The Walking Dead started strong, took a dip in ratings around its seventh season, and emerged through its final seasons. Many fans stuck with the show through its lowest points, and those who did were able to enjoy a satisfying conclusion. Many are now enjoying the franchise through the latest spinoffs, including The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, The Walking Dead: Dead City, and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
The show has always been described as one about human behavior and difficult decisions in the face of tremendous adversity, not just flesh-eating walking zombies. In fact, through its 11 seasons, the most challenging villains were not the undead, but other humans who had become hardened and desperate in a world focused solely on survival. There are heart-wrenching, emotional scenes, favorite character deaths, heartbreaks and triumphs. While the show ended in 2022, with two spinoffs continuing, it’s a good time to look back at which seasons were the ones that really stuck with viewers and why.
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11. Season 8
The conflict with the Saviors is finally resolved in this season, but the wait was too long, making the slashing of Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) throat and the takedown of his group almost anti-climactic. Adding insult to injury, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) decides to spare Negan’s life, leaving fans to wonder what might be coming next for the character they felt had long run his course. Fans were angered by Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) shocking death, right after he had finally come into his own as a character, especially since he had such a big role in the comics on which the show is based.
The return of the character Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) was more puzzling than exciting as most fans scrambled to Google who he even was. Eugene (Josh McDermitt), who had been ambling along as a proud albeit reluctant new member of the Saviors, has the only redeeming moment of the season when he proves his true loyalties by sabotaging the ammo that would’ve taken out Rick and his friends. The season, dubbed the lowest-rated one on Rotten Tomatoes by critics and audiences alike, also saw the death of Shiva, which was unforgivable in most fans’ eyes.
10. Season 7
By the time the huge climax teased in season 6 finally aired in season 7, fans had already spent months speculating who would meet the end of Negan’s bat. It was finally revealed to be not one, but two people: Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Glenn (Steven Yeun). The scene was so brutal, so gratuitously violent, that many die-hard fans declared their intent to boycott the show. It’s no surprise, then, that this season ranks among the worst.
The Saviors’ reign and the group’s plans to attack and take over were drawn out too long, with every episode presenting an opportunity for closure that went unfulfilled. Fan-favorite character Daryl (Normal Reedus) spent much of the season in captivity, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) sacrificed herself for the group, and Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) proved an unfulfilling adversary (her character had far more nuance in the short-lived spinoff series Walking Dead: World Beyond). It was a season where you just kept waiting and waiting for something to happen that never did.
9. Season 6
Fans learn what Morgan (Lennie James) had been up to all this time (learning Aikido, apparently, and a new way of life that involved refusing to kill). Carl loses an eye. Plus, here come the Saviors. It’s the first major introduction of Negan, who would become the show’s most compelling villain and the group’s most formidable challenger. He runs the vicinity like a mafia boss, taking what he needs and offering protection in exchange. But that’s only until he feels like someone doesn’t follow his orders, so he makes an example out of them.
There was a massive build-up to a huge character death scene only to fail to reveal who it was until season 7 resumed months later. That tease left fans more angry and disappointed than excited with the cliffhanger. That said, it did mean fans spent months theorizing and analyzing angles of the scene to try and figure out who would die.
8. Season 11
The final season wrapped everything up with a neat bow and set the stage for the spinoffs. Now residing at The Commonwealth, the show comes to a head when Pamela Milton’s (Laila Robins) corruption is exposed after the death of her son Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson). One of the highlights features a scene where the group is lined up for execution by Commonwealth soldiers. In a full circle moment, Negan is on his knees and seems to accept death until he’s threatened with the death of his pregnant wife, Annie (Medina Sengore). Negan is left to beg, just as Maggie (Lauren Cohan) did right before he clobbered Glenn. He finally understands what he did and delivers a heartfelt apology, completing the character’s redemption arc.
It’s a season where the group comes together, finds new allies like Mercer (Michael James Shaw), and does what they do best — cutting the toxicity from a community to rebuild. Another highlight is the horror-themed episode 6, On the Inside, which features Connie (Lauren Ridloff) and Virgil (Kevin Carroll) hiding in a mansion occupied by feral, animalistic cannibals. Connie proves that being deaf doesn’t make her weak, and viewers also get a taste of what the silence felt like for her in a world where hearing walkers is crucial. Everyone gets their happy ending, though this season also marks the tragic death of Rosita (Christian Serratos).
7. Season 2
The scene with Sophia’s (Madison Lintz) undead body ambling towards the group out of Hershel’s (the late Scott Wilson) barn and Carol (Melissa McBride) falling to her knees in despair remains one of the most bone-chilling, emotional ones ever on the show. Much of the season isn’t as exciting and action-packed as others as it focuses on the group finding a safe haven at Hershel’s farm along with the infighting between Rick and Shane (Jon Bernthal), both of whom believe they should be the alpha male to lead the group.
It’s the first time, however, that fans see innocent people killed and a pivotal moment that flips a proverbial maturity switch in Carl when he shoots an undead Shane to save his father. There’s also that big reveal that everybody turns when they die (nope, no one knew this in season one), which becomes a game-changing piece of knowledge for the group. This dreadful realization opens their eyes to the fact that this problem isn’t going away soon. Arguably the best part of the season is the reveal of one of the most bad-ass characters on the show, Michonne (Danai Gurira).
6. Season 10
The Walking Dead really hit its stride in season nine, and the momentum continued through season 10. Fans see the mental trauma of losing so many children finally getting to Carol. She makes a critical error that gets everyone stuck in a cave and almost kills Connie. This is the season featuring that trippy, psychedelic episode with Michonne trapped in a room, drugged by Virgil. Fans loved seeing the redemption arc for Negan, who joins The Whisperers undercover, unbeknownst to anyone but Carol. Eugene contacts another group and a potential love interest by using a radio, marking the first rumors of The Commonwealth from the comics making their way to the show.
