Season 2 (TV Series)

Season 2 of AMC's The Walking Dead premiered on October 16, 2011. It aired on Sundays at 9/8c ("What Lies Ahead", "Bloodletting", and "Pretty Much Dead Already") and 10/9c ("Save the Last One", "Cherokee Rose", "Chupacabra", and "Secrets") until November 27, when it went on hiatus until February 12, 2012.

This season adapts material from issues #7-12 of the Comic Series.

"What Lies Ahead"
The caravan of survivors finds the highway blocked by abandoned cars. Just then the radiator hose on Dale's RV bursts. The group decides to make a stop to get fuel and supplies from the scattered vehicles.

After a tense scene, during which T-Dog finds a bloody baby-seat in a car, a large herd of walkers approaches. Dale is stuck atop his RV, while the others hide underneath the cars. A walker hears Sophia crying and begins chasing her. Terrified, Sophia makes a run for it, as two zombies chase her down a ditch and into the woods. Rick rushes after the Walkers, reaches Sophia first, and asks her to stay hidden in a tiny hollow at the mouth of a stream. He leads the two Walkers away to kill them. When Rick returns he discovers Sophia is gone. The group organizes a search to find the girl before sundown. While marveling at a stag deer in the forest, Carl is critically wounded by a hunter's gunshot.

"Bloodletting"
Before the apocalypse, Lori waits for Carl as he gets out of school. She tells a friend that she had an argument with Rick the night before. Meanwhile, Shane arrives and tells her about Rick's injury. He prepares to take her to the hospital, where Rick is undergoing emergency surgery.

As the flashback ends, Rick runs to seek help, carrying Carl in his arms. Shane follows them with Otis, the hunter who had accidentally shot Carl. They reach a farm, and Carl is attended to by an old man named Hershel. The bullet buried in Carl's chest has shattered into six fragments, and Herschel needs Rick's blood for a transfusion. Hershel withdraws one fragment, but concludes that he'll needs surgical supplies to remove the other five.

Shane and Otis, looking for medical supplies, head to an abandoned FEMA evacuation center at a former high school. The location is now surrounded by Walkers. Meanwhile, Rick asks that they send Maggie, Herschel's daughter, to the caravan. He wants her to bring Lori to the farm.

Dale finds that T-Dog has an infection (non-walker in nature) in his arm, and will need to take antibiotics. The group agrees to spend the night on the road waiting for Sophia, and then travel to Hershel's farm in the morning. When Lori finds out that Hershel is a veterinarian, she fears for the fate of Carl. Meanwhile, Shane and Otis get the necessary supplies, but are soon under siege by dozens of Walkers at the high school.

"Save the Last One"
At the farm, Carl is near death and suffers from internal bleeding. He is surviving due to successive blood transfusions, but Rick - who is supplying the blood - is getting weaker and weaker.

Back at the RV, which is still at the traffic snarl, Daryl Dixon cannot sleep during the night, since Carol can't stop crying. He decides to take a walk with Andrea to search for Sophia. Meanwhile Shane and Otis, who are out collecting medical supplies, are short of ammunition and surrounded by a large number of Walkers. They decide to split up and attempt escape.

Glenn and T-Dog arrive at the farm. T-Dog's wound is disinfected and treated. Hershel Greene is ready to operate on Carl, and Shane, with the necessary medical supplies, arrives without Otis. Hershel asks everyone not to tell Patricia about Otis. After the surgery on Carl, Hershel informs Rick and Lori that the boy is stable.

As Shane enters the house to take a shower, Maggie gives Shane some of Otis's clothes, so he'll have something to change into. As he prepares to take a shower, Shane notices a big piece of hair missing from his head. There is a flashback to when Shane and Otis were making their escape from the walkers at the high school. As both of them are running low on ammunition, Shane decides to wound Otis and sacrifice him to the Walkers. Otis struggles with Shane. Although he is unable to save himself, he does rip a big chunk of hair from Shane's head, giving him a bald spot. The Walkers circle around the wounded Otis and eat him alive.

