Rick Grimes leads the survivors to the secluded Hershel's Farm after escaping Atlanta, but rising tensions with Shane and a missing child threaten to tear the group apart.
Synopsis
Fleeing the ruins of the CDC in Atlanta, Rick Grimes and the group head towards Fort Benning but are stopped by a highway deadlock and a massive herd of walkers, resulting in the disappearance of Sophia Peletier. In their desperate search, they find sanctuary on a rural farm owned by Hershel Greene. However, the group's safety is compromised not just by the undead, but by the clash of philosophies between Rick and Shane, and a dark secret hidden within the farm's barn.
Information |
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Language |
English |
Country |
United States |
Premiere date |
October 16, 2011 |
Running time |
13 Episodes (approx. 550 mins) |
Genre |
Horror Drama Sci-Fi |
Budget |
$36,000,000 (Est. Season Total) |
Box Office |
N/A (TV Series) |
Crew |
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Showrunner |
Glen Mazzara |
Produced by |
Gale Anne Hurd David Alpert Robert Kirkman |
Written by |
Robert Kirkman Glen Mazzara Evan Reilly |
Music by |
Bear McCreary |
Cinematography |
Rohn Schmidt |
Original Network |
AMC |
Production Co. |
AMC Studios Valhalla Entertainment |
Distributed by |
Fox International Channels |
Top Cast |
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Official Trailer |
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Series Collection |
Season Order: #02 in The Walking Dead TV Series
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The Plot
Episode 1: What Lies Ahead
The Highway Graveyard
Following the destruction of the CDC in Atlanta, Rick Grimes and the group of survivors decide to leave the city behind, aiming for Fort Benning based on Shane Walsh's suggestion. However, their convoy—consisting of Dale’s RV, a Cherokee driven by Carol, and Daryl on a motorcycle—comes to a grinding halt on a highway cluttered with abandoned vehicles. Tensions rise as the RV’s radiator hose bursts, forcing the group to stop and scavenge for supplies amidst the wreckage. While the group finds useful items, including water and fuel, the highway acts as a grim reminder of the catastrophe.
The situation turns perilous when a massive herd of walkers appears. Rick spots the threat and frantically signals everyone to hide beneath the cars. The scene is thick with tension as the undead shuffle past the survivors, inches from their faces. T-Dog, suffering from a severe cut on his arm, is nearly discovered but is saved by Daryl, who hides them both under corpses to mask their scent. Inside the RV, Andrea is cornered in the bathroom by a stray walker and is forced to kill it with a screwdriver passed to her by Dale, struggling to keep her composure.
Sophia's Disappearance
As the herd passes, Sophia Peletier is spotted by two lingering walkers and flees into the woods. Rick chases after her, instructing her to hide in a creek bed while he dispatches the walkers. However, when Rick returns to the spot, Sophia is gone. The group launches a frantic search in the forest. Daryl takes charge with his tracking skills, but the trail goes cold. Distraught and blaming Rick, Carol is comforted by the group, though the fracture in their morale begins to show. Shane and Glenn argue that they need to focus on survival, while Rick refuses to leave the girl behind.
The Omen in the Woods
While searching for Sophia, Rick, Shane, and Carl stumble upon a serene clearing where a buck stands grazing. captivated by the sight, Carl moves closer, sharing a rare moment of peace in their chaotic world. Suddenly, a gunshot rings out, tearing through the deer and striking Carl in the stomach. Rick watches in horror as his son collapses, the tranquility of the moment shattered by bloodshed.
Episode 2: Bloodletting
The Rush to the Farm
Picking up immediately after the shooting, a frantic Rick runs across the fields carrying a bleeding Carl, with Shane and the shooter, Otis, following close behind. They arrive at a farmhouse owned by Hershel Greene. Hershel, a veterinarian, immediately begins tending to Carl with the help of his daughters, Maggie and Beth, and Otis's wife, Patricia. Hershel reveals that the bullet fragmented inside Carl and that surgery is required, but he lacks the necessary equipment. Rick, desperate and guilt-ridden, provides his own blood for a transfusion to keep Carl stable.
A Dangerous Mission
To save Carl, Shane and Otis volunteer to travel to a local high school where a FEMA shelter was set up, hoping to find a respirator and surgical supplies. Meanwhile, Maggie rides out to the highway to retrieve Lori and the rest of the group. On the highway, Daryl finds a bag of drugs in his brother Merle's motorcycle to treat T-Dog's infected arm. When Maggie arrives and breaks the news, Lori immediately leaves with her, while the others prepare to move the convoy to the farm.
Trapped at the School
At the high school, Shane and Otis manage to find the medical supplies but are quickly besieged by a massive horde of walkers. They become trapped, forced to barricade themselves behind a gate as the undead relentless push forward. Back at the farm, Rick grows weaker from blood loss but refuses to stop the transfusions, terrified that his decision to search for Sophia has cost him his son.
Episode 3: Save the Last One
The Weight of Survival
As Carl’s condition deteriorates, Hershel informs Rick and Lori that he may have to operate without the respirator if Shane and Otis do not return soon. Lori faces a crisis of faith, wondering if it would be kinder to let Carl die rather than force him to live in this horrific world, a sentiment that enrages Rick. Meanwhile, Glenn and T-Dog arrive at the farm, and the group begins to settle in, though they feel like intruders on Hershel's land.
