Awesome / The Walking Dead (2010)

"There's guns in it. AK-47... 44 Magnum. Automatic weapons. Nightscope. There's a compound bow and a machete with a red handle. That's what I'm gonna use to kill you."

— Rick warning Gareth about the tables turning, "No Sanctuary"

In The Walking Dead (2010), sometimes, the zombie apocalypse doesn't bring out the worst in humanity. It brings out hidden strength never seen before, as these examples can show you.

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Season 1

Days Gone Bye

• The last moments of the episode, when Rick, after getting surrounded by zombies, hides in a tank. Over the radio, a voice says "Hey you! Dumbass! Yeah, you in the tank! You cozy in there?" Music plays as it cuts to a camera above the tank moving up to show just how many zombies are around it.

Guts

• Glenn mentions that he's been in and out of the zombie-infested city multiple times solo.
• Even in his first appearance, Merle's badass credentials are established. He's easily able to handle Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick himself in a fight before Rick takes him by surprise. He may be a racist Jerkass, but the man can definitely fight.
• Rick's badass line to Merle while handcuffing him to the pipe on the roof
  Rick: All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anyone who gets in the way of that is gonna lose.
• Glenn racing out of Atlanta in the sports car is certainly awesome.
  • Doubles as a CMOF.

Tell it to the Frogs

• At the beginning of the episode, we see Merle go from deliriously ranting to himself, to begging God for forgiveness, to dismissing God while reaching for the hacksaw while he shouts defiantly, “I ain’t begged you before, I ain’t gonna start begging now! I AIN’T GONNA BEG YOU NOW, DON’T YOU WORRY ABOUT ME BEGGING YOU EVER! I’LL NEVER BEG YOU!"
• No matter what you think of Shane, (and even though it's implied that the beating is more of a way to vent his frustrations about Lori) his No-Holds-Barred Beatdown of Ed for abusing his wife and trying to hurt the other women is a deeply satisfying scene.

Vatos

• Proving that even asshole dickheads can be awesome, Merle not only cuts off his own hand to escape being cuffed to a rooftop, he takes out at least two walkers — singlehandedly — while bleeding heavily, then cauterizes his wound before leaving the building he was trapped on from an upper floor and making his way out of town. Double the awesome when you realize he would have had to do this all quietly so as not to attract zombies.
• Glenn shows off his Guile Hero traits by coming up with a well thought-out plan to retrieve the bag of guns, visibly impressing Daryl. Not bad for a former pizza delivery boy.

Season 2

• In "What Lies Ahead", Lori's defense of Rick after some of the others start to question his leadership, asking if any of them think they could do a better job.
• Maggie riding on horse back and cracking a walker in the skull to save Andrea.
• With his snarky attitude, cool head in intense situations, badass crossbow, and being just crazy enough to be useful in a zombie outbreak, Daryl has proven himself to be a walking, talking awesome machine.
  • In "Chupacabra", a downed zombie gets up and starts growling. Without breaking stride, Daryl mutters, "Shut up," and shoots an arrow through its skull.
  • In the rest of that episode, he falls off a cliff and gets impaled on a crossbow bolt, wakes up to see two zombies, beats one to death with a stick, then pulls an arrow out of his own side and kills the other one. And then he climbs up that cliff, all while still bleeding out the hole in his side. Not quite as impressive as the above, but still very awesome.
• Glenn gets one in the episode "Secrets", taking out a zombie solo with the help of a piece of store shelving.
  • In the same episode, Andrea getting over her mental block regarding moving targets and mowing down several zombies until Shane has to yell at her that they can just leave now.
  • Earlier, when Shane is training Andrea to shoot a moving target, he angrily starts telling her that she needs to lock down her emotions or she'll never be able to make a clean shot. Andrea rebuts that he's losing control of his emotions too, so Shane draws, aims and bulls-eyes the swinging stump in less than a second.
• Shane finally breaks everyone out of their complacency in the mid-Season 2 finale, showing Hershel that the Walkers are dead, killing all the zombies in the barn with the help of Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, and Daryl, and finally figuring out what happened to Sophia.
  • What really makes the scene is how Shane demonstrates that the Walkers are dead, by repeatedly shooting one of the ones that Hershel is attempting to capture in what would be increasingly vital areas to a living human, almost screaming a demand to know why the Walker is still moving after every shot.
  • However, it's worth noting that when Sophia stumbles out of the barn, it's not Shane but Rick that steps up to put her down.
• Andrea finishing off the walkerfied Annete with a scythe in the opening of "Nebraska", complete with with meaty crunch.
• Rick's crazy awesome quickdraw against the two creepy randoms from out of town. As soon as the first guy goes for his gun, Rick draws, shoots him in the head, turns and puts two in the big guy so fast he can only fire his shotgun in the air uselessly. Rick then finishes big guy off with a shot to the head.
• Hershel shooting a gunman at night after he fired at Glenn, weighing up whether he could spare the attacker before he finally put him down.
• Hershel telling Shane to shut up, saying that the only reason Shane's still on the farm is because Rick persuaded Hershel not to kick him off, but that he would if Shane pushed him any further.
• Rick and Shane finally throwing down during "18 Miles Out".
  • Heck, the entirety of "18 Miles Out" is basically one 45-minute CMOA for Rick Grimes. First, putting himself alone in a car with a man who he's pretty sure is thinking about killing him. Then, challenging Shane to prove his own badass status, stating that they can't use guns as frequently against walkers because of the noise, and they have to start using the knives. Rick dispatches a walker effortlessly, then tells Shane it's his turn. The whole episode is more or less Rick proving to Shane that Rick is every bit the badass Shane claims to be, if not more so, and has a level head and better leadership skills on top of it, and Shane should really back off from his Klingon Promotion idea before something bad happens.
• Rick saving Shane from the bus, by leaning out of the window while another survivor drives, headshotting zombies as he passes. When they burst the head of a zombie like a melon by driving over it, the moment just becomes all the sweeter.
• Rick headshotting a zombie through the mouth of one he already killed.
• The ending to "Better Angels" takes the "Holy Shit!" Quotient to the max. First, Rick killing Shane in a self-defensive move, then an EPIC shot of a GIANT swarm of walkers coming toward the farm, all the while awesome music plays in the background.
  • Carl gets one for putting down zombie Shane while Rick has his back turned to the threat.
  • The brutal zombie killing in the opening when the gang goes out hunting, including Andrea taking one out with a pitchfork through the jaw.
• Andrea being saved by the hooded stranger at the end of the Season 2 finale. Fans of the comic will automatically identify this person as Michonne.
• Before this point, Andrea proves that she's made it to badassery by escaping through the horde of walkers and escaping them on foot for, based on the timeline, at least 12 hours. By the time the above action happens, she's only still not killing them because she'd apparently run out of ammo and was too exhausted to continue. The actress playing Andrea mentioned on the Talking Dead show that actually filming the scene was almost as long and grueling.
• The final shot of Season 2 showing that the group is close to a prison, promising that the next season will adapt what is easily the comic's most popular storyline.
• Also from the finale, Hershel picking off walker after walker with a shotgun, never flinching and never falling back, because he's just that determined to protect his farm. He only retreats when he runs out of ammo and Rick convinces him that staying is no longer an option.
• Speaking of Rick, there's also him and Carl leading a part of the herd into the barn and then setting them on fire. If nothing else, this is a CMOA for production — that last shot of the burning barn is just epic.

