| This article is about the TV Series character. You may be looking for his Comic Series or Small Bites counterpart. For other pages with the same name, see: Sam |
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Sam Anderson is a survivor of the outbreak in AMC's The Walking Dead. He is a resident of the Alexandria Safe Zone, alongside his mother Jessie, his father Pete, and his brother Ron.
Quick Answers
What is Sam Anderson's role in the Walking Dead series?
How does Sam Anderson's character evolve in the Walking Dead?
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How does Sam Anderson's innocence impact his survival in the Walking Dead?
Overview
Sam is an innocent, immature, and naïve boy. Despite his innocence, Sam has had to deal with being abused by his father. At one point, he asks Carol for a gun so he can deal with Pete's abuse. Carol is shown to be very cold and blunt when dealing with Sam, threatening to tie him to a tree and let him be eaten by walkers when he sees her in the armory. Due to being sheltered within the walls of Alexandria, Sam proves to be unable to cope with the harsh reality of the apocalypse. While going through a horde covered in walker guts, he begins to break down when he sees a child walker and remembers Carol's threat. This would lead to his death, along with his mother and brother.
Pre-Apocalypse
United States
Nothing is known about Sam's life prior to or as the outbreak began, except that he had a mother, a father, and an older brother.
Post-Apocalypse
Season 5
"Remember"
While Rick Grimes takes a stroll in the streets of Alexandria, Sam can be seen in the distance on a walk with his mother, Jessie, and brother, Ron.
"Forget"
Sam is in attendance at Deanna Monroe's welcoming party for the newcomers and meets his mother's friend Rick. Sam asks if he could stamp Rick's hand to officially welcome him into the community, and Rick allows it playfully. Sam pulls out one of his stamps and presses it against Rick's hand. Unbeknownst to Sam or his mother, Rick is actually quite disturbed by the stamp, as it is a red "A", which is the same symbol that the people of Terminus had used against him. Sam complains to his mother that there are no more cookies, but Rick reassures him that his very nice friend, Carol Peletier, will make plenty more cookies for him. Later, when Carol sneaks into the armory, it is revealed that Sam followed her inside. He understands what she is doing and asks why she is doing it. She says that it is no concern of his and she threatens him, telling him not to say anything regarding Carol at the armory else he'll find himself tied to a tree far from Alexandria being eaten by walkers. Also, in return for being a "smart boy" in staying quiet, she'd give him "lots and lots of" cookies. After this very graphic threat, he nods meekly, obviously very scared.
"Spend"
Sam is caught by Carol after breaking in unnoticed, digging through her pantry looking for possible leftover cookies from Deanna's party. After complaining to Carol that the power at his house is out, and that he cannot work on his owl statue as it is broken, he asks her if she can teach him how to make cookies. Before Sam is almost pushed outside, Carol reluctantly agrees, but under the terms that Sam returns with a stolen half of a chocolate bar from Olivia.
Sam later returns to Carol with the stolen chocolate and is let inside. After the baking is placed in the oven, Sam attempts to make conversation while they wait, asking if she has always been a good cook, leading her to explain that she used to do it when she was upset, which causes Sam to admit that he breaks things when he feels the same way. After some pressure, he confesses to breaking his owl statue out of frustration. When asked why he would do that, he hesitates and asks Carol why she would steal guns from the armory, which she responds to by saying that sometimes you need to protect yourself. After hearing this, Sam asks if he could have one, but when asked why, he claims that it is not for him. Soon after being asked who it was for, Sam then hesitates and runs away out of fear. However, this eventually leads to Carol learning that Pete is abusing Jessie and possibly Sam.
"Try"
As Carol makes a casserole for the Monroe family, Sam can be seen peering through Carol's kitchen window. Carol talked to Sam about his family, and he reveals that his mother build a lock on his closet door, so he can lock himself in when Pete gets angry. Sam also mentions that one time, things got quiet during an argument between his parents, where he came out to find Jessie bleeding and unconscious with Pete simply sitting on the porch with a cigarette in his hand. The next day, Sam can be seen playing in the streets with his toy boat and balloon. He hides behind Carol when his dad gets into a fight with Rick.
Season 6
"First Time Again"
Sam briefly appears in a flashback, in his mother's arms after the death of his father; it is not clear if he witnessed it personally, saw the body or was told by someone.
"JSS"
Sam first appears moping on the steps of Carol's house, clutching the "A" stamp he used on Rick at the welcoming party. Carol scolds him for still being upset over Pete's death, telling him that it happened and to get over it. When the Wolves attack Alexandria and begin slaughtering its residents, Sam pleads with Jessie not to leave him, and they both take refuge in his wardrobe. When they hear Ron coming in, Jessie leaves him to warn Ron while instructing Sam to lock the door and be brave; he complies.
