Shane Walsh (TV Series)

"There is nothing easy about taking a man’s life no matter how little value it may have. But when you get it done, you have to forget it. I guess I haven’t quite got that last part down."

- Shane Walsh to Andrea.

Shane Walsh is Rick's partner and best friend since high school. After the initial outbreak, he begins to harbor feelings for Lori, Rick's wife. He is one of the main members of the survivors camped outside of Atlanta.

Overview
Shane was Rick Grimes's partner in the King County Sheriff's Department and best friend since high school. When the apocalypse occurred (with Rick in a coma) Shane helped save Lori Grimes and Carl Grimes by fleeing with them toward Atlanta.

Appearance and Personality
Shane was a fairly athletic built Caucasian male with dark brown curly hair, which he later shaves off.

During the first season, Shane was largely the secondary protagonist, having lead the group until Rick's arrival, and continued to be the de-facto second-in-command through out the first and second seasons, much to his apparent dismay, causing tension between the two former partners. During his incursions with Lori, he developed an obsession with her; and was never able to get his head around the fact that Lori left him for Rick, who was thought to be dead when he and Lori had their sexual encounters. Despite his strong leadership abilities, combat proficiency, skill with firearms (having been a former gun instructor) and protective instincts, Shane is largely morally unstable, and by season two has only one motive, to keep himself, Lori, her unborn child (who he believed to be his) and Carl safe, no matter what the cost. He believes himself to have the most pragmatic view of the apocalyptic world, and most qualified to lead the group in the post-apocalyptic hell. By season two, Shane becomes more of an antagonist, having shed his concepts of guilt, shame and moral correctness in favor of the concept of survival for himself and those he cares about by any means, even murdering his allies, going against the beliefs of the group, and betraying his former best-friend; leading to his eventual demise.

King County, Georgia
Shane and Rick were best friends throughout their childhood. Shane was an avid football enthusiast, playing on his school's team as number 22 (which he's reminded of by the necklace he wears). He was a known prankster, once stealing the principal's car. He had many casual relationships with girls - even once apparently having sex with the high school women's athletics teacher. Shane eventually went into police administration along with Rick, and the two soon worked as local deputies for the King County Sheriff's Department. He became close to Rick's family during this time. Throughout his adult life, Shane never married, and had instead stayed a womanizer.

"Days Gone Bye"
Shane and Rick are parked in a neighborhood inside their patrol car, eating french fries and having a discussion. Rick tells Shane about how his relationship with Lori is going bad since the two don't communicate too much. They receive a call from another patrol car from a nearby town that are pursuing two criminals heading into King County. Shane and Rick, with the help of Leon Basset and Lambert Kendal, block the road that leads to King County.

They get into a shootout with the two criminals as they crash their car before the roadblock, Rick is almost shot, but they manage to kill the two criminals. Due to a fail of communication, they didn't know that there was a third criminal inside the car, and this man manages to shoot Rick's back. Shane instantly shots the criminal dead, and then tells Leon to call an ambulance as he assists Rick. Some time later, Shane visits Rick in the hospital as he is still in coma. Shane brings flowers and says that everybody is waiting for him to wake up.

"TS-19"
In the first days of the apocalypse, Shane goes to the hospital where Rick is to rescue him. As he arrives, he finds out that the army is mercilessly shooting living people in the hallways. As walkers break into the building and distract the soldiers, Shane sneaks behind them and enters Rick's room. He watches confused, as there are lots of devices and Shane doesn't know what to do, he tries to put Rick on a litter, but a part of the hospital explodes, prompting the lights to go out. As the devices are turned off, Shane puts his head to Rick's chest and realizes he is not breathing anymore. Shane cries at the lost of his best friend, and then leaves the hospital without knowing that Rick is actually still alive.

"Bloodletting"
After the shootout where Rick was shot, Shane meets Lori to inform that her husband was shot during duty and is now in coma. Carl is going back from school and Shane offers to help Lori to tell him that his father was shot, but Lori refuses, saying that she can do this alone. Shane watches from far as Carl is informed of the bad news and hugs his mother crying.

Chupacabra
Shane assists Lori and Carl in their leave from King County and toward Atlanta, which was supposedly a refugee center. Just like many other people, they were stopped by a roadblock where they met the Peletier family, and watched in horror as Atlanta was destroyed by military helicopters.

"Days Gone Bye"
Shane got in a relationship with Lori after Rick's supposed death, he also became a surrogate father to Carl, he looked after both of them and made decisions that suited their best interest. Shane also became the leader of a group of people camping in a quarry near the entrance of Atlanta.

"Guts"
Shane and Lori have sexual relationship in the woods while they are away of the rest of the group. Shane notices Lori's wedding ring and is reminded of her husband Rick, but she continues to believe that he is dead as Shane told her and continues her relationship with Shane. Later, Shane is seen sitting around the campfire, teaching Carl how to tie knots and rope. They receive a radio message from people of their group that went on a supply run in Atlanta, but they can't understand exactly what they are saying. Shane believes that they are trapped there and there's nothing they can do about it, Amy calls Shane a "son of a bitch" since he refuses to go to Atlanta and rescue her sister.

"Tell It to the Frogs"
Shane is seen once again sitting in around the campfire cleaning his shotgun, he tells Carl how they are going to feed and protect the group like son and father. Much for everybody's surprise, the rest of the group that was trapped in Atlanta returns. Morales explains how a "new guy" helped them escape. Shane is shocked when Rick showed up, revealing himself to be the "new guy". At night, Rick is explaining how he woke up in the hospital and managed to get to Atlanta, where he met Morales and the others. Shane tells him that he tried to get Rick out of the hospital, but he thought Rick was dead when he arrived there. Lori, hugged with her husband, glares at him. Shane is seem again watching the camp at night, as he realizes that Rick and Lori are making love inside their tent. By the morning, Daryl Dixon arrives at the camp after spending some time hunting in the forest, he looks for his brother, Merle. Shane and Rick inform Daryl that Merle was left behind in Atlanta, as he became a problem to the group that was scavenging supplies.

