The Walking Dead

Plot Overview

One of the show's zombies.

The Walking Dead is a TV series based off an ongoing comic book of the same name. It follows the story of sheriff deputy Rick Grimes trying to survive and keep his friends and family safe in the wake of a zombie apocalypse. The series is somewhat different than the comic, featuring new locations as well as keeping alive certain characters that die in the comics.

Plot Summary

Season One

Season 1 Trailer

Shane at Rick's bedside

Season begins by showing a scene with two sheriff deputies, Rick Grimes and Shane Walsh. They are quickly called to action where Rick is shot during an altercation and sent into a coma. Rick awakens several weeks later to find the hospital abandoned, and the outside world plagued by zombies. He meets up with a father and a son next to his old house, and feels obligated to help them by raiding the police station for weapons, who in turn teach him about dealing with the zombies. Even though Rick is morally opposed to killing them at first, he accepts that they are no longer human. Eventually, Rick sets off to find his wife, Lori, and his son, Carl.

After making his way to Atlanta, which has been overrun by zombies, Rick meets up with another group of survivors which bring him back to their camp where Rick is reunited with not only his wife and son, but also Shane who, unbeknownst to Rick, has been romantically involved with his wife. Lori tells Shane she wants nothing to do with him now that Rick is back, and is upset that he told her Rick had died during the outbreak. Shane has taken over as the de facto leader of the group, but soon conflict arises between him and his former partner and friend about who could best look out for the group. After Rick sets off with a group of survivors to reclaim some guns left in Atlanta and attempt to save a survivor they had left behind, the base group is attacked and several are killed. This prompts the group to leave their camp site behind in search of the Center for Disease Control, where the survivors are hoping to find out about a possible cure.

Dr. Jenner whispering one last message to Rick

The season ends with the group finding the CDC, but there is all but abandoned with only one scientist left. The scientist, Dr. Edwin Jenner, describes the virus, but is unknown of a possible cure as well as the origin of the virus, and also reveals that the zombie outbreak is not limited to just the United States. Meanwhile Shane drunkenly confronts Lori, confessing his love to her after she had rejected him for her husband. The situation turns violent when Lori scratches Shane, forcing him to leave. Eventually Dr. Jenner reveals to the group that the CDC is set to explode, and wishes the group to join him in a swift death as opposed to face the horrors of the outside world. Before the group leaves, Dr. Jenner whispers one last inaudible secret to Rick. Most of the group escapes the exploding CDC at the last moment with the use of a grenade , and the season ends with them riding off to an unrevealed location.

Season 2

Season 2 Trailer

Interstate I-80

The second season begins right where season one left off. Rick and his survivors are leaving Atlanta right after the CDC blew up. Along the way, they encounter a large traffic jam on the main interstate out of the city. As they pull up, the RV's water bump busts and the RV shuts down. The survivors then precede to loot the abandoned vehicles for supplies and a new water pump when a large hoard walkers approach and therefor are forced to hide underneath and on top of the vehicles. It is then that Sophia is spotted by a small group of walkers. Desperate, Sophia jumps over the guard rail and runs into the surrounding woods while the group of walkers chase her. Unable to do anything because of the large threat surrounding them, the rest of the watchers watch as they chase her. When the hoard clears, Rick and a few of the survivors head out to search for her while the rest of the group make camp on the interstate. During the search while Carl is approaching a deer, he is accidentally shot by Otis who reveals to have come from a nearby farm to hunt. He then leads Rick and Shane back to the farm where he explains the owner, Hershel Green is a veterinarian and is most likely Carl's only hope for survival. The remaining group back on the interstate deal with interpersonal relationships while various searches for Sophia are performed by both her mother Carol and Daryl Dixon. While Carl recovers, the rest of the group are gathered from the interstate and are settled at Hershel's farm with Shane, Rick and Hershel's family. The group tries to co-exist alongside Hershel's family, but dangerous secrets and disagreements over leadership cause tensions to rise among the survivors. After establishing a relationship with Maggie Greene, Hershel's daughter, Glenn finds out that Hershel had been keeping his barn full of walkers; walkers who had once been his close friends and family members and generally and walker that had stumbled onto the farm. Angry at the revelation, Shane forces the barn open where the group open fires upon the walkers who stumble outside while Hershel and the remainder of his family watch in horror. As the dust clears, the last walker exits the barn. It is revealed to be Sophia. As the entire group grieve and flinch, Rick pulls out his gun and shoots her dead.

