los Angeles, the original settings of the original series and Fear the Walking Dead.
Becoming the Mask: Rick’s Despair Event Horizon broke his hope of getting home and he decided to commit to whatever good he could do with the CRM, giving up his attempts to get home.
The Bus Came Back: This episode marks the proper return of Rick and Michonne Grimes following their departures from The Walking Dead.
The Comically Serious: Rick is in no mood for the wisecracking Esteban’s well-intentioned jokes, making some of his reactions pretty funny.
The opening credits’ score calls back to the sequences of Michonne’s departure and the end of the Grand Finale. Additionally, the note playing during the title card is the last note of the parent series' main theme.
The opening credits’ map of North America show a large radioactive symbol over Texas and Louisiana, referring to the nuclear devastation of the region at the hands of Teddy Maddox in the Season 6 finale of Fear the Walking Dead.
Rick nearly took his own life when it seemed there was truly no safe escape from the CRM. In the pilot episode, he also nearly took his life when he was surrounded by walkers and seemingly had no safe way to escape.
Among Okafor’s books is The Art of Peace, used by Eastman to rehabilitate Morgan in "Here’s Not Here".
Rick is shown wielding an axe into battle against the horde, recalling his famous red machete he wielded from Seasons 5-7.
Rick cuts off his own left hand, recalling Negan’s threat to destroy his hands in the Season 7 finale "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life."
Rick and Esteban sit at the bench that Elizabeth and Jadis had their final confrontation at during the finale of World Beyond.
Okafor researched Rick’s escape attempt in the series finale of The Walking Dead which is clarified to have been his third attempt.
Rick and Thorne watch a news report on the fall of Omaha, previously detailed in the second season of World Beyond.
Could Say It, But...: Esteban tells Rick that he can't tell him shit about where an underground tunnel leads, and that even if he could, it wouldn't be what he's about to tell him.
Crazy-Prepared: After Rick’s first attempt to escape, the CRM started putting him on a leash whenever they took him out on walker clearing duty.
Despair Event Horizon: The fall of Omaha, his failed escape attempt, and learning the CRM knows about Alexandria is what convinces Rick to give up trying to get home and commit to the CRM.
The Determinator: As "Rest in Peace" showed, Rick made numerous attempts to escape, biding his time whenever necessary. The escape shown in that episode is revealed to have been his third, and by his fourth he’d become so desperate he amputated his hand to try to escape.
Driven to Suicide: Rick is shown to have considered suicide, going as far to actually cut his throat a bit with a shard of glass. The failure of his fifth attempt to escape coupled with realizing Omaha likely was sabotaged, and that Alexandria would easily be in danger even if he got back home, is what nearly drives him to the edge.
"Eureka!" Moment: Esteban provides Rick with an idea to join the CRM to be able to be allowed outside the CR to get a window of escape.
Faking the Dead: Rick cuts off a walker’s hand and leaves his dog tags there to fake his death.
Happiness in Slavery: Downplayed. Rick says most consignees don’t ever consider escaping since the CR is safe and comfortable to live in. The CRM was shocked when he tried to escape and didn’t know what to do with him at first.
I Have Your Wife: The CRM knows of the Coalition and it’s location and Okafor warns that if Rick made it back there, he or someone else in the CRM would inevitably go there and wipe it out with the CRM’s superior resources and firepower.
Internal Reformist: Okafor wants to reform the CRM from the inside, disgusted with their monstrous actions in the name of a greater good.
Jerkass Has a Point: Okafor and Thorne point out that even if Rick escaped back to Alexandria, the CRM would’ve known how to track him down and wipe out the Coalition in retaliation.
Kill the Ones You Love: Okafor killed his wife Estelle along with the 4,000 Marines to prevent the extermination of Philadelphia.
This episode, and the next three, are a variation on "Days Gone Bye", the famous title of the pilot episode of the original show that was adapted from the comic’s first volume.
Rick cuts off his handcuffed hand, giving him the amputation that he suffered in the comics at the hands of The Governor.
Obi-Wan Moment: Okafor has one last moment of counsel with Rick before he’s suddenly killed.
Reasonable Authority Figure: Okafor lobbied on Rick’s behalf after his attempts to escape due to liking him and wanting him to help him reform the CRM.
Shoot the Shaggy Dog: Rick cut off his left hand to try to escape, but was too rattled from the shock to make his escape.
Spotting the Thread: Thorne is shaken by the fall of Omaha as they surely should’ve seen the devastation coming. Rick calls out the possibility that people were behind it instead of the dead, and Thorne tries to deny it out of desperate clinging to the CRM’s propaganda.
Survival Mantra: Right before cutting off his hand, Rick says “this is how”, recalling “this is how we survive”.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Thorne hates Rick for still wanting to escape but is still part of Okafor’s reformists alongside him.
This Cannot Be!: Thorne is devastated by the fall of Omaha and defiantly claims it was because they didn’t live in secret, trying to convince herself that the CRM is still the way.
Token Good Teammate: Okafor wants to reform the CRM, believing they’ve gone too far in their actions in the name of keeping the CR secure.
Villain Has a Point: The general attitude of the consignees is understandable given the Civic Republic is generally a safe, well-off society, and it seems many of them didn’t have anybody else before being captured. Rick, however, has family and friends he wants to get back to so even when he hears Esteban is happy to be becoming a citizen, he can’t bring himself to ever accept it.
Wham Shot: Rick’s attacker is seen with a familiar katana, leading up to the long-awaited reunion between him and Michonne.
