--- title: "The Walking Dead" year: 2010 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/the-walking-dead" fi1m_score: 68 critics_score: 81 critics_reviews: 7 published: "2026-09-17T18:32:36.243869+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T18:32:36.972428+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Walking Dead (2010) Created by Frank Darabont · MPA TV-MA · Action & Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy **Fi1m score: 68** · Critics 81 from 7 reviews *In a sentence:* Everyone learns to kill the dead in a fortnight and nobody learns to talk to each other in eleven years > Frank Darabont’s opening six episodes are among the best horror television we have seen: patient, sunlit and properly frightening. What followed ran eleven seasons and 177 episodes, and the quality wandered as widely as its characters. Start at the beginning, and be prepared to stop. ## Synopsis Georgia, soon after the dead have started walking. Sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is shot on duty and wakes in a hospital that has been emptied: dark corridors, a canteen door chained shut from the outside, bodies in rows under sheets on the lawn. His house is deserted and his wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and their son are gone. Rick puts his uniform back on and heads for Atlanta, where he has been told the survivors were sent. Outside the city, at a camp by a quarry, Lori and Rick’s partner Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) are among a small group of survivors, along with Dale Horvath (Jeffrey DeMunn) and a fast-talking scavenger named Glenn Rhee (Steven Yeun) who knows the way in and out. ## Review Frank Darabont built the first six episodes of *The Walking Dead* like a film with gaps in it, and they remain the best argument for the series. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) wakes in a hospital to find the dead have got up and most of the living have not. He walks home, finds his wife and son gone, and sets off for Atlanta. The pilot takes its time over all of this, and the time is well spent. What followed is eleven seasons and 177 episodes, and our verdict has to cover the lot: a strong beginning, some fine stretches, and a great deal of walking in between. The early horror works because it is quiet and it happens in daylight. The cinematographers, Duane Manwiller, Scott Kevan, Stephen Campbell and Michael E. Satrazemis, shoot Georgia in flat white sun, so the dead come at you across a lawn rather than out of a shadow. We were horrified in the pilot’s first minutes, when a small girl in slippers bends for a teddy bear in the road and turns, and half her face has gone, and Rick shoots her. Nothing jumps. That is what does it. The series is at its best whenever it remembers this, and it forgets often. Bear McCreary’s score is the constant. His title theme is a handful of scraped strings over a nervous pulse, and it never settles; across the run he lets long stretches go without any music at all, which in horror is the harder choice. Production designers Jeff Schoen and Graham “Grace” Walker give the series its best images: a motorway of abandoned cars running out of sight, a prison that looks like safety, a town behind walls with the paint still fresh. Elaine Montalvo keeps Rick in his deputy’s shirt and hat long after the badge means anything, which tells us what he still thinks he is. The cast is where the series earns its length. Lincoln, an Englishman doing Georgia, plays Rick as a decent man who keeps having to decide how much decency he can afford. Jon Bernthal’s Shane Walsh, Rick’s partner, is the strongest thing in the first two seasons: a man who has taken a decision he cannot take back, and knows it. Later arrivals fare better than the early wives. Melissa McBride’s Carol Peletier begins as a frightened woman at the edge of the camp and becomes the most interesting person on screen, and McBride does it without a speech. Norman Reedus’s Daryl Dixon, a redneck with a crossbow who turns out to have a conscience, is the series’ most durable creation. Danai Gurira brings Michonne Hawthorne in with a sword and few words, and the series sharpens the moment she arrives. David Morrissey’s Philip Blake and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan Smith are the two villains given real time, and Morgan, all teeth and baseball bat, brightens the series and coarsens it in the same stroke. The flaws are structural. The second season sits on a farm for thirteen episodes and we were bored, and then angry about being