Why These 5 Scenes From The Walking Dead Made History

The October 31, 2010a squeaky theme song resonates in American homes. AMC has just launched its new series inspired by Robert Kirkman’s comics. Known to certain insiders, the saga will offer itself with this passage on the small screen an opportunity to win over new fans. In the United States, 5.35 million viewers follow live the beginning of Rick’s adventures. In a desert hospital, a television legend is born.

At its highest, The Walking Dead will bring together 17.3 million people in Uncle Sam’s country alone. Because the success of TWD is not limited to the American continent, the series finds its audience all over the world. 15 years later, if the craze is no longer what it was, the franchise is still very much alive. Alive because she marked the history of television with some of the most memorable scenes in pop culture. Return to 5 saddest, most shocking or most violent scenes…

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“Don’t open, dead inside” — Season 1, Episode 1 (2010)

If you are asked to mention a notable element of the series The Walking Dead, it is very likely that you will cite the inscription on the door of the hospital in which Rick wakes up. Appearing for a few seconds on the screen, these black letters demonstrate the evocative force of the images in the series. After retracing part of his hero’s past, and the discovery of a first contaminated by him, The Walking Dead confronts him with the reality of the world in which he will now have to evolve.

Every corner hides danger and places that were once safe are now at the mercy of these bloodthirsty ghouls. Quite cleverly, the first episode prefers to suggest the zombies rather than show them, to increase the pressure among the spectators who are waiting for the ax to fall. A dead silence, it is true, and a production of rare efficiency, the first moments of the series encapsulate the atmosphere of what will not be a zombie series like the others. The calm is everywhere, the horror too… and we quickly become passionate about this chronicle of a lost world.

Sofia Comes Out of the Barn — Season 2, Episode 7 (2011)

Season 2 of The Walking Dead evolves around the journey of Rick and his loved ones towards a land of asylum. After a distressing sequence on the highway, the group discovers Hershell’s farm, which has a very different conception of this new world from theirs. In episode 7, they discover that the patriarch is keeping walkers in his barn. He believes that men should not kill humans, regardless of whether they are zombies or not. We quickly discover that the mother of his two daughters is locked up with these monsters. When Shane decides to open the barn, and endanger his traveling companions, spectators discover with horror that Carol’s daughter was locked there all along.

She had disappeared days earlier. The scene supports how the survivors take a different approach when it comes to ghouls. While they didn’t understand Hershell’s vision before, Rick, Carol and Shane face the same moral dilemma. Like him, they must resolve to kill a loved one (or not). These questions are at the epicenter of The Walking Dead, which is much more of a moral fresco than a survivalist story that rushes headlong. In addition to the surprise caused by this grand finale, the scene demonstrates the narrative power of the series.

The Death of Lori — Season 3, Episode 4 (2012)

In season 3, our heroes find a semblance of calm by taking up residence in a prison. But quickly, the situation escalates when Lori gives birth to her baby. The birth does not go as planned and Rick’s wife dies. It’s up to Carl to kill her for good before she transforms. Once an innocent character in a violent world, young Carl is confronted with a situation that will change him forever. So much so that he becomes the rock his father leans on when he collapses.

The scene will shock the spectators and prove that at any moment, everything can change. An opportunity to put spectators back on alert when a future seemed possible. Add to that a situation that promises to get worse with the Governor and you get a high-flying season that confirms the importance of The Walking Dead for the small screen at the time.

“You obey me, you belong to me” — Season 7, episode 1 (2016)

After the Governor, The Walking Dead hatches an equally powerful and frightening antagonist. Negan is even the one who will change his hero, who will show him in a new light. In this first episode, Glenn is killed before the stunned eyes of the public. The series had already done this to us, showing our darling swallowed up by a sea of walkers before making him reappear earlier. This time, there is no doubt, he is dead. It was necessary at least that much to make the hatred of the spectators visceral. Neagan now appears to be the cruelest being there is… but it took a little more to break the courageous Rick Grimes.

With a few minutes to go, he is faced with a choice. Cut off your son’s hand or watch all your friends die. The character played by Andrew Lincoln has so far seemed invincible, probably a little too much, and this scene will really change the way he is seen by his clan. He is broken, reduced to the state of a frightened animal. Her tears, Neagan’s cheerful tone and the fear on the faces of all the characters, the scene grips the guts and upsets the established order. “Things have changed. Everything you had is gone now.”. The character of Jeffrey Dean Morgan seemed to speak directly to the spectators, who had come to terms with the idea that cohabitation between humans and against ghouls was possible. This will also be the moment when the series will shift and lose its relevance, trying at all costs to reproduce these shocking episodes and to hatch ever creepier villains. It almost seems like that’s when everything went to hell…

The Death of Rick — Season 9, Episode 5 (2018)

We have already lost a little interest in The Walking Dead When season 9 begins, the series has lost its relevance. Season 9 therefore marks the end of an era, by making its hero disappear. In great difficulty, Rick is forced to sacrifice himself to save his family. On a bridge, he has visions of his past and it becomes very clear that he will not survive. A sluggish episode which will still deliver a moving scene as a farewell… before oblivion.

But the writers will drive the point home a little more when, in the last seconds, Rick’s face reappears and he is saved by a mysterious helicopter. AMC makes no secret of it, there is no question of killing its goose that lays the golden eggs. A first spin-off has already hatched and others are coming. The series The Ones who live will confirm what we feared, The Walking Dead definitely no longer excites us.