The Walking Dead: Every Season 2 Episode Ranked Worst To Best

Picking up right where season one's explosive finale left off, What Lies Ahead finds the Survivors on the road headed for Fort Benning. Along the way, their route is cut-off and they're set-upon a giant horde that causes them to lose track of Sophia and re-evaluate their plans.

As far as season premieres go, it's actually a very good one, even if it doesn't live up some of the season's more enthralling high points. It features the show's first glimpse at a large, roaming horde, sees the first strains in Rick and Shane's relationship, and ends with an almighty shocker when Carl is accidentally shot.

The highway sequence is a particular standout, directed to tense perfection by Ernest Dickerson and Gwyneth Horder-Payton, and you can feel just from the way the threats rise and the characters are trapped that Frank Darabont is giving it his all with his final script of the series.

What Lies Ahead sets up the season's tone beautifully, and even though it's a little too slow in parts, it's still a solid starting point for a season just warming up.