The premiere of the eighth season of 'The Walking Dead' brought with it a great surprise for fans of 'Lost'. The latest TWD episode was divided by a series of flashforwards in which we were able to see protagonist Rick lying in bed somewhere in a small community. The interesting thing about the scene however, is the fact that the clock showed the time as 8.23.
Any 'Lost' fan out there will tell you that the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 are of vital importance. They appear everywhere, and have a huge significance, Jack was sat in seat 23, there were 48 survivors etc. So what exactly does all of this have to do with 'The Walking Dead', you ask? Well, matter of factly, showrunner for the latter TV series, Scott M. Gimple, happens to be a massive 'Lost' fanboy.
Executive producer and director for the eighth season, Greg Nicotero, however, denied that he had any involvement with the time on the clock. "You know, what's funny is that was completely unintentional", he mentioned to ComicBook. Nicotero then went on to explain how he was the one who shot that scene, and he's never even seen 'Lost'! He also mentioned, "Maybe I shouldn't have answered that, and said, 'Yeah, it could be a reference to LOST.'"
Scott Gimple
Whilst Nicotero had no idea of the significance of the numbers, it wasn't by chance. "I don't think there was any reference that I'm aware of at the time, unless Scott gave somebody a note and said, 'Make sure it says 8:23 on the clock". Nicotero added that Gimple must have directed the props staff to set the time.
Gimple remains adamant that the time was written in the script.
This isn't the first time TWD has paid homage to 'Lost'. In the fourth season, we saw a statue of the Virgin Mary on the dashboard of the van that Daryl and Carol found in Atlanta - the very same statue that appeared on Eko's brother, Yemi's plane.
It's as though the fanboy within Scott Gimple rears itself whenever the opportunity arises.