Daryl says he's going after his brother. Rick, T-Dog and Glenn Rhee also offer to go with him. Shane tells Rick how this is a bad idea, since Merle would never risk his life for someone. Rick reveals that he also dropped a bag full of guns, and they need these weapons, Shane says that they need people to protect the camp, but Rick and the others depart anyway. After this, Shane and Carl are trying to catch frogs at the lake, Lori approaches them and discreetly orders Carl to stay away from Shane. After Carl leaves, Lori seethed at Shane and warned him to stay away from her family. "You think I'm not happy Rick's alive?" Shane asked. "Why would you be?" she responds. "You are the one that told me that he died." Lori storms off, leaving a broken Shane alone. Angered by Lori's comments, he oversees Ed hit his wife and threaten the other women, Shane then proceeds to beat Ed severely and threatens that if he ever touches anyone else at camp then the next time he will not stop punching.

"Vatos"
With Rick, Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog still out looking for Merle and the bag of guns Rick left in Atlanta, Shane continues on as the de-facto leader of the group. Jim has been digging for some reason constantly a bit away from camp, concerning the group. Shane goes to talk to him, but Jim appears paranoid and is acting strange. Shane subdues him until he calms down. Later on, after asking Jim why he was digging the graves, Jim says that he had a dream about it, but he didn't remember what was it. Amy and Andrea were able to caught fishes so the group could have dinner. At night, everyone is united around the campfire as they listen to Dale's stories. This is short-lived, however, as walkers invade the camp and begin to kill several of the survivors. Shane takes up the defense, guarding Lori and Carl specifically. Rick and the others then return well armed just in time from Atlanta and aid in successfully saving the camp, though the damage had already been done.

"Wildfire"
Following the attack on the Atlanta camp, the group had begun to dig holes for their deceased group members. While digging the holes, Rick, Lori and Shane discuss how to deal with Andrea over the issue of Amy’s death and reanimation. Shane stated that she was infected, and needed to be treated like any other walker. Rick attempted to approach Andrea, however, she pulled a gun on him stating that she knew how the safety works, forcing Rick to back off. Shane and Rick had an argument over whose fault the attack on the camp truly was. Shane blames Rick for taking people to a failed rescue mission in Atlanta, Rick defends himself saying that without the guns they brought back, they would've lost many others. During this argument, Jacqui revealed to the group that Jim had been bitten.

Shane and Rick head into the nearby woods to scout out the area, Shane tells Rick that they need to head to Fort Benning, since it's a secure military base. Rick however, believes the group needs to head to the CDC in Atlanta, so they can find a cure for Jim. After an heated argument between the two, Shane watched as Rick wandered off to search alone further off. In a state of impaired judgement, Shane raised his shotgun and took aim at Rick’s unsuspecting back. Shane holds his aim for several seconds then lowers his weapon as he comes back to his senses. This indiscretion was witnessed by Dale, who had been watching out of a mistrust of Shane. Shane, played it off as nothing, stating that "they should start wearing reflective vests such as the kind used by forklift drivers". Dale however did not believe him, but kept it to himself. They all returned to camp. Strangely enough, Shane starts to agree with Rick (despite some minor objections), which surprises both Rick and Lori. They all decide to leave camp and head for the CDC.

On the way, they are forced to leave Jim by the road, as he was not able to survive the infection and told the group that he wanted to be left behind so he would cause no trouble for the others. The group finally arrives at the CDC, the place seems abandoned, the sun sets and walkers begin to approach the group, Shane tries to convince Rick that they need to go back to the cars, but the entrance of the CDC opens just in time.

"TS-19"
Shane and the rest of the group are received into the CDC by Dr. Edwin Jenner. Everybody is shocked to learn that Dr. Jenner is the only survivor in the entire facility, and there is no cure for the virus. Even though, the group decides to celebrate their first real safe night by drinking and eating around a table in the facility's kitchen. Shane breaks the mood when he asks Dr. Jenner what happened there, prompting Jenner to reveal that most of the scientists committed suicide and others left to be with their families. After drinking too much, Shane drunkenly professed his love to Lori and tried to kiss her, which caused her to push him away. As this event turned into a struggle, Shane attempted fondling her between the legs to satisfy her only to have his neck and ear clawed by her nail. Angry and hurting, he returns to his senses as he leaves for the night. By the next day during breakfast, when T-Dog and Rick questioned Shane about the injuries, Shane said he probably did it to himself in his sleep. When Rick says that he's never done that before, Shane replies "Not like me at all," while eyeing Lori.

Dr. Jenner decides to reveal to the group everything that he learned about the infection and the events of reanimation, Dale notices that there is a clock running down, Jenner says that when it strikes zero, the facility will be out of fuel and will self-destruct. Shane, Rick, T-Dog and Glenn investigate the fuel tanks under the building, noticing that there is basically nothing left, they return to the main room. Dr. Jenner eventually locks the survivors in the facility during the final hour of a self-destruct count down, some of them listened to the man's reasoning, while others decided to take more drastic action. Shane, in the latter category along with Daryl Dixon, attempted threatening Jenner. In a moment of blind rage, fear and frustration, Shane aims his shotgun at the doctors head before demanding him to let them go. As the doctor refuses to comply, Shane begins to lose it. Even at the protests of Rick and Lori who know that they all would definitely die if he shot Jenner. Before the delusional man can pull the trigger, Rick attempts to stop him and the two friends fight for the shotgun. Rick manipulates the shotgun into hitting Shane before taking him down with a punch.

With Jenner's life momentarily spared, Rick is able to talk him out of deciding when they should die and allow them to escape. As a result, Jenner releases the doors before warning them that the main floor had sealed shut upon their arrival and would they would be facing indestructible glass. Everybody runs to leave the building, except for Jacqui and Andrea.

With minutes to escape, Shane remains vigilant in their escaping. He goes as far as to shoot out the glass but to no effect. Carol mentions she may have something that could help to which Shane says would probably be useless. Once again, the leader of the Atlanta survivors is wrong as Carol presents a grenade that Rick had left in his pocket the day he arrived at camp.

