The 'Watchmen' Reference Guide: Every Easter Egg In "She Was Killed By Space Junk"

Not so much a reference to the graphic novel, but as the show keeps expanding the world of Watchmen, we're seeing more details of how the existence of superheroes have changed this world. One such way is the existence of phone booths where you can send messages to Doctor Manhattan on Mars. We only see one in Tulsa, but Laurie Blake implies there are more of these elsewhere and that Manhattan doesn't listen to the messages as he still doesn't give a second thought to humanity.

Advertisements for American Hero Story keeps showing up everywhere. We get a look at the show's version of Captain Metropolis (to the right) and The Comedian himself (to the left). The show's tagline of "Comedy Begets Tragedy," is especially poignant given that it was The Comedian who first figured out Veidt's plan for a fake alien invasion and died because of it.

Laurie Blake and her fellow FBI agents take down the vigilante known as Mr. Shadow, one of plenty of do-gooders still out and about despite the Keene Act of 1977 having made vigilantism illegal. Mr. Shadow's black costume and grave voice heavily resemble that of Batman in the Christopher Nolan film trilogy. Later on, he's described as a "rich a**hole playing dress up," which we can't really refute.

Laurie has a pet owl in her apartment, an affectionate homage to Dan, the second Nite Owl and her former partner. Better yet, the owl's name is Who, which is simply the best name for an owl.A few minutes later, we see Senator Keene convince Laurie to go to Tulsa by implying he could pardon Nite Owl if he became president. Though Lindelof has said that Dan Dreiberg will not appear on the show, the supplemental material on the show's official companion website reveals that he's in federal custody after being arrested alongside Laurie for violating the Keene Act in the '90s. We still don't know how Laurie got out of prison, though.

Agent Dale Petey, the man behind the Peteypedia from the show's companion website, tries to include excerpts from Rorschach's journal in his meeting. This is the first time we see a glimpse of the published book and his writing, which of course is taken word-for-word from the narration in the comic. The journal basically recounts the events of the Watchmen graphic novel as told by Rorschach. As implied by the episode and confirmed through Peteypedia, the journal was indeed published by right-wing tabloid The New Frontiersman after Rorschach dropped it at their offices at the end of the graphic novel and later became popular reading material among conspiracy theorists.

Laurie and Petey are staying at a hotel in Tulsa named The Black Freighter Inn & Suites, a clear nod to the pirate comic-within-a-comic from the original Watchmen.Later on, we see Jeremy Iron's Adrian Veidt (more on that in a second) ride towards a herd of bison living on his estate. He passes a skull and crossbones flag handing from a sickle, another nod to the popularity of pirates from the original graphic novel. Curious enough, the comic-within-a-comic also served as a reflection of Veidt's role in the story, as he was the one man capable of bringing change to the world and stop its destruction, but only through sacrificing countless lives.

It wouldn't be Watchmen without a rainy funeral scene. Further making the connection between chief Judd and The Comedian, his death jumpstarts the story, and his funeral serves as a meeting between Laurie and Angela.

Again, this is not so much an easter egg, but after the marketing for the show decided to hide the identity of Jeremy Irons' character. Here, we finally see him wearing the classic Ozymandias costume. Also, we hear Veidt claim that he's not "some sort of republic serial villain," while dictating a letter to the Game Warder. This is a line first told by him to Rorschach and Nite Owl in issue 11 of the graphic novel before revealing he had already unleashed his giant squid on New York City "35 minutes ago."

While talking to Angela, Laurie reveals she knows about the secret compartment in chief Crawford's closet, and suspects Angela also knew about it. She also mentions that her dad had a similar secret compartment in his closet, referencing the scene where Rorschach finds the Comedian's costume hidden inside a closet after his death.

Throughout the episode, we see Laurie tell Doctor Manhattan a joke where she recounts her feelings towards most of her former vigilante partners. She references Nite Owl using his costume to fight crime but not kill anyone. Veidt's vast intelligence and also his mass murder that saved the world. And Manhattan's disinterest in humanity and of course his habit of "strolling around with his dick hanging out." At the end of her not-very-funny joke, Laurie says "Roll on snare drum, curtains, good joke." A reference to Rorschach telling a joke about the clown Pagliacci.