Shane's Dark Choice
Trapped at the high school, Shane and Otis make a desperate break for their vehicle. Hobbled by an ankle injury and running out of ammunition, Shane realizes they won't both make it out alive with the supplies. In a chilling act of self-preservation, Shane shoots Otis in the leg, leaving him as bait to be devoured by the walkers while he escapes with the medical equipment. Shane returns to the farm, exhausted and claiming Otis sacrificed himself. The supplies save Carl’s life, but Shane is left alone in the bathroom, staring at his reflection. He shaves his head to hide a patch of hair torn out by Otis during their struggle, transforming into a harder, darker version of himself.
Episode 4: Cherokee Rose
The Well Walker
The survivors try to make themselves useful on the farm while respecting Hershel’s strict rules. During a water run, Dale and T-Dog discover a bloated walker trapped in one of the farm’s wells. Fearing contamination of the water supply, the group concocts a plan to hoist the walker out using Glenn as live bait. The plan goes awry when the pump breaks, nearly dropping Glenn into the creature's grasp. They manage to pull the walker up, but its waterlogged body tears in half, spilling its entrails back into the well and rendering it useless.
Signs of Hope and Secrets
Daryl continues his solo search for Sophia, finding a Cherokee Rose flower which he brings back to Carol, telling her a legend about the tears of mothers and hope to comfort her. In town, Glenn and Maggie go on a supply run to a pharmacy. While looking for supplies, Glenn accidentally discovers that Lori has asked for a pregnancy test. To keep her secret, and caught in the moment, Glenn and Maggie share an intimate encounter. Later, Lori takes the test in a field, confirming that she is pregnant, a revelation that carries heavy implications given her relationships with both Rick and Shane.
Episode 5: Chupacabra
Daryl's hallucinations
During a search for Sophia, Daryl is thrown from his horse and falls down a ravine, impaling himself on one of his own arrows. injured and delirious, he hallucinates his missing brother, Merle, who taunts him for being weak and subservient to Rick's group. Fighting through the pain and a walker attack, Daryl climbs out of the ravine, wearing a necklace of walker ears. As he limps back to the farm, he is mistaken for a walker from a distance, and Andrea, eager to prove her shooting skills, grazes his head with a bullet before realizing who he is.
The Barn's Secret
Tension builds between the groups as Hershel grows impatient with the survivors overstaying their welcome. Glenn, struggling with the secrets he is keeping, is desperate. During dinner, he slips a note to Maggie suggesting a rendezvous in the barn. When Glenn goes to the barn later, he discovers it is full of walkers that Hershel has been keeping locked up. A horrified Maggie catches him, pleading with him not to tell the others.
Episode 6: Secrets
The Burden of Truth
Glenn is unable to keep the dangerous secret of the barn to himself and reveals it to the group. He also spills the news about Lori's pregnancy to Dale. The revelation about the barn causes immediate panic and anger among the survivors. Shane wants to clear the barn immediately, while Rick insists on talking to Hershel. Hershel explains that he believes the walkers are just sick people waiting for a cure, a delusion Rick tries to gently challenge.
Lori's Dilemma
Lori asks Glenn to retrieve morning-after pills during a run to town, contemplating abortion. However, after taking the pills, she immediately regrets it and forces herself to throw them up. Rick discovers the empty pill box and confronts her. The argument forces Lori to admit her affair with Shane. Rick reveals he already knew, but the admission hangs heavy over their marriage.
Episode 7: Pretty Much Dead Already
The Confrontation
Shane’s frustration reaches a boiling point when he learns about the barn. He confronts Rick, arguing that they are not safe and that Hershel is delusional. Hershel, meanwhile, sets an ultimatum: Rick’s group must leave by the end of the week. Rick pleads with Hershel to let them stay, revealing Lori’s pregnancy as a desperate bid for sympathy. Hershel agrees to consider it if they help capture walkers in the swamp without killing them, showing them how to guide the "sick" into the barn.
The Massacre and the Reveal
When Shane sees Rick and Hershel guiding walkers with catchpoles, he snaps. He distributes weapons to the group and storms the barn. In a brutal display, Shane shoots a walker repeatedly in the chest to prove to Hershel that they are not alive, before breaking the lock on the barn doors. The group lines up and executes the walkers as they stumble out. The slaughter ends in silence until one final, small walker emerges: Sophia. The group is paralyzed with shock and grief. Carol collapses, held back by Daryl. Rick steps forward, the only one capable of doing what must be done, and shoots the zombified Sophia in the head.
Episode 8: Nebraska
Aftermath and Despair
Following the barn massacre, Hershel demands the group leaves, but he then disappears. Rick and Glenn find him at a local bar in town, drinking heavily and mourning the realization that there is no cure and his family is truly dead. Rick convinces Hershel to return for his surviving daughters, emphasizing the need to have faith in each other if not in a cure.