Shane, having found some clippers, shaves his entire head, in order to hide the bald spot.

"Cherokee Rose"
The survivors arrive at Hershel's farm. Everyone participates in a small memorial ceremony for Otis. Hershel asks the survivors to hand over their weapons to prevent trouble. Maggie is in need of medical supplies, and decides to head out to a pharmacy in the nearest town. She also decides that Glenn should tag along with her.

Hershel tells Rick that as soon as Sophia is found and Carl is fully recovered, he wants Rick and the survivors to leave his farm. Lori asks Glenn to pick up a special supply from the pharmacy.

The group finds a Walker trapped in a well and they try to remove it without contaminating the water with its blood. They manage to get the Walker out of the well, but the walker's torso is ripped in half, leaving its bottom half contaminating the water. After getting the medical supplies, Glenn and Maggie have sex. Meanwhile, a disturbed Shane prepares to train the survivors to defend themselves. Daryl seeks Sophia alone. He brings back a Cherokee rose, to give hope to Carol. When Lori gets her supply back from Glenn, she uses it and discovers that her worst fear has come true. Lori is pregnant.

"Chupacabra"
Shortly after the outbreak, Shane, Lori, and Carl are trapped in a traffic jam with Carol, Sophia, and Ed. Soon after, Shane and Lori see Atlanta being bombed by the military.

In the present, Daryl is on horseback, searching for Sophia. The horse gets spooked by a snake and knocks Daryl off. He falls down the cliff, having a arrow go through his back side and clean through the front. Daryl begins to hallucinate, arguing with visions of his brother Merle. He also attempts to climb back up the cliff so he can get back to the group.

Andrea is acting as a spotter for the group, and when a bloodied Daryl returns, she mistakes him for a Walker and shoots him. Fortunately, her bullet only grazes the side of his face. He begins recuperating, with Carol's assistance. The two begin to form a bond.

"Secrets"
The survivors are again prepping and searching for Sophia. Glenn is uneasy knowing about the barn full of walkers and Maggie tells him to stop making it look so obvious about it. Daryl is still recovering from Andrea's friendly fire and then she joins everyone including some of Hershel's people for some target practice and learning how to shoot a weapon. Dale confronts Hershel about the walkers in the barn saying how they are dangerous but Hershel considers them sick people. Andrea and Shane have a rough training session since Shane keeps attacking Andrea and then brings up her sister Amy. He apologizes and asks her to join him in the search for Sophia at the nearby Wiltshire Estates. Hershel still wants Rick and his group to leave the farm but Lori says he needs to convince Hershel to let them stay. Lori decides she doesn't want to keep her child so she asks Glenn and Maggie to go back to the pharmacy to get abortion pills however, Maggie is attacked and nearly bit. Lori takes the pills but then decides she still wants her child and then tells Rick and the secret is now known.

"Pretty Much Dead Already"
Glenn finally tells everyone that there are walkers in the barn and the group discusses how they should proceed; Shane believing they should be killed while Rick saying they need to respect Hershel's wishes since they are guests on his land. Rick then goes and confronts Hershel while trying to convince him to let the group stay until they are interrupted by Jimmy who tells Hershel they captured more walkers. Shane goes after Dale wanting the weapons to take care of the walkers in the barn only to find that Dale has sneaked away from the RV and has taken the weapons with him. Shane finds Dale and confronts him while Dale says he knows what kind of man he is and what he did to Otis. Shane takes the weapons back and heads back to the farm while Rick heads back to the farm with the captured walkers. The group confront each other and Shane takes charge, opens the barn to release the walkers, and everyone shoots them while Hershel and the family watch in horror. As the last remaining few walkers drop dead in the hands of Shane, a last walker emerges from the barn. It turns out to be Sophia. Everyone is paralyzed with fear to see what Sophia has turned into. Carol watches with tears in her face as Rick steps up to Sophia and shoots her in the head.

