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

The first two episodes of Watchmen were spent introducing us to the world of the show and its new characters – while referencing the past. But in "She Was Killed by Space Junk", we at long last catch up with characters from the comic, mainly Laurie Blake, better known as the former Silk Spectre.In case you didn't have the time to re-read the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel, we're here to give you all the easter eggs and references to the original Watchmen from the episode. Of course, this is going to be spoiler-heavy.

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.

Just like the Doctor Manhattan booth, this is another simple illustration of this alternate world. We briefly see the Washington Monument, but it has what looks like a ring-shape platform floating around the top of the obelisk.

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.

It seems like Robert Redford is not the only celebrity in charge of the country in this universe. After last week revealed Henry Lewis Gates Jr. as the Secretary of Treasury and Vox co-founder Ezra Klein as Press Secretary, a headline reveals that bestselling author John Grisham is a Supreme Court Justice. Grisham is of course known for legal thrillers such as The Firm and The Pelican Brief, but he's also a lawyer. The show's official companion site also reveals TV personality and political commentator John McLaughlin was also part of the Supreme Court, and that Johnny Cochran was somehow involved in a lawsuit that gave way to Redfordations.

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.

When Laurie returns to her apartment, she commands her voice-activated CD-player to "play Devo." The episode's title, "She Was Killed by Space Junk," is also a lyric from the Devo song "Space Junk." But that's not all! This popular '80s band was also referenced by Laurie in the original Watchmen comic. In issue #7, she described Nite Owl's goggles as "pretty Devo." The episode title can also refer to Laurie figuratively carrying Doctor Manhattan's space "junk" in her briefcase, or even the car that literally falls from the sky at the end of the episode and nearly kills her.

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.

Not really an easter egg, but a flat out confirmation (if you didn't know that already) that Laurie Blake is Laurie Juspeczyk, AKA Silk Spectre II. And the reveal is told through a simply perfect shot of Laurie standing in front of her part in a Warhol print of herself, Nite Owl, Ozymandias and Doctor Manhattan.

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.

The millennium clock is not only an impressive, if maybe pointless, structure, but it is also a reference to Lady Trieu. Trieu is a character played by Hong Chau who has not showed up in the show yet. Her company absorbed Veidt Enterprises following a Doctor Manhattan-panic that caused the recalling of all the synthesized lithium Manhattan and Veidt had produced, which affected the latter's electric car business and led to his company having to sell out. The show will reveal more soon enough.

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.

While sending a message to Doctor Manhattan, Laurie quotes Doctor Manhattan and his detached view on humanity, life and dead. His reasoning was that "A alive body and dead body have the same number of particles. Structurally, there's no discernible difference. Life and death are unquantifiable abstracts. Why should I be concerned?"

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.

We see Veidt sitting on a table and meditating, the way his robe hangs down covering the chair behind him makes him look like he's floating, just like Manhattan was when he built his first castle on Mars.

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."

Following the funeral for chief Judd, a reporter asks Senator Keene for his opinion on the claims that Russia is building an "intrinsic field generator." An intrinsic field is an invisible force not unlike gravity that holds things together. It was also something Jon Osterman was experimenting with when he accidentally got trapped inside an intrinsic field subtractor and was turned into Doctor Manhattan. 

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.

After teasing the contents of her briefcase for the entire episode, Laurie finally opens it to reveal...a large Doctor Manhattan-themed dildo called "Silk Spectre Takes Manhattan." This is the second time Watchmen shows Doctor Manhattan's big blue penis, albeit indirectly. Curiously, this isn't the first time a Silk Spectre image was used for sex accessories. The original Silk Spectre, Laurie's mother, was the subject of many "Tijuana bibles," or small erotic comic books that were popular in the '30s and '40s.  

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.