Season 3

• Season 3 has shown that even though the Ricktatorship has begun, the group is tighter than ever because of it. Using military formations and following Rick's orders to the letter allowed the group to take the prison, almost hassle free.
  • This is exemplified by their clearing of an infested house without a word, complete with Carl going point man and headshotting a zombie.
  • Some highlights included Maggie finding a way to kill the armored walkers. T-Dog and Glenn's faces say it all. Even Maggie can't help herself and grinning ear-to-ear, excitedly goes, "Did y'all just see that?!?"
  • The next day, we also see Hershel suiting up and joining the main fighters as they try to clear out more of the prison, and almost nobody objects to the group's resident badass grandpa joining the battle.
• Just in case you forgot how badass her introduction at the end of the second season was, our first sight of Michonne in Season 3 has her lop two zombies heads off, with one swing of her katana.
• After Hershel has been bitten on the leg by a walker, Rick acts quickly and decisively, incredibly calm at the time, to amputate his leg with a nearby axe. He had literally seconds to save his friend's life, and managed to achieve the first on screen saving of a bite victim.
• Carl goes off on his own to the infirmary to get some much-needed gauze and medical supplies, killing a few walkers along the way, and is back before anybody even noticed he was gone. Lori is enraged that Carl went off on his own and didn’t tell anybody, but Carl makes no bones about how he can now fend for himself. And despite being rightfully concerned for her child’s life, Lori is forced to thank him for his efforts that probably will help save Hershel’s life.
  • Even then, when Carl has a smart mouth for Lori, Beth shuts him down, telling him that he shouldn’t be talking to his mother like that. She knows Carl has a crush on her and that her words will have the most impact on him, and she uses it to her advantage. It works and Carl leaves in a huff.
• "Shit Happens". Cue Rick delivering a machete to Tomas' skull.
• Oscar gets one when Rick is pointing a gun at his head and asking why they should let him live after Tomas and Andrew tried to kill Rick. In comparison to Axel, who was sobbing and pleading for his life, Oscar remains completely calm and tells Rick that he will not beg for his life, and for Rick to do whatever he thinks he has to do. Considering the fact that he had just seen the man drive a machete into Tomas' head, that must have taken some Brass Balls. And it works!
• One-legged Hershel beaning an advancing Walker with his crutches.
• When a desperate Rick, Glenn and Daryl run into the center of the prison after Andrew opens it up, Daryl takes out a walker by leaping at it, grabbing its shoulders and driving a knife into its head in one swift movement. This is immediately followed by Glenn slicing a zombie's head in two sideways.
  • Now in GIF form, to showcase the awesomeness fully.◊
• Oscar gets another one when he saves Rick by shooting Andrew in the eye, having already broken up the fight by throwing a big barrel at Andrew.
  • Followed up immediately when, still holding the gun on Rick, Rick is incredibly tense about the situation as, for all he knows, Oscar is gonna shoot him next, spending the last three episodes talking about how the prisoners were likely to take over and kill them all given the chance. You can see Daryl in the background poised to leap at Oscar should that happen, but without even noticing Daryl Oscar promptly flips the gun over and gives it to Rick without a second thought. This show of camaraderie is what finally convinces Rick to trust the remaining prisoners.
• Having been bitten, an unarmed T-Dog throws himself into a pair of walkers to buy Carol a way to escape.
• Rick's solo rampage through the prison with an axe after Lori's death.
• Michonne letting out six walkers from their cage in Woodbury, then slicing and dicing them up with her katana, Kill Bill style.
• Michonne knows that she's being followed by Merle and some men, so she kills a zombie and uses its parts to spell a message to leave her alone. When they don't, she drops down from a tree nearby and kills two of them with her katana, running off with Merle only being able to land a flesh wound on her.
• While roaming around the prison, Daryl, Oscar, and Carl all step inside a cell. When they hear a telltale Walker moan, they all three whip around in a flash, and utterly annihilate said Walker.
• In "When The Dead Come Knocking" after Glenn has been kidnapped by Merle, Glenn has a walker thrown at him while he's tied to a chair. Glenn kicks its ass, ultimately finishing it off with a broken piece of the chair.
  • In a similar situation in the same episode, Maggie is forced by the Governor to take her top off. He then bends her over a table and makes it seem like he is going to rape her. Maggie's response? "Do what you have to do and go to hell." The Governor almost immediately backs off.
• Michonne eye-shanking The Governor with a piece of glass.
• Glenn tearing the bones out of a walker's arm for makeshift weaponry.
• Carl going into the tunnels alone and saving Tyreese's group, then immediately locking them apart from the others until they can be properly screened to be trustworthy.
  • Tyreese's response? "You heard the man." Carl gets full respect from a grown, large, badass adult.
• A minor one comes from Carol in Season 3, when she catches friendly-yet-shady prisoner Axel hitting on seventeen-year old Beth. Without any hesitation, she gets him away from her and tells him, in no uncertain terms, to keep his pervy mitts off Beth. Keep in mind that this is a woman who started the series as an abused, timid housewife, and now she's threatening a felon who might very well be lying (as far as the group knows) about why he was in jail in the first place.
• Rick and Maggie pulling a Big Damn Heroes by storming Woodbury's arena with assault rifles and tear gas, completely taking out most of the town and causing walkers to be released in the chaos. Merle and Daryl then easily make a break for it, having been show-fighting to delay the Governor just shooting them.
  • During the chaos, Daryl grabs his crossbow from the Mook using it and smacks him in the face with it.
    • Merle was the one who smacked the Mook with his metal plating "hand" as they were running away.
• Rick pistol whipping Merle, so he'll shut up.
• The Governor casually taking out walkers when Rick's group attacks, and later, dealing with a member of his town who'd been bitten, while everyone just looks on. He strolls up, puts a bullet in the man's brain, and then strolls away. Without blinking.
• Glenn throwing an attacking walker to the ground without a second's hesitation, then taking out some pent-up anger by stomping it's head into paste.
• "Home" is basically Daryl awesomeness everywhere. From yanking an attacking Walker out of a station wagon, and crushing his head with the tailgate, telling off Merle, and saving Rick from a Walker with a headshot.
  • To clarify, Daryl almost single-handedly saves a family of four strangers from a pack of walkers, and then threatens to put an arrow through Merle's neck when the latter threatens the family and tries to steal their supplies. He then tells Merle that he no longer needs him, and decides to return to Rick's group with or without him.
  Daryl: You lost your hand because you're a simple-minded piece of shit!
• It's hard to admit, but the Governor's assault on the prison was cool. Sneaking a man onto a guardtower and more into the trees, he then pumped the prison full of bullets, both as an onslaught and to attract walkers. The final piece of his plan is to have a man in light body armor drive a truck through the prison gate and release its cargo: a pack of walkers. Result: Axel dead; Rick, Merle and Daryl trapped outside the prison; his enemies' severely depleted on ammo and their main defense against walkers ruined.
  • Then, the prison group get things sorted out in short order, making the whole attack just a minor inconvenience, is awesome its own self.
• Andrea walking through a horde of walkers with her nicknamed guardian angel — a walker whose arms and jaw she removed with a hatchet and a stone, and directed by a pole — to get into the prison. Her only weapon is the hatchet, and she's doing all of this to secure the beginnings of a peace treaty, without The Governor's knowledge. Say what you will about her, but that takes balls.
• Michonne giving Andrea a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, about how much she willingly deluded herself about the kind of man the Governor was, to the point of betraying her friend.
  Michonne: You chose a warm bed over your friend.
• Carol telling Andrea to have sex with the Governor, then stab him while he's sleeping.
• Carl sneaking up on Morgan and putting a bullet in his side.
• In a dark sort of way, the sheer crazy defenses Morgan put into his base. He places rats in cages on barrels surrounded by stakes to attract, impale and trap walkers. He attacks outsiders from rooftops with a scoped assault rifle, a metal helmet and a bulletproof vest. He places a trip wire in his house that releases a fireaxe to swing through curtains into an intruder. And best of all, the "welcome" mat on his porch covers a pit filled with stakes.
  • That's the part that makes him awesome. Want to know what makes him more awesome? The door at the bottom of the stairs says "turn around". The sheet says "not shitting you". The axe says "told ya".
• Michonne and Carl fighting their way out of a zombie-filled cafe. And when they have to leave behind the reason Carl was there in the first place, the one remaining picture of Lori, Michonne tells him to just stay there, and somehow returns with it in just seconds.
• Daryl and Martinez's zombie killing competition. Martinez effortlessly caves in walkers' skulls with his baseball bat, then Daryl shows off with his crossbow and steals a kill from Martinez by throwing a knife into a walker's skull.
• Andrea finally being unable to hide from the kind of person the Governor is after learning about his sexualized mental torture of Maggie. Her decision to stay behind with them seems to be some sort of "inside man", with the hope of saving at least some innocent lives, and the next episode shows her damn near succeeding in helping the prison team out.
• In a subtle sort of way, Milton revealing that he's compiling a history of what happened after the apocalypse, including asking the prison survivors what happened to them and details about Hershel surviving his bite and amputation. He's a man who can completely look past present difficulties, and try to look forward to building a culture for tomorrow.
• The entirety of Andrea fleeing Woodbury to warn the prison. She takes down three walkers while pinned to a tree and with just an itty bitty knife, and then manages to unleash over a dozen on The Governor when he had her cornered in a warehouse. Hell, she made it to the prison, and the sheer effort of doing that all on foot shows off her badass status. Of course, that it fails on account of The Governor being Made of Iron was just plain cruel, but her quest no less awesome.
• The Governor taking on a dozen walkers swarming him alone in a warehouse, armed with a shovel and a pistol.
• Milton burning the walkers in the pit to prevent The Governor from unleashing them on the prison.
• Tyreese putting Allen in his place by suspending him over a walker pit, after the latter has spent all his screen time acting like a complete shit.
• Michonne. Bound to a beam by Merle, she kicks a walker down then stomps its head in, then beheads another advancing Walker with the wire she was tied up with.
• Merle takes a moment to relax, sipping whiskey in a car listening to Motörhead, with walkers swarming around his car. So he then lures a huge cadre of Walkers to the Governor's encampment at the mill, and guns down several of his men while disguising his shots among his foes' gunfire. He comes very, very close to killing the Governor.
• Merle's last words after getting beat down by the Governor, having two fingers bit off, and moments away from death?
  Merle: I ain't gonna beg!
• Hershel leaving a highlighted Bible verse for the Governor to read in the prison in "Welcome to the Tombs".
  "And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
• Milton's very calm instructions to Andrea when he's been fatally stabbed in the abdomen, and they've been locked in a room together while the latter's been handcuffed to a chair.
  Milton: "And when you get free you are going to find something very sharp and you are going to stab me in the head, that is what you are going to do."
  Milton: "I am still here, I am still alive. You need to hurry…
• Carol slicing a zombie's head in two with a machete, and Beth skewering another's on a bar, when they're closing the gates.
• The prison group's counterattack on Woodbury's last attack on the prison. They let the latter storm into the prison, wasting plenty of ammunition taking out the zombies in the yard. Then they lure them into the corridors which haven't been completely cleared of walkers, then flashbang them, fire their rifles and set off the prison alarms, having clearly learnt from Andrew's attack. The result: the Woodbury group run out of the prison completely demoralised and panicked, leaving behind men, several of their own dead and weapons, while Glenn and Maggie fire on them to encourage them, all while decked out in riot squad protection.

Season 4

30 Days Without an Accident

• In the Season 4 premiere, the group is searching an abandoned supermarket, when suddenly, the ceiling caves in because of the crashed helicopter and dozens of zombies on the roof. It is, quite literally, raining men, and it's simply spectacular. Special points go to Sasha for impaling a zombie through the chin and out the eye with a pool cue, and newcomer Bob picking a zombie's head apart as it comes close to him (and Daryl stomping its head into mush).

Isolation

• Tyreese somehow fighting his way unbitten out of a MASSIVE horde of Walkers.
• Rick and Carl kicking ass Father and Son style with automatic rifles when the Walkers bust through the fence.

Internment

• Hershel "Asskicking Oldie" Greene is the major focus of the episode, and is shown whooping Walker ass left and right as he holds the quarantined prison wing together basically on his own, including just up and heaving a walker over the rails of a walkway.

Live Bait

• For those who thought The Governor might have lost his edge, this episode proves he's still as brutal an asskicker as ever. Especially when he and Megan fall into the pit, and he goes barehanded Papa Wolf on the Walkers.
• He kills the first walker by pounding its head against a pile of bones; he kills the second one by punching its head to pulp, the third by ripping out its brain stem after clawing out its throat; the fourth by ripping off the top of its head with a bone through its mouth.

Too Far Gone

• Daryl using a grenade to put out of commission an invader's vehicle, dropping it down the barrel of the tank, and then taking care of the driver fatally.
• The camera cuts away just as a walker is about to chomp on Daryl's shoulder. When it next switches back to him, the zombie has an arrow through its head and is being used as a shield.
• The kids pulling off a last second rescue of Tyreese by headshotting Alisha, as she can't bring herself to shoot them.
• The long-awaited Rick/Governor beatdown.
• Michonne stepping in to help Rick against the Governor, with her katana being shoved through the latter's chest from behind, then leaving him without killing him so he will return as a zombie.
• The fall of the prison is a cinematic masterpiece. Starting with the tower being shot by the freaking tank and ending with Rick and Carl walking away from the destruction, the entire battle is heavy-laden with symbolism, and the cinematography is in the tier of Children of Men. The creators and production team pulled out all of the stops, creating a near-perfect battle sequence.
  • What makes it even better is the Governor's most famous line from the comics adapted into this episode, better than ever.
  "Go through the fences. Get in your cars, get your guns. We go in, kill them all!"

After

• Michonne cuts down an entire herd of walkers (twenty something strong) entirely by herself.
• Carl manages to take out three walkers by himself to save his dad, while low on ammo and while piled under two of them.
• When Rick is stuck in the house with a violent and armed gang staying there, he comes up with a very clever idea to aid his escape. After he chokes one of them to death, he leaves the room's door open so when the man reanimates he attacks his comrades.

Inmates

• Glenn and Tara work together to fight their way out of the prison. Before he finds her, Glenn gets through a walker mob by dressing in riot gear and charging through them. When they ally, Glenn creates a distraction by burning a car with a Molotov cocktail, then has the two of them quickly run out of the prison while gunning down walkers.
• The entire opening sequence, with Beth and Daryl running through the forest and killing walkers in slow motion before collapsing from exhaustion, juxtaposed with a voiceover of Beth reading from her journal shortly after they found the prison.
• Beth and Daryl tag-teaming to take down a walker together.
• Tyreese single-handedly taking out several walkers with his hammer in an admittedly futile attempt to save a total stranger.
• Maggie killing the walkers from the prison bus, including grabbing one by the hair and repeatedly slamming its head against the side of the bus.
• The introduction of several characters from the comic, Abraham, Rosita and Eugene, with the awesomeness doubled by the fact that, according to Tara's actor on the Talking Dead talk show, the poses when first shown on screen were an intentional reproduction by the production crew of the cover of the issue in which they were introduced to the comic, Issue 53.

Alone

• Trapped in a dead end room with Walkers? That would spell doom for a normal person. Unfortunately for the Walkers, they cornered Daryl Effing Dixon. He badasses his way out of the situation unbitten, by corralling the walkers with stretchers after luring them down into the basement away from Beth, then running back up the stairs.
• Maggie shows a rare display of gutsy and excellent foresight for the characters. She periodically kills walkers along the train tracks, then paints messages to Glenn in their blood directing him to Terminus.

Us

• When the episode starts, Glenn and Tara are trying to get through a collapsed tunnel full of walkers. Three moments of awesome here: first, when Tara gets her foot caught, she tells Glenn to go, willing to sacrifice herself so that he can get out before the zombies close in. Then Glenn refuses, staying behind to try to save her life. And then we get a Big Damn Heroes moment where a group of figures (back lit by the light from the mouth of the tunnel opening so that their faces are obscured) show up out of nowhere to mow down the zombie mob to save Tara and Glenn. And to top it all off, once the fight is over they step closer to reveal themselves. It's Abraham, Rosita, Eugene and Maggie.

A

• This is perhaps Rick at his most badass Papa Wolf, when he tears Joe's throat out. With his teeth. And then he viciously guts the man who was attempting to rape his son.
  • The latter's Oh, Crap! expression at what Rick had done is especially satisfying...
  • And then there's the line they leave us on with the Season 4 cliffhanger, cementing Rick's return to character as well as referencing one of the more badass lines from the comics.
    Rick: They're gonna feel real stupid when they find out.
    Abraham Ford: When they find out what?
    Rick: They're screwing with the wrong people...
  • In the DVD, it was changed to be even more awesome, and more accurately reflect the comic:
    Rick: They're fucking with the wrong people...
  • The entire Season 4 finale can be considered as a CMOA for Rick as a character, as it showed his return to character after suffering from Badass Decay the entire season.