bored, because people we cared about were standing in fields arguing while nothing moved. The writing room changed hands more than once; Darabont, Glen Mazzara, Scott M. Gimple and Angela Kang are all among the credited writers, and the series runs at a different temperature under each. Five editors are credited, and the cutting is sometimes patient and sometimes padded: a season’s worth of story stretched across sixteen episodes, then twenty-two, then twenty-four. Later on the series found a taste for cruelty it had earlier been careful with, and lingered on it, and we stopped trusting it for a while. Most of the reviews at the time were of the pilot, and the pilot deserved them. A series is judged on what it became, and this one became a long, grim, often handsome soap with intervals of real quality. Gregory Nicotero, who directed a good many episodes, gives the dead a weight and slowness that later zombie fiction abandoned, and against the genre’s own standards the monsters have aged well. The people have aged less evenly. Watch the first season on its own; it is six episodes and does not waste one. After that, treat each season as a separate decision, taken in the autumn, with a clear idea of how much of your life you will spend on a road that does not end. Certificate 18, and it means it. *Fi1m score 68, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews are uniformly positive, and nearly all of them are reviews of the pilot rather than the run. Most critics agree that Frank Darabont’s 90-minute opener looks and moves like a film rather than an episode of television, and that this is what sets it apart from the usual zombie fare. The praise clusters on the direction, the effects and the decision to build dread slowly, with Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and Lennie James singled out as the performances that carry it. The reservations are mild and the spread is narrow. Several critics note that the series presses familiar genre buttons and that it is grisly enough to put off the squeamish. Empire, the only publication reviewing beyond the first episode, finds that later instalments do not match the pilot and that the slow pace frustrates as often as it holds attention. Nobody dislikes it; the question is whether the opener’s promise is kept. ### Reviews we read (7) - **The AV Club**, Leonard Pierce (A-): The pilot is a stunning debut that effectively sets up the bleak survival horror story, with strong performances especially from Lennie James and excellent technical filmmaking, though it sets pieces a bit abruptly. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/the-walking-dead-days-gone-bye-1798166397) - **Variety**, Brian Lowry (90/100, inferred): The 90-minute pilot draws the audience in almost instantly with its cinematic quality and incorporates tasty soap-like elements. Producer-writer-director Frank Darabont has deftly tackled adapting the comicbook into a viable episodic series that feels unexpectedly fresh. [Read](https://variety.com/2010/tv/reviews/the-walking-dead-1117943947/) - **The Guardian** (80/100, inferred): The critic praises Andrew Lincoln's convincing performance as Rick Grimes and calls the series quality, with an eerie cinematic feel and languid tension suited to its southern setting that builds dread effectively. It compares favorably to The Road and Dawn of the Dead but notes it is very grisly. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2010/nov/05/the-walking-dead-review) - **Empire**, William Thomas (70/100, inferred): This adaptation of Robert Kirkman's comics scored monster ratings. It is easy to see why, though later episodes do not quite reach the pilot's giddy heights and the slow pace frustrates as much as it fascinates. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/tv/reviews/walking-dead-season-1-review/) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Tim Goodman (70/100, inferred): The 90-minute premiere manages to push all of the familiar zombie-genre buttons while expanding visual references to classic Westerns and dystopian films. Darabont has found the perfect person to flesh out the graphic novels. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/first-hollywood-reporter-review-tim-33846/) - **Den of Geek**, Ron Hogan (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the premiere episode as one of the best debut episodes, highlighting its faithful adaptation of the comic, impressive gore and effects, and strong character focus that appeals to drama fans. