A while ago, I did a recap review of the many Doctor Who seasons that came out during its revival. Now in preparation for the return of The Walking Dead next week, I'm going to review seasons 1-6. Now just to clarify that unlike previous times, I'm just going to review the seasons as a whole and not do each individual episode due to timing and it just makes it easier for me. I will of course point out events that occur in each season and just give you my opinions on them. Also keep in mind that while The Walking Dead is based on a comic book series of the same name, it only adapts the material from the comic book series, but doesn't follow the comic book series in quite the same way. This basically means that the events will be in the same or a similar order to the comic books, but how the characters are played out is different due to original characters like Daryl (played by Norman Reedus) being part of it. But I'll explain more as we go into it. Also there may be spoilers ahead so read at you own discretion. So let's grab our guns and weapons and lets kill some walkers:
Season 1 - Establishment of the world and characters
A sheriff by the name of Rick Grimes (played by Andrew Lincoln) is on duty with his partner in crime Shane Walsh (played by Jon Bernthal), but on a job, he gets shot and wounded and is set to hospital. After a considerable amount of time, Rick wakes up from a coma to find his world turned upside down with most of the population of humans being turned into zombies, but seeing as zombie pop culture doesn't exist in this universe, they are referred to as walkers. Upon escaping the hospital, he gets taken in by Morgan Jones (played by Lennie James) and his son Duane (played by Adrian Kali Turner) who explain to him what's happened to the world they once knew. Soon enough, the three then go and raid the police station where Rick gives Morgan a radio to keep in contact with as well as for the three of them to defend themselves. Rick then makes his way to Atlanta, Georgia after hearing of a survivor base there in the hopes to find his family. Eventually he gets cornered by walkers and is saved by Glenn Rhee (played by Steven Yeun) and his group of survivors and take him to their camp where Rick reunites with his family and Shane and alongside the latter, takes command of the group and then the rest of the season has the team go back and forth to Atlanta as well as revealing some shocking revelations. As the first season, its great. It does its job well to establish the characters and the world they live in and how we're expected to see it all go down. A great start to what would become a great show on TV. 9/10
Season 2 - The Greene Farm
Rick's group then set off for Fort Benning as they find that this place would be the next best chance of survival. But along the way, Rick's son Carl (played by Chandler Riggs) gets shot and the group make their way to a farm for him to get cured by the veterinarian that owns it, Hershel Greene (played by Scott Wilson) who reluctantly allows the group to stay at his farm while Carl recovers. During this time, tensions rise and conflicts occur over a secret that Hershel is keeping which results in Shane getting hostile, Daryl and Carol (played by Melissa McBride) leaving the group and one of Hershel's daughters Beth (played by Emily Kinney) attempting to commit suicide. All this, plus Glenn starts a romantic relationship with Hershel's other daughter, Maggie (played by Lauren Cohan). This is another good season that shows the good and bad sides of the world that they live in while also doing a serious amount of character development for the already established characters which is great. 9/10
Season 3 - The Prison and Woodbury
Following the downfall of the Greene Farm, Rick and the survivors find a large prison that they decide to take refuge in and turn it into their new home. As this happens, they take out a number of walkers and meet some more survivors inside and although hostile to them at first, they soon accept them into the group. But the security of the prison is soon threatened by the nearby community of Woodbury which is lead by the nefarious Governor (played by David Morrisey) who kills walkers and other survivor camps to gain their supplies. Andrea (played by Laurie Holden) and newcomer Michonne (played by Danai Gurira) both get captured by Merle (Daryl's brother, played by Michael Rooker) who takes them to the Governor who initially welcomes them to Woodbury. However things turn sour when peace between both the prison and Woodbury don't go according to plan and so Rick's team have to stop the Governor from destroying them as well as his own community. This season is a game changer in the series. Previously we've always come to know the walkers as being the main enemies in The Walking Dead, but now that we get introduced to The Governor, it now means that while the walkers will always be the main enemies in the franchise, there are some survivors who would hurt both living and dead. Which as a result, makes them more dangerous than the walkers. Its interesting and makes the show that more awesome. 9/10
Season 4 - The Governor's Revenge and The Road to Terminus
