As someone who has seen every season of The Walking Dead, I find it fitting to write an article about how the show made people lose their minds. Let's get into it because there are plenty of moments.
Rick Killing Shane
Rick killing Shane was such a big moment for the show in general. It showed how far Shane had gone down the rabbit hole and how far Rick would go to protect his family and eliminate any other threats. Indeed, it was a shocking moment.
Sophia's Death
The entire country was stunned when Sophia stumbled out of that barn in the Season 2 episode, "Pretty Much Dead Already." Talk about one of the most heartbreaking deaths of the series.
The CDC Explosion
The Season 1 finale started relatively safe, with everyone happy to be in a shelter, but it soon turned into a massive need to escape when Jenner locked them inside. Everyone was on the edge of their seats for this one.
When We Found Out Everyone Is Infected
That line, delivered by Rick, in the finale of Season 2, changed the game. Turns out, you don't need to be bitten to turn – the moment you die, you're a walker. It's pretty harrowing.
Lori's Sudden Death
Lori was always meant to pass in some way with The Walking Dead comics, but she went a lot earlier in the third episode of The Walking Dead, where she's forced into a C-Section to give birth to Judith, and she passes away from blood loss. Talk about shocking.
Discovering Those Heads The Governor's Kept In Tanks
The Governor is certainly one of the best villains in The Walking Dead, but I don't think anyone, not the characters or the audience, was prepared to see those heads in those fish tanks. It just shows how messed up the man was.
Thinking That Carol Was Dead In Season 3
Carol's timeline on the show has certainly evolved a lot, and one of the most significant moments was when everyone and their mother thought Carol had been killed in that walker raid in Season 3. Thankfully, Daryl found her, but man, that was scary!
Lizzie Murders Her Sister
Lizzie in The Walking Dead is the perfect example of how a world can drastically change how you act and how Lizzie had thought that killing her sister would bring her back as a walker to be with her. It's messed up.
Carol Killing Lizzie
After Lizzie kills her sister, Carol makes the impossible decision to kill Lizzie in Season 4. It was mainly to prevent Lizzie from doing this to someone else, but also because Carol was taking care of Judith after the prison fell – which could have ended terribly if Lizzie got her hands on her.
Rick's Curse In Season 4
While it was removed from the televised series, The Walking Dead actually had Rick drop a serious curse word in the finale of Season 4. Fans everywhere lost their minds over this, as AMC rarely ever allowed swearing.
Dante Is Working As A Double-Agent
Dante seemed like a nice person in The Walking Dead, but then we find out in Season 10 that he was a spy for Alpha, the leader of the Whisperers. How dare he kill Siddiq.
Glenn "Dies" But Goes Under A Dumpster
Glenn certainly meets an end later in the series, but during Season 6, audiences thought he had met his end by getting eaten by zombies. In reality, a body was on top of him, and he was able to survive by going under a dumpster.
Carl Getting Shot In The Eye
During the Season 6 mid-season finale, when the people of Alexandria are trying to survive walkers invading their home, Carl is shot in the eye by Ron, who was intending to shoot Rick but shot Carl by accident when Michonne stabbed Rob. Everyone freaked out.
Maggie And Glenn's Containment By The Governor
One of the more harrowing scenes featured Glenn and Maggie in an interrogation chamber by the Governor, mainly run by Merle, one of the most revolting TV characters ever. And there was some disgusting severe stuff going on that drew outrage everywhere.
The Well Walker In Season 2
The Well Walker was in Season 2 of the show when they needed water, but it was contaminated due to the walker deep below the well of Greene's farm. However, they attempt to bring it up – only for half of its body to fall off. That sound of skin ripping still haunts my ears.
The Farm Burning Down
Out of any of the places the group has lost in The Walking Dead, the farm burning down in the finale of Season 2 was one of the saddest, especially since it seemed so safe. Everyone was still determining where they would go from there.
Rick Tears Out The Claimers Throat
In the Season 4 finale of The Walking Dead, Rick has to find a way to protect his son when the Claimers assault them. To do so, he rips out the throat of the person who was strangling him and kills everyone else there – with the help of Michonne and Daryl.
Carl Dying
Carl's death was shocking, to say the least, because he survives until the end in the comics. In the mid-season finale, fans were outraged everywhere when Carl suddenly was bit and bit the dust.
Noah's Demise Against The Walkers
Played by Tyler James Williams, Noah's death hit people harder for the fact that it symbolized more – despite him being free, he was still killed, and all Beth did was for nothing. That, and the death, was pretty gruesome.
Merle's Walker Reveal
Merle is one of the worst characters out there, but there's no denying that his love for his brother, Daryl, was there, and his death was a sad part of the episode "This Sorrowful Life." It was a momentous moment on Daryl's timeline and tragic for everyone watching.
