This episode marks the first time in the series, that snow has been present. Chief Content Officer, Scott Gimple, expressed his excitement about this, as it is something that he has wanted for years. Back in season 2's "18 Miles Out", Shane and Rick shares a short conversation about how they should prepare for the winter, where it was asked on Talking Dead after if there would ever be snow in the show. Special Effects Supervisor Greg Nicotero explained that he would very much like to include a winter theme in the show, but it would be too complicated to create in terms of using sets with snow and to create frozen and icy walkers.
In the comic book, Carol commits suicide by zombie. In this episode, Carol catches Lydia in the process of attempting to do the same, and gives Lydia a knowing look.
The first frozen walker seen in the episode is a great homage to the film, 'Return of the Living Dead'. The female living corpse lying on the ground, bears a strong resemblance to the female corpse that gets tied down to the metal table in the film, right down to the movements of her jaw and upper torso.
The first season since seven to have more episodes rated with eight than seven and the first one to have an episode with nine since the first episode of season seven