For those of us who get emotionally invested in TV series, the ending of The Walking Dead would not have been easy. We were treated to 11 gloriously gory seasons, which followed the survival journey of Rick Grimes and his gang as they dealt with flesh-eating corpses, cannibals and armed gangs as they searched for a better tomorrow.
The Walking Dead officially ended on November 20 2022, but several spinoffs have begun or are coming up, including the wildly successful Dead City and Daryl Dixon spinoffs. We wanted to pay homage to one of the greatest TV shows to grace our screens and bring you the most memorable episodes of The Walking Dead.
Best The Walking Dead Episodes
Season 2 Episode 7: Pretty Much Dead Already
Pretty Much Dead Already was arguably one of the most shocking episodes throughout the 11 seasons. Glenn has found out that the barn on the Greene family property is full of walkers – and reveals it all to the rest of the group. Hershel Greene defends his decision to have a barn full of walkers and insists they are still the same people.
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The episode centres around Shane – who appears intent on demoralizing the rest of the group – fighting every decision Rick makes – and ending the search for Sophia. As Shane shoots a walker and releases the rest from the barn, and they file out one by one, Carol‘s daughter emerges as a walker and her suffering is ended by Rick, who shoots her in the head – as the rest of the group looks on, horrified.
Season 4 Episode 8: Too Far Gone
When the governor arrived, the threat level expanded beyond just the undead. He manipulated other survivors into believing Rick and his friends were a threat that needed to be removed. He and his group rolled up to the Prison in a tank, with Hershel and Michonne as hostages.
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Rick tried his best to de-escalate the situation, but the governor proceeded to behead Hershel with Michonne’s katana. This act of war led to one of the fiercest battles in the show’s history.
Season 9 Episode 15: The Calm Before
The Walking Dead has never been scared to kill a much-loved character to increase the shock value of a storyline. The Calm Before would have shocked even the most avid Walking Dead viewer.
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With the threat of the Whisperers looming large, their leader Alpha, infiltrated the Kingdom, which led to her beheading victims, including Enid, Tara and Henry. This episode was undoubtedly one of the most vicious episodes.
Season 4, Episode 14: The Grove
This episode, titled The Grove, was a harrowing hour of television that started with Carol and Tyrese looking after baby Judith after the war with the governor. They were joined by Mika and Lizzie, with Mika struggling to come to terms with the horrors of the world as the episode went on. After finding an abandoned house to rest in, the episode brought us a devastating mix of despair and remorse.
Mika’s sense of danger and her ability to understand the difference between right and wrong evaporated as the episode progressed. This progression led to the distressing moment of Mika killing her sister to prove that she wouldn’t change. Carol – was then left to deal with Mika.
Season 5, Episode 1: No Sanctuary
Any doubts about Carol Peletier turning into a complete badass – were removed during No Sanctuary. The season five premiere gave us a thrill-a-minute action-packed first episode as Carol attempted to rescue the gang from the Terminus cannibals.
As Rick and the rest of the gang – faced being sandwich-filling for Terminus, Carol launched her rescue mission – letting walkers loose – while hunting Mary down. Melissa McBride shone throughout the 11 seasons but excelled in this episode as a fearsome pint-sized Rambo.
Season 10, Episode 12: Walk With Us
The threat of the Whispere’s remained, with Negan seemingly joining Alpha to make the show’s most unhinged power couple. As Hilltop burns to the ground, Earl helps rescue Judith – but is sadly bitten. The youngest Grimes family member shows maturity as she kills Earl to protect the other children.
Negan’s vomit-inducing romantic scenes with Alpha come to an end, which sees him lure her to a remote cabin before beheading her in cold blood. As he presents her severed head to Carol, she says: “Took you long enough,” revealing it was she who recruited Negan to kill Alpha.
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