# List of The Walking Dead episodes
*The Walking Dead* is an American post-apocalyptic horror drama series that aired on AMC from October 31, 2010 to November 20, 2022, comprising 11 seasons and 177 episodes.[1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) • [2](https://tv-flash.com/shows/the-walking-dead/episodes/) Adapted from [Robert Kirkman](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-kirkman)'s comic book series of the same name, it follows survivor [Rick Grimes](https://www.edgepedia.org/rick-grimes) after he awakens from a coma into a world overrun by flesh-eating zombies.[3](https://www.comicbasics.com/every-walking-dead-series-in-order/) The series ran with a fall-to-spring broadcast pattern for most of its life: a premiere in October, a mid-season finale around late November or early December, and a resumption in February that carried to a season finale in late March or early April.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network and run | AMC, October 31, 2010 to November 20, 2022[1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) |
| Total episodes | 177 across 11 seasons[1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) • [2](https://tv-flash.com/shows/the-walking-dead/episodes/) |
| First episode | "Days Gone Bye" (S01E01), October 31, 2010[2](https://tv-flash.com/shows/the-walking-dead/episodes/) • [4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide) |
| Final episode | "Rest in Peace" (S11E24), November 20, 2022[2](https://tv-flash.com/shows/the-walking-dead/episodes/) • [1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) |
| Season lengths | Season 1: 6 episodes; seasons 2 through 10: 13 to 16 episodes; season 11: 24 episodes[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide) • [1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) |
| Ratings landmark | The season 5 premiere was, at the time, the most-watched cable episode in history[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/every-episode-of-the-walking-dead-ranked/) |
| Source material | Based on *The Walking Dead* by Robert Kirkman[1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) |
## Season structure
The first season was the shortest, with six episodes airing weekly from October 31 to December 5, 2010.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide) From season 2 onward the show settled into longer runs of 13 to 16 episodes, and the final season was expanded to 24 episodes broadcast from August 15, 2021 to November 20, 2022.[1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/)
The mid-season break became a fixed feature. Season 2 paused after "Pretty Much Dead Already" on November 27, 2011 and resumed with "Nebraska" on February 12, 2012; season 3 broke after "Made to Suffer" on December 2, 2012 and returned on February 10, 2013; season 4 split after "Too Far Gone" on December 1, 2013 and resumed on February 9, 2014; and season 5 broke after "Coda" on November 30, 2014, returning on February 8, 2015.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
## Season 1 (2010)
All six first-season episodes aired in 2010.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Days Gone Bye" | October 31, 2010 |
| 2 | "Guts" | November 7, 2010 |
| 3 | "Tell It to the Frogs" | November 14, 2010 |
| 4 | "Vatos" | November 21, 2010 |
| 5 | "Wildfire" | November 28, 2010 |
| 6 | "TS-19" | December 5, 2010 |
## Season 2 (2011–2012)
Season 2 ran 13 episodes, with the mid-season split after episode 7.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "What Lies Ahead" | October 16, 2011 |
| 2 | "Bloodletting" | October 23, 2011 |
| 3 | "Save the Last One" | October 30, 2011 |
| 4 | "Cherokee Rose" | November 6, 2011 |
| 5 | "Chupacabra" | November 13, 2011 |
| 6 | "Secrets" | November 20, 2011 |
| 7 | "Pretty Much Dead Already" | November 27, 2011 |
| 8 | "Nebraska" | February 12, 2012 |
| 9 | "Triggerfinger" | February 19, 2012 |
| 10 | "18 Miles Out" | February 26, 2012 |
| 11 | "Judge, Jury, Executioner" | March 4, 2012 |
| 12 | "Better Angels" | March 11, 2012 |
| 13 | "Beside the Dying Fire" | March 18, 2012 |
## Season 3 (2012–2013)
Season 3 ran 16 episodes and introduced the Woodbury community and the Governor as the season's central antagonists.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Seed" | October 14, 2012 |
| 2 | "Sick" | October 21, 2012 |
| 3 | "Walk with Me" | October 28, 2012 |
| 4 | "Killer Within" | November 4, 2012 |
| 5 | "Say the Word" | November 11, 2012 |
| 6 | "Hounded" | November 18, 2012 |
| 7 | "When the Dead Come Knocking" | November 25, 2012 |
| 8 | "Made to Suffer" | December 2, 2012 |
| 9 | "The Suicide King" | February 10, 2013 |
| 10 | "Home" | February 17, 2013 |
| 11 | "I Ain't a Judas" | February 24, 2013 |
| 12 | "Clear" | March 3, 2013 |
| 13 | "Arrow on the Doorpost" | March 10, 2013 |
| 14 | "Prey" | March 17, 2013 |
| 15 | "This Sorrowful Life" | March 24, 2013 |
| 16 | "Welcome to the Tombs" | March 31, 2013 |