Meanwhile, members of the group come across a quirky new character, Princess (Paola Lázaro) who adds much-needed comic relief to the otherwise dark and ominous show. It’s at the end of this season that fans finally get to see Negan’s backstory, arguably one of the best episodes of the show, and a first look at the latest villainous group, The Reapers. The tone of the season flips back and forth between high action and slow burn, but it offers a nice enough balance to make it enjoyable the entire way through.
5. Season 9
The villain that dominated the show for so many seasons had finally been reduced to a shell of a man. This season also saw the presumed death and exit of its long-time protagonist, Rick Grimes, and the first major time jump that picks up six years later. Baby Judith, now a pre-teen (Cailey Fleming), proves to be an incredibly engaging and likable character, trained under the tutelage of her adoptive mother Michonne to become a fiercely talented fighter and confident little girl. A new set of characters is introduced, including Connie, Magna (Nadia Hilker), Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura), and Luke (Dan Fogler), while fan favorites meet their end, including Jesus (Tom Payne).
But what really makes this season among the best is the introduction of one of the scariest villain groups of the show, The Whisperers, including their formidable leader, Alpha (Samantha Morton), and her visceral number-two, Beta (Ryan Hurst). They live off the land, roaming around with the dead wearing masks made from the pulled skin of walkers. In what many call the show’s Red Wedding moment, Alpha kills some of the most beloved characters, Tara (Alanna Masterson), Enid (Katelyn Nacon), and Henry (Macsen Lintz), mounting their decapitated and still animated heads on stakes to mark a boundary between her and the group. It kicks off a fierce battle between Alpha and alpha-mom Carol and fans couldn’t get enough of it.
4. Season 1
There’s so much nostalgia in the inaugural season, which kicked off the entire series. Fans were introduced to characters like Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Glenn Rhee, and Carol Peletier, who would become mainstays through much of and, in some cases, the entire show’s run. It was raw and exciting as fans had never seen such violence, gore, and incredible prosthetics work on a small TV show that didn’t launch with much fanfare. The term “walkers” (no zombies here) became part of the everyday vernacular and fans felt every emotion as members of the group did whatever was necessary to survive.
What was most memorable about the season was how so many people from all walks of life came together. The story focused on the people and the difficult decisions they had to make, not just brainless zombies in perpetual search of warm flesh. This was the season before everyone honed their crafts, built their confidence, and understood how to navigate the new world: it was just a group of regular Joes trying to figure things out. Fans knew immediately that they wanted to be in it for the long haul.
3. Season 5
The highest-rated season according to Rotten Tomatoes, with an impressive 90%, season five flips back and forth between the hospital where Beth (Emily Kinney) is being held captive and vindicates fan-favorite character Carol, who comes to the rescue of the group, redeeming herself after being banished. Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), who went on to have one of the most compelling character arcs on the show, is introduced as a bumbling, cowardly priest who locked his entire congregation out of the church to keep himself safe. So much went on this season, from Beth’s tragic death to the group getting a taste of normalcy in Alexandria, and Rick’s brutal killing of Pete (Corey Brill), just as Morgan reappears on the show to witness the heinous act.
The season is rife with main character deaths, each handled uniquely and interestingly. Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) gets the last laugh, revealing to Gareth (Andrew J. West) and his Terminus pals that the amputated leg they’re eating is infected since he had already been bitten. A bitten and dying Tyreese (Chad Coleman) sees flashbacks of important moments before he perishes. Noah (Tyler James Williams) dies in one of the most gruesome scenes as he pleads for his life to an agonized Glenn who is unable to help him. The season ends with the introduction of one of the least compelling groups of villains, The Wolves. But for the most part, it’s an emotional, exciting, captivating one.
2. Season 4
Hershel’s death scene was one of the cruelest of the show, but a pivotal moment in season four. It’s the first time the show splits the group into smaller ones as everyone goes different ways in all the chaos. Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene are introduced, providing the first glimmer of hope when Eugene implies that he may know where and how to find a cure (spoiler alert: He didn’t).
The journey to Terminus begins here, and while it seems to end as quickly as it starts, it’s the end of the season when the “old Rick” emerges that gets fans excited for what is to come. The most memorable moment from the season is, however, Carol delivering those desperately sad five words, “Just look at the flowers,” to Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino). It’s a heartbreaking moment that caps a terrific season full of excellent character development.
1. Season 3
Fans call Negan one of the best antagonists and the most multi-layered character on the show. Indeed, the season 10 episode with his backstory is one of the best pieces of cinematic work the show has produced. But there’s no denying that for early fans, The Governor (David Morrissey) was the ultimate foe. His trajectory offered the first look at how an apocalyptic scenario, tremendous loss, power potential, and threats to one’s life can slowly turn the most seemingly level-headed person into a terrifying tyrant.
The setting was a prison, where the group lived as best they could until The Governor decided he wanted to take the property over. T-Dog (IronE Singleton) sacrificing himself to save Carol had fans clutching their hearts while fan-favorite villain/hero Merle (Michael Rooker) meeting his bitter end led to the first bit of raw emotion fans got to see from the otherwise stoic Daryl. It was an action-packed season that saw the end of Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), the birth of Judith, and the introduction of Sasha and Tyreese. While many villains came after, seeing the group fight someone more powerful and always a few steps ahead of them, was new to Rick and Co. at the time. The fact that the scenario was fresh and original for the group made season three one of the most exciting to watch, and the one worth watching again.
Stream The Walking Dead on Netflix.