Rick pulls the pin and drops the explosive by the window, destroying an entire window, thus allowing them to escape to their vehicles. Andrea, after being convinced by Dale, also leaves the facility, leaving only Jacqui and Dr. Jenner inside. After the explosion, a stunned Shane drives the Jeep along with the convoy into an unknown and dangerous future.

"What Lies Ahead"
Shane is still envious of Rick and Lori. Rick assumed the post of leader of the group, they decide to take Shane's idea to leave Atlanta and head to Fort Benning, 125 miles away from the city. During the travel, Shane is teaching Andrea how to clean her gun when the group is forced to stop as the highway is blocked with several parked and crashed vehicles. Dale, who is driving the RV, decides to try to find a way through, but the radiator is blown, forcing them to stop. They decide to scavenge supplies from the vehicles so they can find something to fix the RV. A herd of more than thirty walkers approach their location, forcing everyone to hide under the cars as the herd passes by. Sophia is suddenly attacked by two walkers and runs into the forest, with Rick going after her. Shane and the rest stay put until Rick returns a few minutes later, he asks if Sophia is back, but nobody has seem her: Sophia is lost in the woods.

As Shane, Rick, Daryl and Glenn investigate the last place where Sophia was seem, Daryl is able to find her trail, Rick orders Shane and Glenn to get back to the highway and distract the group with simple tasks, like moving the cars out of the way so the RV can pass. While doing so, Carl approaches Shane, showing that he found a Gerber Gear inside one of the cars, Shane angrily tells Carl to take it to Dale. Lori approaches, telling Shane not to be rude with Carl because of what happened between them. Shane reveals that he decided to split away from the group at the first chance he gets. Rick and Daryl return as the night falls, they decide that they will continue the search for Sophia by the morning, taking more people with them. The following day, Shane accompanies the group as they continue to track for Sophia deeper into the woods. They find a tent in the middle of the forest, but no signs of Sophia nowhere near it, a bell began to ring nearby, the group decide to follow the sound and they soon find a church. Yet again, no signs of Sophia, the sound of the bell was actually a timer.

While Rick and the others are inside the church, Lori discusses with Shane against his idea of leaving the group. Andrea overhears the conversation and tells Shane that if he leaves, he needs to take her with him. Shane stays with Rick and Carl to continue the search a little longer as the others go back to the highway. The three find a deer and Rick tells Carl to go touch it. As Carl approaches it, they all hear a loud gun shot, and a bullet going through the deer and hitting Carl's chest.

"Bloodletting"
Rick runs with a unconscious Carl in his arms, Shane drags Otis (the man who accidentally shot Carl) along as they reach the Greene Family Farm to get Carl medical help. While Hershel Greene and his daughters attend to Carl's wound, Shane comforts Rick over his distraught. They learn that Hershel needs medical supplies so he can remove the bullet fragments and close the bleeding, or Carl will soon die from blood loss. Rick volunteers to find the necessary supplies, but is replaced by Shane, who tells Rick that he needs to stay put for Carl. Otis also volunteers to go with Shane, trying to redeem himself to Rick and Carl. The two get in Otis' truck and depart. As the night falls, Otis and Shane find the FEMA shelter in the entrance of a high school overrun with walkers. They create a distraction to retrieve supplies from a nearby trailer, but are discovered by the walkers as they exit, and are forced to seek refuge inside the high school as walkers storm their location.

"Save the Last One"
Shane and Otis sprint through the hallways with numerous walkers in hot pursuit, and are forced to seek refuge on top of a set of retracted bleachers in the gymnasium. With not enough ammo to deal with the walkers outright, Otis devises an escape plan, saying that he will run back into the halls to attract the walkers while Shane makes his way out through a small window. When Shane calls Otis crazy, Otis tells him that he is just trying to do what's right for Carl. The two split up, Shane ends up injuring his ankle when he drops from the window of the gymnasium.

Outside and limping, Shane grows desperate as walkers begin to corner him, but gets help from Otis, who managed to survive the halls full of walkers. They are running back to the truck, with Shane limping and Otis exhausted, they notice that they are not going to make it, as the walkers are closing in on them. Flashing forward, a solemn Shane returns to the farm just in time with the medical supplies and without Otis. He mentions that Otis acted heroically, letting the walkers get him so Shane could escape alive. Everyone praises him, including Lori. Hershel is able to save Carl's life thanks to the medical supplies.

Inside the house, Shane watches as Hershel and Rick comforts Patricia over the loss of her husband, Otis. Shane checks in on Carl, as Lori tells him not to leave the group. Maggie Greene approaches Shane, giving him clean clothes, saying that they were Otis'. At the bathroom, Shane washes up, and sees a bloody cut on his scalp, evidence of some kind of struggle. Staring in the mirror, Shane flashes back to the moment when he and Otis were running for their lives.

Shane notices that the walkers would eventually overtake them both, which effectively would doom Carl's fate. He stops running and shoots Otis with his last bullet to cover his escape. As Otis drops to the pavement, a brutal fight ensues as Shane tries to strip Otis of his weapons and supplies. During the struggle, Otis managed to rip off some of Shane's hair, explaining the cut on his scalp. Walkers close in and Shane limps away as Otis screams in terror and pain while the walkers rip him apart. Back to the present, Shane shaves his head to disguise the evidence of his betrayal and struggle with Otis. He stares darkly at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

"Cherokee Rose"
Shane soon finds himself in an awkward position when he is asked to speak on behalf of Otis at his funeral, as he was the last one to see him alive. With Patricia's sorrowful, tear-filled eyes fixated on him, Shane conjures up a heroic tale of Otis saying "We gotta save the boy," and intentionally putting himself in harm's way for the greater good. Shane's tale, of course, contrasts with the fact that Otis had not willingly given himself up, but instead was betrayed and left for dead. The group is allowed to stay in the farm as Carl heals from the gunshot and they still need to find the missing Sophia. Later, Shane participates in the operation to retrieve a walker from the bottom of a well, which goes awry when the walker disintegrates under its own weight, contaminating the well. Shane is also seem continuing tutoring Andrea on firearms, as the two start to form a bond.