Following the downfall of Woodbury, Rick's group have integrated the survivors of Woodbury as well as other survivors into their group, having been able to make the prison a welcoming community. However Rick sees Carol as having done some bad things secretly in the prison and banishes her as a result. Meanwhile, The Governor has been adopted into a new family and forming an alliance with a nearby militia (after killing their original leader), he sets out to destroy the prison to exact his revenge on Rick and his group for what they did to Woodbury. Although he manages to succeed in this, both his and Rick's teams suffer losses including his own. Following this, Rick's team are scattered and choose to follow signs to Terminus. Daryl journeys with Beth, but Beth gets captured and he joins a group of hunters. Rick goes with Michonne and Carl. Glenn goes with Tara (played by Alanna Masterson) who has defected to Rick's side and they join up with Maggie, Sasha (played by Sonequa Martin-Green), Bob (played by Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) and a new trio of survivors consisting of Abraham (played by Michael Cudlitz), Rosita (played by Christian Serratos) and Eugene (played by Josh McDermitt) who are travelling to Washington DC where its said that a cure can be made and only Eugene knows how. Meanwhile, Carol having been banished, joins up with Tyreese (played by Chad Coleman), Lizzie and Mika Samuels (the former played by Brighton Sharbino and the latter played by Kyla Kenedy) and Rick's baby daughter and Carl's sister Judith (played by various baby actors). All going to Terminus, unaware of what they are about to get themselves into. The thing I like about this season is that they bring in characters from the comic book series that generally were never part of the main storyline anyway and giving them a new sense of character which works well for the most part. As well as that, we see how the group handle being separated and its the first season to also end on a cliffhanger and a good one at that. 9/10
Season 5 - The Fall of Terminus, Saving Beth Greene and The Road to Alexandria
Unlike previous seasons where the group spend most of the time at one place, this season changes that and shows us with them being on the move and taking refuge in certain places. So with most of Rick's group been captured by the cannibals of Terminus, Carol, Tyreese and Judith arrive just in time and Carol redeems herself to the group by saving them and destroying Terminus as a result. The following episodes then see Rick's group taking refuge in a nearby church which is owned by Father Gabriel (played by Seth Gilliam) who shows to be very distrustful of Rick's group, doing whatever he can to get away from them. As the season progresses, the group takes care of the remaining members of Terminus, help Abraham's team find the cure only to find out that Eugene lied and help save Beth and others from a hospital run by a corrupt police officer. All before eventually finding the Alexandria safe zone which they then choose to live in, but not before gaining the trust of the already established community through various means, also proving that while Eugene lied about a cure, he was right about Washington DC being their best chance of survival. A lot of stuff happening in this season and if I'm being honest, that's good. We see the group always on their toes going from one place to the next as well as being understandably distrustful towards those who call themselves friend towards them. Its great. 9/10
Season 6 - The Battle for Alexandria and The Rise of The Saviors
Having finally been accepted into the Alexandria Safe Zone, Rick's team deal with various threats to the safe zone which includes a large herd of walkers and a group that call themselves the Wolves. Meanwhile, various survivors are out on supply runs and encounter walkers and a group call the Saviors which they eventually take care of (though partially for the latter) before returning to Alexandria for a large stand against the walkers. Following this, the survivors of the walker attack, rebuild Alexandria while establishing links with the nearby colony of Hilltop and take care of some more Saviors. However when Maggie's pregnancy causes complications, Rick's group set out to Hilltop to get her the much needed medical attention that she needs, only to be blocked by the Saviors at every turn, eventually getting captured by them and brought to kneel before the groups' leader, Negan (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) who chooses one victim to be battered to death by his barbed wired baseball bat which he calls Lucille for what they did to countless members of his team. Another season that ends on a cliffhanger and another one that continues to make the show awesome. The best thing about this season for me, is how Rick's group and the Alexandria community come together at last when facing against a large herd of walkers. Plus we now have a new villain to contend with who's probably the biggest threat that poses to Rick thus far and having watched some of season 7 already, I know we'll be in for one hell of a great season which could very well end with the war against the Saviors as seen in the comics.
So all I can say is that The Walking Dead is a great TV series that manages to keep with the storylines, characters and settings of the comic books, but allowing itself to be original and come up with some creative things such as killing characters off differently to the comics and making some original characters like Daryl who weren't in the comics or were in the comics but were never part of the main storyline. Plus I like how the show uses a wide variety of actors and not specifically American ones. Its very well acted, has some memorable and lovable characters and its kind of on par with The Last of Us as showing us a realistic world where the population is largely zombie like beings and putting characters in realistic situations to tackle such threats and how they feel about it. Its been a great show so far and I look forward to seeing how it will go in the future. 9/10
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