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-walking-dead-episode-1-review-days-gone-bye/) - **Paste**, Josh Jackson (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the cinematic quality and slow-burn character development in the pilot, highlighting how it treats the zombie apocalypse with prestige TV care unlike typical genre fare. They single out the personal horror of survivors facing loved ones as zombies and the tense buildup to the Atlanta scene. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/the-walking-dead/the-walking-dead-review) ## Details - **Created by:** Frank Darabont - **Creator:** Frank Darabont - **Director:** Gregory Nicotero, Michael E. Satrazemis, David Boyd, Ernest Dickerson, Billy Gierhart, Guy Ferland, Laura Belsey, Jeffrey F. January, Sharat Raju, Michael Cudlitz, Rosemary Rodriguez, Michael Slovis, Seith Mann, Alrick Riley, Dan Liu, Michelle MacLaren, Tricia Brock, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Tawnia McKiernan, Kari Skogland, Larry Teng, Jon Amiel, Daniel Sackheim, Fred Toye, Kevin Dowling, Julius Ramsay, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, Millicent Shelton, Michael Uppendahl, Rose Troche, Frank Darabont, Liesl Tommy, Avi Youabian, Larysa Kondracki, Lily Mariye, John Polson, David Boyd, Dan Attias, Karen Gaviola, Lesli Linka Glatter, Loren Yaconelli, Clark Johnson, Stefan Schwartz, Marcus Stokes, Darnell Martin, Johan Renck, John Dahl, Laura Besley, Stephen Williams, Jennifer Lynch, Meera Menon, Catriona McKenzie, Phil Abraham, Aisha Tyler, Jeremy Podeswa, Bronwen Hughes - **Writer:** Angela Kang, Matthew Negrete, Scott M. Gimple, Corey Reed, Channing Powell, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, Jim Barnes, Vivian Tse, Glen Mazzara, Seth Hoffman, Robert Kirkman, Kevin Deiboldt, Frank Darabont, Nicole Mirante-Matthews, Erik Mountain, Julia Ruchman, Evan Reilly, Nichole Beattie, Eddie Guzelian, Heather Bellson, Magali Lozano, Geraldine Inoa, LaToya Morgan, Eli Jorné, Curtis Gwinn, Adam Fierro, Sang Kyu Kim, Ryan Coleman, Frank Renzulli, Charles H. Eglee, Jack LoGiudice - **Story:** Angela Kang, Scott M. Gimple, Corey Reed, Channing Powell - **Teleplay:** Corey Reed, Channing Powell, Jim Barnes, Kevin Deiboldt - **Cinematography:** Michael E. Satrazemis, Duane Manwiller, Stephen Campbell, Scott Kevan - **Editor:** Alan Cody, Jack Colwell, Dan Liu, Tiffany Melvin, Evan Schrodek - **Music:** Bear McCreary - **Production design:** Graham "Grace" Walker, Jeff Schoen - **Costume design:** Elaine Montalvo - **Producer:** Paul Gadd, Jolly Dale, Tom Luse - **Cast:** Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes; Jon Bernthal as Shane Walsh; David Morrissey as Philip Blake; Lauren Cohan as Maggie Greene; Norman Reedus as Daryl Dixon; Laurie Holden as Andrea Harrison; Danai Gurira as Michonne Hawthorne; Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 31 October 2010 - **Genres:** Action & Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy ## Where to watch in the US - Netflix: streaming - Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, UA, US, VN, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - MTV Movie Award for Best Villain 2017: MTV Movie Award for Best Villain (won) - TCA Award for Program of the Year 2013: TCA Award for Program of the Year (nominated) - Saturn Awards 2012: Best Supporting Actress on Television (won) - Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series 2010: Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series (nominated) - Saturn Awards 2010: Best Television Presentation (won) ## If you liked this - *Dawn of the Dead* (1978), Fi1m 86: Romero’s shopping-centre siege, where this series learned its slow dead and its bickering survivors — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dawn-of-the-dead.md) - *28 Days Later* (2002), Fi1m 77: Boyle’s empty London: the same waking-up-alone opening, done fast and on video — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/28-days-later.md) - *Train to Busan* (2016), Fi1m 84: A Korean commuter train, two hours, no farm, and every character earns their carriage — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/train-to-busan.md) - *Station Eleven* (2021), Fi1m 84: The end of the world as a series that cares what comes after, gently — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/station-eleven.md) - *The Returned* (2012), Fi1m 85: French dead who come home quietly and want dinner; the dread is all domestic — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/the-returned.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/the-walking-dead