Season 5

No Sanctuary

• Despite being bound hand and foot, Rick manages to sneak a shank into the trough room, and in the 30 seconds they're distracted by what's going on outside, he gets himself free and shanks the trough workers, leaving them to turn.
• Rick shiving the straggler in a firing line, stealing his gun and mowing down a whole group of Terminus residents repelling Walkers. This episode clearly demonstrates that Rick is finished screwing around.
• Tyreese getting tossed out to certain doom, winning and coming back inside to bash a certain dickhead's skull in. He killed at least three walkers with his bare hands.
• Rick's group wastes no time making a whole lot of improvised weaponry from the things they had on them and could carve from the walls of the train car — Michonne uses a couple wooden spikes to turn her scabbard into a double-sided spiked quarterstaff, Abraham makes a spiked glove, and Rosita makes Wolverine Claws with her belt. And as soon as Rick opens the door for them, they get to work, slaughtering Walkers left and right and escaping Terminus without so much as a scratch. When Rick said the Terminus crew were screwing with the wrong people, he meant it.
• Carol becoming a certified One-Man Army. To-wit: She blows up a fuel tank and brings the fence down, sneaks in among the walkers by wearing a poncho smeared with one's guts, massacres numerous Terminus residents getting in her way and leaves Mary as Walker chow. On The Talking Dead, she's described as the fulcrum that allowed the rest of Rick's group to escape.
  • Mary telling Carol to put her gun down and turn around would seem to be a lead-up to a lengthy monologue where Carol has to figure out a way to get the upper hand. Instead, Carol turns toward her with another machine 7'gun in hand, sprays bullets at her and then kicks her gun away to start fighting. And when Mary hesitates to tell her where her friends are being kept? Carol just casually shoots her in the leg. This episode marked Carol as the poster child for Took a Level in Badass.
• A subtle one: Tyreese tells Carol that he had to put Martin down because he put his hands on Judith's neck. Carol says nothing, just makes to move past him, ready to finish Martin off until Tyreese says he killed the S.O.B. rather than just knocked him out.

Four Walls and a Roof

• Two words. TAINTED. MEAT.
  • Bob laughs at and mocks the Hunters for eating his leg without noticing his bite, until Gareth kicks him unconscious.
• Rick's plan for dealing with the Hunters. He leads most of the group's fighters out of the church and expects the Hunters to see that. When the Hunters move into the church, the group then double back and Rick shoots two of them with silenced pistols.
• Rick fulfills his promise from the season premiere: he dices up Gareth with his red-handled machete after waiting for the Hunter to beg for his life. Sasha meanwhile repeatedly stabs Martin, and Abraham and Michonne beat two other Hunters to death.

Slabtown

• Beth takes down her would-be rapist by cracking him across the skull and basically siccing a walker on him.
• Beth singlehandedly fights her way out of a walker infested basement and parking lot, while at the same time clearing a path for the injured Noah to escape.
• Emily Kinney, Beth's actor, essentially said that this episode marked Beth taking a level in badass.

Self-Help

• Eugene hosing down some Walkers.
• Rosita threatening to pull her gun on Abraham if he dares to hurt Eugene more, even if he lied to all of them.

Crossed

• Daryl gets in a fight with a cop outside Grady, and the cop tries to push Daryl toward a walker (who thankfully can't move much due to being melted to the pavement), so what does Daryl do? He sticks his fingers in another nearby walker's head, rips its head off, and HITS THE COP IN THE HEAD WITH IT. Because, apparently, Daryl wasn't enough of a badass already.
• Father Gabriel Stokes, a Non-Action Guy and an Actual Pacifist, nearly kills his first Walker by chokeslamming it to the ground and impaling it.

Coda

• After Officer Lamson refuses to stop while Rick chases him in the cop's own car, Rick mows him down breaking his back, then shoots him in the head.
• Rick negotiates with two Grady cops on a rooftop with apparently no backup or weapons.
  Cop: Where are your people?
  A nearby walker is sniped in the head.
  Rick: They're close.
• Beth stabbing Dawn with a pair of scissors in order to free Noah.
• Morgan visiting more season 5 landmarks in the post-credit scene and discovering Abraham's note to Rick Grimes.
• Dawn's fight with O'Donnell is a remarkably well choreographed and brutal fistfight for the show.

The Distance

• Rick shooting a flare into a walker's head, illuminating its skull.

Remember

• Glenn not taking any crap from the self-proclaimed douchebag who led the supply group and nearly got them killed, then ducking his punch and hitting him in the face instead.
• Daryl's instinctual reaction to the second guy coming at Glenn was to tackle him and nearly suffocate him in the ground, only getting up when Rick forcibly pulled him away, really highlights the episode's emphasis on the group being a family.
• Michonne even stepped in, approaching Aidan when he got back up and threatened to lay him on his ass again.
  Michonne: Wanna get knocked on your ass again?
• In an epic moment of downplaying, Carol, in her video interview with Deanna, acts like she's nothing more than the emotional center and "denmother" of the group. At some point down the road, Carol is most likely gonna stun the Alexandrians with the truth.

Forget

• The titular forget. Carol's Nightmare Fuel of a speech to the kid to had witnessed her steal a few of the stockpiled weapons. She blackmails him with cookies but also states if he did tell, he would wake up one morning, tied up to a tree, and alone with the monsters. Hot damn, Carol. She has come a very long way from Season 1.

Spend

• Eugene, of all people, gets several. Early in the episode, Tara calls him out on his Dirty Coward tendencies. When she is injured during a run, he is the one who refuses to leave her side, then carries her through the walker invested building while simultaneously shooting and killing several walkers to get her to safety. Then, when Nicholas, Glenn, and Noah are trapped in rotating glass doors, he drives the van past the door to lure the walkers away. Then, when Nicholas, the real Dirty Coward, tries to leave without Glenn and Noah, Eugene actually pulls a gun rather than abandon the group.
• Abraham refuses to leave Francine to die, and pushes her to safety above a digger. He then cleverly funnels the walkers by crawling under the digger, before ripping through them with a nearby pipe with a grin on his face. Afterwards he then assumes the leadership of the construction crew based partly on his badassness.
  • Francine gets a CMOA for punching out the guy who suggested to leave her.
• In a way, Aiden's Death Equals Redemption moment. He tells Glenn to leave him when it's clear they can't save him, which relieves Glenn of guilt about abandoning him and quite possibly saved Glenn's life, because it looked like Glenn might have kept trying if Aiden hadn't told him to go.
• Glenn beating the hell out of Nicholas for leaving him and Noah for dead.

Try

• Rick's epic fight with Pete. Much like Shane's beatdown of Ed in season 1, Rick may have gone a little too far (particularly towards the other Alexandrians after the fight), but he could not have picked a more satisfying target.
  • Despite Pete being not the most savoury of individuals, he still manages to hold his own against Rick, although it helped that he was in an Unstoppable Rage too.
  • Similarly, Michonne's takedown of Rick afterwards, when he is ranting about how unprepared the Alexandrians are and terrifying everybody. She even did it in one punch!
• Glenn's "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Nicholas.
• Michonne, Sasha, and Rosita all teaming up and mowing down walkers. The best part? While Sasha was literally a one woman army, Michonne didn't even have her sword, and Rosita only had her knife! Michonne practically headshots every walker that came in her direction, and Rosita slams a walker into a tree, crushes its kneecap with her foot, and stabs it in the head!
• This episode got a lot of points from the fans since it was a bit of A Day in the Limelight for secondary character Rosita, and it ended up not being A Death in the Limelight. Kudos to the showrunners for giving a minor character the spotlight and not killing her after some much-needed development!

Conquer

• Just when things seem grim with Glenn being floored, incapacitated by a gun wound, and having at least three walkers pinning him down, he survives through it and ambushes Nicholas with another brawl round.
  • As a side note, this fight starts around midday. We later see Glenn and Nicholas are still fighting hours later at midnight. And then he points a gun at Nicholas' head and reduces him to tears for good measure.
  • Glenn's fight with Nicholas also shows off his stealth skills. After getting shot in the shoulder and falling down a hill, he has vanished from sight in the mere seconds it takes Nicholas to run over and look for him. He then comes out of nowhere to attack Nicholas — twice — with the other man never hearing or seeing his approach.
• Morgan takes down two Wolves armed with knives using just a short staff without killing them.
  • The gigantic horde that Daryl runs into? Morgan manages to cut that mob down to a small enough size that they can escape.
• Carol rubbing it in Pete's face that she could easily murder him and get away with it, as the others would presume it was self-defence.
• Sasha vs. Gabriel: the latter actually has the stones to taunt the former about the deaths of both her brother and her boyfriend, just to be mercy-killed, and Sasha (reasonably) charges for him. Gabriel actually holds her off, and Sasha struggles for a bit before knocking him to the ground, readying to kill him before Maggie intervenes.
• Rick singlehandedly saving Alexandria from a small group of walkers Gabriel let in, then dumping one of their corpses at the town meeting to cement his argument.
• Rick shooting Pete in the head after he murdered Deanna's husband.
• Daryl decapitates three walkers with a swing of a chain.

Season 6

First Time Again

• The plan to get rid of the massive zombie horde in the quarry is pretty awesome, especially as it is carried out. Watching the group successfully distract thousands of zombies into making a turn on the road instead of just trampling straight was brilliant. Until...
• For a brief moment while fighting walkers with Heath and Nicholas, Glenn briefly busts out some John Wick-esque Gun Fu, first tossing a Walker to one side and fluidly spinning to shoot it, then holding a walker in place with one hand, and putting a shot through its chest and then through its head. These two kills take him about three seconds in total.

JSS

• Carol finally throwing off the Stepford Wives routine and almost singlehandedly saving Alexandria from the Wolves because disguising herself as one of them and taking them down from inside.
• Morgan taking down 4 Wolves without killing them.
• Rosita and Aaron teaming up together to take down some members of the Wolves.
• Spencer killing two Wolves (one of whom was in a moving truck). Unfortunately that leads to a large herd of walkers to head to Alexandria.

Thank You

• Rick quickly, efficiently, and brutally killing five of the Wolves in the RV. The blonde one (previously encountered by Morgan) tries to sneak up on Rick and shoot him, but just misses; he and another one try to tag-team him, but Rick beats the shit out of them and finally headshots them. He then catches the reflection of three more creeping alongside the RV, at which point he grabs his assault rifle and unloads it into them through the side panel. This is why he's our protagonist.

Here's Not Here

• Though it's also a Tear Jerker due to showing Morgan still in his Crazy Survivalist state, it's still impressive how easily he dispatches large numbers of Walkers and then proceeds to burn them on a pyre.
• Eastman is a Badass Pacifist, and incredibly skilled at Aikido.
  Eastman: You go or you stay. Those are your choices. I will not allow you to kill me.

Now

• After what can only be described as a really bad day, Deanna is attacked by a Walker — one of the Wolves who attacked a few episodes before — and has apparently had enough. She picks up a broken bottle, tackles it and stabs the hell out of its chest, ending up covered in its blood before Rick shows up and puts it out of its misery.
  Deanna: Come on you son of a bitch!

Always Accountable

• Daryl's Badass Boast after the two strangers steal his bike and crossbow and leave him in the woods.
  Sherry: We're sorry.
  Daryl: You're gonna be.

Heads Up

• After Tara risks her life to save Spencer after he tries to escape the walls of Alexandria, Rick chews her out for risking herself to save "these people". She, incredulous at him, fearlessly flips him off in one brilliant display of not giving a shit what he thinks.
• A small one: After Rick provides an excellent Kick the Dog moment to Father Gabriel by tearing down the poster for a prayer circle that the priest is setting up right in front of him, Gabriel deliberately walks over and pins another one up.
• Glenn manages to get out of a seemingly unescapable situation by, you guessed it, going under the dumpster, killing some walkers and using them as shields. Awesome, man. Awesome.

"Start to Finish"

• Deanna's managing to Face Death with Dignity throughout the episode. Fatally injured, and then bit, she never indulges in self-pity, but dispenses advice, thanks, writes goodbye notes, accepts that she cannot be saved, and takes out several walkers on her way, even giving them one last scream of defiance (which was muted but still conveyed the emotion very powerfully).
• Carl fighting off Ron, covering the jerk's ass (because he knew Rick would kill Ron if he found out what the turd almost did to his son), and taking his gun while away from everyone else, finally saying to Ron what everyone in-universe and outside it thought of Pete. This was done in such a deadpan voice too!
  Carl: Look man. I get it. My dad killed your dad. But you need to know something. Your dad...was an asshole.
  Ron: (Stands there and FINALLY accepts the truth)
• Six little words.
  Savior: Your property... Now belongs to Negan.