"Nebraska"
Emotions run high in the aftermath of the barn walker massacre. Maggie's younger sister Beth grows ill and Rick and Glenn search for a missing Hershel. Relations between Shane and Dale worsen, and Dale reveals to Lori that he believes Shane shot Otis and used him as a diversion to escape the FEMA shelter. The survivors bury Sophia and Hershel's wife and step-son, and burn the rest of the barn walkers. Carol refuses to attend Sophia's funeral, which angers Daryl. Lori decides to go after Rick when Beth's condition worsens, but ends up wrecking her car on the way to town. Rick meanwhile, finds Hershel at the local bar and tells him about Beth and that people are counting on them to be strong. Two men, who identify themselves as Dave and Tony enter the bar, and what begins as a friendly encounter turns heated as the men are desperate, and imply that they are willing to use force to obtain what they want. However, they are no match for Rick's instincts and quick reflexes, and are killed when they finally make a move to shoot Rick.

"Triggerfinger"
Lori recovers from her accident, and decides to proceed into town, only to be rescued by Shane, who lies to her saying that Rick is back. When Lori finds out about Shane's deception to keep her safe, Shane unintentionally reveals to the entire group that she is pregnant. Shane and Lori talk about their previous relationship, with the former still convinced that it is real. In the town, Rick, Glenn and Hershel attempt to escape, but three other men (Nate, Sean and Randall) attempting to search for Dave and Tony arrive. When Rick confesses to killing Dave and Tony, a shootout occurs. Walkers arrive in the town upon hearing the gunfire, and Hershel inadvertently causes Sean's death when he injures Sean and walkers eat him. Nate and Randall attempt to escape, however Randall impales his leg on a gate, leading Nate to leave him. Rick, Glenn and Hershel rescue Randall, and the four safely return to the farm. Rick initially plans to send away Randall, however Shane disagrees. Lori tells Rick that Shane is dangerous.

"18 Miles Out"
One week later, Rick and Shane transport Randall to a faraway area. On the way, Rick confronts Shane about Otis' death and his attraction to Lori, to which he admits and apologizes. The two decide to leave him in a town 18 miles from the farm, leaving him only with a knife. Randall begs the two to keep him, unintentionally revealing that he went to school with Maggie, and therefore Rick and Shane believe he knows the location of the farm. Shane attempts to kill him, but Rick believes they should first think about it. Their disagreement escalates into a physical battle between the two, which ends when Shane inadvertently releases a horde of walkers. Rick, Shane and Randall barely escape alive. Randall is gagged and bound, and Rick tells Shane that he should obey his orders from now on. Meanwhile, in the farm, Beth contemplates suicide, leading Lori and Andrea to argue about whether they should keep her on suicide watch or allow her to commit suicide. Andrea proceeds to Beth and tells her that pain will not subside but should be coped, and opens the bathroom for Beth. Beth smashes the bathroom mirror and slits her wrist, however this fails as Lori and Maggie save Beth in time. Maggie scolds Andrea, forbidding her to enter the house, while Andrea defends her actions, saying that Beth explored her choices and that her attempt convinced her that suicide is not an option.

"Judge, Jury, Executioner"
Daryl tortures Randall for information. Randall reveals that he comes from a large group, in which some have raped two teenagers. This leads the group to believe that Randall is dangerous, and that they should execute him. Dale begs the group that they should let Randall live or sacrifice their human morals. Meanwhile, Carl has grown cold and bitter, disrespecting Carol and stealing a gun from Daryl. He attempts to execute a trapped walker, however the walker escapes and Carl is forced to flee. At the farm, Dale attempts one last time to let their prisoner live, convincing nobody but Andrea, leading him to storm out and conclude that the group is indeed broken. Hershel gives Glenn his family heirloom, approving Glenn's relationship with Maggie. Rick, Shane and Daryl take Randall to the barn to execute him, although this stops when Carl is revealed to be watching, delaying the execution and angering Shane. Meanwhile, Dale explores the land and comes across gutted cow. He is then attacked by a walker, who then rips his abdomen. Daryl arrives and kills the walker, and when the group arrives, they realize they cannot do anything to save him. Carl is shocked that the walker that gutted Dale is the same walker he encountered. Rick attempts to put an end to his misery, but is too distraught to do it. Daryl volunteers, takes the gun from Rick and proceeds to shoot Dale.