"Now"
At Jessie's house, Jessie tries to convince Sam to come downstairs and have cookies. He refuses, however, afraid to return to the area where Jessie murdered the Wolf. She then leaves the cookies for him.
"Heads Up"
When Carol stops by the Anderson home so Jessie can look after Judith, Sam hears Carol and starts talking to her from upstairs while she waits in the kitchen. He begins asking about monsters and what happens to people when they die, like his father.
"Start to Finish"
Sam leaves an empty lunch plate outside his room before retreating inside, where he draws a picture of a little boy tied to a tree with walkers surrounding him. Later, inside Jessie's house, Rick carries Deanna to an upstairs bedroom. Sam watches, paralyzed with fear. Jessie urges him to be brave.
Before starting to leave the house, Rick's group slathers themselves in guts to avoid getting noticed by the herd. Sam opens his door and recoils from the gruesome scene. "Pretend you're brave," Jessie says. Sam tearfully nods. Outside, Rick's group stands on Jessie's front porch, looking out at the sea of walkers. They hold hands and make their way into the herd; however, as they try to walk among the herd, Sam calls out to Jessie multiple times, which then seems to gain the attention of the walkers around them, as the screen goes black at the sound of the walkers now becoming attracted to them.
"No Way Out"
Sam is seen walking with the rest of the group past the large horde of walkers. After carefully treading a while longer, the group stops by the side of the road to discuss a new plan of attack. Gabriel offers to take Judith to the safety of the church; Jessie takes advantage of this and attempts to convince Sam to accompany Gabriel for his safety, to which he refuses, wishing to stay by his mother's side and insisting that he'll be able to overcome his fears. The remaining members then head towards the community gate, their trek lasting until nightfall.
As they navigate through the herd, Sam looks around at the undead forms, recalling Carol's threat in the pantry from weeks prior. He freezes in fear when he catches sight of a little boy who has turned amongst the herd. Despite Rick's, Jessie's and Ron's efforts to snap him out of his shock and calm him down, Sam then whimpers catching the attention of several walkers, who bear down on Sam and begin to devour him. Sam's screams draw more walkers to the area and cause Jessie (who, in her state of distress, has not let go of his hand) to be eaten alongside him.
After the walkers are cleared, his body is presumably put down if he reanimated and buried.
Season 10
"Ghosts"
Carol looks at the cover of a textbook and hallucinates seeing herself at the head of a table with Sam, Sophia, Lizzie, Mika, and Henry, with blood over their necks, sitting around the table.
Death
- Killed By
- Carol Peletier (Indirectly Caused)
- Young Boy (Indirectly Caused)
- Himself (Caused)
- Zombies
As the group makes its way through a herd, Sam sees a child walker and freezes, and remembers Carol's threat to leave him out in the wilderness where he'd be devoured by walkers. Sam gets scared and starts crying, drawing attention and causing him to be devoured by walkers while screaming for his mother.
Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Sam has killed:
- Himself (Caused)
- Jessie Anderson (Indirectly Caused)
- Ron Anderson (Indirectly Caused)
Relationships
For a more in-depth look at Sam's relationships, read here: Sam Anderson (TV Series)/Relationships
Allies
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Enemies
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Appearances
TV SeriesSeason 5Season 6
Season 10
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| Episodes | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 5 | 👁 | ✔ | ✔ | 👁 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 6 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Season 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 10 | ✔ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season 11 |
| ✔ | Appears | ✔ | Voice is heard |
| 👁 | Appears with no lines | ✔ | Appears in a flashback |
| ✔ | Appears as a walker | 🖼 | Appears in a photograph/video |
| ✔ | Appears as a corpse | ✔ | Appears in a hallucination/dream |
Gallery
- For more images of Sam Anderson, please visit Sam Anderson (TV Series)/Gallery.
Trivia
- Sam was more based on Ron Anderson in the comics in terms of age and personality, while the TV incarnation of Ron is given a more antagonistic role, and the only similarity Ron has with his comic book counterpart is his name.
- Sam is the first child to be devoured by zombies on-screen.
- He was the second child, after Meghan Chambler, to be bitten by a zombie on-screen.
- This makes Sam the fifth named child to be bitten by zombies (both on- and off-screen) out of eight, after Duane Jones, Sophia Peletier, Penny Blake, Meghan Chambler, and Carl Grimes.
International Dubbers
| Language | Dubber | Other Characters Voiced |
|---|---|---|
| Czech | N/A | N/A |
| French | N/A | N/A |
| German | Ole Rebstock | N/A |
| Hungarian | N/A | N/A |
| Italian | Daniele De Ambrosis | N/A |
| Japanese | N/A | N/A |
| Portuguese | Luy Campos | N/A |
| Spanish (Latin America) | Natalia Rosminati | N/A |
| Spanish (Spain) | Amparo Bravo | Francine |