## Season 4 (2013–2014)
Season 4 also ran 16 episodes, split after the mid-season finale "Too Far Gone".[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "30 Days Without an Accident" | October 13, 2013 |
| 2 | "Infected" | October 20, 2013 |
| 3 | "Isolation" | October 27, 2013 |
| 4 | "Indifference" | November 3, 2013 |
| 5 | "Internment" | November 10, 2013 |
| 6 | "Live Bait" | November 17, 2013 |
| 7 | "Dead Weight" | November 24, 2013 |
| 8 | "Too Far Gone" | December 1, 2013 |
| 9 | "After" | February 9, 2014 |
| 10 | "Inmates" | February 16, 2014 |
| 11 | "Claimed" | February 23, 2014 |
| 12 | "Still" | March 2, 2014 |
| 13 | "Alone" | March 9, 2014 |
| 14 | "The Grove" | March 16, 2014 |
| 15 | "Us" | March 23, 2014 |
| 16 | "A" | March 30, 2014 |
## Season 5 (2014–2015)
Season 5 opened with "[No Sanctuary](https://www.edgepedia.org/no-sanctuary-the-walking-dead)" on October 12, 2014, the episode that broke cable viewership records.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide) • [5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/every-episode-of-the-walking-dead-ranked/)
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "No Sanctuary" | October 12, 2014 |
| 2 | "Strangers" | October 19, 2014 |
| 3 | "Four Walls and a Roof" | October 26, 2014 |
| 4 | "Slabtown" | November 2, 2014 |
| 5 | "Self Help" | November 9, 2014 |
| 6 | "Consumed" | November 16, 2014 |
| 7 | "Crossed" | November 23, 2014 |
| 8 | "Coda" | November 30, 2014 |
| 9 | "What Happened and What's Going On" | February 8, 2015 |
| 10 | "Them" | February 15, 2015 |
| 11 | "The Distance" | February 22, 2015 |
| 12 | "Remember" | March 1, 2015 |
## Later seasons
Seasons 6 through 10 continued the 16-episode pattern, with season 10 later extended by additional bonus episodes, and season 11 closed the series with 24 episodes in three parts.[1](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/) The season 6 run contained the most critically panned episodes of the series by the Tomatometer, with five of its 16 episodes rated Rotten, though the season as a whole was Certified Fresh at 76 percent.[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/every-episode-of-the-walking-dead-ranked/) Season 7's premiere, "The Day Will Come When You Won't Be", in which viewers learned which characters Negan had killed, drew 54 critic reviews, more than any other individual episode.[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/every-episode-of-the-walking-dead-ranked/)
## Reception by season
Aggregated user ratings on TelevisionStats place season 3 highest at 8.6, with seasons 2, 4, and 5 at 8.5, and seasons 7 and 8 lowest at 7.8; the overall series average is 8.2.[6](https://televisionstats.com/s/the-walking-dead/episodes) On the Tomatometer, season 5 is the highest-rated season at 90 percent, and eight of the series' seasons are Certified Fresh.[5](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/every-episode-of-the-walking-dead-ranked/) Retrospective rankings by critics tend to favor the first half of the run: GamesRadar's list of best episodes includes "A" (season 4), "TS-19" (season 1), "No Sanctuary" (season 5), "Better Angels" (season 2), and "Conquer" (season 5) among its top entries.[7](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-walking-dead-episodes-ranked/)
## Aftermath
The flagship series ended in 2022, but the franchise continued through spin-offs including *The Walking Dead: Dead City*, following Maggie and Negan in post-apocalyptic Manhattan, and *The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon*, set in France.[3](https://www.comicbasics.com/every-walking-dead-series-in-order/) • [8](https://apnews.com/article/54e14ed3a88a18d92c18b30c1d86b5f9)
## References
1. [The Walking Dead: all seasons, episodes and where to watch, TV Docket](https://tvdocket.com/shows/the-walking-dead/)
2. [The Walking Dead — Episode guide, TV Flash](https://tv-flash.com/shows/the-walking-dead/episodes/)
3. [Every 'Walking Dead' Series in Order, Comic Basics](https://www.comicbasics.com/every-walking-dead-series-in-order/)
4. [The Walking Dead — Episode Guide, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/73/the-walking-dead/episodeguide)
5. [Every Episode of The Walking Dead Ranked Worst to Best, Rotten Tomatoes](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/guide/every-episode-of-the-walking-dead-ranked/)
6. [The Walking Dead Episode Ratings Grid, TelevisionStats](https://televisionstats.com/s/the-walking-dead/episodes)
7. [The best Walking Dead episodes, ranked, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/best-walking-dead-episodes-ranked/)
8. [This fall TV season, there's no new 'Grey's Anatomy' or 'Law & Order', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/54e14ed3a88a18d92c18b30c1d86b5f9)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Fictional worlds and series reference apparatus › Episode lists, seasons, and broadcast lifecycle › Episode lists for individual series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license