Martin Scorsese's Amazing Death Easter Egg In The Departed Explained
Martin Scorcese's iconic gangster film, The Departed, features a consistent Easter egg hinting towards the deaths of certain characters. Although it was released back in 2006, The Departed is still considered one of Scorcese's best, and it features an all-star cast including Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin. But in true faithfulness to the genre, many of these main characters wind up dead in the end, and Scorcese uses a healthy dose of foreshadowing to back it up.
The Departed's story necessarily involves some confusing twists and turns, as it's all about double agents and hidden identities. Even as undercover cop Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) works to gather intel on the organized crime ring led by Frank Costello (Nicholson), another mole, Colin Sullivan (Damon), does the opposite by infiltrating the Boston PD. As with any gangster-themed Martin Scorcese movie, plenty of suspense and violence accompany the story, with the ultimate result that Costigan, Costello, and Sullivan all end up dead. For a variety of reasons, this comes as no surprise.
Related: Goodfellas: The Real Life Gangster Behind Frankie (& Why He Was Killed)
One of the subtler reasons why the deaths of The Departed's three main characters aren't quite so shocking is Scorcese's use of a foreshadowing Easter egg. Throughout the film, Xs appear surrounding characters marked for death, which includes Costigan, Costello, and Sullivan, as well as Barrigan and Captain Queenan. Although one or two Xs might not be enough to deliver the hint for most audiences, there are actually at least 18 times Scorcese uses this trick.
Whether they appear in the structure of surrounding buildings, taped or painted on walls, or even on
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