No Way Out

• Sasha, Daryl and Abraham are stopped on their way back to Alexandria by half a dozen armed bikers, who disarm them, and declare they, their weapons and their vehicle belong to Negan. When the three hesitate to hand over some of their stuff, one of them takes Daryl behind the fuel truck to search. The bikers' leader holds Sasha and Abraham at gunpoint, toying with them and threaten to shoot them. Just before he does, however... the whole group of bikers explode — Daryl had killed one of the bikers and grabbed the rocket launcher Abraham found in the previous episode.
• Michonne single-handedly fended off the walker horde while Rick carried an injured Carl to the infirmary. They are surrounded on all sides by walkers and Rick's hands are full, but Michonne doesn't falter once in her strikes and clears a path for them across several infested blocks, something that would have overwhelmed almost any other character. Then she assists Denise in performing emergency surgery on her surrogate son before charging back into the fray with Rick and the others, chopping even more walkers to death. If anyone can claim the title of being a One-Man Army, it's Michonne.
• Rick, enraged and distraught over the deaths of Jessie with her boys and Carl's loss of an eye, leaves the infirmary to attack the mega-herd, and all the main characters — even Gabriel and Eugene — come out to fight alongside him, together with many surviving Alexandrians inspired by their courage and Gabriel's Rousing Speech. And together with some innovative help from Daryl, Sasha, Abraham, and a tanker-truck full of fuel, they utterly annihilate the herd.
  • You can actually taste the moment in the air that Rick's Rage Breaking Point has been reached, entering Tranquil Fury, picking up his axe, and casually walking outside to confront the flesh-eaters.
  • This moment is especially powerful when you realize that Rick's spent the entire season assuming the Alexandrians would be a liability. Watching them clear the herd not only has the entire town Take a Level in Badass, but it gives Rick legitimate hope for the future.
  • Choice lines from Eugene:
    Eugene: Right behind you.
    Rosita: Eugene, you don't have to.
    Eugene: That's incorrect, I do. No one gets to clock out today. And hell — this is a story that people are going to tell.
  • And Gabriel:
    Gabriel: We've been praying, together, praying that God will save our town. Our prayers have been answered. God will save Alexandria, because God has given us the courage to save it ourselves.
• Denise, having seen her community ravaged and endured a terrifying abduction by the Wolf, buckling down and declaring that Carl is not dead, because she won't allow him to be. And then taking command of the infirmary with such determination that even when Rick walks out into the herd, Michonne keeps doing as the doctor orders until given permission to go fight.
• Alpha Wolf who has proclaimed that he's going to keep murdering, that he doesn't care about anyone, etc. Goes back to rescue Denise and gets bitten. When Denise tells him she's going to save his life the two make toward the infirmary she gets attacked again and he rescues her again before getting shot twice in the chest by Carol he then tackles a zombie and calls out to Denise to go at the same time Carol even as he's torn limb from limb. Maybe Morgan was right about him people being able to change...

The Next World

• Lying on the ground with both Rick and Daryl's guns pointed at his head, Jesus taunts them, asking if they even have any ammo. In response, the two men wordlessly fire at an oncoming walker before turning the guns back at him.
• Jesus manages to distract Rick and Daryl with firecrackers, steals Rick's truck keys, kicks the crap out of them in hand-to-hand combat, escapes from the ropes they tied him up in, climbed on top of their truck, survived being flung off said truck, fought them yet again to a standstill, and then escaped from Denise's house and into Rick's house in the middle of broad daylight completely undetected. And he goes by the Meaningful Name of Jesus. It's both awesome and hilarious at the same time, and establishes Jesus as a badass Sneaky Guy who could either be a grave threat or vital ally.

Knots Untie

• Maggie handles Gregory's Dirty Old Man gambit with utter class, and gets the better of him by the end of the episode.
• The fight at Hilltop has a few:
  • Rick brutally stabbing the neck of the man holding a knife to his throat.
  • Michonne taking out the woman who then punches Rick in the face.
  • Daryl snapping the arm of the man strangling Abraham.

Not Tomorrow Yet

• The expanded Badass Crew's intricate, nearly flawless infiltration of the Saviors' compound. It's as cool to watch as seeing the cast of a play strike set and transition the scene.
• Aaron standing up and declaring that he won't allow something like the Wolf invasion to happen again, shutting down Morgan.
• Rosita confronts Carol over why they haven't told Rick about Morgan and Owen, making it clear that she will not forgive him for his stupidity - and even calls him a hijo de puta ("motherfucker" in some dialects of Spanish) while ranting about his attempt to dissuade the town from their mission.
• Father Gabriel has officially Taken A Level In Badass by the end of the episode by calming approaching a wounded Savior on the ground and reciting a Bible verse before shooting.
  Gabriel: Amen.
• Aaron stabbing and preceding to gut a Saviour.

The Same Boat

• Carol using her typical "scared helpless woman" act to fool Paula and her group into not taking her seriously, using a lapse in their attention to sharpen a crucifix and using it to cut through her bonds, and after working together with Maggie, systematically eliminates Paula and her entire group. When additional Saviour reinforcements arrive, Carol tricks them into going into gasoline filled room, which she proceeds to set on fire and roast the Saviors alive. Paula and her group didn't trap Carol with them, they trapped themselves with Carol.
  • As one Twitter user put it, as read on The Talking Dead, saying "We have a Carol and a Maggie," might as well mean "We've just signed our own death warrants."
• During the episode, Rick's crew are meant to be far away, trying to negotiate Carol and Maggie's return over the radio. Near the end, the trade is arranged, but when Maggie and Carol try to leave the slaughterhouse, they open the door to find Rick's group already there and preparing to raid the building.

Twice As Far

• When Dwight has the gang at gunpoint, Eugene mentions Abraham hiding nearby, and it looks like he might be selling out the big guy. However, when Dwight turns to look, Eugene chomps down on Dwight's crotch. And he doesn't let go for a solid minute! All Dwight can do is scream in pain as he desperately tries to shake off Eugene. This awesome attack gives Daryl, Rosita and Abe the distraction they need to overpower the Saviors.

East

• Carol's on the road and is confronted by a pack of Saviors. She begs them to just let her be (and privately doesn't want to have to kill them), but after mulling over taking in Carol or letting her go, they decide to kill her. Carol puts her arms up... and utterly annihilates the Saviors with a rifle she'd hid in her right sleeve. Even when Carol's past the Despair Event Horizon, she will wreck your shit!

Last Day on Earth

• Eugene realizes that the Saviours are following the RV but don't know how many people are inside it, so he volunteers to drive the RV alone while the rest carry Maggie to safety on foot. It's a suicidal Heroic Sacrifice even though it doesn't quite work.
• When Negan says that he is going to "beat the holy hell out of one of you," Abraham silently straightens up and looks him right in the eye, volunteering to be the one to die.
  • Made even more awesome by him having recently developed out of Death Seeker territory, making this the first time he sticks his neck out specifically so that none of the others have to die, rather than because he doesn't care about preserving his own life.
    • He also subtly nods his head when Lucille passes before his face as Negan does his last round of eenie meenie, clearly still egging the latter to pick him.
• Negan manages to establish himself as a credible threat in the series in his debut appearance. He successfully lures Rick and his friends into a trap orchestrated by him and more competent Saviors, gives them an epic "The Reason You Suck" Speech, and actually manages to make a few of Rick's Badass Crew cry. He even breaks Rick's spirit, forcing the most badass hero of the show to beg him for mercy after coercing him into kneeling before him. Then he decides to let them off with a warning by only killing one of Rick's friends to serve as an example. Negan makes it perfectly clear that he's not to be an underestimated man.
• Carl does not flinch one inch when Negan begins speaking to him and acting as if he may pick him for the death. He didn't flinch either when the Savior spokesman was egging him on, even when he touched him. Carl's come a long way from the hotheaded, impulsive teen he once was.
• According to Negan, whoever is his victim is "taking it like a champ", and he sounds genuinely impressed at the poor soul's resilience.
• The fact Trevor Phillips is on Walking Dead.

Season 7

The Day Will Come When You Won't Be

• Abraham really does take it like a champ, telling Negan to, "Suck my nuts," after he's already been hit once and is bleeding from the head.
  • The alternate take where Maggie is killed instead isn't to be outdone, either. The victim is less eloquent than Abraham, but still defiantly spits blood at Negan after the first strike.
• Daryl defends Rosita when Negan is taunting her with Abraham's blood on his bat by punching him in the face. Too bad Negan wasn't joking about shutting people up...
• Negan orders Rick to cut off Carl's left arm, and Rick begins blubbering and begging for it to be him instead. Finally, Rick begins to raise his axe to do the deed. But the awesome part is Carl, who has barely flinched during the entire ordeal, telling his father to just do it, accepting that losing an arm will mean saving his family.
• After the Saviors leave, the survivors simply remain in the clearing, on the ground and sobbing. Then Maggie stands up, even after losing her husband and still ill from a complication in her pregnancy. She insists that she will go to Hilltop alone, and that Rick needs to prepare to attack Negan. Everyone else is completely submissive, but Maggie? She's a fucking Greene, and demands they keep going, even as she sobs at the sight of what's left of her husband.
• Horrific as it might be to say, Negan has to be given credit for the way he just utterly destroys the group, and Rick especially. Not just with mere brutality, but with mind-games as well. His excursion with Rick proves him to be quite psychologically astute, with thing such as saving Rick's life, or just calling Rick's axe his axe, all having the cumulative effect of enforcing that he is in charge now. Whether it's because he actually has a modicum of specialist knowledge, or the result of experience in doing similar, but is most definitely effective.

The Well

• For their offering to the Saviors, Ezekiel and the others are giving them pigs that have been eating Walkers.
• Ezekiel is the first person to see right through Carol's "Suzy Homemaker" act.
  Ezekiel: Never bullshit a bullshitter.
• The Kingdom's riders near-effortlessly taking out a small herd of walkers.
• Shiva. After all, what's more awesome than a massive tiger who enjoys lounging on the porch for some high noon sunbathing? Her grand entrance alone won many people over despite the sheer ridiculousness of a tiger frolicking around in the zombie apocalypse.

The Cell

• Daryl attempting to break out from his prison in any way he can, resorting, at one point, to kicking a metal door.
  • His defiance when confronted after his escape attempt impresses Negan.
  • Daryl's response when left to the mercy of Negan's men as Negan walks away? Punch the closest one in the face.
  • Negan spends the entire episode convinced that he is close to breaking Daryl. At the end, he gives another long monologue about how smart it would be to admit defeat, and how good he would have it, if he joined them. When he asks Daryl who he is, he expects him to reply, "Negan." Instead...
  Negan: Who are you?
  Daryl: Daryl.

Service

• Rosita isn't going along with Rick's broken complacency to Negan — she's actively beginning to gather guns to form a resistance to the Saviors.
• Rick spends the entire episode swallowing his pride and hate if it means the Saviors will leave his people alone. This is pretty awesome in itself, but then there's the moment when Negan begins bragging about how he wants to take Maggie as one of his wives (after murdering her husband) and strongly implies he won't take no for an answer. It's that moment that Rick finally begins to snap and comes the closest to attacking and ending Negan in the entire episode. Don't you dare mess with Rick Grimes' surrogate daughter, Saviors be damned.
• Father Gabriel gets two:
  • First, he manages to not only unnerve Negan (who, up until this point, was completely in control), but he also maintains his own calm demeanor, speaking to him in a serene, almost chilling manner.
  • When asked where Maggie is, Gabriel quickly leads Negan to graves that were dug, stating that she passed away. This is because she is healing in The Hilltop under the guard of Jesus and Sasha, and revealing this would reveal the alliance between the two settlements. By lying to Negan, Gabriel saves the resistance.
• Rosita's passive aggressive attitude towards Dwight, who torments her throughout the entire episode. After forcing her to go and retrieve Daryl's bike, Rosita kills all of the now zombified Saviours that were executed in "Twice As Far."

  Dwight: (Examining Daryl's bike) You find anything else for me?

  Rosita: (Casually walking away) Just your dead friends.

• When David tries to take all of the medicine, Carl pulls a gun on him, fires a warning shot, then coldly states that unless he returns it, he'll shoot him dead.

