Season 1

**Season 1** of *The Walking Dead* premiered on October 31, Halloween. It was developed for television by Robert Kirkman, who wrote and co-wrote four of the season's six episodes and directed the pilot, "Days Gone Bye", and also produced by Tony Moore.

## Plot

### "Days Gone Bye"

Wounded in the line of duty, King County sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes wakes from a coma to find the world infested by zombies. Alone and disoriented, he sets off in search of his wife and son.

Rick soon encounters two other survivors -- Morgan Jones and his son, Duane. Morgan gives Rick additional information about the situation, explaining that the undead are driven to eat the living. "One thing I do know, don't you get bit," Morgan says. "Bites kill, then you become one of them." Duane then speaks: "I saw it happen." Morgan saw the transformation first-hand. His wife Jenny was bitten, and then turned into a "Walker."

Rick takes Morgan and Duane to the King County Sheriff's Department, where they stock up on guns and ammunition. Rick is headed for Atlanta, where a refugee center has formed. Along with a rifle, Rick gives Morgan a walkie-talkie, with instructions to check in daily at dawn so the two men can reunite later. En route to Atlanta, Rick runs out of gas near a farmhouse, where he finds a horse to ride the rest of the way.

He makes to Atlanta, before finding it abandoned, and swarmed soon by the dead. He makes it to a tank, and hides inside as the dead surround the outside, trapping him.

### "City of the Damned"

In a deserted Atlanta, Rick is overwhelmed by hordes of Walkers. They topple his horse and force him to retreat inside a tank. Rick escapes, and is nearly swarmed before running into a young man named Glenn. Glenn then leads Rick to a department store, where they meet up with other survivors: Andrea, Morales, Jacqui, T-Dog, and Merle Dixon — a redneck ex-con.

After the volatile and racist Merle attacks T-Dog, Rick handcuffs Merle to the store rooftop. Rick then hatches an escape plan, utilizing sound to distract the undead. After a close call, Rick drives off in a cube van to evacuate the survivors. Glenn helps to lure the undead with the sound of a car alarm in a hot-wired Dodge Challenger.

Back on the rooftop, T-Dog accidentally drops the handcuff key down a ventilation pipe, then chains the access door shut so the stranded and furious Merle will be relatively safe from hungry Walkers. The survivors leave, on way to a camp with other survivors.

### "Our Horrific Adventures"

As the survivors arrive back to the camp, families tearfully reunite as Shane, Rick's partner in the Police, questions the survivors about the run as Rick walks towards the group slowly. He catches a glimpse of a shocked Shane, before Lori and Carl rush towards him in surprise, the three embracing as everyone watches on. The group have a fire that night, as Rick discusses how he woke up in a hospital, as well as figuring out how to handle Merle's brother Daryl.

After a night of talking to his wife and having sex with her, Rick wakes back up, and begins to see the ways of life in camp as he begins to prepare to leave back towards the city for Merle. Before he can tell Lori, Jacqui warns the survivors of a Roamer in the woods. Several men attempt to kill it, only to meet Daryl, who puts it down for good. Daryl gets in a fight after finding out Merle was left, but is subdued, and calmed as he agrees to go with Rick, along with Glenn and T-Dog, to look for his brother and a bag of guns.

The survivors arrive back to the department store, only to find Merle's amputated hand, and him missing from the rooftop. Daryl is enraged, and begins to scream and pace around as the others watch out silently.

### "Inner City Blues"

At the camp, Lori, Donna, Carol, and Jacqui begin to work on the laundry while Shane takes Morales hunting. After Carol shuts down talk of her abuse, the women talk about their past, before heading back towards the camp. Meanwhile, Shane and Morales talk, before coming across a stray roamer in the woods. As the women head back, Donna is nearly attacked by a roamer, but is saved by Dale. Shane tries to comfort Lori, but is rejected.

In the city, the four follow the trail of blood, and realize Merle had cauterized his wound, and left the building. They begin to hatch a plan to get the bag of guns back, with Glenn rushing out, narrowly escaping a bite before being saved by Daryl. The four find the van they arrived in missing, and speculate it was Merle who had taken it. Rick and Glenn separate from the other two, and after covering themselves in guts of a roamer, head towards the gun store, collecting as much as they can before needing to escape. It begins to rain, and the two barely make it out alive, with Rick having a close call.

At the camp, as it rains, Shane and Lori have a talk, where Lori mentions whatever happened between them was a mistake. Carol drops some food as she attempts to clean up, and is verbally abused by Ed Peletier, before being slapped. Shane witnesses this, still upset over the talk, and begins to beat him in front of the group, leaving him a bloody mess before threatening him again if he ever touched Carol again.

## Cast

### Main Characters

* Rick Grimes (4/6)
* Shane Walsh (3/6)
* Morgan Jones (1/6)
* Glenn (3/6)
* Dale (3/6)
* Jim (3/6)
* T-Dog (3/6)
* Merle Dixon (2/6)
* Lori Grimes (2/6)
* Carl Grimes (2/6)

### Supporting Characters

* Amy (3/6)
* Orlando (3/6)
* Allen (3/6)
* Andrea (3/6)
* Morales (3/6)
* Jacqui (3/6)
* Carol (2/6)
* Ed Peletier (2/6)
* Sophia (2/6)
* Anna (2/6)
* Donna (2/6)
* Daryl Dixon (2/6)

### Minor Characters

* Reggie (1/6)
* Duane Jones (1/6)
* Leon Basset (1/6)
* Lambert Kendal (1/6)
* Ben (2/6)
* Billy (2/6)
* Miranda Morales (2/6)
* Eliza Morales (2/6)
* Louis Morales (2/6)

## Deaths

* Jenny Jones *(Alive, Confirmed Fate)*
* Leon Basset *(Alive and Zombified)*
* Bicycle Girl *(Zombified)*