The Standoff
Their conversation is interrupted by two strangers, Dave and Tony, who enter the bar. Initially friendly, the conversation turns menacing as the men probe for the location of the farm. When Rick refuses to divulge the location, the tension snaps. In a split second, Rick draws his python and guns down both men before they can kill him, showcasing a darker, more ruthless side necessary for survival. "I hear Nebraska's nice," Rick quips moments before the violence erupts.
Episode 9: Triggerfinger
Trapped in Town
Lori, worried about Rick's absence, crashes her car while driving to find him and narrowly escapes two walkers. Back in town, Rick, Hershel, and Glenn find themselves pinned down in the bar by the rest of Dave and Tony's group. A tense shootout ensues. As Rick's group tries to escape, the attackers abandon one of their own, a young man named Randall, who impales his leg on a fence. Rick refuses to leave him to be eaten by walkers, so they cut him loose and blindfold him, bringing him back to the farm.
Shane's Power Play
Shane discovers Lori's crash site and rescues her, lying that Rick is back at the farm to get her to return. When Lori realizes the deception, she is furious. Shane tells Lori that he believes they are meant to be together and that the baby is his. Later, Rick returns with Randall, sparking a new conflict. The group realizes Randall knows the location of the farm and could lead his violent group to them. Shane argues he should be killed, while Rick insists on thinking it through.
Episode 10: 18 Miles Out
The Fight
Rick and Shane drive Randall 18 miles out to release him, planning to leave him with a knife but no knowledge of the farm's location. During the drive, they stop to talk. Rick confronts Shane about Otis and the affair with Lori. At the drop-off point, they discover Randall went to school with Maggie, meaning he knows the farm's location. Shane tries to kill Randall immediately, but Rick tackles him. A brutal fistfight erupts between the two former best friends, smashing a window that releases a hoard of walkers from a nearby building.
Broken Bond
Overrun by walkers, Shane barricades himself in a school bus while Rick drags Randall to safety. For a moment, it seems Rick might abandon Shane, looking at him through the bus door window. However, Rick returns to rescue him. They shove Randall in the trunk and return to the farm with him, but the rift between Rick and Shane is now a chasm. Rick makes it clear: "If you want to stay, you follow my lead." Shane nods, but silently stares at a lone walker in a field, identifying with its isolation.
Episode 11: Judge, Jury, Executioner
The Moral Dilemma
Daryl interrogates Randall and learns his group is heavily armed and dangerous. Rick decides Randall must be executed to protect the farm. Dale is horrified by this decision and spends the day pleading with everyone to spare Randall’s life, arguing that killing a living man destroys their humanity. Despite his impassioned speeches, the group largely sides with Rick out of fear.
Dale's Death
Carl, feeling restless, finds a walker stuck in the mud in the woods. He taunts it but fails to kill it, and the creature frees itself. Later that night, Rick prepares to execute Randall in the barn but stops when Carl wanders in, encouraging him to "do it." Shaken by his son's coldness, Rick spares Randall. Meanwhile, the walker Carl freed wanders onto the farm and attacks Dale, disemboweling him. The group rushes to his aid, but the wounds are fatal. Daryl mercy-kills Dale to end his suffering, leaving the group broken and grieving.
Episode 12: Better Angels
The Trap
Following Dale’s funeral, Rick decides to honor his wish by sparing Randall and planning to release him. Shane, however, has reached his breaking point. He secretly releases Randall into the woods and breaks his neck, killing him. Shane returns to the group claiming Randall escaped and attacked him. Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl split up to search. Glenn and Daryl find Randall reanimated as a walker and kill him, realizing he turned without a bite mark—proving everyone is infected.
The Standoff in the Moonlight
Rick realizes Shane is luring him into a trap and confronts him in an open field under the moonlight. Shane draws his gun, admitting he thinks he is a better man for Lori and Carl than Rick. Rick tries to talk him down, refusing to draw his weapon, but as he gets close, he stabs Shane in the heart, screaming "You did this to us!" as Shane dies. Carl witnesses the scene. As Rick tries to explain, Shane reanimates. Carl raises his gun and shoots zombie Shane. The gunshot echoes loudly, attracting a massive herd of walkers from the nearby woods.
Episode 13: Beside the Dying Fire
The Fall of the Farm
The gunshot that killed Shane draws a massive herd of hundreds of walkers onto the farm. Rick and Carl flee to the barn, setting it on fire to draw the walkers in. The group mounts a desperate defense in vehicles, driving around and shooting, but they are quickly overwhelmed. Jimmy and Patricia are killed in the chaos. The survivors are forced to scatter, abandoning the farm and fleeing in different directions.
The Ricktatorship
The group eventually reunites on the highway where they left supplies for Sophia. They are devastated by the loss of the farm and their separation from Andrea, who was left behind and is presumed dead (though she is saved in the woods by a mysterious hooded figure with a katana). When the group runs out of gas, tensions explode. Rick reveals the secret Dr. Jenner whispered to him at the CDC: everyone is infected and will turn upon death, regardless of being bitten. He also admits to killing Shane. When the group questions his leadership, Rick snaps, delivering a chilling ultimatum: "If you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore." The camera pans up to reveal a ominous prison looming in the distance.