Go-Getters

• When the Saviors attack Hilltop and let in a horde of walkers, Maggie refuses to stay out of the action despite having been explicitly told to do so by Dr. Carson and helps lead the counterattack. While Sasha and Jesus battle the walkers hand to hand, Maggie hops in a trailer and begins flattening walkers, and then the car playing Beethoven. She later tells Enid she did it to a boy's Camaro in high school!
  • The fight in general is pretty great thanks to the choice of Beethoven used to inadvertently accompany it. Jesus uses his flying kicks, Sasha displays her usual ferocity, and Jesus also is able to shimmy down from the second story of Barrington House!
• Knowing full well that Gregory would sell out Maggie and Sasha, Jesus hid them in Gregory's closet rather than the hall closet, and instead put a crate of Gregory's best scotch in the hall. When Gregory did sell them out, he lost any respect Maggie, Sasha, and Jesus might have had left for him, and his scotch, while Maggie and Sasha remained safe.
• Having had enough of Gregory's bullshit by the end of the episode, Jesus declares that he will no longer be in charge of Hilltop. Maggie, fed up with Gregory's sleaze, delivers the following Badass Boast:
  Maggie: This is our home now, you'll learn to start calling me by my name. Not Martha, not dear, not honey: Maggie. Maggie Rhee.
• Jesus and Carl both effortlessly sneak into the back of one of the Saviors' trucks.

Swear

• Tara figures out that the two women supposedly guiding her to the bridge were actually going to kill her in the woods, and runs off after pretending to deal with a Walker. When one of them corners her, Cyndie tackles her to the ground and enables her to escape.
• With the help of Cyndie, Tara fights her way across the bridge full of Walkers and makes her way back to Alexandria without a vehicle. Pretty good for someone who didn't start out as a very competent survivor.

Sing Me a Song

• Daryl finally breaks his self-imposed vow of silence for the first time in ages to demand to know why Negan has Carl (not knowing he came on his own) and later nearly gets out a threat should Carl be harmed.
• When Spencer is ranting about Rick's mistakes, Gabriel firmly defends Rick and his actions, acknowledging that while he was cruel to him for a time, he's still the best leader they could hope to have. He even tells Spencer that he's being "a tremendous shit" with the same serene face as always, having grown enough to recognize one like he once was.
• Negan clanging Lucille as he prepares to open the branding ceremony while the Saviors all bow to him is pretty cool. Almost makes you think Negan is about to lead his troops in a rendition of "Be Prepared"
• Olivia slaps Negan after he claims he would like to screw her after insulting her weight and making her cry.
  • Made even more awesome, and crossing over into funny, when Talking Dead tells the story of how Jeffery Dean Morgan, playing Negan, told Olivia's actress to really slap him. She warned him that she was a "strong girl," and if she really hit him, it was going to hurt. So, on one take, she actually hauled off and slapped him, and JDM was astonished by how hard she actually hit him. Apparently, he was complaining about it for the whole rest of the day. Of course, that's the take the wound up in the show.

Hearts Still Beating

• At the beginning of the episode Gregory approaches Maggie and says how people are talking about how she saved Hilltop during the attack on them, and tells her not let it go to her head. Maggie tells him not let it bother him instead, knowing that Gregory is just jealous.
  • The hilltop citizens are also starting to prefer Maggie to Gregory. When Maggie asks Gregory if he'll eat an apple he has and he smugly says yes, one of the guards, Eduardo, just tells him in a deadpan tone "dude, she's pregnant." Gregory gives the apple to Maggie who eats it with a look of victory.
  • A little girl mentioned at one point Maggie should run for president of Hilltop. "President Maggie."
• Aaron managing to outrun a herd of lake walkers.
  • Later Aaron surviving a brutal beating from the Saviors and making a joke out of it.
• Negan points out to Spencer, who has offered Negan a deal that if he kills Rick and puts Spencer in charge everyone would be better off, that even though Rick hates him he still swallows his pride to go out and get supplies so the people of Alexandria will be safe. Negan recognizes Rick's efforts while comparing Spencer to him, saying Spencer is a gutless coward who can't do his plan himself and went behind Rick's back to talk to him. Then Negan guts Spencer in front of the whole community.
• Though Rosita failed in her assassination attempt of Negan, she still gets a moment of awesome when she lies to him with her claim that she made the bullet that she tried to kill him with.
  • Similarly, Tara lying that she made the bullet in an attempt to spare anyone else Negan's wrath.
  • In the end, however, Eugene owns up to making the bullet for Rosita. Though Eugene is still a coward, he can't stand the idea of his friends suffering for him.
• Rick has spent the entire season afraid of Negan after what he did in the season premiere. He thought if they did everything he wanted they would be safe, but after watching Aaron get beat up for a note he didn't make and the deaths of Spencer and Olivia and kidnapping of Eugene, Rick realizes they will never be safe from the Saviors and they will kill people regardless of what they do. He finally gains back his will to fight and regroups with everyone at the Hilltop to form a strategy. He's Back!!
  • On a symbolic front, Daryl giving Rick back his Colt Python. He could've fought the war that's coming with anything he could lay his hands on, but seeing it back in his hands just seems so right!
• After half a season of humiliation and torture at the hands of the Saviors, Daryl finally escapes and beats Fat Joey to death on his way out. In episode 3, Fat Joey deliberately left the door to Daryl's cell open so that he would try to escape, resulting in Daryl getting beaten.
  • After, Daryl takes the gun Fat Joey was carrying. At Hilltop, he turns the gun over to its rightful owner: Rick. Rick Grimes casually shoves his nickel-plated Colt Python back into its holster. He's Back! indeed!

Rock In The Road

• An understated moment is when Ezekiel is reciting Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech to Benjamin's brother as a bedtime story.
• Rick and Michonne driving along opposite lanes of a divided highway, with a length of chain strung between their cars at shoulder level. Straight into an oncoming herd, lopping heads off for a half-mile stretch in what's possibly the fastest Mass Zombie Kill since the urban air-strikes at the apocalypse's beginning. And they thought up the ploy on the fly, without even having time to discuss it between them!

New Best Friends

• Father Gabriel stopping the stand-off between Rick's group and the Scavengers by breaking free, taking one of the Scavengers hostage, and giving a speech to convince them to work with Rick's group in order to beat the Saviors.
• Rick is able to subdue Winslow even after one of his spikes runs through his own hand.

Hostiles and Calamities

• All of Eugene's Science Hero moments, from figuring out a way to keep walkers attached to the wall (a method that impresses even Negan with how practical and badass it is) to successfully building a bomb with only a few common household ingredients.

Bury Me Here

• Say what you will about the Saviors, but Gavin's punishment to Jared of making him walk back to Sanctuary through what's likely a walker-infested, long, unprotected distance for shooting and killing Ben is absolutely cathartic to witness, especially given how rotten the latter has been until now and how likable Ben was.
  Gavin: Start walking back now before I kill you. You say one word or throw one look, I'll kill you right here and now. GO!
• After enduring a season of Carol being shitty to him, Morgan's patience is finally gone and he bluntly tells her what happened to their friends and refuses to give her any more of his time.

Something They Need

• Negan saving Sasha from getting raped by one of his men. Upon being caught, David tries to beg Negan to spare him, only to be denied the request.
  Negan: I do not accept your apology.
• Alexandria executes their raid of Oceanside almost flawlessly. Rick has the swagger of Negan, Michonne proves how much of a good shot she's become by serving as the group's sniper, minor Alexandrians like Tobin, Francine, Scott, and Eric are on the front lines, and the dynamite from the freeway blockade is put to good use spooking the Oceansiders and herding them to a favorable position.
• An understated moment is when Natania has Tara hostage, and she slowly realizes that she's screwed if she goes through with killing Tara. Rick and Tara point out that even if Tara dies, Natania will be killed for it, and Alexandria will still take Oceanside's guns. It's an admirable moment of self-sacrifice as Rick not only accepts that Tara may have to die for the greater good, but Tara is also calmly accepting of the fact she may die.
• Cyndie refuses to follow her grandmother any longer and knocks her out, and ultimately leads Oceanside into their alliance with Rick. The Alexandrians and Oceansiders form a firing line together, and easily dispatch the small herd of walkers that arrives.
• While Dwight reveals himself as someone on Rick's side, Rick then pulls out his gun and tells him to kneel (pictured). Pretty cathartic for someone who was part of a group that physically and mentally tortured Rick's group into that same predicament.

The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life

• Daryl doesn't care if Dwight is being sincere, he declares that he will kill him once it's all over.
• With the Saviors on their way to Alexandria, Rick summons the Scavengers to town. Several dozen heed the call, and the shot of them riding in on bikes and a garbage truck (which holds the bulk of their forces) is pretty formidable and gives Rick the numerical advantage over the approaching Savior regiment. Shame they turned on them.
• Ezekiel and Carol are leading a regiment of Kingdom soldiers to Alexandria to officially join Rick's rebellion. They even have big flags! Carol also proves to have become a leader in the Kingdom. Then after Morgan agrees to rejoin the group, Ezekiel orders his troops onward into battle.
  Ezekiel: And we start once more for the fallen! For the Kingdom. For the glory of victory. HO!
  • The Kingdom then rolls out, Shiva growling in the place of war drums.
• Negan has Rick and Carl on their knees before him again, and this time declares he will kill Carl and destroy Rick's hands with Lucille. This time, however, Rick is not taking it.
  Rick: You can do it right in front of me. You can take my hands. I told you, already — I'm gonna kill you. Oh maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but nothing is gonna change that — nothing. *whispers* You're all already dead.
  • Compare this to the first time he uttered the threat back in the beginning of the season. The first time, Rick was an emotional wreck barely able to string more than a few words together after watching Negan surround his people and slaughter Abraham and Glenn. But this time? He hisses the threat in Negan's face with all the hate he can muster, making it damn clear that no matter what Negan does to the people he cares about, he will not stop until Negan and his Saviors are DESTROYED.
  • Carl also defiantly spits to Negan that he won't win even if he dies.
• We get a Big Damn Heroes moment that we haven't seen anything on the scale of since Carol's attack on Terminus. Just as Negan is about to kill Carl, Shiva roars and pounces a Savior! The shock of the sudden attack sends Negan stumbling back behind Simon and Dwight. The Saviors and Scavengers scatter, unable to retaliate against a fucking tiger. Then the Kingdom arrives, Ezekiel letting a Badass Boast fly:
  Ezekiel: END THESE SAVIORS AND THEIR ACCOMPLICES!! ALEXANDRIA WILL NOT FALL — NOT ON THIS DAY!!
• The Hilltop citizens arrive, led by Maggie, shocking Negan even more as he learns the widow he planned to dominate is alive and coming for him guns blazing. It is damn satisfying to see Maggie gunning for the man who murdered her husband and was plotting to force her to become one of his concubines. Maggie shows how far she's come, now being a badass leader on Rick's level as she coordinates her people's movements with ease - all while still pregnant. Maggie is able to save Rick as he's about to be attacked by a Savior, roaring instructions to her followers.
• Chaos reigns in the ensuing fight, but here are some highlights:
  • Morgan kills a Savior with his staff, and shares a nod with Rick, and then they fight back to back.
  • Ezekiel is able to quickly stab a Savior who got too close.
  • Another Savior tries to cover Negan's retreat, but is devoured by Shiva for his troubles.
  • Negan bitterly muses, "You taste that Simon? That is the taste of shit!" as he's forced into a retreat.
  • Carol is laying waste to Saviors and Scavengers left and right, having gotten her groove back.
  • Father Gabriel, Francine, Tobin, Eric, and Scott are seen gunning down enemies.
• Ezekiel declares, "Now! We finish this!" and leads a large portion of the rebellion after Negan. Once the truck begins hauling ass out of Alexandria, what is the response? Every single fighter in the town begins firing on the truck. With everyone firing on him, it's no wonder Negan is running with his tail between his legs.
• The Scavengers, backstabbers they are, manage to more or less hold their own and are able to retreat with some well-timed smoke grenades that also cover Negan's escape.
• Michonne is taken by surprise and overpowered by a Scavenger, but she refuses to give in, throwing the Scavenger's "We'll win" back in her face and never surrendering. She looks like shit after her beating, but she still managed to fight her off.
• Sasha refuses to be used against the group, dupes Negan into thinking she'll come around to be an ally, and takes Eugene's pills, going out on her own terms like she wanted for Abraham.
  • Sasha's Heroic Sacrifice becomes more powerful when you realize she was the closest out of everyone thus far to nearly kill Negan as a walker. Even though she doesn't succeed in taking out Negan, not only does she leave him SHOOK, but she does take someone down and her overall sacrifice ultimately saves the group from a bleak situation.
  • And just as Walker-Sasha attacks Negan, surprising everybody, Carl takes advantage of the confusion and fires the first shots of the war by taking out several Scavengers, giving the Alexandrians a window of opportunity to fight back. The fact he did is so quickly shows just how much of a seasoned fighter he has become.
• One of the final shots of the episode is the big three — Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel — addressing their assembled groups about the war to come. With Shiva seated among them.
• The final speech by Maggie is this and also a moment of heartwarming, as Maggie explains why Glenn was so important to the group and why he will always be important to the group and whatever the future holds.
  Maggie: The decision was made a long time ago. Before any of us knew each other. When we were all strangers who would just pass each other on the street before the world ended. And now we mean everything to each other. You were in trouble, you were trapped. Glenn didn't know you, but he helped you. He put himself in danger for you. And that started it all. From Atlanta, to my daddy's farm, to the prison, to here, to this moment now. Not as strangers, as family. Because Glenn chose to be there for you that day a long time ago — that was the decision that changed everything. It started with both of you and it just grew, all of us. To sacrifice for each other, to suffer, to stand, to grieve, to give, to love, to live, to fight for each other. Glenn made the decision, Rick. I was just following his lead.
• Dwight manages to subdue the Saviors in time for Rick and Co. to prepare. Their explosives wind up dismantled by the Scavengers, but Dwight still held up his end of the bargain nonetheless.
  • Even more awesome when you realize that The Kingdom showed up mere seconds before Negan was about to execute Carl, so if Dwight hadn't bought them even the smallest bit of time, Negan would have succeeded.

