The Walking Dead: Ranking All 9 Seasons From Worst To Best

Season six will forever be remembered for two major creative miscalculations: Glenn's dumpster fake-out death in the third episode "Thank You" and the cliffhanger that closed out "Last Day on Earth," sucking the wind out of the sails of a season finale that had done an incredible job of building tension in the leadup to Negan's reveal for the sake of pulling a ratings stunt.

It's unfortunate that those two things are what many think of first when the season is brought up in conversation, as the show's sixth year is truly filled with some great stuff. The Wolves' attack on Alexandria in "JSS" was both unexpected and gleefully tense, "Thank You" was a fine episode despite the dumpster incident, the Morgan-centric "Here's Not Here" was a great showcase for Lennie James and guest star John Caroll Lynch, and "No Way Out" was an awesome midseason premiere that saw the deaths of the Anderson clan and finally unified Alexandria in the face of the massive walker horde that had overrun Alexandria.

Even in the back half of the season, the arrival of Jesus, the Hilltop, and introduction of a larger world changed the show forever, Denise's death set the tone of the conflict between Daryl and Dwight, and Rick's group's overconfidence in dealing with the Savior threat in standout episodes like "Not Tomorrow Yet" came crashing down on them by season's end. Overall, it's a surprisingly well-rounded year of the show despite being sandwiched between its best era (which we'll get to soon) and its worst (seasons seven and eight) that deserves praise for everything it got right just as much as it deserves criticism for its missteps.