"Better Angels"
The group holds a brief funeral for Dale. Rick asks the group to stay united, despite Dale's claims that they are broken. Hershel becomes hospitable to the group, allowing all but Shane to move in with him. Carl confides in Shane about his guilt in his involvement in Dale's death, in which Rick comforts him and tells him that death is inevitable. Setting her suspicions aside, Lori also approaches Shane and tells her true feelings in an attempt to convince Shane that he still belongs in the group. Rick decides to spare Randall's life once and for all, and leave him in a place far away from the barn. Shane takes Randall to a faraway place and kills him by breaking his neck. He then injures himself and returns to the group to make it look like Randall escaped. Glenn, Daryl, Rick and Shane search for Randall in the forest. Glenn and Daryl find and kill Randall again as a walker, but they are perplexed by how he is reanimated without any walker bite or scratch. Rick meanwhile picks out Shane's story and confronts Shane, knowing that he plans to murder Rick once and for all. The two argue on who will be a better father and husband, but Rick insist that they lay their weapons down. Rick then quickly draws a knife and kills a distracted Shane. Rick grieves his friend's death, and curses him for forcing his hand. Carl unexpectedly appears, shocked over Shane's death, and appears to pull a gun on Rick. Rick begs Carl to lower his gun, although it is revealed that he was aiming for an undead Shane, who, like Randall, has reanimated without a bite nor scratch. Carl kills the reanimated Shane, but a horde of walkers hear the gunshot and advances towards their location.

"Beside the Dying Fire"
Carl questions Rick about Shane's death, although this is unanswered when they spot the walkers and flee to the barn. Rick and Carl corrals a number of walkers inside the barn and burn it in an attempt to eliminate them. Daryl and Glenn report Randall's reanimation and death to the group. The survivors then spot the horde, in which they mobilize and devise a plan to lead all the walkers away, but this fails. Beth's boyfriend Jimmy and Otis' wife Patricia are killed as the group has no choice but to leave the farm. Andrea is left behind and attempts to fend off numerous walkers, but she is saved when a hooded figure with two walker pets wielding a katana saves her. The survivors, with the exception of Andrea, reunite on the highway and camp when they run low on gas. Rick admits to Lori about his involvement in Shane's death. Having softened up about Shane, Lori is stunned about this revelation, and starts to avoid Rick. When Daryl confronts Rick about Randall's reanimation, Rick reveals what Dr. Edwin Jenner whispered in his ear: they are all infected. This revelation upsets the group. When the group questions Rick's leadership, Rick snaps, telling that he never asked for the leadership position, and did everything to keep the group safe, revealing that he killed Shane for them. He encourages any of them to leave, and when nobody does, issues a final warning: "If you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore," establishing himself as the group's leader. It is revealed the group is camped near a fortified prison.

Ratings
Ratings for the second season.

Cast
Season 2 (TV Series)/Starring|Starring Season 2 (TV Series)/Also Starring|Also Starring Season 2 (TV Series)/Co-Stars|Co-Stars Season 2 (TV Series)/Uncredited|Uncredited

Deaths

 * Otis
 * Annette Greene (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Shawn Greene (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Mr. Fischer (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Mrs. Fischer (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Lacey (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Duncan (Alive, Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
 * Louise Bush (Zombified)
 * Doug (Zombified)
 * Arnold Greene (Zombified)
 * Sophia Peletier (Alive and Zombified)
 * Dave
 * Tony
 * Sean
 * Dale Horvath
 * Randall Culver (Alive and Zombified)
 * Shane Walsh (Alive and Zombified)
 * Jimmy
 * Patricia
 * 1 deer
 * Several unnamed Greene barn inhabitants (Zombified)

Production
After the first season aired, Deadline.com reported that Frank Darabont had let the entire writing staff go and planned to use only freelance writers for the second season. This turned out to be not entirely accurate, and Robert Kirkman was quoted as saying the changes to the writing staff would not affect the production of the show.