Season 8

Mercy

• Rick's Ironic Echo when he asks Negan if he's going to make him count and then starts counting down from 10, only to suddenly open fire on him once he reaches 7.

The Damned

• Morgan's one man rampage against the Saviors at the satellite outpost, Baba Yaga style.
• Shiva's grand entrance has her eating a Saviors face off.
• Everything about Aaron's group fighting against the Saviors at their compound:
  • Eric, Tobin, Scott and Francine gunning down many Saviors.
  • Mara, one of the Saviors, realizing why the Alexandrians aren't moving in. They aren't scared, they are just letting the Saviors reanimate so they can flank what's left of them and finish them off for the Alexandrians. Too little too late as shortly after realizing this she gets her throat torn out by a newly reanimated Walker.
  • Aaron killing a few Saviors with his car to save Eric.
• The episode's ending deserves special mention for managing to shock the viewers in a way no-one could have expected; Morales, a minor character who was Put on a Bus back in Season 1, is back, and while some viewers predicted Morales would be making a return appearance because of the actor posting a recent tweet earlier in January, 2017, it's then revealed that Morales has joined the Saviors, and has no intention of letting Rick off easy.

Monsters

• Ezekiel's victorious smile as Shiva roars triumphantly behind him.
• Morgan fighting Jesus.

Some Guy

• Jerry rescuing Ezekiel from a beheading via a Savior named Gunther. Jerry comes out of nowhere since the Kingdom's soldiers were scattered at the end of the last episode and slices Gunther in two with his axe.
• Shiva's Heroic Sacrifice. She risks her life to save an emotionally and physically wounded Ezekiel from a group of walkers, only going down when she's surrounded by them.
• Rick and Daryl's successful road battle with the Saviors to get the guns.
• Carol shooting a couple of Saviors through the ceiling.
• One for the Saviors. Just the fact that a handful of them successfully destroyed The Kingdom's forces almost to the last and broke Ezekiel's confidence.

The King, The Widow, and Rick

• Rosita blowing up a Savior with a rocket launcher.
• Another Savior, Zia, drives off with a car loaded with speakers, designed to lure the walkers away from the Sanctuary... and then Daryl and Tara ram it with a garbage truck. And then Daryl steps out and double taps Zia with an assault rifle just to make sure she's dead.
• Maggie preempting any treachery on Gregory's part by locking him up with the captive Saviors.
• When Jared tries to steal a gun from one of the guards, Maggie hits him in the head with the butt of her rifle and does it again when he starts one of his jerkass speeches.
  • Later, Jared tries to cuts himself free of his ropes with a rock but another Savior being held captive slams into him and forces him to drop the stone. The Savior tells Jared point blank he’s not going to get killed because Jared’s an idiot.
• Siddiq is shown to be competent with walkers. Not only does he use traps and a knife but at one point he kills a walker that has a rod embedded in it by using the rod as leverage to headslam it into a tree.
  • The fact that he killed over 200 walkers (237 to be exact) proves how competent and badass he really is.

How It's Gotta Be

• While truly shocking, not to mention simply heartbreaking, the reveal that Carl's been bit since "The King, the Widow and Rick" indicates that he's been fighting his infection while buying time for the people of Alexandria to escape during the Saviors' assault. He may be on his way to the afterlife, but he truly beat the world.
  • There is also an amazing Rewatch Bonus associated with this fact. His speech to Negan about killing only him so that the other Alexandrians can live has even bigger significance, because if Negan did follow through, it would mean nothing since Carl was already dying, and that Carl's goal of getting the Alexandrians to safety would still have been accomplished!

Honor

• Morgan and Carol manage to wipe out Gavin's group at the Kingdom and save Ezekiel. Keep in mind that they were horribly outnumbered.

Dead or Alive Or

• Gabriel managing to evade several bear traps and headshot a walker while having blurry vision from his illness to save a pinned Dr. Carson.
• Dwight distracting a group of Saviors from hunting the Alexandrians by leading them away which affirms his loyalty to Rick's group.

The Key

• Rick and Negan fighting amongst a horde of walkers in a dimly lit room of an abandoned building. It gets even better when Rick finds Lucille and proceeds to light it on fire. That takes absolute guts, considering Negan's affection for that bat.
  • If one looks very closely, Rick lit Lucille with Glenn's lighter. From one life to the next, justice has been served.
  • Beforehand there was Rick managing to ambush Negan in his car and eventually causing him to crash.
• Dwight burning Negan's wrecked car to the ground.
• Negan is revealed to still be alive after escaping from Rick but is now held hostage in a car driven by Jadis who not only has a gun to his head but presumably knocks him unconscious out of anger.
  Negan: Well... shit.
  Jadis: Shut up. (Pistol whips Negan unconscious)

Do Not Send Us Astray

• The entire Savior fight at Hilltop. Though effective in brutality, Simon ultimately proves to be a poor tactician in the heat of battle, as opposed to AHK who have homefield advantage and have numerous leaders with battlefield expertise who have been preparing for this kind of attack. The only thing that catches AHK off guard are the hidden Savior archers, and even then, AHK stood a good chance of killing the Dragon Ascendant of the Saviors and dealing another major blow to them.
• Siddiq standing up to the jerk doctor from the Kingdom.
  • Siddiq also manages to survive the entire Savior attack while out in the open tending to a wounded Tobin.
  • And while Siddiq is still competent at killing walkers Alden a Savior member saves his life by killing a walker who was overwhelming him with a shovel. Also he's not the only Savior helping out in Hilltop as a few others are defending the front gate from walkers.
• On the topic of Alden there was him assuring to Maggie that he doesn't consider his fellow Savior members who he's suppose to bury after the Savior attack as his friends.

Still Gotta Mean Something

• The mini-horde battle in the bar. Rick and Morgan temporarily ally with the Saviors who escaped Hilltop and manage to clear the room.
  • Special mention goes to when a Savior throws Morgan his stick. Morgan catches it, and immediately hits a nearby walker with it, all while the camera moves to show the Rick everyone loved from Season 5, firing a machine gun. Back-to-Back Badasses indeed.
• The death of everybody's least favorite Savior Jared, which was a long time coming. Morgan holds him in place through a locked gate while the walkers devour him from the other side.
  • Even better, what are Jared's last words? Repeatedly telling Morgan to let go of him, as the latter is pressing him against the locked gate all while walkers devour him. Not only do we get to see him completely terrified after being seen initially as a Smug Snake, Morgan does let go... to let the walkers finish their latest meal.

Worth

• Aaron killing a bunch of walkers outside of Oceanside despite starving for days and eventually losing his knife.
  • There's also the fact that he's so determined to have Oceanside join the final battle of the war that he'll let himself starve. That's one determined person.
• Simon brawling with Negan. Sure Simon is eventually killed (he kinda deserved it), but he put up one hell of a fight.
• A bit villainous (and also squicky) but there's Eugene escaping from Daryl and Rosita's clutches by vomiting on her before hiding in a pile of ash.
• It occurs offscreen but even though Gregory is a spineless jerk, the fact that he managed to travel all the way to the Sanctuary and eventually travel all the back to Hilltop with Negan's plans without getting injured, bitten or killed is pretty awesome.
• Negan's awesome chessmaster skills get shown off in this episode. He successfully manipulates Dwight into helping him get rid of Simon and slipping false info to AHK, all while being aware of Dwight's treachery. There's a legit reason he's the leader of the Saviors.

Wrath

• After "Worth", it looked like Eugene was set to betray his friends for good, but he actually sabotaged the Saviors' guns, inspired by Gabriel's attempt at sabotage in the previous episode. It's not revealed until the critical moment when the Saviors are prepared to open fire on Rick, Maggie, Ezekiel and the others. Congratulations, Negan. You just played yourself.
  • When Negan realizes the guns were sabotaged, he moves in to kill Eugene, only for Gabriel to attack Negan in a moment of selfless bravery. Negan fends him off, and then tries to kill Gabriel, only to get tackled by Dwight in a moment of equal awesomeness, who manages to punch Negan twice before Negan shoves him off. Negan then tries to retreat, but Rick soon catches up with him.
• Pretty much every combat-ready resident of AHK joins the march to the final battle, even ones who just learned to fight like Nabila. When boots on the ground were needed, every resident they could muster stepped up to end the war with Negan.
• Alden flat-out refusing to leave Tara to fend off the Saviors all by herself. His courage inspires some of the others to stay behind too.
• Rosita saving Eugene from Regina at the last second.
  • Before that, Eugene attempting to shoot Regina rather than run away.
• The Oceanside Survivors throwing Molotov Cocktails at the Saviors.
• The restraint that Rick shows by critically wounding Negan instead of killing him, honoring Carl's wishes of establishing a more peaceful world.

Season 9

The Bridge

• Rick decimating the walker herd that ultimately costs Aaron his arm by firing a rifle at a group of logs, allowing them to annihilate any walkers in their path.

Who Are You Now

• Seeing Eugene in action killing walkers is both refreshing and awesome to see.
• Carol burning Jed and his group of Saviors alive for not only taking her stuff but for hurting her son Henry. What follows next is her walking away as their compound burns behind her.

What Comes After

• Rick's entire trip back to the bridge, even when he doesn't get to reunite with the group. Keep in mind, this is right after he pulled himself off of a spike and is bleeding to death.
• The very fact that Rick subverted audience expectations and actually survived the episode. Some legends never die!
• "What's your name, kid?" "I'm Judith. Judith Grimes."

Evolution

• The introduction of the Whisperers. One member manages to kill Jesus by stabbing him in the back before whispering a warning to him.
  • After this, more Whisperers arrive and the group proceeds to massacre them with Daryl headshotting the one who killed Jesus and special mention to Aaron who viscously stabs one to death in angry rage.

Adaptation

• Alden throwing a spear at a walker's head.

Chokepoint

• Daryl's fight with Beta, one of the most intense in the show's history.
• Tammy Rose going ham on a group of walkers to save her husband Earl. She puts the baby she's taking care of in a chest for safety, grabs what seems like a riding crop, and charges through. She takes out several walkers and manages to save him at the last second. Mind you, this is an old woman who looks like she's easily in her late 60's, and the younger fighters are shown to be somewhat struggling.
• Ozzy and his Highwaymen riding in out of nowhere to help Tara and her people as they're attacked on the road. Cheesy? Very. Awesome? Hell yeah.

The Calm Before

• During Siddiq's eulogy, we see a brief scene where all of the pike victims are temporarily saved by DJ and two of the Highwaymen, and they all immediately begin freeing each other and kicking Whisperer ass, all while a voiceover of Siddiq explains that despite most of them not knowing each other, they still fought like hell to keep each other safe. Even Tammy Rose, an old lady, is shown actively participating in the fight. They're still killed and made an example of, but at least we know they didn't go out without a hell of a fight.

The Storm

• Negan, without any hesitation, going through the blizzard to look for Judith after she ran off to look for Daryl's dog. Despite being a psychotic Jerkass, Negan does have a bit of a soft spot for Judith.