"Chupacabra"
The survivors continue the search for Sophia, and Shane participates despite his still-ailing ankle and internal conflicts. While him and Rick search through the forest, he begins to display signs of his deteriorating moral values to fellow survivors when he disagrees with Rick about continuing the search for Sophia, arguing that Rick lacks the ability to make the right decisions when those decisions are also difficult. After returning from the search, Shane opens a similar discussion with Lori, but receives little support as Lori is in support of her husband, saying that she and Carl are not his problem, nor his 'excuse.'

Later on, Andrea spots a walker approaching the farm, everyone is alerted and prepared to go kill it, when in fact they discover it was Daryl, covered in mud and blood after an accident with Hershel's horse; Andrea didn't notice it was him though, and shoots him anyway, grazing Daryl with a bullet. Rick and Shane helps Daryl back to the house and get him medical attention from Hershel. Daryl reveals that he found Sophia's doll by the river, giving Rick even more hope of finding Sophia, but Shane tells Lori that he believes that Rick is going to get someone killed with this search. Shane and the others are later seen at the awkward dinner at Hershel's house, as the Atlanta group and Hershel's family seem not to stabilize a good relationship with each other.

"Secrets"
Shane gets Hershel's permission to do some gun practice with the group and some members of the Greene Family. Carl approaches Shane and asks him to teach him how to shoot too. At first Lori is opposed but Rick convinces her to let Shane teach Carl. At the training, most of the group does fairly well, and Andrea seems to excel. Shane gives her some private tutoring after the rest of the group head back to the farmhouse. Shane is an expert instructor, but while trying to distract Andrea as part of the lesson, he mentions Amy's death and upsets her. They make up as part of an agreement that Shane is to take Andrea with him on a mission to investigate a lead on Sophia, she accepts and they go on to search some houses in a small neighborhood called Wiltshire Estates.

The lead is a dead end, but turns out to be an opportunity for Shane to administer one final shooting lesson - a live exercise with walkers. Andrea struggles to find a groove at first, but transforms her fear into sheer determination, and the pair of them make the heads of all nearby walkers splatter their crimson contents onto the pavement. Exhilarated, Andrea makes a move on Shane on the ride back and the two have sex in the car. Back at camp, the secret of Shane and Lori is revealed to Rick, though it is not clear at this point if Shane or Rick is the father of Lori's baby. On returning, Dale notices the strange behavior of Andrea as she talks to Shane. Feeling worried for Andrea, Dale confronts Shane by saying "I know the kind of man you are." He furthermore tells Shane to leave the group for good, bringing up the suspicious nature of Otis's death, as well as Shane's attempted "assassination" of Rick that Dale witnessed back in the Atlanta camp. This resulted in Shane threatening Dale's life.

"Pretty Much Dead Already"
During breakfast, Shane and the group finds out from Glenn that there are walkers locked in the barn. Rick is concerned about their safety, he wants to talk to Hershel about this, but Shane suggests that they open the barn and kill every single walker. After calming everyone down, Rick convinces the group to wait for him to negotiate with Hershel. Shane insists having a guard watching the barn at all times until Rick can find a diplomatic solution, but his patience for diplomacy is quickly depleted. After a failed attempt to convince Hershel to let them stay, Rick and Shane argue at the barn and Shane has lost almost all confidence in Rick's decision-making abilities. Rick tells Shane that simply leaving the farm isn't an option, and that Lori is pregnant.

After Rick leaves, Shane confronts Lori saying that he is the father of the baby, but she says that the baby will never be his, even if it is his biologically. Shane tells her that only he can protect her and Carl because Rick isn't cut out for this world, he blames Rick for the death of Amy, Jim and many others back at the Atlanta Camp while Rick was risking his life trying to save a drug dealer. Shane walks away and is stopped by Carl. Carl tells him that they have to go after Sophia and that they have to stay at the farm. Shane agrees, but tells Carl they may have to fight for it. Lori calls to Carl to get him away from Shane. Immediately, Shane goes to the RV to get the bag of guns, only to find them missing, Glenn tells Shane that Dale asked him to get some water, but when he came back, Dale wasn't there anymore. Shane deduces that Dale is responsible for the disappearance of the guns, he tracks Dale down into the forest and finds him hiding the bag under a tree. Shane once again threatens Dale's life, ordering him to give the bag of guns back, Dale asks if Shane is going to do to him the same thing he did to Otis, Shane says that they don't need that, since Dale is "pretty much dead already". Dale tells Shane that he belongs to this world as it is and gives him the bag.

Shane returns to the farm with weapons and begins rallying the troops in opposition of Hershel's harboring walkers. In the distance, Hershel and Rick are returning with two captured walkers. The sight is enough to send the already seething Shane over the edge. To Hershel's horror, Shane repeatedly shoots one of the captured walkers to illustrate that it is not human. Spurred by Rick, Shane finishes the walker off with a bullet in the head point-blank. He then says that if they want to survive, they have to 'fight for it,' and furiously opens the barn doors. Rick can't do nothing about it, since he is holding another walker. Shane and the other survivors massacre the walkers as they file out of the barn, Shane also shoots down the walker Rick is holding. As the Greene Family watches in horror, a last walker leaves the barn, and it's the reanimated Sophia. Everyone is shocked and saddened, including Shane himself, Rick realizes what has to be done; he gets his gun, points it at Sophia's head and pulls the trigger.

