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The Walking Dead (TV series)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Walking Dead | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Genre | Post-apocalyptic Zombie apocalypse Horror[1] |
| Format | Serial drama |
| Developed by | Frank Darabont |
| Starring | Andrew Lincoln Jon Bernthal Sarah Wayne Callies Laurie Holden Jeffrey DeMunn Steven Yeun Chandler Riggs Norman Reedus Lauren Cohan Danai Gurira Michael Rooker David Morrissey |
| Composer(s) | Bear McCreary |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 27 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Frank Darabont Gale Anne Hurd David Alpert Robert Kirkman Charles H. Eglee Glen Mazzara |
| Location(s) | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Cinematography | David Boyd Rohn Schmidt |
| Running time | 42–45 minutes 66 minutes (2 episodes) |
| Production company(s) | AMC Studios Circle of Confusion Darkwood Productions Valhalla Motion Pictures |
| Distributor | AMC Fox International Channels |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | AMC |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 (DVD) Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (Blu-ray) Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (Blu-ray) |
| Original run | October 31, 2010 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
The Walking Dead premiered on October 31, 2010 on the cable television channel AMC in the United States.[3] It premiered internationally during the first week of November 2010 on Fox International Channels.[4] Based on its reception, AMC renewed the series for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on October 16, 2011.[5][6] Two episodes into the second season, AMC announced that the show would return for a third season, which began airing on October 14, 2012.[7] On December 21, 2012, AMC renewed The Walking Dead for a fourth season.[8]
The series has been well received[9][10] and has received many award nominations, including a Writers Guild of America Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Television Series Drama.[11][12] The series has also attained strong Nielsen ratings, beating various records for a cable series, including receiving 10.9 million viewers for its season three premiere to become the most-watched basic cable drama telecast in history.[13]
Contents |
Series overview
Main article: List of The Walking Dead episodes
Based on the comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead tells the story of a small group of survivors living in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse.[14] Most of the story takes place in the Atlanta metropolitan area
and then the surrounding countryside of northern Georgia, as the
survivors search for a safe haven away from the shuffling hordes of
predatory "walkers" (as the zombies are referred to in the show), who
devour any living thing they catch, and whose bite is infectious to
humans. The plot is focused primarily on the dilemmas the group faces as
they struggle to balance their humanity with their survival against the
zombie horde, and later, how they cope with members being killed and
deal with other human survivors they encounter, many of whom are
dangerous and predatory themselves.The group is led by Rick Grimes, who was a sheriff's deputy[2] before the zombie outbreak. At every turn they are faced with the horror of the walking zombies, the changing dynamic of their group, and hostility from the scattered remains of a struggling human populace who are focused on their own survival now that the structures of society have collapsed.
Season 1 (2010)
Main article: The Walking Dead (season 1)
The series begins with sheriff's deputy[2] Rick Grimes waking up from a coma in an abandoned and badly damaged hospital. Leaving the hospital, Rick discovers a post-apocalyptic world overrun with zombies
(or "walkers," as they are often referred to in-show). Rick also
discovers his wife and son are missing. Acting on a rumor from a fellow
survivor, he arms himself and begins a perilous journey to Atlanta, Georgia, where the CDC
is said to have set up a quarantined safe-zone in the city. Upon
reaching Atlanta, he soon discovers that the city is instead overrun by
the walkers.A few miles outside the city, Rick's wife Lori and son Carl have been hiding from the walkers with Shane Walsh, Rick's partner and best friend, who has fallen in love with Lori. They have established a camp with a small group of fellow survivors. After being rescued from Atlanta by members of the group and reunited with Lori and Carl, Rick assumes command with Shane. A band of walkers eventually attack the camp and kill several people. The remainder flee to seek aid from the CDC.
In the CDC, all but one staff member, Dr. Edwin Jenner, have either fled or killed themselves. Dr. Jenner explains that his research into the infection has not yielded a cure, and that he has not been in contact with anyone for a long while. Lack of fuel for the emergency generators soon initiates the building's safety protocols, which will trigger an explosion designed to destroy the facility and prevent the escape of deadly diseases. Jenner and Jacqui, a member of Rick's group, decide to stay and end their struggle. Dr. Jenner whispers something into Rick's ear, and the group escapes just as the CDC is incinerated in the explosion.
Season 2 (2011–2012)
Main article: The Walking Dead (season 2)
The second season begins with Rick and his group of survivors escaping the CDC. They decide that Fort Benning will be their next destination. Along the way, they encounter a traffic jam of abandoned vehicles on Interstate 85.
