15 Greatest Episodes Of The Walking Dead
11. The Calm Before (Season 9, Episode 15)
Season nine proved to be one of the show's best outings, full of daring time jumps, character departures and horrifying villains. Whilst the mid-season finale Evolution is a staggering piece of television, and episodes such as Chokepoint and Scars proved to be worthy additions to the series, it is the penultimate episode of the season that remains one of the show's most compelling.
As Daryl, Michonne (Danai Gurira), Carol and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) head out to look for any survivors of a recent Whisperer attack, they come face to face with Alpha (Samantha Morton), Beta (Ryan Hurst) and their followers, outnumbered and outmatched.
The episode not only shows fans Alpha's secret weapon, the show's biggest ever horde, but also delivers its most brutal and unexpected death scene.
In a brilliantly directed reveal, people back at the community fair look for their loved ones, only for the camera to pan to their heads on pikes, undead and gnashing their teeth. Though fans of the comics were waiting for this infamous moment to play out, showrunner Angela Kang defied expectations and killed a whole host of completely different characters than those in the comics series, making the reveal shocking for comic fans and TV-only viewers alike.
Tara, Enid (Katelyn Nacon) and Henry (Matt Lintz) all bite the bullet, cementing the Whisperers as a serious threat and giving audiences a serious gut-punch in the process.