"Nebraska"
As the Greene Family and friends walk back to the house, Shane accuses Hershel of knowing about Sophia's whereabouts, but Hershel denies knowing that she was in the barn, speculating that Otis had put her there before he died, and angrily orders Rick's group to leave the farm. Rick ridicules Shane for his actions, but Shane mocks Rick's failed diplomacy with Hershel, and criticizes his decision to continue the search for Sophia. Tensions worsen between Shane and Dale as Shane asks what Dale does to protect the camp but Dale doesn't reply, then Shane mocks Dale, saying that next time he needs a radiator hose he will go to him. Everyone, except Carol, attends to the funeral of Sophia, Annette Greene and Shawn Greene. Shane is washing up at a water pump when Carol emerges from the forest, muddy and scratched. Shane cleans her cuts and apologizes for what happened to Sophia, he also states that if he knew Sophia was in there he would have never opened it and he was only thinking about the safety of his fellow survivors. After Beth Greene goes into shock, the group discovers that Hershel is gone and finding his flask in his bedroom, Maggie suggests that he is at a local bar in town, Rick and Glenn decide to look for him. Shane once again criticizes Rick's action with Lori, saying that they are wasting time going after Hershel. As the night falls, Shane and T-Dog burn down the corpses of the walkers from the barn.

"Triggerfinger"
While having dinner at the house, the group finds out that Lori is missing. Daryl tells the group that she must've go look for Rick herself at the town, Shane immediately goes to find Lori. He arrives at a crash site, and all he finds is two walkers Lori killed. He eventually drives further on and finds Lori still heading into town despite her accident. Shane lies to Lori and says that Rick has already returned to get her to return to the farm. When they return, Lori finds out that Shane lied, she confronts him but he defends himself to the group, saying he was only protecting the baby, revealing to everyone, including Carl, that Lori is pregnant. After Lori is patched up, Shane have a calm conversation with her, saying that what they had before Rick came back was real, and that he knows that the baby is his.

By the morning, Rick still didn't return, Shane, Andrea and Daryl are preparing to go search for them when they arrive back at the farm, bringing a captive, Randall. The group argues on what to do with Randall, Rick says they will fix him up and than drop him off to defend himself, but Shane thinks that he will tell his group where the farm is and this will start a war. Hershel reminds Shane that it is his farm and while he is there he needs to keep his mouth shut. Outside, Shane and Andrea discuss what the group should do about Randall, Shane tells her that they are the only people that notice how Rick and Hershel's actions are going to get the whole group killed, and they can't stand there watching and let this happen.

"18 Miles Out"
One week after the events of the previous episode, Rick and Shane drive down a country road. Rick stops the car short of their destination — 18 miles away from the farm — to confront Shane: Rick knows what happened with Otis, and he knows about Shane's affair with Lori. Rick asks Shane if he believes Rick is unable to keep his family safe. "You can't just be the good guy and expect to live," Shane replies, "That is my wife, that is my son, that is my unborn child," Rick says. He would do anything for them. Rick opens the SUV to check on Randall, who's bound, gagged and blindfolded in the trunk.

Back on the road, Rick makes plans for the coming winter, explaining that they have to conserve ammunition and stockpile food. Shane listens passively, staring out the window at a lone walker ambling through a field. Rick drives past the 18-mile mark, looking to leave Randall somewhere he'll have a chance. He pulls up to a public works station surrounded by a fence. A walker in police uniform approaches. Shane draws his gun but Rick stops him. Rick cuts his finger and wipes blood on the fence. When the walker presses his face against it, Rick stabs it in the head. "Gun's quick, easy," Rick says, "but there are other ways to do this." A second walker in uniform approaches, and Shane follows suit.

After checking if the place is secure, Rick siphons gas as Shane examines the policeman's bodies, noticing they haven't been bitten. Rick points to scratches that likely caused their transformation. Shane and Rick drag Randall to the pavement. Rick drops a knife on the ground as he and Shane walk away, Randall begs them not to abandon him, trying to explain he's a normal guy. "I went to school with Maggie for God's sake!" he screams. Shane and Rick freeze. "He knows where the farm is," Shane speculates, drawing his gun. Rick tackles Shane as he pulls the trigger, forcing Shane to miss Randall. Rick argues he needs time to think about what to do. Shane counters that Randall could lead his people to the farm and accuses Rick of putting Lori and Carl in danger by sparing him. "I don't think you can keep them safe," Shane concludes. The two best friends begin brawling. Shane topples a motorcycle onto Rick, briefly trapping him. He goes to Randall and aims his gun, but Rick tackles Shane before he can fire. Frustrated, Shane grabs a wrench and hurls it at Rick. Rick dodges the wrench but it goes through a building window which causes dozens of walkers to begin pouring out through the broken window. Rick hides under a corpse as Shane flees the onslaught.

Without his gun, that he lost while fighting Rick, Shane barricades himself in a school bus against the walkers. As Shane looks through the window, he notices Rick and Randall abandoning him, leaving him for the dead. Shane decides to use Rick's strategy from earlier, he cuts his hand and wipes the blood on the side of the door, as walkers press their faces against the blood, Shane stabs them in the head.

He eventually loses his knife, losing ground to the walkers, when the SUV bursts through a nearby gate. As Randall drives, Rick leans out the window telling Shane to run to the back of the bus as he shoots the walkers. Shane does so and dives into the SUV, the three finally escape the public station. Back on the road, Shane and Rick restrain Randall and toss him in the trunk once again. Alone, Rick admits he'll likely kill Randall — but he's still going to think it over. "That is my wife, that is my son, that is my child," Rick repeats. "You wanna be with us, you gotta follow my lead." Rick returns Shane's gun to him. "It's time for you to come back," Rick says. While driving back to the farm, Shane watches as the same walker seem previously is still ambling through a field.

"Judge, Jury, Executioner"
Daryl reports to the rest of the group that Randall's group is well armed and in large number, Rick declares Randall a threat, and that he must be killed. From inside the slaughter shed, Randall overhears Shane approaching with Carl. Carl is curious about the prisoner, but Shane insists he let the grown-ups handle it. Shane asks Andrea, who's standing guard outside, if she would stop him if he were to try to shoot Randall. She insists she would. Shane shares his suspicion that Rick won't be able to go through with the execution. "Every time we have a problem around here," he says, "who you thinks behind it?". Meanwhile, Carl watches Randall from the rafters of the slaughter shed. Randall notices him. "I didn't do nothin'," Randall tells Carl, begging to be set free. Carl slowly starts walking toward Randall, but is halted when Shane enters. Shane shoves a gun in Randall's face and drags Carl out of the shed. "Quit trying to get yourself killed," Shane scolds. Later on, Dale approaches Shane and tries to convince him to spare Randall. Shane gives Dale credit for the effort, and says that if Dale convinces the others, he'll go along with it. "But I'm telling you now," Shane warns Dale that he is wrong.

