From the start, Rick Grimes becomes a natural leader, having spent his life as a sheriff's deputy before the outbreak. When he woke up from a coma, he found the world he knew was a thing of the past. As the series develops, new characters, groups, and rivals are introduced, and the show continued to evolve until the finale, but some seasons were huge hits, while others are better off left in the past.
11 The Walking Dead - Season 10
There were some bright spots, with Negan's infiltration of the Whisperer's his redemption arc, and the tense story that plays out between Carol and Ezekial, but overall, the entire season felt slow. It does eventually introduce the antagonists for the final season, but without a clear focus and direction, the show was ready to be retired, and season 10 made that abundantly clear.
10 The Walking Dead - Season 8
9 The Walking Dead - Season 9
Season 9 had a pacing problem when it came to the second half, but there were some genuine bright spots and intriguing developments over the season that make it stand out. Maggie's hostile takeover of Hilltop from the spineless leader Gregory, Rick's efforts to save his community and sacrifice himself when they finally got to a point of stability, and the introduction of the Whisperers were all compelling story arcs.
8 The Walking Dead - Season 11
Characters like Judith, Eugene, Rosita, Mercer, and more, made the season what it is, and gave the Commonwealth meaning despite their incredibly late introduction. Seeing a world being rebuilt, and then exploring the cracks in society as people greedily horde power and status was compelling, and the way these stories unfold and resolve felt strong. There were definitely areas to improve, but it was a solid season of The Walking Dead.
7 The Walking Dead - Season 4
Jumping way back to season 4, when the group were still located at the prison, the conflict with the Governor and his people comes to an explosive end. Relationships are developing quickly, and seeing romance bloom for characters like Glenn and Maggie is a small ray of hope in an otherwise desolate hellscape. However, with their prison home left unsecured, the group make their way to Terminus.
6 The Walking Dead - Season 7
Season 7 shook up the show in ways that it would never recover from. After an epic cliffhanger, it's revealed that the new antagonist, Negan, brutally and savagely murdered Glenn in front of his beloved pregnant wife, Maggie. Rick's spirit is completely broken, and with Rick submitting to the will of his new master, it's up to the others to step up and fight. Carl comes into his own, Maggie develops a burning hatred that will burn bright for many years to come, and some of the most interesting new characters in years are finally introduced.
5 The Walking Dead - Season 5
The Walking Dead premiered in 2010, and since then, several spinoff series have been released, with more planned for the next few years. As the main series is over, the franchise's future could go one of two ways. Either the current spinoffs with beloved Walking Dead characters — with possibly more coming — build to a crossover event and end the franchise, or the universe goes on beyond them with fresh characters and stories. More than a decade after The Walking Dead was released, I find it hard for the franchise to remain as popular after Rick, Negan, Daryl, and others leave.
One word to describe this entire season is 'tense,' because from beginning to end, the survivors are facing impossible challenges and trying to find their way through. All of the individual arcs are given the appropriate space to develop, and the show is following a streak of strong entries that keep the audience coming back. However, it does mark a big shift in how the series operates after this point, with the survivors turning into settlers.
4 The Walking Dead - Season 3
In season 3, The Walking Dead was still establishing how the world works, with Rick and his group of survivors trying to find a home, and create the best life possible despite the world having ended. They set up shop in a prison, and a pregnant Lori gives everyone hope for a future beyond this apocalypse. However, the season also features intense struggles with the Governor and his people in the reclaimed township of Woodbury.
The Governor is intense, mysterious, and despite his charismatic persona, there is something very dark about the man who people hail as a hero. The Survivors are forced to become just that, as they learn how to operate in a world where the rules have yet to be rewritten. Characters like Michonne are introduced, and the show pushes forward with promises of a lot more to come down the pipeline.
The Walking Dead season 6 is by far the best season of the back half of the show, as it delivers some of the most compelling storylines and sees Rick's group integrate with the people of Alexandria. Rick and his friends struggle to adjust to life in a community, and they take time to develop trust. Meanwhile, they have plenty of opportunities to prove how invaluable they will be to the rest of the community.
2 The Walking Dead - Season 1
The tension is real, the characters are established, and wildly different individuals have to form a pseudo-family in the hopes of surviving near certain death. The show could not have had a better introduction, and it does a fantastic job at building the individual characters up, and creating opportunities for drama down the line. However, this season is purely about survival, and so there is little room to dig deep into the relationships between the characters, but it did incredibly well with the space that it did have.
1 The Walking Dead - Season 2
