Although this author is a fan of horror films, zombies were never something that was cared for. Zombie movies seemed about as exciting as the lifeless monsters stumbling around in them. However, when looking an episode of King Of The Nerds, as contestant Ivan Van Norman talked in detail about his zombie apocalypse survival plan, and when he described the dangers of a zombie horde, everything started to make sense.
At this time The Walking Dead was just entering its third season, but were also showing reruns of the first two seasons in black and white, and that's when this writer got a glimpse of the show and was immediately hooked.
This five-episode list is in order of impact, not chronological.
#1.) The first episode of The Walking Dead is the hook for the whole series and probably the best of them all. Frank Darabont, who directed Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, (both written by Stephen King) was at the helm for the show during its first season. The show's popularity and creative genius stems from Darabont.
The first episode, “Days Gone Bye,” starts in a flash-forward scene similar to the innovative style of Breaking Bad. The protagonist, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is a Sheriff Deputy carrying a gas can on a seemingly deserted street, minus several abandoned cars, and a few with human corpses in them. Rick happens upon a little girl that turns her decomposing face and growls before charging. The Sheriff’s Deputy shoots her in the head.
The next scene flashes back to the normal time frame of the story and builds the characters and plot. This part of the show is reminiscent of the film 28 Days, as are several other recent zombie shows and movies.
The end of the first episode has Rick riding a horse into the seemingly abandoned war-zone of the city of Atlanta. The deputy sheriff looks like a cowboy from old spaghetti westerns with his hat and horse. He sees his first sign of human life in a helicopter flying over the skyscrapers and follows it. Rick rides straight into a zombie horde, and his horse is overtaken by the blood thirsty ‘walkers.’ The final scene is a bird’s eye view (seemingly from the helicopter) as hundreds of undead swarm the horse, and Rick escapes to a nearby tank for shelter. This scene was what I was longing for, an insurmountable zombie horde.
#2.) Season 2, episode 1, “What Lies Ahead,” is the last episode written by Frank Darabont, who had been fired from the show. The first season is six well- written episodes, but because of the popularity it created, the next three seasons span twelve or more episodes. This may have watered down the content.
In “What Lies Ahead” Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Grimes and his group of survivors are scavenging abandoned cars on an interstate somewhere outside Atlanta. A large heard of walkers happens upon the survivors, and they have to scatter and hide under the abandoned vehicles. While hiding under the cars, Sophia, Carol's daughter draws attention to her and a couple of walkers begin to chase after her as she runs into the woods, thus creating the storyline for the next few episodes. This scene and entire episode is very intense and frightening.
#3.) Season 4, episode 6 is centered on the shows other antagonist (besides walkers) The Governor who is wandering around the post apocalypse landscape, aimlessly. The Governor (David Morrisey) is the least likeable character on the show up to this point because he is humanized during this episode. This is the set-up for the midseason finale.
#4.) Season 3, episode 4 is the darkest and hardest to look episode of the entire show. Someone sets off the alarm in the prison that Rick’s survivor group is seeking refuge in, causing chaos and confusion. Rick’s pregnant wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) gets separated and lost in the prison with her son Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan). Lori goes into labor and Maggie has to perform an emergency C-section. Lori does not survive the procedure and has to be shot by her own son Carl, to prevent her from turning undead.
The scene where Lori has a final embrace with her son, and tells him he was the greatest thing that ever happened to her, brings a lot of emotion. The expression on Maggie’s face as she hears the gunshot was frightening to the point of turning off the television.
#5.) After those four episodes, no one episode stands out as completely astonishing. But, several scenes have their mark of greatness within the show. First is the accidental shooting of Carl by a farm hand Otis, while hunting deer. The second is the shooting of Otis by Rick’s best friend Shane (Jon Bernthal), so he can escape an advancing horde of walkers.
Hopefully, season 5 offers more great episodes like the aforementioned ones. We shall find out what season 5 has in store for us in one day.