Season 10

Silence the Whispers

• Lydia's "revenge" against the group of Alexandrians and Highwaymen that have been tormenting her. She sits at their table and begins skinning a dead squirrel with her knife, playing up the Creepy Child act for all it's worth. She finishes off by putting a bloody finger to her lips and doing a smug version of the Whisperer shush, freaking them all out and causing them to leave.
• Negan saving Lydia from being beaten by the Highwaymen, killing Margo (albeit accidentally) by throwing her headfirst into a wall.

The World Before

• Gabriel shanking Dante to death in Alexandria's prison cell to protect Rosita and Coco and avenge Siddiq. Particularly since Gabriel is usually a pacifist, making it all the more awesome that he’s the one who kills Dante.

Morning Star

• When Hilltop learns that all exit routes have been blocked, Earl angrily yells at everyone to get their shit together and to get ready for the fight of their lives.
• It’s subtle, but Rosita’s gambit to finally make peace with Eugene as Platonic Life-Partners by showing him how much he likes Stephanie by offering him a chance to kiss her. It pays off and their friendship is stronger than ever.
• The defenders of Hilltop rally for their Last Stand. Earlier discussions had the survivors admit they would probably have to abandon the colony under the weight of the invading horde, but nonetheless everybody digs in and tries to hold as long as possible, despite knowing that no reinforcements are coming.
  • Despite having a limp from his scuffle with Alpha, Daryl nonetheless picks up a morning star and heads right for the frontlines ahead of everyone else. This is the man who exiled himself for the six years after Rick’s disappearance, now leading the combined forces of the communities against the single greatest threat to Rick’s legacy. Rick would be proud.
  • Eugene’s jury-rigged electric fence actually holds for a few seconds and cuts through the first wave of walkers. It doesn’t hold for long, but every precious second counts.
  • Aaron ordering everyone to take formation with their shields, and then dispersing ranks. As the general, he actually puts out a great strategy for dealing with an endless horde: a line of people use their shields to reinforce the barricades built by hand, only having to hold the line. Another line of survivors actually fight the walkers with sharp weapons and tools, and the shield-carriers have extra weapons stored with them in case the main fighters need another weapon to use (as Ezekiel does). Finally, Hilltop’s best archers like Yumiko and Diane keep raining on the horde from far behind the main fighters, which helps provide more bodies the walkers have to maneuver through. All three positions use as little physical strength as possible which is important when fighting an enemy that can’t get tired like humans, and the shield-carriers can swap places with the main fighters. Even then, other capable fighters like Alden and Earl are back at the walls armed with catapults and more ranged weapons as back-up. Against a normal-sized horde and without the Whisperers themselves present, Aaron’s tactics probably would’ve won the night.
  • The Whisperers deserve some credit for their absolutely vicious counterattack. Using the horde to distract and tire out their human enemies, they then douse them and their walls with tree sap, and then fire flaming arrows at them, setting things ablaze. It took all of a few minutes for the survivors’ defense to crumble under both the horde and the Whisperers’ simple, barbaric tactics.

Walk With Us

• Negan successfully tricking Alpha into going to a remote location, alone with him, by baiting her with Lydia and the idea of killing her only to grandly reveal that Lydia is in another location and the shed Negan lead Alpha to is empty. Alpha gets a few seconds of realizing what exactly is going on before Negan quickly slashes her throat. The episode ends with Negan tossing Alpha’s reanimated head to a proud Carol.

Look at the Flowers

• Negan gets the drop on the Whisperers who declare him the new alpha, shooting one on the spot to give Daryl a chance to escape and help him defeat them. This act is finally what convinces Daryl that Negan is trying to change for the better.

A Certain Doom

• Negan doesn't want to go out into the horde because he knows Beta will be gunning for him. Daryl rebukes him, telling him that if he wants to be a part of the community, he needs to keep risking his life for others. It gets through to Negan, who previously wasn't used to being part of a community who didn't operate solely on petty violence.
• Negan fighting Beta before he's saved by Daryl who stabs Beta in both of his eyes. Hearing The Whisperers creed about embracing death one last time, he lets himself be devoured by his horde marking the end of The Whisperers.
• Gabriel staying behind in the hospital to give Judith and the others enough time to escape from a group of Whisperers who have gotten inside. He manages to hold them off pretty well before being saved by Maggie and her masked ally who rescued Aaron and Alden earlier.
• Lydia and Carol leading the horde of a cliff. Lydia than tosses her Whisperer mask off the same cliff as well, which officially marks the end of Alpha's reign of terror.
• After many episodes of uncertainty, Connie is FINALLY revealed to be alive. And she's found by Virgil.

Here's Negan

• Negan's Start of Darkness is as unnerving as it is awesome. He goes back to the bar and systematically wipes out the gang with his newly minted Lucille, before giving a monologue to Craven to explain why he's going to kill him.
• Negan decides he's going to stick it out and try to join the Coalition, and gives a smirk to Maggie, challenging her to make good on her silent threats to kill him.

Season 11

Acheron

• Negan gets in some good barbs at Maggie, accurately calling her out for just bringing him along to get a chance to kill him away from Alexandria and that she's letting her hatred of him cloud her judgement as a leader. But when he goes too far and mocks how Glenn died at his hands, Daryl immediately knocks him to the ground. Negan seems to realize he crossed a line as he quickly is cowed when Maggie holds a gun to him and warns him to not provoke her.
• So many times a cowardly character has been unfairly rewarded with too many chances, but this time, Gage does not get the satisfaction of being rewarded after his cowardice put a dent into the group. He begs for help, but Maggie coldly orders the others not to save him as they don't have the ammo to take on the horde thanks to him. Gage gets his own moment, though, managing to summon the courage to stab himself in the heart so that he's already mostly gone by the time the horde gets him. Even then, Gabriel decries him as a coward.
• The group does a good job at holding off the horde even without their bag of guns, until Daryl arrives to route the walkers approaching from behind with a gun from Roy.
• At the Commonwealth, once Yumiko is motivated to find her brother, she effortlessly tears down her cocky auditors and points out that they are worthless compared to the countless people who knew how to work hard labor and kept doing it into the Fall.

Hunted

• A Reaper, Nicholls, is bleeding to death and asks Gabriel to pray with him. Gabriel reacts as well as you'd expect to a psychopathic hypocrite asking for mercy from him and refuses.
  'Nicholls: But I thought you were a man of God?
  Gabriel: God isn't here anymore. (kills him)
• Negan helping Maggie fend off and defeat the Reaper attacking her and Alden.

Rendition

• Daryl is able to quickly use his genuine past feelings for Leah, and her lingering feelings for him, to his advantage. He lies to her about not being part of the group and that Maggie is going to meet up with a small army nearby, and convinces Frost to join in on the act as well.

On the Inside

• Virgil proves he has become a worthy survivor in his own right, killing walkers and fending off the ferals.
• Frost deserves major props for going through several days of torture but refusing to give up intel on Maggie, especially after enduring torture from Carver, a sadistic freak who enjoys it so much that he gets angry when told Daryl will take over. Frost also recognizes that Daryl is The Mole and subtly helps him as best he can, warning him that he will be shot if he doesn't go through with torturing him and giving a dummy location that's close enough that Daryl can warn the others.
• Daryl is able to give an advance warning signal to Maggie, who quickly hides with Negan, Gabriel, and Elijah in the cellar. While clearly at a disadvantage, they are all stone-faced and armed to the teeth, ready to fight if need be.
  • Daryl does his best to play the Reapers long enough for his friends to escape and to pass on what intel he can. He tells the Reapers to scout the first house longer, and then tries to get them to leave when they do hit on the correct house. He then loudly says how many Reapers there are and some of their capabilities so Maggie can listen in. It doesn't completely work on Carver, who is already hateful and distrusting, but it does buy Maggie enough time and also tips her in on what he's doing with the enemy.

Promises Broken

• When Negan wants to turn tail and quit, seeing the fight against the Reapers as too risky, he tries to convince Gabriel to back him up. Gabriel tells him that he refuses to go home empty-handed and let his people starve.
• Eugene giving entitled asshole Sebastian a well-deserved punch to the face. Abraham would be proud.

For Blood

• Maggie and Negan working together and using Whisperer tactics to get the drop on Wells. With the way he dies almost identically to Jesus, in a way, Maggie is finally avenging her fallen friend years after his death.
  • To Wells's credit, he proves to be a One-Man Army who is said to have successfully diverted hordes on his own before. Even when he's taken by surprise, he still slays many walkers before he falls to the horde.
• The Reapers get a villainous one when just three of them do an admirable job holding the line against the invading horde at Meridian's gates. They probably wouldn't outlast an entire horde, but they methodically take down many walkers on their own and in a normal situation, would've bought their group valuable time.
• Gabriel being a Friendly Sniper and gunning down Deaver with a headshot, saving Maggie.
• Leah kills Pope and finally shuts up his hypocritical raving once and for all, as punishment for completely abandoning the so-called family he claimed to care about. She makes sure to stamp him to the ground with her foot while she deals the final blow, as payback for what he did to Bossie.
  • Pope being pleasantly surprised by Daryl's true allegiance also confirms that Frost was able to hold out until the end, and never compromised Maggie and the group.
• The end of the episode has Maggie, Daryl, Negan, and Elijah battling Reapers and walkers alike as a unit. It's one hell of a crew, and they did a great job pushing further into Meridian than the Reapers were comfortable with.

No Other Way

• Maggie quickly gets into a tussle with Fisher, and despite Fisher being nearly twice her size (and she's not a small person either), she is eventually able to overpower him and push him into the fire raining from the hwacha. For his troubles, Fisher gets a firework to his back and explodes into chunks.
• Daryl is able to save Gabriel from being shot by Austin, and overpowers him in one-on-one combat; he's then quickly able to hide himself when Leah arrives.
• Gabriel faces off with Mancea, the Reaper priest, and calls him and his flock out for preaching a devotion to God but being murderous, greedy psychopaths. Though Mancea does seem to genuinely be trying to make peace with Gabriel, who he recognizes is having a crisis of faith, Gabriel takes the opportunity to gut him, unwilling to allow him too far into his head and remembering his mission, taking advantage of his enemy's moment of weakness.
• Maggie lures Carver down a hallway, and the Reaper is too eager to kill someone that he completely falls for it. Then two doors open behind Carver, and Negan and Elijah step out. Carver thanks the group for this, and in a villainous example, manages to manhandle all three of his assailants.
  • Negan manages to gain the upper hand and defeat Carver using his strengths: his dark sense of humor and his wit. He grabs a nearby bell and a bunch of sand, but draws Carver's attention to the bell implying he's going to use it as his weapon. Carver falls for it, and as he makes to attack, Negan surprises him with the sand to his face, finally giving him an opening to take him out with the bell. For this, even Maggie silently thanks him for saving her and Elijah, and Negan shares a respectful nod with her.
• It looks bad when Leah manages to gain the upper hand in the stand-off, loudly crowing how she could have them all killed... but she didn't account for Father Gabriel Stokes, who kills her sniper Jensen, shoots Carver in the ankle, and taunts her how he's triumphed.
  Gabriel: Call me Gabriel.
  • Negan's grin seeing the once-cowardly priest saving the day - and his people in the process - says it all.
• Leah recognizes she's been beat and hastily accepts Daryl's deal, but Maggie watches Elijah pitifully curse the Reapers and demand retribution for their fallen. Remembering how she felt when she was forced to watch Rick spare Negan, Maggie silently gets up, strolls towards the departing Reapers, and picks them off one by one, scoring a shot in Leah's shoulder. While she allows her to leave, presumably as a favor to Daryl (as evidenced by how she gives her last bullet to Washington), she still allows Leah to live with the knowledge that the loss of her family was all her fault. Finally, Maggie returns to Carver, who has finally lost his smug demeanor and is weakly struggling to get a weapon, and carves him up with Elijah's scythe, avenging Josephine and the other Wardens.
  • Negan watches Maggie commit this last massacre with a wary eye, and by the end of the episode he decides to leave the group, knowing that he will never be able to move past his atrocities in their eyes entirely - but also, has realized that if Maggie truly comes for him, she will likely succeed.
• Upon returning to Alden, Maggie discovers him turned after being attacked and killed by a reaper. However, she also finds the zombified reaper there as well, meaning Alden still managed to take his killer, one who was a trained soldier no less, down with him even though he was already badly wounded and unable to walk.
• Back at Alexandria, Aaron manages to save Judith and Gracie from the flooding basement with some well-timed lunges and attacks with his mace.