By the sunset, the group is united inside the house to decide if killing Randall is their final decision. Shane says he believes they need to kill him, but he won't have a problem if they decide to let him live, however, only Dale and Andrea are against the idea of executing Randall. A disgusted Dale says that the group is broken and leaves the house. As the night falls, Rick, Shane and Daryl bring Randall to the barn and put him on his knees. Rick asks if he has any final words. Randall cries, begging for his life. As Rick raises his gun, Carl enters the barn. "Do it, Dad," he says. Shocked, Rick lowers his gun and orders Randall taken away. Shane storms out of the barn. While reuniting at the camp, the group hear screams coming from the field, everybody runs to investigate what it is. Daryl gets to the scene first, where a walker is on top of Dale, tearing into his stomach. Daryl stabs the walker in the head, then shouts for help. Dale's intestines are spilling out of his body; he goes into shock. When Hershel arrives, he reports that Dale can't be saved. Shane encourages Rick to shoot Dale and put him out of his misery, but Rick can't go through with it, so Daryl is the one that shoots Dale out of mercy.

"Better Angels"
Shane attends Dale's funeral. He later goes into the fields with Daryl, Andrea and T-Dog as they viciously beat walkers to death. Rick then later tells Shane to watch over everyone at the farm while he and Daryl leave to cut Randall loose. Shane doesn't fully agree with Ricks plan of letting Randall go. Rick then tells Shane, "This is what's happening. Swallow it." Rick, not fully trusting Shane, tells Andrea to watch over (babysit) Shane. Later, while loading lumber, Shane is visited by Carl. He gives Shane Daryl's gun confessing that he took it. He also tells Shane that Dale's death was his fault. He saw the walker that killed him stuck in the mud. He stated that he could have killed it. Instead he threw rocks at it until it got free and attacked him.

While building a lookout spot, Shane is approached by Lori, she thanks him for everything he did for her and Carl since the start of the outbreak, but he needs to understand that they will never be together again. Infuriated by this, Shane approaches Rick and tells him he needs to talk to Carl instead of worrying about Randall. While Rick talks to his son, Shane approaches Randall in the shed. He leads Randall out into the woods, and behind a tree where he snaps his neck. Shane hits his face against a tree to make it look as if a struggle ensued between he and Randall. He runs back to the group and says Randall got the jump on him and is now free. Daryl, Glenn, Rick and Shane leave to hunt for him at nightfall.

While in the woods, Rick and Daryl notice that Shane is strangely agitated, Shane insists that they need to split into teams and search through the forest for Randall. Rick and Shane end up splitting from Daryl and Glenn. Rick soon realizes that it's Shane's plan to shoot and kill him. Rick turns around and tells Shane that nobody will believe him if he goes back to the farm without him and without Randall. Shane explains that he killed Randall earlier and have everything planned to fool the rest of the group into believing that Randall actually killed Rick. He tells Rick he is a better father than he is and that him returning only messed things up. Shane orders Rick to raise his gun so they can end this once for all.

Rick refuses to defend himself, telling Shane that he's going have to kill an unarmed man. Rick makes it seem as though he's handing Shane his weapon, once his gun is in Shane's hand, Rick pulls out his knife and stabs Shane in his heart, "This is on you, not me! You did this to us, not me!" Rick screams. Shane then dies in his arms. As Rick tries to cope with what just happened, Carl appears, shocked to see Shane dead. He aims his gun at what at first we assume to be Rick, but is actually a now zombified Shane. Carl pulls the trigger, killing the reanimated Shane. Rick looks back confused. The shot alerts a mass herd of walkers, Rick and Carl bend over to check the corpse of Shane while not noticing the wave of zombies approaching in the horizon.

"Beside the Dying Fire"
Carl questions his father about Shane's death, although Rick is not able to reply after spotting the herd of walkers approaching. When the survivors flee the farm, Rick admits to Lori about the events surrounding Shane's death, shocking Lori, who starts to avoid her husband. When Rick's leadership is questioned among the group, Rick snaps and mentions his part in killing Shane, stunning the group, Carl included. Rick defends himself by explaining Shane's plan to murder him.

"Seed"
Shane is mentioned by Carol when she tells Daryl that Shane could never have taken the group as far as Rick did once they arrived at The Prison.

"Hounded"
Shane is mentioned by Rick when he is explaining to his own hallucination about the people he has killed in the past, he says that Shane forgot who he was.

"When the Dead Come Knocking"
Shane is mentioned by Glenn while being interrogated by Merle. Glenn was trying to threaten Merle by lying about several members still being alive, including Shane and Jim. Glenn then makes the mistake of saying Andrea is alive and with the group, leading Merle to smirk.

"Made to Suffer"
During the attack on Woodbury to save Maggie and Glenn, Rick hallucinates Shane coming out of the smoke with his shotgun. "Shane" then shoots and kills Oscar, and is then killed by Rick. Afterward, Rick walks over to the body to see that it was just a soldier from Woodbury.

"Home"
Shane is mentioned by Rick when he is talking to Hershel about his hallucinations.

"I Ain't a Judas"
Shane is mentioned by Andrea when she questions his whereabouts upon her arrival to the prison. Rick does not say anything, but she later learns from Carol that he was killed by Rick, that the whole Randall escaping thing was part of his plans to take back his position of leader. He's also mentioned by Glenn while arguing with Rick about Merle.

"Arrow on the Doorpost"
Shane is mentioned during the meeting between The Governor and Rick. The Governor, trying to get inside Rick's head, brings up his knowledge about Rick being cuckold and raising Shane's child as his own.