In February 2011, it was announced that Glen Mazzara, who had written the first season episode "Wildfire", had been hired again as a writer/executive producer for the second season and will put together a staff of five more writers.

Kirkman confirmed that along with himself, Darabont and Mazzara the writing staff will consist of Scott M. Gimple, Evan Reilly, Angela Kang and one freelance writer, David Leslie Johnson. Four actors have joined the cast as new characters for season 2—Scott Wilson as Hershel Greene, Lauren Cohan as his daughter Maggie, Pruitt Taylor Vince as Hershel's ranch hand Otis, and Michael Zegen as a man named Randall.

At C2E2 members of the cast confirmed that the second season would begin shooting on June 1, 2011, and that Frank Darabont would write the season premiere episode.

A preview of season 2 was shown during the season premiere of Breaking Bad on July 17, 2011 and a full length trailer was released to promote season 2 at Comic-Con 2011, on July 22, 2011.

In July 2011, series developer and showrunner Frank Darabont stepped down from his position as showrunner for the series, amidst rumors that he was unable to adjust to the schedule of running a television series. Darabont's sudden departure further sparked controversy in August when The Hollywood Reporter broke a story revealing that Darabont had in fact been fired due to issues of the show's reduced budget and a strained relationship with AMC executives.

Trivia

 * This season is mainly based on "Volume 2: Miles Behind Us" from the Comic Series.
 * According to the TVLine Blog of Michael Ausiello Season 2 will see the death of not only a primary recurring character, but also one of the lead actors. The actor/actress in question is not specified in the blog, but is explained as being a regular in productions of Frank Darabont and requested their contract be cancelled following his dismissal. (This actor turned out to be Jeffrey DeMunn, who had a change of heart and asked after filming his death if they could change the episode so he could live and keep playing the character, but they had already filmed the scene and didn't want to spend the money.)
 * Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Melissa McBride (Carol) were upgraded to series regular status from the recurring cast.
 * Melissa McBride is the only cast member in the television series who is promoted to the main cast from being a co-star in a previous season.
 * McBride, however, was listed as "also starring", which is the first time a series regular is credited under this section. The show has used this format in succeeding seasons.
 * Despite being a regular, McBride is not credited in "18 Miles Out" even if she did not make an appearance in the episode.
 * Guest actors are now listed as "also starring", instead of the "guest starring" format used in the previous season.
 * All of the main characters introduced in this season are all part of the Greene family, with the exception of Michonne, who made a cameo appearance in the season finale.
 * An extended promo for Season 2 was released after episode one, featuring the song "I See a Darkness" by Johnny Cash, but the song wasn't used on the series.
 * A scene was removed from the season premiere episode where Rick and his crew revisit the nursing home from "Vatos", to find it overrun.
 * The finale, "Beside the Dying Fire", was the most-watched episode of the second season which attracted 9 million total viewers.
 * The promo scene for Season 2, of Shane running from walkers, is on the Season 2 DVD.
 * This season is the only season where Glenn hasn't been held captive at one point or another.
 * This season has the lowest death toll by far, with at least 10 deaths.
 * This season also has a lower death count than every other season combined.
 * The cast and crew responded to some of the criticism of Season 2 being "too slow" in an Entertainment Weekly exclusive.
 * This is the last season Frank Darabont is credited with, as he was fired by AMC due to the show's reduced budget and his strained relationship with the executives of AMC.
 * Executive producer Glen Mazzara has become the series' new showrunner for this season.
 * The song "Civilian" by Wye Oak is used in the trailer.
 * Supposedly Sam Witwer was set to reprise his role as the walker in the tank in this season. He would be in the main cast for the two first episodes of the season, and it would be like the Twilight Zone episodes, where characters, like Andrea, and Amy would be seen as cameos. He would get bit, and his death would be depicted, thus, explaining how Atlanta fell, but due to Darabont's departure at the start of the season the idea was never filmed.
 * An acclaimed author and long-time Darabont collaborator Stephen King was supposed to write an episode, but due to Darabont's departure from the series, the plan was scrapped.