New Haunts

• It's small, but it's satisfying to see that Pamela knows her son is worthless and gives him a disapproving glare during his training, and later is less than convinced he apprehended Tyler.
• Rosita proves she's just as dangerous without a weapon as she is with one when she saves her partner during training and even kills the walker with its' own bones, taking a page out of Glenn's book.

Rogue Element

• Lance gets a villainous one towards the end of the episode, remaining completely calm during Eugene's tearful, desperate rant at him and promise to expose him for what he is. Lance shrugs and says okay, and then goes into his own speech. He never loses his temper, and he smiles pretty much the entire time as he completely tears down every single argument Eugene lobbed at him. He points out that Eugene truly has nothing on him, and that he has the excuse that Eugene's group lying during their auditing ultimately justifies Lance's deceptions and trying to find the Coalition. The whole time, Lance keeps going down the stairway to Eugene. He could've just stayed up top and above Eugene, but no, he comes down to Eugene's level to show him how inferior he truly is to him. Eugene, who had been the smartest heroic survivor to date, is completely broken.

The Lucky Ones

• Pamela seems unimpressed with Alexandria, especially after learning it was founded by Deanna Monroe who she seems to dislike, and after learning it fell more than once. Daryl has none of it, praising Deanna for being a good leader who gave his family a home and put them on the path to form the Coalition.
• Maggie later has a conversation with Pamela in which she accurately calls out Pamela's autocracy and flaunting of her status while other people in the Commonwealth struggle to get by. She praises Deanna and Georgie for teaching her to lead by example, not by showing off what she has and what others don't.

Warlords

• Maggie tells Lydia a story of how her late father Hershel fought tooth and nail to keep the Greene farm going during a severe drought that drove them into debt. Hershel resisted every effort by a corporation to buy him out, letting supplies they gifted him spoil, and the farm ultimately survived the drought and they never heard from the corporation again.
  • Lydia, however, gets one in when she points out Maggie is stubborn and unwilling to accept help from others at times.
• Gabriel has none of Toby Carlsson's seeming incompetence, being unafraid to tell him he has a terrible plan and he's an idiot.
• Gabriel manages to silence much of Ian's ranting by pointing out that he lives in a shithole and that the Commonwealth saved him from starving - so why would they want to conquer them? It's too bad he didn't count for Toby's true nature.
• Toby manages to, in an instant, go from a complete cowardly idiot to a deadly assassin in moments. All it takes is for Ian to lower his guard for that moment, and Toby completely turns the tables on him and his people.
• None other than Negan returns, now a part of the complex group, and he manages to get word to Maggie on what's happening to get help.

The Rotten Core

• The group managing to turn the tides on Toby, cornering him on the roof after he was just bragging about how in control he was. All it takes is some violent slashing from Elijah and well-placed bullets and punches from the others, and Toby is sent hurtling from the roof like he executed his victims. Even better, the Commonwealth armor manages to keep him alive despite the hard fall, but he's still horribly crippled from the impact... meaning he's helpless as the walkers of the people he just killed rise to feast on him. And since he's got the armor on, the walkers are going to have to take their time to eat him, meaning he's in for a long, painful death.
• Leah is revealed to be the culprit behind the attacks on the Commonwealth caravans, and though it's certainly frightening to see what Daryl's ex-lover has been up to, it's a sight to behold that one woman managed to bring down so many trained soldiers.

Trust

• Lance's interrogation of Hershel goes poorly. Elijah violently knocks him away, and has a Death Glare that makes him the most intimidating he's ever looked, mask be damned. Maggie follows up by warning Lance of the consequences of threatening her family:

  Maggie: Plenty others have made the mistake of threatening my family. Most of them are dead.

  • Daryl follows up with the first uncensored f-bomb to ever make it to broadcast for the show.
  Daryl: You tore this place upside down and found nothing. So unless you wanna die for nothing, tell ‘em to drop their guns before something really fucking bad happens.

Acts of God

• Daryl, Aaron, and Gabriel easily see through the ambush they're being led into and quickly come out on top, even if they take a few injuries in the process.
• Maggie manages to lure Leah's troops into Barrington House and annihilates them with a bomb!
• When Leah rants at Maggie how she's going to make her pay, etc etc, Maggie is pretty unperturbed. Even while she's working her way out of Leah's hilariously weak restraints, she takes the time to take a page out of Negan's book: she refuses to offer any apology to Leah, coldly telling her that she killed the Reapers because she wanted to. Earlier, she had been aghast when Negan offered little to no sympathy to Maggie after telling her he should've killed the group when he had the chance - but now sees the wisdom of his ruthlessness, and prepares to dish it out on a very deserving target.
• Daryl killing Leah isn't that awesome since it's pretty sad watching Daryl quietly put down his ex-lover. Daryl shooting Lance in the cheek, however, is.
• Max delivers to Connie's group the last piece needed to expose Sebastian's extortion, and the result is a glorious manifesto in the newspaper that destroys Pamela's reputation.

Lockdown

• The Commonwealth has erupted into mass protests demanding Sebastian be brought to justice. All Pamela can do is deliver addresses to a public that is no longer listening to her.
• Jerry manages to get the kids out of harm's way, evading Roman and Shira by asking a Coalition resident (who was also a former Savior) to get in his pursuers' ways.
• The big car chase with Daryl managing to save Negan by crashing into the Ford Expedition and sending some troopers to a gruesome death.
• When Negan meets Sebastian, the latter asks if he knows who he is. Negan is unperturbed and asks if he knows who he is, quickly warning Sebastian that he will not be able to be bullied.
• Maggie, Annie, Gabriel, and Aaron are easily able to pick off Commonwealth troopers as they come through the sewers.

A New Deal

• Everyone manages to convince Daryl to stand down and spare Lance... but not before violently stabbing Lance in the palm of his hand, and just as violently ripping it out of it, just to make sure the smirk fades from Lance's face for all the trouble he gave them.
• Max refuses to accept the Milton's getting away with their corruption and misdeeds and starts recording Sebastian after getting his guard down. Even better, once Sebastian proves he is unwilling or unable to do anything about the Commonwealth's inequality, Max prods him along to not only keep it up, but falsely encourages him to try to do better - so that his eventual downfall will sting even more.
• The wrestling tournament at Founder's Day is pretty awesome as it is goofy fun.
• Mercer prepares to jump into the fray, and Pamela selfishly demands he stay and protect her. Mercer gives her a dirty look, declares he's there to defend the people, and pulls out his weapons before rolling out.
• Sebastian is thrown into the grasp of the walker he just tried to feed Max to. And no one makes a move to help him. No one. Everyone watches with just some pity and fear, as Sebastian weakly struggles against the walker and screams for help to the people around him, until finally, the walker takes a big bite out of his throat. Sebastian howls and screams in agony, and still, no one tries to help him. Finally, Judith puts down the walker, but Sebastian still dies a bloody mess on the ground.
  • Even better, this walker was once a lowly sanitation worker who was just bemoaning that she couldn't attend the celebration. Say it with us everybody, "eat the rich".

Variant

• Jerry shows off some impressive swordplay even with an injured leg.
• Eugene turns himself in and claims he acted alone so that he can save Max from persecution and execution. You can tell Mercer is pleased when Eugene says he acted alone, appreciating that his sister's boyfriend truly does care for her.

What's Been Lost

• Carol is able to escape the lightning strike attack that just claimed Ezekiel, and manages to escape her attackers. Even Daryl ended up on the ground being choked by one of his attackers.
• As gory as it is, Lance crushing in Sebastian's skull Negan-style just to spite Pamela for a lifetime of resentment is pretty awesome.

Outpost 22

• Daryl's ASL has improved to the point that he acts as the translator for Connie to the rest of the group in Kelly's absence.

Faith

• Even with the trial rigged against her thanks to Pamela, Yumiko is more interested in getting public approval on her side, calling back to her past as a protestor who knows how to fire up a crowd. She even gets Pamela to stumble and choke on her own silence when she brings up the rigged lottery, forcing Pamela to blatantly lie on the stand once she figures out what to do.
• Ezekiel leading the Coalition residents in standing up for Negan and Annie, placing themselves in the line of sight for the firing squad. Regardless of Negan's past atrocities, Ezekiel knows it's not right to leave him or Annie to die and finally embraces Rick's old mantra.
• Roberts finally has enough of the Warden's sadism and turns on him, killing the one trooper loyal to him. Daryl gets the jump on the Warden, who is then threatened with a walker to the face by Rosita, who goes through with her threat and deals him a slow, painful death.
• Eugene is being led to what he thinks is his execution, only to be met by Mercer and a few loyal troopers. Eugene is then freed from his restraints, and Mercer finally clarifies whose side he is on going into the finale... and it ain't Pamela.
  Mercer: Time to fuck shit up.

Family

• The members of the Coalition working together to break into Commonwealth and take Pamela down. Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Negan, Rosita, Gabriel, Ezekiel, Princess, Connie, Magna, Kelly, Dianne, and Judith. They're later joined by Eugene, Yumiko, Max, Luke, and Jules. When Judith gets shot the party works together to fend off the oncoming walker hed and create an opening for Daryl to carry the wounded Judith to a hospital.
• When Judith is shot by Pamela, Carol, Maggie, Gabriel, and Negan wordlessly and ferociously try their best to shoot Pamela in revenge. It's especially awesome from Negan given their previous bond, and he's just as vengeful as the others who have been on Judith's side since she was born.
• Eugene proves in the endgame that he is not the coward who lied for protection and betrayed his friends to live in safety, and never will be again. He hears the door-to-door search for him and takes the opportunity to surprise a trooper and beat the man into submission. He could've just hidden and stayed out of sight and nobody would've thought less of him, but he's done playing games and violently knocks the trooper out. He later immediately goes to the front lines during the stand-off with the horde, right alongside Gabriel and Negan in opening fire on the horde with precise, efficient headshots.
• Max deserves some credit too for joining her boyfriend and his people despite having little to no combat experience herself. She repays Eugene's earlier loyalty and sacrifice for her by being willing to help the party in their war with Pamela.

Rest in Peace

• Despite having been shot, Judith manages to secure the hospital room she and an unconscious Daryl are in from the walkers.
• Rosita rushing into the room where Coco is and very quickly dispatching the Walkers threatening her child before throwing the crib aside and hugging her baby.
• Rosita, carrying baby Coco, falls into a horde of walkers... and then, with a Theme Music Powerup, bursts out of them, fights them off, climbs atop an ambulance and jumps up to climb a building to reach the window where Gabriel and Eugene are waiting for her.
  • Later, we find out that she was bitten during this. Despite that fact, she manages to keep going right up until after the whole group has had a joyful meal together.
  • Rosita completes the mission she and Abraham started together all those years ago. They made it to Washington, helped restore civilization, and lastly, kept Eugene safe. Well done, you two, you can rest easy now.
• Gabriel, who was introduced into the series having cowardly hidden in his church while locking his parishioners out, marches out to open the gates to let the Commonwealth's people in, threatening to kill anyone who tries to stop him.
• Vickers leading the remainder of Pamela's troopers in defecting to Mercer, and placing the Governor under arrest.
• Maggie saving Pamela from Hornsby's walker, refusing to let her take the easy way out.
• The Commonwealth and Coalition luring the walkers into the gated community, and then blowing them all up, obliterating the horde in a massive fireball.
• Pamela seems impatient in her cell, appearing to believe she's not going to be in there long due to being used to special treatment. She tries to lecture Daryl, Carol, and Mercer, insisting that leading the Commonwealth won't be easy. Carol refutes her, saying if they could find it in their hearts to spare her life, they'll figure it out - and taunts her that the Estates have been destroyed. This finally gets it through Pamela's head that not only is her time is truly over, not only is the physical manifestation of the Milton dynasty of have's vs. have-not's now destroyed, but her stay in her cell will not be temporary. And she's visibly fuming as she's left in her cell.
• Ezekiel and Mercer taking over leadership of the Commonwealth. Finally, the Commonwealth has leaders that aren't just in it for power and personal pleasure, but has two honorable men who are genuinely devoted to bettering the lives of their constituents.
• Rick and Michonne's cameos that show they are still fighting to come home. Rick so he can be reunited with his family, and Michonne so she can find her husband and bring him home to said family. The Coalition has found their happy ending, and Rick and Michonne are doing everything in their power to finally make it home to it.

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