Killed By
Shane lures Rick out to a field in the middle of the forest by pretending to look for an escaped Randall, however Rick realizes Shane's story and comes to the conclusion that Shane brought him out there to kill him. Rick makes it seem as though he's handing Shane his weapon, as he refused to be armed. Once his gun is in Shane's hand, Rick pulls out his knife and stabs Shane in the chest, saying he brought this on himself. Shane then dies.
 * Rick Grimes (Alive)

As Rick tries to cope with what happened, Carl appears, shocked to see Shane dead. He aims his gun at what at first we assume to be Rick, but is actually a now-zombified Shane. Carl pulls the trigger, killing a zombified Shane.
 * Carl Grimes (Zombified)

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Shane has killed:
 * Unnamed Criminal
 * Robb Spanner (Zombified)
 * Patty Taylor (Zombified)
 * Otis (Caused)
 * Louise Bush (Zombified)
 * Doug (Zombified)
 * Greene Farm Inhabitants (Zombified)
 * Randall
 * Numerous counts of zombies.

Rick Grimes
"I'm a better husband then you Rick, I'm a better father then you, I'm a better man then you Rick!"

- Shane to Rick as he holds him at gunpoint.

Rick was Shane's partner and were best friends ever since high school. They were practically brothers. Rick often turned to him when he faced problems concerning his marriage to Lori. The outbreak, however, had put a strain on their good relationship. Believing Rick was dead when he did not wake up from his coma, Shane started an affair with his wife. Rick quickly realized what happened but concealed his anger. Shane was extremely jealous of Rick because Lori still loved him. He believed that he was better for Lori and Carl and that Rick was weak.

In "18 Miles Out", their relationship begins to spiral out of control when Rick and Shane physically fight each other, with Shane triggering a swarm of walkers that attacked them. In the end Shane decides that it would be best to get rid of Rick because, in his mind, Rick was weaker and unable to make tough decisions and therefore unfit to lead the survivors (despite the fact that Rick saved his life when he was trapped in a school bus). Shane's ruthless behavior and dislike of Rick's leadership eventually caused his demise.

Shane appears briefly as a hallucination to Rick in the heat of a vicious gunfight, to which Rick promptly shoots and kills him, later realizing it was a Woodbury soldier. The hallucination reveals that killing Shane still weighs heavily on his conscience.

Lori Grimes
Lori and Shane had presumably known each other for years. Pre-apocalypse, they both lived in the same small town in Georgia. It is mentioned that Shane had been a real DIY kind of guy and even showed up Rick by fixing the Grimes' sink. After believing that Rick had died in hospital, Shane, sparing no thought for himself, accompanied Lori and Carl to Atlanta, where they believed a refugee center to be. It is implied that on the way there, Shane and Lori had a sexual encounter, both desperately needing physical contact amid the chaos and grief surrounding. When the survivors are stationed outside of Atlanta, Lori sneaks off into the woods to meet Shane for a romantic tryst (Shane later mentions that the pair "carried on quite a bit" in these times). Rick's reunion with his family and Shane is bittersweet, as Shane struggles to accept that Rick has rightfully resumed his role as a protector, father and lover. Consequently, friction between the trio worsens and is further complicated by Lori's pregnancy- and the truth that Shane could very well be the baby's father. To Lori, he insists that their affair had been "a long time coming", implying that there could possibly have been romantic tension present prior to the zombie breakout. But she continues to deny that any real feelings had ever existed between them.

At a bid to eliminate the threat of her former lover (and bury her regretted mistake for good), Lori warns Rick of Shane's erratic behavior and implies that Rick should handle him before he does something dangerous. However, after Dale's funeral in "Better Angels", she appears to have had a change of heart, not only apologizing to Shane for putting him at odds with Rick, but also acknowledging that he hadn't misinterpreted the feelings between them. Lori is overwhelmed with shock, grief and anger when learning that Rick killed Shane and she reacts even more horrified that Carl shot Shane once he turned into a walker.

Andrea
"Between the two of us, we make a great third wheel."

- Andrea to Shane about them not fitting in.

At first, Andrea and Shane did not make much contact with each other during the group's time in Atlanta. But, once they were on the highway, Shane began teaching Andrea how to properly use her gun. They then went on to search for Sophia by themselves in a housing estate, and when a herd came through, Shane's shooting lessons payed off as Andrea began putting down walker after walker. The two then had a sexual encounter on the way back to the farm. When Andrea is naming the people who died to Merle she excludes Shane, unaware of his death due to being left behind before Rick informed the group of his demise. Andrea is later informed of Shane's death by Carol when she arrives at The Prison, and appears shocked to learn that Rick was responsible for murdering Shane because Shane staged Randall's death to lure Rick out to kill him.

Dale Horvath
"Well maybe we oughta just think that through. See, if I'm the kind of man that would gun down his own best friend, what'd you think I do to some guy I that I don't even like when he starts throwing accusations my way. Whadda'yu think?"

- Shane to Dale after being accused of trying to kill Rick.

Dale never had a good attitude towards Shane. He always considered him a threat since he saw Shane aiming his gun sights on Rick while he was scouting ahead in the woods during the episode "Wildfire." Whenever Carl got shot by a man named Otis in the episode "Bloodletting," they took him to the Greene Family Farm so a man named Hershel could help him. When they needed supplies to help Carl, Shane and Otis went to a school to gather the supplies. When Shane came back alone without Otis after the trip, Dale knew that Shane shot and killed Otis in order to save his own life. Since then, Dale kept an eye on Shane and considered him danger to the group.

Lambert Kendal
Similar to Rick, not much is known of the two's relationship other than they were colleagues. However, he along with his partner, Leon, were seen in the background in the episode, "Bloodletting", helping Shane give the bad news to Lori.

Merle Dixon
"Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?"

- Shane to Rick about going back for Merle.

