An easy-to-miss Easter egg in Rick’s last episode on The Walking Dead connects to the show’s pilot episode. After nearly a decade of being the series protagonist, Rick’s time on the show came to an end in the fifth episode of season 9, titled “What Comes After.” Badly wounded after falling off a horse, Rick found himself in a situation where he alone could save the five communities from a horde of approaching zombies. Despite his injuries, Rick risked his life to do what needed to be done, leaving viewers in suspense as to whether or not his mission would be the death of him.
Andrew Lincoln’s highly publicized exit from the AMC series culminated in the character deciding to make the ultimate sacrifice and blowing up the bridge to protect everyone else. Just when the show made it seem that Rick had died, it was revealed that he was rescued by Jadis (Pollyanne McIntosh) and the mysterious organization associated with the black helicopter.
The scene that revealed Rick in critical condition on board the helicopter featured the song, “Space Junk” from the 1980s English band, Wang Chung. The inclusion of this particular song is actually a reference to the pilot episode. The song was played in the final scene of the when Rick trapped himself in a tank to protect himself from the hundreds of zombies that were running loose outside: "Space Junk" began playing right when he heard the voice of Glenn (Steven Yeun) on the radio. That was the moment when Rick knew he wasn’t alone, and it provided the setup for Rick’s survival in the following episode.
It was an interesting choice for Rick Grimes’ exit from The Walking Dead to pay homage to the ending of his first episode, partially because the two scenes have a few things common, thematically speaking. In both episodes, Rick is facing an uncertain future. In both, it appeared that death was all but assured. Rick was about to commit suicide in the pilot before closing himself up in the tank, and even then he had nowhere to go, whereas in the other episode, it looked as if Rick did die. “Space Junk” started playing when Jadis looked over at Rick, which was when it became apparent that he had a chance to live after all. So in both situations, the song represents hope for Rick.
“Space Junk” was one just of many ways that the episode mirrored the pilot, with Rick riding a horse and the "Don't Open Dead Inside" sign from his hallucination being just a few examples. One scene recreated the flashback of Rick riding in the police cruiser in the pilot with Jon Bernthal’s Shane, his former best friend. Considering that Rick had been the face of the show and its main hero for nine years, it felt fitting for his departure to take a look back at the most important moments in his Walking Dead story.