After the event, Hershel orders that Rick and his group leave immediately. Hershel then disappears right after without warning or without a trace. Realizing how heartless the group becomes, Daryl Dixon begins to withdraw from the group by living on his own and hunting for his own food and water. Rick and Glen then leave the farm to hunt for Hershel in the neighboring town. They find him drunk in the local tavern, sulking as walkers unnoticeable loom outside. While Rick tries to persuade Hershel to return to the farm, two unknown men surprisingly enter the bar and claim to be survivors from another a group. They reveal that Fort Benning had been overrun and that they were in desperate need of a place to stay. One of the men assumes that Rick and Hershel have an available place (specifically a farm) somewhere nearby and requested to be assisted. Rick turns them down in fear of his own groups safety and soon a gun fight breaks out where Rick kills both the survivors. Soon after the dead men's group gathers outside of the bar as they precede to look for them. They find the bar and open fire on Rick, Hershel and Glen. The noise quickly garnishes the attention of the nearby walkers and soon they overrun the small town. As the attacking group escape the walkers, they leave one of their injured members, Randall behind. Rick cannot stand the thought of leaving him behind for the walkers, so he saves him with the help of Hershel and Glen. When the group return to the farm they tie Randall up in the barn and blind fold him. The group comes up with a plan to drive Randall to the countryside and leave him, opposed to killing him. When a disagreement with Shane ruins the plan, Rick decides to bring Randall back for execution instead. Dale protests, but is outnumbered by every other member of the group. As Rick is about to execute Randall, he catches Carl Grimes watching from the sidelines which prompts him to stop in fear of his son's mental well being and outlook on life. Dale is fatally wounded on his way back to his RV, by a stumbling walker. Daryl puts him out of his misery by shooting him in his head, as an act of mercy. After Dale's funeral the group decides that they need to rediscover their humanity and not lose it, in memory of Dale and their pasts before the apocalypse. After the service, Randall is revealed to be missing from the barn. It is revealed that Shane took him into the woods while the others were distracted and killed him. It is then after finding a zombified Randall, that Glenn and Daryl come to the realization that after death everyone becomes a walker, no matter how the person died and that everyone is exposed to becoming a walker after death. Shane uses Randall's disappearance as a ploy to lead Rick into the woods where he would kill him. After Rick realizes the situation, he quickly counter's Shane attack and kills Shane in return. Carl appears distraught after watching his dad kill Shane. Rick approaches Carl, but Carl draws his gun on him. Unknown to Rick, Shane reanimates as a walker and attacks Rick from behind, but Carl shoots a zombified Shane before he could fatally wound Rick.

The wide array of gunshots attract an enormous hoard of walkers. They quickly overtake the farm and Rick and Carl are forced to take refuge in the barn for their safety. They ignite the barn after drawing a few walkers inside, both to draw attention and to save themselves from the fast approaching hoard. In the surrounding chaos in and around the farm, Jimmy and Patricia are killed, Andrea is left behind and the RV is lost. After a few hours of running and fighting on her own, Andrea gives in to the walkers chasing her by falling in exhaustion. As they quickly approach, a mysterious woman with a hood, leading two chained walkers kills the attacking zombies, saving Andrea in the process.

The Prison foreshadowing the dark future of Rick and his group.

The remaining survivors, consisting of Rick, Lori, Carl, Glen, Daryl, Carol, T-Dog, Maggie, Beth and Hershel regroup and take shelter in the woods, far away from the farm. Angry and frustrated, Rick reveals the truth behind Shane's death, and what Dr. Jenner whispered to him at the CDC, that whatever the plague is, they all carry it, and will return as walkers, regardless of the cause of their death and that bites aren't the cause of infection. The group now in shambles, stares at the luminous campfire as a large prison is revealed to be a few miles behind them.

Season 3

Season 3 Trailer

As in it's comic counterpart, Season 3 takes place in both an abandoned prison where Rick's group is taking refuge and an active rural town called Woodbury where other survivors are living and thriving. From the comics, it will introduce Michonne and the series' main antagonist The Governor.

The season opens up a few months after where Season 2 left off. Lori's pregnancy is more noticeable and the group as a whole has grown. The group have spent their time since the ending events of Season 2 raiding nearby houses for supplies and avoiding large hoards of the undead. They have also focused more on stealth to kill off any walkers they run into by using code while on foot instead of talking and by using homemade silencers and compressors on their weapons. Even Carl Grimes, who was treated like a weak kid in the last season is shown as one of the few walker killers of the group alongside Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Glenn, Maggie Greene, and T-Dog.

As Rick and his group wander off into the woods to find a new location to raid, they find "The Prison". It is then that Rick decides that it would be the best place for Lori to give birth to her baby and for the rest of the group to find sanctuary because of it's unpenetrated walls and likely supplies. The group bursts in and quickly takes hold of a large wing of the prison as well as sealing off the outside from potential civilian walkers. While exploring the dark corridors, Hershel is bitten by fallen walker on his ankle. Rick and the rest of the offensive group finds refuge from a quickly approaching horde in a random prison wing. It is there that Rick hacks off Hershel Greene infected foot in an attempt to save his life. It is also there that Rick and the others learn that they are not the only living residents as they make eye contact with a small group of living prisoners on the other side of the room.

Meanwhile in a unknown location, Andrea is shown to be severely sick with the flu. It is revealed that Michonne had been taking care of her since she had fallen ill by supplying her with food and water as well as clearing out the surrounding walkers daily. Andrea pleads for Michonne to leave her for death, but Michonne refuses. The premier ends with Michonne and Andrea leaving their sanctuary to seek safer refuge elsewhere.