Beth Reunites With The Group - Only To Die
Beth Greene could have had a lot of success in The Walking Dead, as Season 5 started to build up her character, but she was accidentally shot in the head on reflex by the same cop who had captured her, ending her run.
This moment is made even sadder when you find out that Beth didn't even get to Maggie again, her sister, or the person her sister had married, Glenn – really, the last two people she considered family. May she rest in peace.
That Giant Herd In Season 6
The first time every viewer saw that giant herd at the beginning of Season 6, we were all stunned. We could only imagine what would come after. The walkers are generally pretty gross, but this herd was also really surprising.
Hershel's Demise
Hershel's death was definitely one of those moments that sits with you as you watch the Governor take him out by sword in the mid-season finale of The Walking Dead. Everyone was so sad—as was I.
Negan's Arrival
Negan was one of the best characters on TV during his time on The Walking Dead, and his entrance into the series left fans theorizing for months about who he took out with Lucille. We had people trying to analyze the sound, the video, and even the subtitles for hours – it was a time you had to be there. Talk about a character entrance.
Glenn And Abraham's Death
In the Season 7 premiere, it was revealed that Negan decided to kill both Abraham and Glenn, the latter due to Daryl's disobedience. I still remember the shock that coursed through me that day.
Daryl Eating Those Horrid Sandwiches
When Daryl was taken to the Sanctuary after disobeying Negan, he was fed quite possibly the worst sandwich ever – dog food sandwiches. I'm pretty sure we're all hurling a little thinking about it.
Daryl himself has probably eaten some nasty food as a hunter, but I never thought it would get to that point, good lord.
And The Whole Prison Battle
The prison battle in Season 4 of The Walking Dead was hands-down one of the best, and every audience member was on the edge of their seats as we watched the walls fall one by one and fire consume their homes.
The Whisperer Line-Up
"The Calm Before" in The Walking Dead was a shocking Season 9 episode that killed several main and side characters. In it, Alpha decided to mark her territory by placing a line down a piece of land ladled with sticks that beheld the reanimated heads of the group's members. It was disgusting and shocking.
Negan And Carol Working Together In Season 10
Out of everyone working together to take down Alpha, Carol, and Negan were the last. However, their partnership proved to be valuable and surprised everyone, leading to the Whisperer's downfall.
Jadis' Junkyard
I know that Jadis sort of got her redemption arc in The Ones Who Live, a Walking Dead spinoff, but man, she led the junkyard, and they were all pretty weird—so weird that many people were pretty shocked that this was a thing in The Walking Dead world, but here we are.
Daryl And Beta's Fight In The Hospital
The ultimate strong-man fight was between Daryl and Beta in Season 10, keeping fans on the edge of their seats to see if Daryl would make it out of this one. Eventually, he was able to subdue Beta.
Michonne's Close Friend Leads A Children's Cult
In one of the flashback episodes of The Walking Dead, we see what happened to Michonne to make her wary of strangers. It's because she once let in a former friend who turned out to have lost her mind and was leading a cult of children to harm people—so yeah, pretty shocking.
Beth And Daryl Burn Down The Cabin
I think the scene with Beth and Daryl in Season 4 of the show was shocking in a way. We see these two fractured characters finally find some semblance of peace with their past, and it's a bonding moment for them.
Connie's Tangle With Cannibals
The scariest episode of The Walking Dead had to be when Connie was running for her life in an abandoned home alongside Virgil that cannibals inhabited, people who had turned feral and ate humans to survive. It's terrifying even more, considering she is deaf and didn't hear.
Rick Reunites With Morales – Only To Kill Him
Morales was a group member from Season 1, and he suddenly appeared in Season 8 as a member of Negan's crew – but he was quickly taken out by Daryl when he was presumed to be a threat to Rick. Fans everywhere were shocked.
Rosita's Series-Finale Demise
The emotional finale of The Walking Dead had plenty of moments that made fans cry, but one was when Rosita was bitten while trying to save her infant's life. She passes away quietly in bed before Eugene stabs her to stop her from reanimating.
Rick Letting Negan Live
The Season 8 finale showed the end of the Savior War, but a surprising twist left fans shocked when Rick allowed Negan to live instead of just slicing his throat and telling the Alexandrians to stitch him up. It left us with plenty of Negan to follow.
Rick Somehow Surviving A Whole Explosion
Rick's supposed "death" had to be the biggest shocker to everyone when he took out a bridge by using explosives to stop a herd of walkers. It seems to kill him in the explosion, but instead, we see that Jadis has had him lifted into a helicopter to provide him with some entry fee to somewhere, meaning he was alive.
Rick’s story didn’t end there, as it was confirmed that he would return in a series of Rick-themed movies. But that was later canceled and turned into The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live, which continues what he went through. This is still a surprising moment, that’s for sure.
While The Walking Dead may be over, there are plenty of other shows in The Walking Dead universe to watch, and now I feel like binge-watching the whole show again, from the best episodes to the worst.