Shane and Merle were never seen together, but Shane did not like Merle much. He even went as far as to attempt and convince Rick not to go back for Merle and the Bag of Guns after Merle was handcuffed and abandoned in Atlanta. In Season 2, when Shane had a talk with Lori about Rick's abilities of being a leader, one of Rick's characteristics that was mentioned was when how he went back for Merle on a, "suicide mission to save a drug dealer."

Ed Peletier
"You put your hands on your wife, your little girl, or anybody else in this camp one more time, I will not stop next time, do you hear me? DO YOU HEAR ME?! I'll beat you to death, Ed."

- Shane to Ed after beating him.

Ed and Shane had a fairly violent relationship, due to Shane's protectiveness over the women in the Atlanta Camp. When Ed erected a separate bonfire for his family, Shane attempted to peacefully remove it, but Ed objected, before Carol finally did it herself. Following Ed's angry yelling and beating of the women doing laundry in the creek, Shane berated Ed, knocking him to the ground, and beating his face into a swollen, bruised pulp. Ed remained distant before his death, deciding to remain in his tent most of the time, shameful of his face's condition and fearful and angry at Shane's superiority.

Appearances
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Trivia

 * Shane's character development up until "Wildfire" bears strong similarities to his development in the Comic Series. The first and most notable change in his development came from his lifespan in the TV Series compared to the Comic Series.
 * In the Comic Series, Shane is killed very early on by Carl in the forests of Atlanta, ending the first volume.
 * In the TV Series, he survives Season 1, leaving the forest and Atlanta with the group. He survives long enough to encounter the Greene Family Farm, living longer than Sophia and Dale, and learning that Lori is pregnant, before being killed in a similar fashion to the Comic Series by Rick and Carl.
 * Shane's signature sidearm is a Glock 17.
 * Shane, despite having been one of the "leaders" of the group, had notable setbacks that Rick did not appear to have. Most of these were based around his temper and his willingness to forget his humanity in order to survive.
 * Shane is the first person in the TV Series to cause the death of a living character, Otis.
 * Jon Bernthal had tried to convince executive producer Gregory Nicotero to allow him be the only zombie with a speaking line, “Riiiiiick," but Nicotero declined.
 * Jeffrey DeMunn, who portrayed Dale in the TV Series, flew in from New York to watch the filming of Shane's final scene.
 * Shane's death is "reversed" in the TV Series when compared to the Comic Series. In the Comic Series, he was first killed by Carl, then killed again as a walker by Rick. In the TV Series, he is first killed by Rick and shot by Carl after reanimation.
 * The time-frame between Shane's death and his reanimation process is quite different between the Comic Series and the TV Series.
 * In the Comic Series, the survivors had time to both bury and mourn Shane's death without any complications.
 * In the TV Series, he reanimates in the matter of minutes.
 * Shane's death was accidentally leaked by the AMC TV store on March 1, 2012 in promotional materials for the Season 2 Blu-Ray set. Photos of Shane as a zombie were similarly leaked and posted on many websites, including The Walking Dead Wiki.
 * In reviewing Shane's death, The Atlantic wrote: "With Shane out of the picture in the comics, Otis doesn't die until a zombie attack that happens many issues later. And 94 issues into the series, Sophia is still going strong. (Viewed in this light, the TV series is a kind of Bizarro-World version of It's a Wonderful Life for Shane: How many lives were worse because he lived?)."
 * Robert Kirkman said Shane's death was planned for the TV Series adaptation "before the first episode of season one was shot." "Frank Darabont had actually planned to do it at the end of the first season before he knew that the first season was going to be six episodes. Once the show was given a six-episode order it was decided that we would hold Shane’s death for the second season. But from the very first day of planning the second season it was mapped out that Shane would be kicking the bucket at the end of this season."
 * Glen Mazzara explained why Shane became a walker in "Better Angels" much faster than Amy, and why he still turned despite not getting bit: "We worked hard to make sure that revelation landed. We knew what we were doing there. We knew it would land a punch. We've never had a main character become a zombie to this extent. Those [rapid flashes of zombie mayhem] represent the storm in Shane’s brain to some extent … Amy was a weaker character. Shane is in a murderous rage … he’s going to reanimate quicker. There’s just more life in that zombie, believe it or not. We do have internal rules for that."
 * Shane was also the first person that Rick saw reanimate without being bit, unlike Julie who reanimated by being shot by Chris in the Comic Series.
 * Shane is one of the few characters to have appeared in almost every form of Walking Dead media, having appeared in the Comic Series, TV show, Video Game, Assault, and Social Game.
 * Shane is older than his comic counterpart, being in his mid-30's while in the comic book he is 25.
 * At the 2012 Emerald City Comic-Con featuring a panel with Jon Bernthal and Laurie Holden, Bernthal revealed what his version of Shane's death would have been. The ending would have been the same up until the point when Shane and Rick walk into the clearing while searching for Randall. Rick would have asked why they are stopping in the field as they need to find their prisoner, to which Shane would have confessed that he had killed Randall which is a job Rick should have done himself. Shane then would have pulled his gun on Rick leading to similar dialogue between the two men as in the final episode, with the second change being that Shane would have admitted he was there to kill Rick. Rick would then have had similar dialogue as in the episode asking why he was doing this, as he thought they settled their issues in "18 Miles Out." Rick would have then thrown his gun away, instead of holding it in a non-confrontational position, insisting that Shane would have to kill an unarmed man. Shane would have then charged Rick and putting his gun into Ricks' face using the same insults as in the final episode about Carl and Lori, but adding a new insult such as "I tasted your wife." Rick would have then stabbed Shane to death as in the final episode, having the same dialogue as in the episode telling Shane it was his fault that he was being killed, not his own. When Shane would have came back as a zombie, Rick (having thrown his gun away), would have picked up Shane's gun to shoot him. When attempting to pull the trigger Rick would come to the realization that Shane never put any ammo into his gun, and must've brought Rick out there to have him kill him, forcing Rick to finally be more like Shane. Carl would have then had shown up and killed zombified Shane, similarly again to the final episode.