The group loots several vehicles, but are forced to hide under them as a
large herd of walkers approaches. A walker chases Carol's daughter,
Sophia, out from her hiding spot and, with another walker, pursues her
into the woods. Rick finds her but loses her again after drawing off the
walkers. The remaining group deals with interpersonal relationships
while various searches for Sophia are performed. Carl is accidentally
shot by a hunter named Otis during the initial search. To get help for
Carl, Otis leads Rick and Shane to a large, isolated farm owned by a
veterinarian named Hershel Greene, then helps Shane look for medical
supplies; after getting them, Shane hurts his leg and sacrifices Otis to
the walkers so he can get away. The survivors then move to the farm
while Carl recovers. During their stay on the farm, Daryl heads the
initiative to find Sophia, growing closer to Carol as a result. Rick's
group tries to co-exist alongside Hershel's family, but dangerous
secrets and disagreements over leadership cause tensions to rise. Lori
is revealed to be pregnant (the father is unknown), and Glenn builds a
romantic relationship with Maggie, one of Hershel's daughters. Glenn
also discovers that the barn is full of walkers, some of whom are
Hershel's family members. After Shane releases the walkers to be
exterminated, Sophia appears as one of them and Rick reluctantly shoots
her.After the showdown at the barn, the group's bonds are tested. Carol withdraws in her grief for Sophia, and Daryl pulls away from the rest of the group. Hershel disappears to grieve for his family and is found by Rick and Glenn drinking at a local tavern, where they meet two other survivors. The situation rapidly turns sour and Rick kills the two men in a gunfight. The dead men's group quickly finds and opens fire on Rick, Hershel, and Glenn at the bar. The noise attracts a large herd of walkers, and one of the attackers, Randall, is injured and left behind. Rick and the others take him back to the farm, where they realize that Randall is likely to reveal the farm's location to his former group. As Rick's group deliberates on what to do with him, Dale is fatally wounded by a walker, forcing Daryl to euthanize Dale. The group later conducts a search for Randall, whom Shane had secretly released and murdered in the woods. Daryl and Glenn find him — as a walker — and kill him. Daryl concludes that a broken neck was the cause of Randall's reanimation, as opposed to a walker's bite or scratch. Meanwhile, Shane and Rick confront each other — the former having planned the fake search so that he could murder Rick. Rick gets the upper hand and stabs Shane in the torso, killing him. Carl arrives just in time to see Shane revive as a walker, and shoots him down.
The gunshot attracts a large herd of other walkers, who quickly overrun the property; in the ensuing battle and escape, Jimmy and Patricia are devoured, and Andrea is left behind. Andrea survives on her own, and is later rescued by a hooded woman accompanied by chained, armless walkers. The remaining survivors regroup but are forced to make camp due to lack of gasoline. After hearing of Randall's fate, Rick finally reveals what Jenner whispered to him at the CDC: that every survivor is infected with the walker virus. As Rick's leadership is questioned by the group later that night, a large prison looms in a pan out of the final scene.
Season 3 (2012–2013)
Main article: The Walking Dead (season 3)
The third season begins several months after the group escaped the
farm, with Lori in the final days of her pregnancy. The group is
tighter, more disciplined, with each member contributing. They stumble
upon an overrun prison and begin to convert it into their new home.
While searching the place for supplies, Hershel is bitten by a walker
and Rick is forced to amputate his leg. They soon meet a new group of
survivors, who are prison inmates. In exchange for food, they clear out a
different cell block for the inmates (most of whom end up killed) to
reside away from Rick's group. A walker breakout then splits up the
group. T-Dog is bitten in the struggle and sacrifices himself to save
Carol, who disappears in the aftermath. Lori goes into labor, and
insists that Maggie perform an emergency Caesarean section
to save the baby. The operation kills Lori, and Carl is forced to shoot
her to prevent reanimation. After several days of grieving, Carol is
found by a relieved Daryl. Carl and Rick name the baby Judith.Meanwhile, Michonne and Andrea are taken to the town of Woodbury, a safe haven from the walkers. They meet the Governor, the town's leader, and learn that Merle Dixon - Daryl's older brother - has taken refuge there as well. Michonne is immediately suspicious of the Governor and the settlement and decides to leave, but Andrea refuses to go with her. It is revealed that Michonne was in fact correct about her suspicions, as the Governor is shown to kill a group of non hostile soldiers and keep multiple human heads in aquarium tanks as trophies. Merle is ordered to hunt down Michonne, but only manages to wound her, and then captures Maggie and Glenn while they are out scavenging. Michonne, who witnessed their abduction, eventually arrives at the prison, then guides Rick, Daryl, and Oscar back to Woodbury on a rescue mission. The team saves the couple, but Oscar, one of the inmates, is killed and Daryl is captured. Michonne stays briefly and attempts to slay the Governor; only to kill his undead daughter Penny (whom the Governor had kept chained in a back room of his apartment) and stab him in the eye during a scuffle. In the aftermath, the Governor calls an assembly and publicly accuses Merle of treason, reuniting him with Daryl as the mob decides their fate.
Back at the prison, Carl meets another band of survivors — led by Tyreese — and allows them to take shelter. However, Carl is cautious about this new group and puts them in captivity until his father arrives.
Season 4
It was announced on December 21, 2012, that The Walking Dead had been renewed for a fourth season.[8]Scott Gimple will replace Glen Mazzara as the series' showrunner for season four.[15]
